Becoming a Christian is not about repairing the old, fallen self, but about being made part of God's new creation in Christ. "The Old has passed away; behold, the New has come!" The "old" is the humanity in Adam which fell. The "new" is Christ and the humanity based on Him. This is possible because the Godhead was bodily totally in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not counting our trespasses against us. Through this divine exchange, He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us, so that we in Him might become the very righteousness of God. When you truly rest in this finished work, you can live without fear of the past with its guilt but find the Christian life as a wonderful growing adventure.