¹⁶Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. ¹⁷Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Our perceptions should be revolutionized by the knowledge of our position in Christ. While the Corinthian believers were seeing life and other Christians through a faithless worldview, Paul viewed them and their actions through a different lens. Every Christian is “a new creature.” Things are different for Christians than for the rest of the world. Being a Christian changes how we relate to one another and how we see ourselves.

Paul uses his experience with Christ as his supporting point. While Paul did not know Christ “in the flesh” in the same way as the twelve who walked with Christ for His entire earthly ministry, he is probably speaking of Christians in general, particularly as experienced in the original witnesses, the twelve apostles (see Acts 1:8, 1 John 1:1–4, 2 Peter 1:16–18). The “we” of verse 16 refers to the Christian community in unbroken procession beginning with the apostles. Our knowledge of Christ is not as the knowledge of one who physically lives next door in our neighborhood. Our knowledge of Him is on a different plane now—and this is true for all Christians, including the apostles for all the years after Christ ascended into heaven.

Our new worldview, which affects how we see ourselves and other believers, is to be defined by verse 17. This verse has bought great promise to many new believers and should be a mandatory memorization verse. We who are “in Christ” (which means all genuine believers) are new creatures. The world is divided, in this new Christian worldview of things, into two categories: the saved and the lost, the new and the old, the redeemed and the unredeemed, the forgiven and the unforgiven. For the believer, “old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” This cannot be said about non-believers or fake believers who masquerade as the genuine thing.

Therefore, if Paul was living with a faithless worldview, he would probably have walked away from the Corinthians or lashed out condemningly at them. But now he loved them and continued to sacrifice his comforts and willingly put up with their challenges to his authority. Why? Because he was a new creature in Christ, and so were they. So while his instruction to them would fall on mocking ears of the worldly minded, those “in Christ” would listen, and his teaching would resonate with them.

Lord, help me live consistently with being a new creature in Christ.