Paul writes to the Corinthian church from a place of suffering and defense of his apostolic ministry — yet in the middle of that personal struggle he articulates the most sweeping claim in the New Testament about the effect of union with Christ: the person who is 'in Christ' has become something the world has never seen before.

From the writers we read together

Dallas Willard

Philosopher and Spiritual Formation Teacher

Willard pressed Christians to take 2 Corinthians 5:17 with full seriousness — not as a metaphor for moral improvement but as a description of a real ontological change. The new creation is not produced by effort; it is received in union with Christ. But that new reality must be trained and developed through the disciplines of the spiritual life. The old has passed away: this is past tense, already accomplished. Behold, the new has come: this is present and ongoing.

The challenge Willard consistently named is that many Christians have received a new birth but are living from the old creation's script — driven by the same fears, the same prideful reflexes, the same addictions to approval. The new creation is real, but the renovation of the interior life takes sustained, cooperative effort. What 'old' patterns in you contradict the new creation you already are in Christ? What practice might help the new become more fully present?