The New Man

Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
JAMES 1:18
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The New Man
Thus the whole man must crawl into the Gospel, become new, and take off the old skin, as the snake does when its skin becomes old. It seeks out a narrow hole in the rock, crawls into it, sheds its old skin, and leaves it in the hole. Thus man must also rely on the Gospel and God's Word and confidently follow its promises, which never lie. In this way he takes off his old skin—leaves behind his light, his opinion, his will, his love, his delight, his speech, his deeds—and becomes an entirely new man, who sees everything differently than before, judges differently, forms an opinion differently, thinks differently, wills differently, speaks differently, loves differently, desires differently, acts and conducts himself differently than before.

From the Church Postil, sermon for the Third Day of Christmas on John 1:1-14 (Luther's Works 75:308-9)