I'd like for you to turn your
Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter four. The title of the message is Put
on the New Man. And just to make it perfectly
clear, I'm not just talking to men today, I'm talking to ladies
too. That's man in the generic sense, talking about God's people. Let me begin by asking you this
question. Have you made your New Year's resolutions? Have
you done that? Well, my advice to you is pretty
much you know where that's going to lead and what it's going to
do. But what I want to talk to you
today about is what we should resolve to do every day of our
lives as believers, as sinners saved by grace. This is not a
new year. This is a new day. And I'm talking
about a 24 hour day, not just during the sunlight, but at the
night when we're asleep, what the apostle Paul was inspired
to write as David prayed things that are to guide our lives. Uh, He wrote by inspiration of
the Spirit. And that passage that Brother
David just read is a parallel passage to this. And if you'll,
you'll look at verse, let's go back to verse 20 of Ephesians
four. He begins, number one, by talking
about putting off the old. He says the old man. Over in
Colossians, the old man and his deeds. Putting them off. and putting on the new man. And
so you know that's a metaphor. It's like wearing clothes and
things like that, but what Paul's talking about here is not just
an outer thing. It's not just how we appear before
each other. It's nothing that would indicate
that I should act outwardly in one way but think differently
in another. That's what I'm saying. This putting off and putting
on has to do with spiritual things wherein God by the Holy Spirit
through the Lord Jesus Christ has changed our minds, how we
think, changed our hearts, You know, the heart is made up of
the mind, the affections, the will. What we should desire and
what we should not desire, even though we desire both. And it's part of describing the
struggle that believers go through, and that's our lives now. You
know, I've always, I've told you, you know, that basically
you can, You can summarize a believer's life, a sinner saved by grace,
in three statements. And they all begin with S. Number
one is our standing before God in Christ. And if you look at
that Colossians 3 passage that Brother David read, listen to
what he says here. He says, verse three, For you
are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. We're dead? How are we dead? Are you dead? I'm up here preaching. What is he talking about? He's
talking about our standing before God in Christ. It has to do with
our justification. that all our sins are forgiven,
and we're declared righteous before God in Christ, and we've
been given life from Him. And so our standing before God
is sure and certain, eternally saved. Our life is hid with Christ
in God. Christ is my surety. Christ is
my redeemer. Christ is my righteousness. And
when he died, I died. Now we'll talk about another
scripture here in just a minute in line with that. When he was
buried, I was buried. He was my representative. My
surety, my sins were imputed to him. His righteousness to
me. When he was buried, I was buried.
When he arose again, I arose again. That's our standing before
God and it never changes. Never changes. Never will change. We're secure in Christ because
our life is hid with Christ in God. Now there's no better hiding
place than that, let me tell you something. You can hide from
people and from things here on earth, but eventually you'll
get found out. But right here, sin cannot find us, Satan cannot
find us, he can bring no charge on us. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Think about it. God cannot charge
us with sin. Who shall anything to the charge
of God's elect? It's God that justify. He has
no charge against me. Because he charged all my sins
to Christ and Christ put them away. As far as the East is from
the West. And you know East and West can
never meet. So that's it. That's my standing. The next thing that describes
a true Christian life is state. What is my state in this world? And it has changed, but it'll
never change again. It started out born dead, spiritually
dead in trespasses and sins. I fell in Adam and I was born
spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, spiritually depraved
But in God's appointed time, he sent forth the word of God
in the power of the Spirit to me, and I was born again. And now I'm a sinner saved by
grace, a believer, whereas once I was blind, now I see. Now,
that change that took place in that new birth, let me just put
it to you this way, that first state, spiritually dead in trespasses
and sins, that's the old man. Now this new state, born spiritually
of the word, a believer, that's the new man. I'm gonna capitalize
on that. We'll look at it some more. But
that's my state. My state before God now is I'm
a sinner saved by grace, a believer, a servant of righteousness, a
sinner still. Still having the flesh now. I
still have what we call the vestiges of the old man. Because I still
have the flesh. You remember when Paul said in
Romans 7, 24, oh wretched man that I am? The new man and the
wretched man are the same man. How can you, if something's new
and you got and buy a new car, for example, you say, look at
that wretched car. No, you don't do that. But that's
what we are, the wretched man, a sinner saved by grace. And
here comes the third thing that describes the Christian life,
and this all our lives until we go home to be with the Lord,
struggle. We struggle. We're in a warfare,
a warfare with the flesh, warfare with the world, a warfare with
the death, but that warfare with him, boy, that's something, isn't
it? Well, that's why he says, In verse five of Colossians three,
mortified therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication,
uncleanness. That means put them to death,
struggle against them, fight them, war against them. They're
there. And you will not be rid of those things until you die
or until the Lord comes back. You go to be with him. Well,
with that in mind, look over at Ephesians chapter four. Look
back at verse 20. Paul writes here, he says, but
you have not so learned Christ. The education that we have been
put through by the Spirit, through the Word, is learning Christ. Learning who He is, learning
what He's accomplished, learning what He commands us, learning
how He guides us, learning how He motivates us, and learning
what we are in Him, and learning how we struggle in this world
with ourselves. And he says in verse 21, if so
be that you have heard him, heard the gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace, and have been taught by him. He's the teacher.
We learn him because he teaches us as the truth is in Jesus. And that's one thing we need
to really keep in mind here. That all truth has to be measured
by how it stands in Christ. Anything that's true concerning
me, whether it's just concerning my standing, my state, or my
struggle, I have to learn that and understand that in connection
with my salvation by God's grace in and by the person and work
of Christ. So that if anybody gives me any guidance or a commandment
I know this one thing. Whatever happens there, it doesn't
change my standing before God. It doesn't. And then concerning
my state, whatever happens there, I know that I'm a believer in
Christ. I've got no other hope. Somebody
says, well, you know, sometimes I don't act like a believer.
