The old has gone

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Corinthians 5:17. 

Conversion to Christianity is not a ritual. It is a radical change of a personality, where God Himself participates by changing the person completely. We are not talking about external things, but about internal ones. The nature of a person changes. Hatred, anger, lies, and anything that sinful is removed from the depths of the human heart. Christ enters his/her nature and removes the old one. Holy Spirit settles in too. New life begins.

Old friends may not understand what is happening with their fella as they have not experienced the "New Birth" themselves. The state of being in Christ affects the way of life, choices, beliefs, behavior. Christ himself participates now in the person's life. God's nature becomes that person's nature. Of course, it takes a while for Christ to start manifesting more and more through a person, but the change is real and the journey to manifest more of the new life has begun and should never end.