Better than "new"

The Bible tells us, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Often, when we think of something that is new, we think of a “better and cleaner version of the old.”

Let’s be honest. That WOULD be a great Gospel- the idea that we get a “clean slate,” that we get to start over, that the things we’ve done… well… we get a pass on them, that it’s as if those bad deeds we did and the good deeds that went undone never existed…

However, the Gospel is better than that. Remember, the word Gospel literally means, “to-good-too-be-true-but-still-true-news!”

The word Paul uses when he writes this verse of Scripture doesn’t mean “new” in the sense that we often use the word- it means “completely different.”..

There are two Greek words used in the New Testament for the word new: Neos and Kainos.

Neos is how we most often use the word “new.” Neos means “new with respect to time.” It is new of the same kind and quality as the original.

Here’s an example—  One kids says, “My favorite pair of shoes wore out, so I need to go to the store and get a new, neos pair.”

Paul uses the second word for “new” when he writes that we’re new…

He uses the word kainos, a word which means “new as to form or quality, is a different nature from what is contrasted as old.”.

The kainos kind of new Is superior to the previous product. It’s different and of a better quality.

You might think of the difference like this:

If my shoes wear out and I decide to quit using shoes altogether- to go purchase a jet-pack as my means of “walking”- I’ve made a kainos decision. I’ve purchased something that is far superior and completely unlike the old…

There’s nothing in the second that indicates it came from the first. There’s nothing in the the first that even hints it could be come the second. That’s how powerfully new you are…