Some Considerations regarding our Old Man

Some Considerations regarding our Old Man

Our Old Man is Crucified with Christ. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him (Rom 6:6-9).

This is the part of us that is yet fully capable of sinning, and continues to be offensive to God. But God has made abundant provision in Christ to put of, to keep off, to keep under, to mortify this part of us. As a matter of fact, at our baptism into Christ, we come into the kingdom of God with our old man being cruicified with Christ. The old man that we speak of is constantly at war with our new man, which, lives in accordance with God's Person and ways, because "in the likeness of God" it "has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth" (Eph. 4:24, NASB).

The Acquired and Required Hatred of the Old Man. We must be brought to hate our old man with a perfect hatred, along with his ways and expressions. All of the things which cause us grief and trouble in this life proceed from the old man. Our old man is our most lethal enemy, and consequently, he is not to be treatied with, cuddled, or coddled. From our old man proceed such things as fornication, and all uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking, jesting, all of which have the capability of disbarring men from their inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God (cf. Eph 5:3-5). This is absolutely the case in spite of the boisterous clamor of a host of false teachings today, which come to men under the subtle guise of fundamentalism. In all of them, the Devil is saying once again, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4). Now, through the mouthpiece of these doctrines of men, and of devils, he has a captive audience of multitudes, and not just the woman. The old serpent is energetically engaged in holding men under a cloud of delusion. He will seek to persuade those professing faith in Christ, either that their "old man" is "really not that bad after all", or that God is "too good to consign men to eternal punishment". Or, perhaps, he would seek to convince men that as long as they "have their theology straight" regarding the "old man", that would be sufficient to be pleasing unto God. But we are not ignorant of his devices.

Our old man is the part of us that has the capacity to be animated by, is frequently found to be the remote mouthpiece of, that old serpent, the Devil. The Devil has come down to us, having great wrath, and the subtle effects of that wrath are often projected into the old man, to produce distress, carefulness, distraction, doubt, and if possible, to turn men away from the truth. The serpent was "more subtle than than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made" (Gen. 3:1), and that characteristic subtlety is also part of the make up of the old man. The old man is all making for truces and treaties with the new man. "Let's be reasonable about these matters of not compromising with sin," he can be often heard to suggest. But there can never be any concord between Christ and Belial (cf. II Cor. 6:15), between light and darkness, between the truth and the lie. We must continually reckon that our old man is, indeed, crucified with Christ. This is a foundational premise that God has granted us to reckon upon for stability, consolation, and as a shield held up against all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And it is only as godly men earnestly ponder things of this sort, that they are granted to acquire and develop a "perfect hatred" of the old man and his deeds. Millennia ago David declared, "Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate Thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against Thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies" (Ps. 139:21-22). If such things can be freely confessed to the Lord with regard to enemies that are outside of us, and all about us, of a certain the same can and must be reckoned and declared regarding the deadly enemy that is within us, namely our old man. This enemy has been, of God, placed within us to prove us, and to know what is in our hearts, to see whether we, indeed, love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, strength, and understanding.

Base animations and wicked voices proceeding from the old man are from beneath and can only be stilled by putting on the new man, (that is, by feeding the new man, and by being renewed in the spirit of our minds). These are the blessed (and the only effectual) provisions for putting off the old man, which provisions God has abundantly equipped us with in the Lord Jesus Christ. Seeking to put off the old man, merely by discipline (touch not, taste not, handle not, etc.) can only result in failure, despair, and eventual destruction. This amounts to trying to climb up some other way than the way that God has appointed and provided in His beloved Son. From one perspective, it is almost amazing how that men, animated by the carnal mind (which is part of the old man) gravitate to this approach in their futile attempts to be pleasing to God. But it is only in hearing and submitting to "the voice of the Son of God" (Jn. 5:25), that men receive strength to keep the old man crucified. The Lord Jesus promised that such continual hearers "shall live".

The Old Man and his Deeds. "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds" (Col. 3:9). Just as men are known by their fruits, so the old man also has its characteristic identifying deeds, deeds that must be traced back to their corrupt source. If the old man did not have deeds, he would not pose nearly the threat that he does. The old man has deeds such as lying, "anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy" communications proceeding from the mouth (cf. Col. 3:8). The old man loves to lie, or at least distort the truth, or be misleading. In this matter he exposes his kinship to Satan, who is "a liar, and the father of it," as the Lord Jesus declared (Jn. 8:44). He loves to rage and to exalt himself in much the same way that the Devil does. The old man is completely capable of giving expression to whatever things are offensive to God, or are contrary to the will of God.

The deeds of the old man are what pose the jeopardy of leaving him unmortified. It is at the point of expression of these deeds, that sin occurs. That point of expression is elsewhere called in Scripture fullfilling the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16), "the superfluity of naughtiness" (Jas. 1:21), or that which comes out of a man and defiles him (cf. Mk. 7:20). Prior to the point of sin's expression [while those professing faith in Christ are yet striving against sin, and putting to death their members which are upon the earth] they, in a manner of speaking, are within the domain described by Paul in Romans 7, and are regarded as be well-pleasing unto God [though the old serpent would try to convince them that they are not]. But wherever sin does actually erupt and express itself, then it is no longer a Romans 7 situation, but rather one where the sin must be confessed and repented of. And, to be sure, there is abundand provision for this matter, but to sin must be regarded by the believer as a serious matter. "There is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared" (Ps. 130:3-4; I Jn. 1:7-2:2, etc.).

And God's hatred of sin has not changed, or diminished, one iota. The putting away of our sins by the death of His only begotten Son had to occur [if we were to be received of Him] because of God's hatred of sin. Christ's sufferings did not, in any way, change God's mind about the exceeding sinfulness of sin.(cf. Rom. 7:13). If there could possibly be any change, it would be that sin is now perceived by Him as being even more abominable, now that such a great price has been paid by Him to put the sin away. (But in this matter, we are in the realm of conjecture.)

A Substantive Declaration. Our old man is crucified with Christ. This is a statement of substantive truth and reality, and not of mere orthodoxy, or doctrinal position. The crucifixion of the old man is a work that God has wrought within us when we were baptized into Christ, and yet it is a work that we must continually reckon upon and build upon, and participate in. In the sufferings of Christ, and in the glory which has followed God has layed a solid foundation for believing men to build upon, and He has even provided the resources, with which men are to build. Our old man is, indeed, crucified with Christ, and that crucifixion, which God has wrought in us, is something that was totally impossible for us to accomplish. We were simply without strength with regards to this matter. But, nevertheless, it is absolutely essential that men labor with God in this matter, by, in a manner of speaking, keeping the old man on the cross. In the words of the Apostle Paul, we are continually to mortify our members which are upon the earth, and then he goes on to enumerate a number of sins which lie dormant in the old man, but are ready to express themselves, unless they are mortified, whenever opportunity arises.

Old Things are Passed Away. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead: And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (II Cor. 5:14-17). With regard to the crucifixion of the old man, we are constrained by love, both by the perception by faith of the love of Christ for us (for me), and reciprocally, by a love for the Lord Jesus Christ, as we grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Him, and as we are granted to "comprehend with all saints" the exceeding great cost of our redemption (cf. Eph. 3:18; I Pet. 1:18-21).

In view of these considerations, let us ever seek grace that we may reckon that the old things, namely, those which proceed from, and are harmonious with, the old man, have passed away. This is a crucial aspect of the warfare of faith. That is to say, it is not an optional one. Let us seek to glorify God as we engage in this warfare, by God's grace, and let us not be ignorant of the Devil's devices. --editor@banner.org