August 14, 2013
Colossians 3:5-16
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
In Colossians 3:8-10, Paul writes this:
But now you must 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….
There are two men (or natures) that are mentioned here – the old and the new. The old is that with which we are born. And it is inherently sinful. We got it from Adam. According to Romans 5:12: “…through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin; and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned….” That nature is infected with the nature of Satan. Jesus told the Jewish leaders who opposed Him, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” (John 8:44). Remember, according to John 10:10, the purpose of the thief (Satan) is “…to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” The only reason that the old man does not carry out that purpose fully is the restraints of society and the laws of society.
To enter into God’s kingdom and family, Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:7, “You must be born again.” The old nature (the old man referred to in our scripture) is unredeemable! When one comes to Jesus Christ in faith believing that He died for their sins on the cross and now lives forever, God does not reform the old nature! He, by the Holy Spirit, gives birth within us to a new nature! In II Corinthians 5:17, Paul says:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed
away; behold, all things have become new.
We have a complete new nature – called the new man – and, according to I John 3:9 and 5:18, this new nature is sinless – incapable of sin!
Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His [God’s] seed remains in
him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God….We know that
whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps
himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
Two complete natures in one person – one completely good and godly, and the other rotten to the core!!!! I guess you could say Christians are spiritual schizophrenics! And the two war against one another. In Galatians 5:16 and 17, Paul writes:
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and
these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you
wish.
Paul describes his personal struggle between his two natures in Romans 7:7-25. It is worth the read!
So how do we put down the old nature – the old man – and manifest the new nature – the new man – in our Christian lives? Go back to our scripture in Colossians 3. In verse 10 it says:
…put off the old man with his deeds, and…put on the new man who is renewed
in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him….
The new man (or nature) is to be renewed. How? It is “…renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him….” Renewed in knowledge – what kind of knowledge? It is renewed in knowledge of the Word of God!
Both the old and new natures must be fed if they are to thrive. So the one you feed will be the one who dominates in your life! Since we are called to live our Christian life by faith – “The just shall live by faith,” (Romans 1:17) – and since “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God…” (Romans 10:17) – we must make our faith strong by feeding the new nature with the Word of God! We must ‘eat’ regularly and plentifully! This is why in Colossians 3:16 Paul exhorts us to “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly….”
So get in your Bible! Feed that new nature – the new man – abundantly! If you do, the Word will do its work, and you will manifest more and more the Lord Jesus Christ in your life!