How to put off the old man?

When your spirit is raised from the dead and you are born again it is very important to feed your spirit. Your spirit needs to grow up and mature so that your spirit will reign in your life instead of your flesh. For years the flesh has reigned as king in your life. You were a slave of your flesh and you lived in the bondage of sin and death. Therefore, as is written in Ephesians 4:22, it’s time to put off the old man with his deeds; your flesh with all its lusts and desires and toput on the new man, who is created after the image of God and is born of the Holy Spirit and lives after the Spirit in obedience to God. What does it mean to put off the old man? How do you put off the old man according to the Bible?

Who is the old man?

In a previous blog post ‘The old man’ was discussed and what Jesus said about the old man and his nature, works, and lifestyle. The old man is a carnal person, who lives after the flesh; soul, and body and is led by his senses, emotions, feelings, carnal thoughts, intellect, lusts, desires, etc.

The spirit of the old man is dead. Since the spirit in the old man is dead, the old man is unspiritual, sense ruled and led by his carnal mind. Therefore the old man can’t see the Kingdom of God nor comprehend the spiritual things of the Kingdom of God (ອ່ານນຳ: How can you see the Kingdom of God?).

Because the old man can’t see the Kingdom of God and can’t comprehend the things of the Kingdom of God, they are foolish to him.

When you accept Jesus as your Saviour andrepent and make Him Lord over your life, you have made a choice to lay down your flesh in which sin and death reign.

No one forced you to. You have made the choice to say farewell to your life as a sinner, with all its sins and iniquities. Therefore you shall no longer live the way, you lived before your conversion, but you will start a whole new life in Jesus Christ; a life after the Spirit and not after the flesh anymore.

The baptism

Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 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. For he that is dead is freed from sin (Romans 6:4-7).

Crucified with Christ, the salt of the earth

When you are baptized in water, you symbolically lay down your former life; the old man with all his sins and iniquities.

You can’t becomea new creation before the old creation has died (ອ່ານນຳ: Can you live the resurrection life without dying?)

Through baptism, you lay down your old life (your flesh) in Jesus Christ, and in Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, the new man (your spirit) is raised from the dead.

In the spiritual realm, you have become a new creation. What took place in the spiritual world will become visible in the natural realm (the visible realm).

This means, that your life and your walk and talk will change. Your speech and works shall line up with the confession of your repentance and you shall walk as the new creation after the Word and the Spirit.

In order to walk after the Word, you have to get to know the Word. Because you can’t walk after the Word if you don’t know the Word.

This means that you have to renew your mind with the Word of God. When you renew your old carnal mind that thinks like the world with the Word of God and you obey the Word and become a doer of the Word, then you shall grow up into a mature son of God, who knows the will of the Father.

As a mature son of God, you shall walk as the new creation after the will of the Father on earth and you shall represent, preach and bring the Kingdom of God to the people on earth (ອ່ານນຳ: The earth mourns and waits for the manifestation of the sons of God’).

What does it mean to put off the old man?

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (ເອເຟໂຊ 4:22)

When you have become a new creation (new man), it’s time to put off the old man; the former man, who had the nature of the devil and walked after the flesh in obedience to the lusts and desires of the flesh, and to put on the new man, who is created after the image of God and has the nature of God.

The word ‘put off’ is translated from the Greek word ‘apotithēmi’ which means o.a. cast off, lay apart, lay aside, lay down, put away, put off.

You will put off the old man like you put off pieces of garments. This is not something that God has to do, but that you have to do.

How long it takes to put off the old man depends upon you. The more you hate your former carnal life as a sinner and its sins, the quicker you will stop doing the works of the old man.

What are the works of the old man?

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things ‘sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which you also walked some time, when you lived in them. But now you also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him (ໂຄໂລຊາຍ 3:5-10)

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21)

The works of the old man are clearly defined in these verses. These works do not belong in the life of a born again believers, who have become a new creation. These works are not the works of the new man.

