Residue

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creature. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has begun.”

The moment that we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior we are made new. The old man, the one who served sin is now dead. Our old self was literally crucified with Christ.

You may ask yourself this question like I have, ‘If the old me is dead, why do I still often act like my old self?’ The Lord answered my question when He gave me this one word; residue. I looked up the meaning of this word and it became clear to me. One definition of residue is; something that remains after a process involving the removal of the original has been completed. Think about this; The bible says, all of us are born with the sin nature. We are a slave to sin. That is our original state. When we come to the point of realizing our need for forgiveness and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, that is the moment we are made new. Jesus removes our original state. We are changed on the inside, but the residue is this flesh that we still have to live in. Although, it is just residue, it can make it seem that our original self is still very much alive.

Another definition is described as; the remainder of a deceased person’s estate after debts have been paid and bequests distributed. We owed a debt that we could not possibly pay. The bible states in Colossians 2:13, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins.” Praise Jesus, He has paid the debt. Our old, sinful, self is now deceased. When we are made new, He distributes to us our rightful inheritance. All that Jesus is and has is ours now, but we still have to live in the residue of our old estate; the flesh. We must remember this is all it is; residue. It does not have to control us any longer. We are now free to make a choice of whether we will live in our new identity, or whether we will let the residue of the old estate control us.

When we pass from this world into heaven, our permanent place of residence, there will be no more residue of that old way of thinking and living. It will be gone and we will be completely transformed. What a wonderful day that will be.