Ephesians 4:20-24 But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the Truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true Righteousness and Holiness.

 

In Romans, Ephesians, and Colossians, the Apostle Paul wrote about the old man and the new man. His words to the Ephesians and the Colossians were almost exactly the same but we do find one difference that is extremely important to all believers.

 

To the Ephesians Paul wrote and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true Righteousness and Holiness. Here we see that the Finished Work of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary was sufficient to take everything of the old man away from us and clothe us in true Righteousness and Holiness. This process is called Sanctification and it means to be set apart from the world and be transformed in our minds. On Crucifixion Day, Jesus paid the price for all this to happen for every person on earth. His Work was complete and He said so when He said It is finished. (John 19:30)

 

To the Colossians he wrote and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, The Greek translation of this verse indicates that the new man is BEING RENEWED; that he is undergoing a process of renewal.

 

Every born-again believer knows this to be true. We are not the same person as we were prior to our Salvation. We are different because some of the things the old man used to say and do are no longer there. However, at times, parts of the old man in us will still pop up given the right circumstances.

 

Yesterday, we discussed the fact that Paul compared the old man and the new man to clothes. The old man is like old clothes and the new man is like new clothes. The problem is, old clothes are comfortable. They may look ragged but they feel good when we put them on. The same is true with old shoes.

 

God does not want us to wear the old clothes and shoes. Jesus died to give us new clothes and new shoes. As long as the old clothes and shoes are in our closet, we might choose to wear them. So, Sanctification is actually the process of cleaning out our spiritual closet and getting rid of all the old clothes and shoes that don’t go with the new, born-again person that we are now.

 

Perhaps it’s time to do some spring cleaning of our spiritual closets. What’s in there that needs to be thrown out? How many pairs of old shoes are still there waiting for you to put them on and take you down the wrong path? If there is anything in your spiritual closet that resembles the old man, it’s time to take it out and get rid of it. God has something new for you and it’s much better than all that old stuff. Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary so you can have everything new BUT you have to give up the old.

 

Jesus died to……….turn the tide……….in your life.

 

Still getting rid of old clothes,         Doreen

 

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