Therefore you must put off these works. Because the Word says, that those, who do these things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.

The carnal works of the old man

The carnal works, which every born again believer must put off are:

Adultery* (voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse)
Fornication (harlotry, including adultery and incest, unmarried sex, homosexuality, figuratively idolatry)
Uncleanness (impurity, physically or morally: -uncleanness, ritually impure)
Inordinate affection (properly suffering, (inordinate) affection, lust)
Evil concupiscence (bad/evil/wicked desire or lust)
Covetousness (idolatry) (fraudulence, extortion:-covetous practices, greediness, having a craving for possession)
Anger (violent passion, wrath, indignation, vengeance)
Wrath (fierceness, indignation)
Malice (evil, naughtiness, wickedness)
Blasphemy (vilification (especially against God), railing, evil speaking)
Filthy communication out of your mouth (vile conversation)
Lying (utter an untruth or attempt to deceive by falsehood, falsely, lie)
Lasciviousness (filled with or showing sexual desire)
Idolatry (worship of idols, immoderate attachment or devotion to something)
Witchcraft (use of sorcery or magic, use of spells and the invocation of spirits, communication with the devil or with a familiar, an irresistible influence or fascination)
Hatred (prejudiced hostility or animosity, a reason for opposition, enmity)
Variance (of uncertain affinity; a quarrel, contention, debate, strife)
Emulations (envy, fervent mind, indignation, jealousy, zeal)
Strife (an act of contention, exertion or contention for superiority)
Seditions (division, incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority, rebel against the authority of a state)
Heresies (sect, belief or opinion contrary orthodox religious doctrine (especially Christianity),a belief or opinion that does not agree with the official belief or opinion of a particular religion)
Envyings (jealousy, the feeling of wanting to have what someone else has, A feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions)
Murders (slaughter, to kill, to spoil or ruin, to defeat an opponent very badly)
Drunkenness(intoxication, the state of being drunk)
Revellings (rioting, a carousal, enjoy oneself in a lively and noisy way, especially with drinking and dancing)

How do you put off the old man?

You put off the old man and its works by changing your life (lifestyle, habits). Stop feeding your flesh; your old way of thinking, habits, behavior, emotions, feelings, lusts, desires, etc. and stop obeying them. Don’t be led by them and don’t give into them. Instead, feed your spirit with the Word of God and obey the Word and the Spirit, and be led by Them.

When you feed your spirit with the Word of God, pray and speak in other tongues, you shall build yourself in your most holy faith.

During the process of putting off the old man, fasting plays an important role. Because when you fast you ‘kill’ the flesh (ອ່ານນຳ: What is the meaning of fasting?).

When you feed your spirit and renew your mind with the Word of God, you shall get to know the will of God and think like the new creation. Because of the fact that you think like the new creation, you will also speak and act as the new creation.

You shallput on the new man and walk as the new man; the new creation after the will of God.

The new creation is risen with Christ and is seated in Him in the heavenly places. Therefore, the new creation will seek the things which are above and not upon this earth (ເອເຟໂຊ 2:5-6, ໂຄໂລຊາຍ 3:1).

When you feed your spirit with the Word, pray, and speak in tongues, your spirit shall mature and shall become stronger than your flesh.

Your flesh, which has always reigned as king in your life shall scream and try everything to draw your attention, so that you will give into the cravings, lusts, and desires of your flesh.

But as long as you follow the Word and say and do what the Word says and don’t listen to your flesh and don’t give in and keep feeding your spirit, then your spirit shall reign together with the Word and the Holy Spirit as King in your life.

It’s important to put off the old man. Because only when you put off the old man, you shall not be led and dominated by your senses, carnal mind, and your carnal way of thinking, desires, lusts, emotions, feelings, etc. You shall no longer be a slave of your flesh with its sinful nature and not be controlled by the kingdom of darkness. But you shall reign in Jesus Christ from the Kingdom of God over your flesh and over sin.