The New Man Turns from the World in Order to Serve God Only

Posted on by BETH

The new man discerns between the material world and the souls who are living in the world.  He turns from the souls who are in the world to serve God.  He turns to follow his Master who did nothing of himself (John 5:19).  God commands his children to love all of the souls in the world, whether our neighbors or our enemies (Matt. 5:44).  Though we are commanded to love our neighbor, we are also admonished not to be his friend. “… know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).  Though the new man is to love the (souls in the) world, he is not to have fellowship, communion or concord with them. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Cor. 6:14-16).  We are to come out from among them and be separate from them (2 Cor. 6:17).  We are to love the souls in the world by doing good to them when we have opportunity, praying for them (Matt. 5:44) and feeding and clothing them when they are in need (Rom. 12:20).  The new man is informed of what needs are: “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (1 Tim. 6:8).  If our enemy or someone in the world has needs, we love our neighbor as ourselves by supplying his needs.  He does not fellowship, commune or have concord with the souls in the world, but in that sense he comes out and is separate from them.

The new man also turns from the material world.  Jesus admonished the Jews that “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).  The Pharisees knew what mammon was and mocked him, for they knew they loved mammon because they coveted the material things of this world – which is mammon. (Luke 16:14).  Jesus then stated plainly that we must not esteem what the world highly esteems.  “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).  If we are like God, then what is highly esteemed among men will be abomination to us also. He directs the new man not to love the world.  “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17).  He directs the new man: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:1-2).  The Christians who were faithful to their Creator were those who did not “mind earthly things” (Phil. 3:19).

Paul Crucified His Old Man

Posted on by BETH

Paul is our example of having crucified the old man.  He testified, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…” (Gal. 2:20).

This crucifixion was a crucifixion to the world.  He said, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14).

This death to the world was a death to the rudiments of the world and the ordinances made by men of the world.  He asks the Colossians (who had been crucified to the world), “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?” (Col. 2:20-21).

The old man walked like the rest of the world (Eph. 2:2-3) and loved the world and the things of the world the same way the world does (1 John 2:15-17).  The new man has responded to the first gospel sermon: “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:40).

The new man has agreed to fulfill his part of the covenant:  “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:17-18).

Paul had done this.  He testified, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:5-9).

CRUCIFIXION: A Very Painful Death

Posted on by BETH

What is the old man, and in what sense does the old man die?  Why does he describe the death of the old man as a crucifixion?  In whatever sense we understand it, the death of the old man is very painful.  In New Testament times the cross was always death, not mere suffering without death.  Crucifixion was never an easy death.  Jesus said “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).  Many want to enter heaven but not many are willing to endure a crucifixion.  Crucifixion is a very “strait” gate.  If we do not “strive to enter in at the strait gate,” we will not be able to enter the path that leads to life.  Jesus teaches in many other ways that entering the pathway is not a simple thing.  For example, he says, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it” (Mark 8:35).  The Lord compares the old and the new man in several different ways.  There must be a conscious decision to crucify the old man so the new man can be born.  This decision is described as a crucifixion.

The Old Man

 The New Man
Saves his life

Mark 8:35

 Loses his life for Christ and the gospel
Keeps all that he has

Luke 14:33

 Forsakes all that he has
Under the power of darkness

Col. 1:13

 Translated into the kingdom of Christ
Lives for self

2 Cor. 5:15

 Lives only for Christ
Does what he wants to do

Luke 9:23

 Denies himself

        Even making the decision to lose one’s life is a very painful thing. Again, he said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). The decision to deny oneself is also very painful.  Similarly, the decision to forsake all but one has is quite painful, but Jesus said, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Does this forsaking all that one has relate to no longer living for oneself? (2 Cor. 5:15)?  The reason that Jesus died is so that we would no longer lives as we desire to live. “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:15).  Making the decision that we will no longer live for ourselves but will only live for Christ, is not an easy decision. Jesus purchases God’s children with his blood (Acts 20:28). He says “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men” (1 Cor. 7:23). Have we consciously made a decision that we will sell ourselves to Christ, so that he purchases us?  What does it mean that we have been purchased?  If Jesus is our new owner, then we no longer belong to ourselves for Jesus has purchased us.  If we no longer belong to ourselves we can understand why we should no longer live for ourselves.  Crucifixion of the old man is losing one’s life, no longer living for self, been willing to be purchased, and been willing to live only for Christ.  Is it possible for a soul to be buried with Christ before the old man is crucified and fully dead? The soul may be immersed in the water, but he cannot be buried with Christ in the waters of baptism until he has been crucified and is dead.

