Thursday, July 22, 2010
Colossians 3:9-10 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.
OLD AND NEW ACTIONS
The old man (your sinful nature) is fairly easy to identify. You're well acquainted with this part of yourself. It is the sinful nature with which you were born. This nature produces all sorts of rotten attitudes and actions. The old man within you brings pain and heartache and uncertainty. Your sinful nature is on a one-way road to destruction.
You can identify this old man by what it produces. Here are some examples from Colossians 3:5: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness which is idolatry. We could group these in a category of self-satisfaction. All of those traits have to do with pleasing yourself even at the expense of others. Fornication and sexual sins not only harm you, but you are also dragging someone else down with you all so that you can please yourself. These sins involve idolatry and simply letting your desires drive you as if you're some sort of animal. You just do what you want.
The new man is far different. To be completely new, he had to come from outside of us. The new man was created in you when you became a child of God. When the Lord adopted you into His family He gave you a new identity made in His image (Colossians 3:10). Adam and Eve were created in God's image, that is to say that they were created in righteousness and holiness -- that describes what God is like. So also now built into you as a believer is a part -- the new man -- that is righteous and holy. The new man desires what God desires.
