The New Man

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin."   Romans 6:4-7

Awhile back a friend of mine was talking about the call to make disciples that each one of us as a believer in Jesus receives. In this conversation he said something that took me by surprise. "If you think about it, what we have to show others as Christians is simple, we have to teach them how to die." My first thought (and maybe yours) - that is way too intense for me. When I heard my friend say this my mind began racing about what exactly he meant by that statement. I didn't feel as though I knew how to die - how was I supposed to teach others how to do so? In fact, I was scared of death. What kind of death was he even referring to? What did I need to do to understand this concept? If you are like me at all you may find yourself in the same thought patterns over that statement. Let me reassure you of this, Jesus has done everything necessary for us to share with him in his death AND his resurrection. The above statement sounds intense and can push some people into areas of self effort and even fear but in reality this "baptism into death" is the most gracious, empowering, and liberating experience in the life of a believer. This is the very topic I want to chat about today - the death of our old man.

In order to understand this concept of the new man and the death of the old one I believe it is important to understand exactly who is this "old man." David Guzik in his commentary on Romans 6 writes this of the old man: "The old man is the self that is patterned after Adam, the part of us deeply ingrained in rebellion against God and His commands." Our old man is our sin nature. Our old man is the result of the fall and ultimately what keeps us in the state of separation from God. The old man is set in his ways and bound by sin. As Guzik asserts "The system of law is unable to deal with the old man, because it can only tell the old man what the righteous standard of God is. The law tries to reform the old man, to get him to 'turn over a new leaf.' But the system of grace understands that the old man can never be reformed. He must be put to death, and for the believer the old man dies with Jesus on the cross."

Our old man was never meant to be beaten into submission or whipped into shape. Legalism is but a band-aid over a gaping wound for the state of our old man. This was the trap I found myself in. For the majority of my christian walk I had been putting band-aids on my sin and trying my best to conjure up enough effort to sin less and be good enough to be a christian. As I've shared in previous blogs I lean toward perfectionism and, as a textbook Type A, I enjoy being given a game plan that I can execute and make happen. For me, much of my walk with the Lord consisted of recurring sin struggles that led to cycles of shame which together created a pile I could never seem to climb over in order to get to God. I spent most of my adult life trying so hard to find the formula for overcoming sin while unknowingly I was operating out of a place that Jesus died to set me free from. However, that one statement from my friend sent me down a path of discovery and opened my heart to a revelation the Lord had been patiently waiting to give me. 

Guzik continues his commentary on Romans 6: "The crucifixion of the old man is something that God did in us. None of us nailed the old man to the cross. Jesus did it, and we are told to account it as being done." Over the months that followed, this concept of the old man kept popping up in scriptures, books, and conversations. One morning while I was in my study I believe the Lord dropped a realization in my heart. I looked over at Adam (poor thing had no clue the emotional rollercoaster I was on that morning) and said "I think I've been trying to fix someone who already died." In that moment it was like an emotional dam broke and tears came without warning. All of the failed self effort, inner thoughts of being a failure, or insecurity about never being enough all bubbled to the surface and spilled out with that one statement. Every burden I had placed on myself of needing to be better, overcome sin, and never struggle all crumbled in this one moment. In understanding that my old man was crucified with Christ I could now live from righteousness in my new man instead of striving for righteousness in my old man. I didn't have to make my old man better anymore. That person was gone, I had been made new. I was free. 

I believe one of the greatest tactics of the enemy is to keep us distracted. And I believe one of the greatest distractions he taunts us with is our old man. If the enemy can keep us in a place of obsession over correcting someone we are supposed to regard as dead he can keep us from experiencing the life altering grace that is the man of Jesus, who nailed that person to the cross with himself. When we are too busy looking at our old man we are unable to fix our eyes on Jesus. When we are consumed with correcting someone that is incapable of correction then we miss out on being consumed by Love himself. The enemy wants nothing more than to keep us in cycles of shame and self effort. My friend, Jesus offers a much better way! 

"But that is not the way you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:20-24

Salvation is a free gift from God, initiated by Him alone, to no credit of our own works. Nothing that we could ever do would be able to effectively kill the sin nature of our old man. But Jesus. The perfect sacrifice for our sins that fulfilled the just requirement of God for our atonement. This is why the Good News is such good news! We were helpless without Jesus. But out of his overwhelming love and mercy, God gave us his Son so that we could choose to share in his death and his resurrection. My friend, it is a choice. If you struggle with legalism, trying to earn your salvation, or simply just the desire to be in control, I see you and I understand all of those feelings. But I promise you the way of the cross is so much better. Jesus paid it all for you, all you must do now is regard that old man as dead and gone. 

Here is the beautiful thing about this decision: when you accept that the old man was crucified with Christ you are liberated from any hold that old man had on your mind and heart. You are given a brand new heart. You are a new creation.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

My friends, this is true freedom!

"Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." Colossians 3:9-10

Our acceptance of our new man requires daily surrender and a moment by moment choice on our part. We are called to put off our old self and put on our new self. We are responsible for that choice. Here's the cool part - as we continue to make that choice we are being renewed into the image of our Creator. He is doing that work in us, we need only to decide to put on the new man in order to cooperate with the process. 

"Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:8-13

This parable has always left me a bit perplexed. I never understood why the king in this parable was so upset by the fact that someone wasn't in the right attire. Maybe that person couldn't afford the clothing, maybe they were just as embarrassed about their attire and were trying desperately to fly under the radar, or maybe they just wanted a moment in the king's court and couldn't afford anything better. These were my thoughts until recently when I was re-reading this story. As I was studying this parable I found something fascinating. There is some evidence that in the ancient world the king would supply the proper garments for his guests. Everyone was not only invited to the feast but they were given the proper attire. The guests didn't do anything to earn the invitation or the garment, but the garment was a requirement of accepting the invitation. Friends, this is what Jesus did for us! If you have made Jesus Lord of your life then you have accepted the greatest invitation of all time. He did everything necessary for us to be saved and, if that wasn't enough, he provides his own righteousness as our own. We get to choose to be clothed in his righteousness. We get to walk away from our old man of sin and step into the righteousness of our new man in Christ. 

I know this topic may seem huge and difficult to wrap your head around. Trust me, I have been there. My friend, I would encourage you to ask the Lord to give you a deeper revelation of his grace. Grace is not easy on sin. Grace is the empowering force that eradicates the hold sin has on us. When you are in Christ you are no longer a slave to sin. Your job is to abide. Spend time with him. Study his Word, there is clarity and freedom found there. Approach him in prayer. It doesn't need to be polished and we don't have to do all the talking. I would encourage you to spend time sitting in the silence, with a heart postured to know who He is. He is wonderful. He is gracious. He is patient, and kind, and the epitome of love. He is safe. His greatest desire is to see more of Him being made manifest in and through you. If you struggle with looking in the rear view at your old man I would encourage you to approach the Lord with one question: "who do you say that I am?" My friend, my prayer for you is that in the pursuit of that answer you would find that He has already done everything necessary to set you free from the old man. Because of Jesus and your decision to place your faith in Him, when God looks at you I believe He smiles and says "You are a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."