A few months ago, a “new” Costco opened in our area. The primary complaint? The layout is different from the old location. Sure, the improvements are undeniable—brighter lighting, less traffic, wider walkways—but it’s different. Well, as different as a Costco can be. They’re all slight variations on the same theme, and we know exactly what we’re getting when we walk through those doors, whether in Kirkland, WA; Albuquerque, NM; or Maui, HI: stacks of groceries and clothes on industrial wire shelving.
Costco management understands this truth: we don’t want substantial changes. We want things to look and feel familiar. This is one of the hardest things about New Year’s resolutions—we want change, but not too much change. I want to lose weight, but I don’t want to drastically alter my daily life to make it happen. Maybe we try incremental adjustments, but then the transformation comes slowly. We lose heart. We stop trying.
Following Christ requires full-scale transformation. It requires a complete overhaul of our lives. Every aspect of our existence must be brought into submission to God’s will and character. As Jesus asserts that with man this is impossible (Mark 10:27), Paul later writes to a young preacher named Titus on the isle of Crete, emphasizing where this change will come from.
Titus 3:3-7 ESV – “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
The contrast is stark. The way we used to live—selfish, foolish, enslaved to passions and pleasures—must come to an end. This requires an enormous transformation, one that is beyond human effort or ability. As Paul writes, it comes “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” We did not enact this renovation. We are entirely dependent on the Holy Spirit, making us new.
The Greek word for “regeneration” combines terms signifying a new beginning—literally, “genesis again.” It speaks of a new creation, a starting-over point. The meaning is clear: following Christ is not an addendum to our former lives, not something done in addition to what we already have, but rather a whole new life.
Too many people want to change but fail because they’re trying to add Christ to their former lives. What we see in Scripture is not incremental change but new life—a new birth, a new genesis. This might make us uncomfortable because we don’t like extravagant changes. But God is the one who makes all things new. We don’t need small adjustments. We need an entirely new beginning.