THE OLD SELF(MAN) VS NEW SELF (MAN)

Greetings to you beloved one. Today, I will be talking on the nature of our old self and that of our new self.

Gal 5: 19-21 says " what human nature does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy and indecent actions, in worship of idols and witchcraft, people become enemies and they fight, they become jealous and ambitious, they separate into parties and groups, they are envious, get drunk, have orgies and do other things like these.

Col. 5 : 22-24 " but the spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. There is no law against such things as these. And those who belong to Christ have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires."

The above listings are pictures illustrating two different kinds of people; a sinner and a born again or a believer and unbeliever. The former explains the character of a person who has not yet accepted Christ and the later the character of someone who have received Christ. Paul is addressing the born again here who despite being saved after receiving Christ live like those that are still unbelievers. He recognizes the fact that people still sin even after being born again and in view of that tries to bring to their consciousness the fact that they have had their human nature crucified with Christ after being born again. Therefore, such kind of life shouldn't be named among them. He said those who belong to Christ have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires. This is a fact discrediting the notion that the message of the gospel of Jesus is a license for people to continue sinning.

He went further to tell us the character of the new man saying there is no law against such things as these. That is to say, there is no law that says you should not love, not have peace, joy etc. That is what the spirit of God in the life of every believer produces in them. It is expected therefore, that you who have received Christ should manifest those fruits of the spirit putting to death that of the old man because Christ have set us free from sin. Christ came to do away with sin which he had accomplished years back. What we now have is freedom from sin and condemnation of any kind. However, we should not use because our sins have been forgiven to engage in practicing evil things.

Gal: 5:13 says " as for you my brothers and sisters, you were called to be free. But do not let this freedom become an excuse for letting your physical desires control you. Instead love and serve one another."

 This is telling us that we now have freedom in Christ Jesus that is our Sins are forgiven. But it is not a guarantee to let ourselves keep on living a sinful life because we have been forgiven. Instead, we should let the love of God to lead us all times. This is because, if you love God you would not want to offend him by sinning. This is the law of the spirit. The law of the spirit is the law that compels us to Live aright not because the commandments( law of death) says don't do this or that, but because the love of Christ in our lives compels us to Live aright.

However, Just like I said in my previous publications, manifesting the character of the new man is not something that happens to a believer overnight. It's is something that is achieved gradually through practice because we are still putting on the flesh. As you continue walking in the newness of life, you might still exhibit some of the characters of the old man but that should not discourage you. No matter the number of times you fall back to sin, get up, dust yourself and continue practicing righteousnes.

Now, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the holy spirit inside of us who have received Christ is constantly fighting against each other in us.

Gal: 5: 16 says" what I say is this, let the spirit direct your lives and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature. For what the human nature wants is opposed to what the spirit wants and what the spirit wants is opposed to what the human nature wants. These two are enemies and this means that you cannot do what you want to do. If the spirit leads you, then, you are not subject to the law."

You see, the human nature would always stir up the characters of the old self in us while the spirit of God would always say no to them. For instance, you had a misunderstanding with someone, that led you both into avoiding each other. And the spirit of God stirs up in your heart to go and apologize to the other person. It could be the person was the one who offended you yet, you are directed to apologize. You will find out that when you are thinking of this, another thought countering it would spring up saying ; why should you apologize when you weren't the one who caused the issue? This is the human nature trying to gain its way. But unfortunately, most of us tend to obey the human nature more than the spirit.

However, Paul was able to tell us what to do in order not to satisfy the desires of the human nature. He said, "let the spirit direct your lives and you will not satisfy the desires of your human nature." Rom 3: 6 says" To be controlled by human nature results in death, to be controlled by the spirit results in life and Peace."

 So as a believer in Christ Jesus, you should always satisfy the desires of the spirit though most times it's difficult. This is because what the spirit would always want us to do would be to put others first before ourselves. But we should learn to walk according to his leading for that is the only way to overcome our fleshly desires.  To this end, it is paramount that each and everyone of us should get born again in order to receive the holy spirit that is able to help us conquer the flesh. This is because the holy spirit is only given at the inception of your receiving Christ. If you reject his finished work that brought salvation to you, there is no way he would send his spirit into your heart because the spirit cannot dwell in an unclean place. But your accepting Christ as your saviour who cleansed you from all iniquities makes it possible for the holy spirit to dwell in you because you will be made clean by his blood.

Jesus said except a man be born again of the water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That is to say except a man recieves the remission of his sins by believing in Jesus who is the price for sin and also receive his spirit, that man can never belong to God.

Ephesians 1: 13 says" and you also became God's people when you heard the true message, the good news that brought you salvation. You believed in Christ and God put his stamp of ownership on you by giving you the holy spirit he had promised."

This clearly shows you that God only recognizes you as his child when you accept Christ. When you do that He gives you his holy spirit as a stamp that he now owns you. Whoever does not have the holy spirit does not belong to Him and you cannot have the spirit without first of all believing the message of salvation in Christ Jesus. I see no reason why you shouldn't be a partaker of the grace of God made available to us in Christ Jesus. Believe in Jesus today and be saved. SEE YOU SOON! LOVE YOU DEEPLY.