Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God:

— 1 Corinthians 15:34

Religious teaching has taught us to try and struggle to get all the sin out of our lives so we become holy.  It will give you a list of do’s and don’ts for you to become holy and acceptable to God.  Religion will preach that you must do your best to become the new man, try your hardest to become what God desires for you to be.  But the Bible teaches you to believe, or awake to, who God has already made you-–because you are a new creation.  Notice, when you become aware of righteousness, when you awake to righteousness, you will sin not!  It was all done and completed by Jesus on the cross so that He gets all the glory for who you are.  Awake to being made righteous, and sin will leave your life!  Awake to the joy of the Lord and you will sorrow not!  Awake to healing by the stripes of Jesus and your sick days are over!  Awake to the blessings of God and you’ll lack not!  Awake to the peace that passes understanding and you will worry not!  Awake to the new man, the Christ-like lifestyle, and you will not live like the old man anymore.  It is all accomplished by faith in Jesus’ performance, and by not being dependent on your performance; your performance will change when you awake to His performance!  Do not focus on your conduct or failures; focus on His provision and victory, and soon you will awake to the finished work of Christ.

...he is a new creature:  old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

— 2 Corinthians 5:17b

On the day you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you became a new creature.  Spiritually you were born again; in your spirit you were made new.  You became a new creation, a new species of being which never existed before.  For most of your Christian life, you will be gradually discovering who God made you to be at the new birth.  As you find out who you are now and start to identify with your new nature, you will start to change into a brand-new person.  This is accomplished, not by your efforts, but by faith in the Word and in the promises that tell you who you are. Old things have passed away and all things have become new!  Your old nature, with its old habits, has passed away; it is dead and gone.  Until you know this, you will identify with your old nature and your old thought-life and will live like the old being.  Put off the old creature and allow him to be put to death in your mind once and for all, and believe who God declares you to be, what He has made you.  You are a new creature, born of God.

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.   — Romans 6:6

This is something that every Christian must know!  The old man is crucified with Christ.  The old man is not being crucified, is not in the process of dying; he is dead!  We have been taught in the body of Christ to “die to self,” but in order to be dying, you must still be alive!  You (the old man) are not alive; the old man you were is dead and has passed away!  Until you “know” this, you will be fighting with the old man, struggling against the old man, acting like the old man.  Know this:  he is dead!  He was crucified with Christ!  You are no longer an angry man, an insecure person, a failure trying to become a success.  The angry man is dead; the insecure person is gone; the failure has been made a success!  You now have God’s life and God’s divine nature in you–-you are a new spiritual creature.  Do not identify and associate with the old man.  He is crucified with Christ.  There is now a new man in town–-one who no longer will serve sin, one who is able to serve God!

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  — John 3:7

When you received Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Bible declares you to be “born again.”  Jesus told Nicodemus that you must be born again.  Nicodemus did not understand how you could go back into your mother’s womb and be born once more.  He was thinking about a physical rebirth; Jesus was talking about a spiritual rebirth.  Man is a spirit being; he has a soul and lives in a physical body.  The spirit of man, or the real man, can be born from death to life (Ephesians 2:1) by making a decision to make Jesus his Lord.  When this happens, he then becomes born of the Spirit and born of God (John 1:13; 3:6).  His spirit is instantly born into the image and likeness of God Himself, with authority and dominion to rule on this earth (John 1:12; Ephesians 4:24).  He can then see the kingdom of God (John 3:3), and enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5).  This brings a whole new lifestyle and a new position to a person.  He can now choose and claim what is legally his, because he has been born into the family of God.  You are either born again or you are not--there is nothing in between.  Going to church will not save you, being good will not save you, your denomination will not get you into the kingdom.  You, personally, must be born again.  You must understand that Jesus freely paid the price for your deliverance from death to life and confess Him as your Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9, 10).  You must be born again!