“Put Off the Old Man”
First, this has nothing to do with the physical, but the spiritual. Further, the term, “old man” has nothing to do with age, but with what happened to us ages ago.
The Apostle Paul uses this phrase on three occasions in three different letters all referring to the old life of sin that Paul says was crucified, that is, it was put to death, with Christ (Romans 6:6-7; Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:9-10).
It was the life that was crucified and went down into the grave with Jesus so that a new resurrected life could emerge. The “old man” was crucified with Christ to empower believers in Jesus Christ to renounce and reject sin, that is, not to serve sin any longer.
Look at what the Apostle Paul said.
“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.” (Romans 6:6-7)
Paul says that this old sinful life was crucified so that our sinful nature might finally be finished. This reminds me of an artist’s body of work. It isn’t one particular thing, but rather the whole. This is what Paul is referring to. Paul is talking about the whole package of our sinful nature.
Therefore, this body of sin has been crucified with Christ, which means we are to no longer serve sin, because sin is dead to us, and we are set free.
“Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body … And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead.” (Romans 6:11-13)
How does someone “put off” the old man, and “put on” the new? It’s through the process of confessing, repenting, and forgiveness.
Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be [done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; or the one who has died is freed from sin. Romans 6:6-7 (NASB)
Dennis Lee is Senior Pastor at Living Waters Fellowship, Mesquite, Nevada. He presently has two books, “From Here to There: A Journey to Spiritual Transformation,” and “Wells of Living Waters,” He also writes a religious column for a local newspaper entitled, “Rediscover the Bible for Life,” along with daily devotionals and thoughts that he posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Living Waters Fellowship’s Website
Photo by Aaron Burden on Freely Photos
Speaking of the whole package of our sinful nature that we need to be freed from, we cannot pick and choose which sins to hold onto and what sins to put to death. When we walk that dangerous fence in our Christian walk, we are not truly free and are still in bondage. It’s all or none. Galatians 5:1 tells us, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Also Romans 6:1-4 tells us, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Matthew 16:25 – “ whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life, for my sake, will find it.” Thank you Debbie for the comment. Take care and God bless.