New Year, New Me?
Today starts a new year.
Every new year gym memberships explode! You see all kinds of deals like, “Only $10 if you sign up in January,” or “No sign-up fee if you start in the next two weeks!” This is a genius marketing ploy because these businesses and organizations know that so many want to start the new year off right and get in the gym to be in better physical shape.
One of the most famous slogans is “New Year, New Me.”
While it is very important to focus on your physical health, your spiritual health is most important (1 Tim. 4:7-8). With these thoughts in mind, we want to ask the question, “How can I truly have a fresh start spiritually in 2024?”
What If You’re Not a Christian?
First, if you are not a Christian (i.e., you have never obeyed the Gospel — Rom. 10:16; 2 Thess. 1:7-9), you must start by responding by faith in obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Only the blood of Jesus can wash away your sins (John 1:29; Acts 4:12; 22:16; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 1:5; 13:8).
When Saul of Tarsus needed a fresh start, the Lord instructed him to “Arise, go into the city, and you will be told what you MUST do” (Acts 9:6, emp. mine DS). Notice that if Saul wanted to have a fresh start and become “new,” there was something he had to do about it!
The doctrine that teaches you have to do nothing is a false doctrine (Matt. 7:21-24; Gal. 1:6-9; Heb. 5:8-9; Jas. 2:19-24)! There is a response necessary to meet the conditions of salvation!
God the Father has done His part in designing the plan of salvation (Eph. 3:9-11). God the Son has done His part in executing the plan for salvation (1 Cor. 15:1-4; Phil. 2:5-8). God the Holy Spirit has done His part in revealing the plan for salvation (1 Cor. 2:9-13; John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit, through the Gospel preacher Ananias, instructed Saul of Tarsus to, “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16; cf. Mark 16:16). This is what he did and this is what you must do if you want to have the cleansing blood of Jesus applied to your soul (Eph. 1:7)!
What If You Are a Christian?
Second, if you are a Christian, you must continue to “walk in the light” to receive the continual cleansing from the blood of Jesus. John, writing to Christians (1 John 1:1-3), instructed and encouraged them to “keep their slate clean” and to stay fresh in service to the Lord:
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:5-9).
The words “walk“ and “cleanses” are both in the present tense. These verbs point to the continuous action of “walking” and “cleansing.”
The Holy Spirit, through John, says that if Christians keep on walking in the light (living in harmony with the word and will of God), the blood of Jesus will keep on cleansing us “from all unrighteousness.”
Of course, we must point out the conditions.
What if a child of God does NOT keep on walking in the light? If he or she decides to no longer walk (live) in harmony with God’s word and will, the blood of Jesus will not continually cleanse!
It is possible to have your slate wiped clean (soul purified by the blood of the Lamb — 1 Pet. 1:22-25) but then go back into a life of sin and be lost (2 Pet. 2:20-22). This is why we must be “diligent to make our call and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:5-11).
Dear reader, if you want a fresh start, the Bible teaches us how to do it.
If you are not a Christian, become one by hearing the Gospel (Rom. 10:17), believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for your sins (John 3:16; 8:24) repent of your sins (change your mind, change your course of action — Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30), confess with the mouth that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 8:37; Rom. 10:9-10), and be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Gal. 3:27). When you arise from the waters of baptism, you are then ready, with a clean slate, to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-6; 2 Cor. 5:17).
If you are a Christian but want to “start fresh,” repent and pray to be restored and get back on track!
May God bless you in 2024!
Drew Suttles is a minister for the Quitman church of Christ in Quitman, Georgia, and one of my best friends in this world. They live-stream all their Bible classes and sermons on their YouTube channel.
Drew also hosts the “Weathering the Storm” podcast on the Scattered Abroad Network. Drew talks about facing life’s challenges as a child of God. His podcast will be a blessing to your life.
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Happy New Year and thanks for the new message and a good one for the start of this new year.