Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

I sometimes look back at my life before I became a Christian and cringe. I was rightly called a sinner. I shook my fist in the face of Almighty God every time I went my own way instead of his way. I lived my life thinking I knew best, when all along my heavenly Father knew best.

If I think about my past too long, Satan comes in to tempt me. He tells me, “Look how horrible you are. You don’t deserve God’s love.”

I can imagine that Satan may have tempted the apostle Paul in the same way. Paul had been an enemy to Christ. He was an accomplice to murder by consenting to the death of Stephen. He kept an eye on his fellow Jews’ cloaks as they stoned Stephen. If that wasn’t enough, he took it upon himself to go out and round up Christians to bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. Oh yes, I can imagine Satan tempting Paul, “You’re nothing but a murderer! Give up trying to think God loves you!”

Satan may have tempted him, but Paul didn’t give in to the temptation because he knew that he had been crucified with Christ. His old self that had murdered Stephen was dead. Christ had taken all of Paul’s sins and nailed them to the cross. The Savior’s precious blood blotted out every single horrendous sin that Paul ever committed. Paul may have breathed threats against the Christians, but when Paul trusted in the Savior, Christ breathed his life and love into Paul.

Every time Satan brought up Paul’s past, Paul could say, “That’s not me anymore because Christ now lives in me. He loves me and gave himself for me.”

If you have given your life to Christ, you are a new creation. Any sin you committed before becoming a Christian has been nailed to the cross and blotted out by Christ’s blood. No matter what anyone may tell you, you are not the same person you used to be. Christ loves you and he lives in you.