"Kill that Old Man!!!"

I want to bring some understanding to a topic the Lord put on my heart to blog about. This has really helped me. I was discussing this topic with to friends of mine last night and I was moved to post this.(this is kind of long but please take time to read it.It is so helpful I promise!!)

Sin is personified many ways in scripture and in this particular verse of scripture the Holy Spirit gives sin an infamous name that we can all identify with, the "old man." The old man is by definition, 'the inborn tendency to do evil.' The old man is what you would call the "sin nature" or "the flesh." He is literally the essence of the first man, Adam. Cololossians 3:5 says, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil diesires, and covetousness, which is idolatry:" We have been commanded to "mortify" or "put to death" our body parts upon the Earth. The old man is given birth through the law.(Rom.7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which WERE BY THE LAW, did work IN OUR MEMBERS to bring forth fruit unto death. ) We have been comanded to put this "old man" to death "in our members," but how? How do you put a man to death that cannot be touched, seen, or heard physically? 2Cor.10:3-5 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"

The old man's job is to fulfill all the evil desires planted in you when sin came into the world through Adam,the first man but when all looks grim and the old man looked like he would rule until death through the law Jesus,the LAST ADAM shows up(Rom.10:3)! So Colossians 3:8-10 says, "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:" Now look at this saints! The action of "putting off" and "putting on" can only be done by those of us who have conquered death and sin through faith in Jesus Christ. Sinners lack this ability because they lack the legacy of Jesus Christ to His church, "the NEW MAN." Sin dwells in our members(body parts) and its not enough to just recieve Jesus into our spirit we must also "put on Christ"(Rom.13:14;Gal.3:27).

The "new man" comes by one avenue.He is generated when we get saved but, He is only a child compared to the well developed "old man." The new man is not an improved version of the old man. He is a totally new and seperate entity(2Cor.5:17). He is the essence of all that is good and gracious both in Jesus Christ and God the Father. The "new man" is 'Christ formed' in the believer(Gal.4:19); but the new man is merely present when we are saved. He must be put on through this one avenue, KNOWLEDGE("And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:"COL.3:10). The knowledge of God after the image of Jesus is what Satan spends time trying to destroy in us. IN OTHER WORDS,SATAN DON'T WANT YOU READING THAT WORD(2Cor.10:3-5)!! You see, the old man can only exist when the hearers of the word don't "do the word." The new man must be "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him(Jesus)" that is how the new man is formed in us,the new creature. So Satan uses this "old man" who lives in our members with the old man to disrupt and distract the growth and progression of the "new man." God gives us many examples of this struggle all throughout scripture between this old man and this new man like:Cain & Abel, Jacob & Esau, Isaac & Ishmael, even the seed of the woman & the seed of the serpent. These are all types and figures for the struggle that we internally harbor of the old and new man of the fleshly nature and of the spiritual nature.

I encourage you all by this scripture:"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye. "(Col.3:12-13) Let's grow in knowledge together but, you gotta study this word and also put it in action. The "new man" grows from HEARING AND DOING THIS WORD. The "old man" is put to death when you choose the desires of the spiritual new man over his natural sinful ways. COUNT YOURSELF DEAD TO THAT OLD MAN!! Those addictions are a result of that "old man" having his way for so long. "He that is dead is free from sin."(Rom.6:7) WE ARE THE CHURCH LETS PUT ON THE NEW MAN LIKE WE ARE.


Be Blessed

Josh