SUNDAY March 27, 2022

Putting off the Old Man

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
Colossians 3:8-11

A Christian has had a dramatic transformation––a touch from God. People can see a marked change. This conversion is a result of God’s power––the working of the Holy Spirit. However, a believer in Christ cannot be a good witness for others to see if they continue to practice sin. Imagine, they would become a walking contradiction!

Paul, in explaining the new man, used an analogy of a garment. If you have a fifthly garment, you replace it with a clean one. This is what happens in the life of a child of God. The filthy garment of sin is taken off, and the new, clean garment of righteousness is placed on the child of God––the new man. That is why a Christian can no longer cuss, tell dirty jokes, or continue to tell lies.

In the Roman culture, if someone murdered a person, in court, the judge would pronounce an unusual judgment. The corpse of the murdered victim was tied to the body of the murderer. They would literally walk around with a dead, rotting corpse until the decaying body consumed them as well.

Paul wanted Christians to know that their old man––led by fleshly desires––was likened to that dead corpse. The new man––led by the Spirit––lived within. That is why Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16: Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. Consider this: Once this earthly body is dead, the inward man will be glorified in the likeness of Jesus Christ. Our inward man is being prepared for a new home in heaven.

God doesn’t want new methods; He wants new men.
~Alan Redpath~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!