When we get saved, depending on our age, there may be many things in our lives that need to be eliminated. For instance, when I accept Jesus as my Savior as a child I will need to replace disobedience to parents with obedience, lying with truth, or cheating on a test, with studying. As an adult, it may involve bigger replacements, such as replacing drinking alcohol with practicing abstinence or cheating on my taxes to telling the truth. The list could go on and on depending on the person, but the point is to replace the bad with the good.
In II Corinthians 5:17, Paul makes it clear that when we surrender to Jesus and repent of our sins we become a new creature from the inside out. The word comes from a military word that means an about-face, repent means to turn away from. Our thinking is different and therefore our actions are different. We even feel different.
II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
This verse is a beautiful picture of new life emerging from an old lifestyle. However, there is a danger of going back to the old ways unless we replace the old with the good. Matthew 12:43-45 tells a story of what may happen.
Matthew 12:43-45 “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.”
This man had given up the ways of the evil spirits, but when he found himself walking alone with no one to associate, or teach him how to live or grow in his new-found life, he returns to his old friends and lifestyle. When he returns, he becomes worse than he was before.
When a person turns to Christ, he becomes a new creation in Christ, but the old nature is still present. There is a vacuum left by severed sin that has a great chance of returning if it is not replaced. Therefore, it is imperative that we seek out good for bad. We who are already Christians need to help fill the gap with new Christians. They will need new friends, new things to do, and new places to go. We can offer them all of that through the body of Christ.
There may be some things in your own life that need to be replaced. As we grow in Christ our desires will change to be more like him and there will be things we never thought of before that we may need to give up. For instance, the music you listen to may cause you to remember things in your past life that were not best for a Christian. The words or emotion the music is stirring up may not be glorifying to God. I Corinthians 10:31 says all we do is to glorify Him. In that situation, you will need to replace it with other music. If the books you read or movies you watch stir up lustful thoughts, replacement is needed to help you to be more like Christ. I believe the replacement principle is a lifelong process. We should never stop growing and changing to be more like Jesus. When we do, we become complacent and comfortable. This is a dangerous place for a Christian. We let our guard down, and all Satan needs to remind us of our past and how much we enjoyed it, is one weak moment.
Why not take a self-examination? What needs to be replaced in your own life? After you have answered this for your own life, determine you will help someone else. Become a friend to someone who is new in the faith or someone you know is struggling.
I’m praying you will have a blessed day as you seek to be more like Christ and help to fill the gaps in other people’s lives.