A SECOND ASPECT OF CRUCIFIXION

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A second event occurs when the old man is cut off and the new man is born from the dead. This event is seen in the apostle Paul’s conversion. The Lord directed Ananias to go to Paul and lay his hands on him so he could receive his sight. When Ananias arrived, Paul had already believed in the Lord Jesus for three days. However, until Ananias came, Paul did not know what to do. The Lord had told him to “Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do” (Acts 22:10). After Ananias instructed him, he then asked Paul, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). We know from this command that Paul still had his past sins. Before Paul obeyed the command to be baptized, his old man had been crucified (Gal. 2:20), but he had not been buried with Christ. God had not yet cut off his old man. He was dead, but he had not been buried. Paul could call on the name of the Lord (authority of Christ) for doing what he did, for this is the command of Christ (Matt. 28:18-20). Until the old man is buried, there is no “operation of God” to cut off the old man (Col. 2:11.12). Peter gave this same direction to the Jews on the day of Pentecost when he said. “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). It is only with Jesus’ authority (in his name) that we can be baptized for the remission of sins. When the old man is cut off, the sins of that old man are cut off, and the new man rises from that burial without the guilt of sin.

IX. THE GREAT COMMISSION: STEP TWO

Posted on by BETH

Why did the Creator command baptism? Baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is not an empty form—it is a very rich and meaningful commandment.  It is much more than “an outward sign of an inward Grace,” as some have described it. Baptism is part of that form of doctrine the Romans obeyed. “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Rom. 6:17). What was this form of doctrine the Romans had obeyed?

First, he describes baptism in the epistle to the Roman Christians as one part of the form of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.  He describes baptism as a burial—the same way Christ was buried.  Like Christ was crucified, there must be a crucifixion and death of the old man before there can be a burial in baptism.  Like Christ was raised from the dead, the child of God is raised from baptism “through the faith of the operation of God” to “walk in newness of life.”

Second, each part of the death burial and resurrection takes place “with him.”  “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Rom. 6:6).  We note that they were crucified “with him.”  “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death” (Rom. 6:3-4).  We note that they were buried “with him” in baptism.  “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:11-12).  Again we note that the child of God rises “with him.”

Third, each part of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection specifically relates to the old man or the new man.  Crucifixion puts the old man to death, while burial destroys the old man.  “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed” (Rom. 6:6).  After the old man is destroyed, then the new man must be resurrected from the dead.  He told the Galatian Christians, “. . .seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds;  And have put on the new man” (Col. 3:9, 10). After the old man is put off by being crucified, and buried, then the new man is put on by being resurrected from the dead.

Fourth, the crucifixion and burial are a part of “the circumcision of Christ.” “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:11-12). New Testament circumcision is not a cutting off by man. It is a “circumcision made without hands.”  God is the one who does the circumcising. Old Testament circumcision is a cutting off of the flesh.  New Testament circumcision is a cutting off of the old man. Immediately after describing the circumcision of Christ, he refers it to being “buried with him in baptism.” They were raised “through the faith of the operation of God.” God is the one who circumcises his children by cutting off their old man. When the old man dies, he dies from the rudiments of the world. “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?” (Col. 2:20-22). Thus the old man is killed by crucifixion, cut off, and destroyed in burial.

Fifth, being resurrected with Christ is being born from the dead. When the old man is crucified with Christ, he is cut off with Christ’s circumcision. At that point the child of God is without any “man.” He must be made “alive from the dead.” The Roman disciples had been made alive from the dead. He told them that they should, “…yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead…” (Rom. 6:13). Those who are alive from the dead begin a new life. He stated “…that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4). They were raised like Christ was raised.  How was Christ raised from the dead?

Jesus was not only raised from the dead but he was also “born from the dead.” “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18). If they were raised “… like as Christ was raised up from the dead,” then they must have been—not only made alive from the dead—but they must have been born from the dead. God’s children must be born from the dead for he commanded his children that they should, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” (1 Pet. 2:2).  They were new born babies when they rose up from the dead like Christ was raised from the dead. Jesus informed Nicodemus of the same thing.  “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).  At the same time they were born into God’s family, they were born into the kingdom of God and became citizens, and members of His household.  “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).

When were they born from the dead? They could not be alive from the dead until they had been crucified with Christ and the old man was dead.  They could not be raised with him until the old man had been buried and destroyed in the grave.  Thus their burial (baptism) had to precede their resurrection (birth) from the dead.  Their new birth could not take place without being raised in the likeness of Jesus’ resurrection (birth) from the dead.