No, you're wrong. A lot of times you don't act
like a believer. Me too. That's no excuse. That shouldn't
be something that I rest easy on. But I know this. Whatever happens to me in this
world, whether I go down or go up, Christ is my only hope. That's why I put that song in
today, my favorite hymn. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. You know the worst thing a sinner
can do? Is to divide his loyalties between Christ and somebody else
or something else. Because that's an indication
you don't know him, you haven't learned him. I'm telling you. My hope is not in my preaching,
it's not in my do-gooding, it's not in my sincerity. I hope all
those things are with me. But that's not my assurance.
You know, a lot of people who claim to believe sovereign grace,
they believe in assurance, works-based assurance. I know I'm saved because
I'm doing this and not doing that. That's a lie. That's a lie from hell. It sounds
good to religious people. And here's the point. If you
gain any assurance from that, All that makes you is a self-righteous
Pharisee. And if you don't gain any assurance
from it, all that makes you is, as old John Bunyan said, swimming
in the slough of despond. My friend, my life is hid with
God in Christ. And he's it. Somebody says, well, where do
I find assurance? Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. Don't look anywhere else. Back
when Moses held up the serpent on the pole, look and live. Look
where? Look to Moses? No. Look to the
pole? No. Look around you? No. Look to
the fiery serpent, that's Christ. And if you're really looking
to him alone, I'm gonna tell you something. You're a new creation. That's the new man. Well, he says here in verse 22,
he says that you put off concerning the former conversation, that's
the former walk, former lifestyle, former way of thinking, the old
man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust Now you
see that? Put off concerning the former
conversation, that conduct, that behavior, that way of life, that
way of thinking, the old man. And then he's gonna tell us to
put on the new man. What is the, well, let's read. He says, and
be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the
new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Now here's what I know. If the
new man is created in righteousness and true holiness, Or some translations
say the holiness of truth. If that's how the new man is
created, I'll tell you right now, I didn't create him. You
didn't either. God did. If any man be in Christ,
he's a new creation. But what is this old man, new
man? What it does, it speaks of our spiritual state in this
world. The old man is our spiritual connection with Adam in the fall. and in our natural state of spiritual
death and depravity, and our former conversation in that state
was unbelievers, servants of sin. Before being made new creations
in Christ, before the new birth, before being brought to faith
in Christ and true repentance. That's the old man. The new man
is our spiritual connection in Christ in the new birth. Our
conversation in this state is as servants of righteousness.
Now look back at the passage I read at the opening, 2 Corinthians
chapter five. Now most people, when they speak
of being born again, or when they speak of what they call
getting saved, they think of the outward works of the flesh
that have changed for them, Reformation, I was a smoker, now I don't smoke.
I was a drinker, now I don't drink. I didn't go to church,
but now I go to church. That has nothing to do with this
situation. Well, are you advocating smoking? No, I don't advocate that. My
wife's allergic to it, and I don't like it either. But that has
nothing to do with the old man and the new man. Are you saying
we should abstain from all drinking? We're to do everything in moderation.
That's what the scripture says, doesn't it? Moderation. Are you saying that we should
live like hellions? No, I'm not saying that at all.
But all of that can change without the power and grace of God. Did
you know that? False religion can change all. False religion
can reform a person. Calls them to taste not, touch
not, handle not, all of that. In fact, Paul in Colossians,
he calls that acting like the world. But look here in 2 Corinthians
chapter five. Look at verse 14. Paul says,
for the love of Christ constrains us. How do I know that God loves
me? How do I know that Christ loves
me? You see, in a fallen, unlearned state, I'd say something like
this, well, doesn't God love everybody? Didn't Christ die
for everybody? Well, look at what he says, for
the love of Christ constrained us because we thus judge that
if one died for all, then we're all dead or all have died. Now,
what is that saying? That's saying that all whom Christ
died for, they died with him. And if you died with him, you
were buried with him. And if you're buried with him,
you're resurrected with him. That's our standing before God.
And then he says in verse 15, and that he died for all, not
all without exception, but who did he die for? And that he died
for all that they which live, spiritually live, that's salvation,
should not henceforth live unto themselves. but unto him which
died for them and arose again." Living for the glory of God,
living for the preeminence of Christ. And he says in verse
16, now look at this, wherefore henceforth from this time forward,
no, we no man after the flesh. What did he tell me? He said,
we don't judge according to the flesh now. Somebody comes to
me, well, I had a man stand right down here after we had a guest
preacher in one time, and he preached the gospel. This man
was a visitor, and he didn't like what he heard. He didn't
want to hear about election and predestination and grace. And
he stood right down here, and he went after me. I didn't even
preach that night, but he went after me. And he said, I knew
that I was saved when I put down those cigarettes. Well, that's judging after the
flash. We don't do that anymore. That's the old man, you see.
That's passed away. You understand what I'm saying?
Now we have a new ground of judgment, and it's the gospel. What think
ye of Christ? That's the issue, not what you
think of Camels or Winstons. What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he? Who is he? What did he do? Why
did he do it? Where is he now? There's the
issues of the new man. And so he says, wherefore, henceforth,
though we know man after the flesh, yea, though we have known
Christ after the flesh, and many did, he walked this earth in
the flesh without sin. Yet now henceforth know we him
no more. We don't even judge him after
the flesh. You know what people said of him who judged him after
the flesh? He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, had no
comeliness that we should desire him. But who was he? Who is he? He's the Lord of glory. He's my whole salvation. He's
my righteousness. That's what's changed. And so he says, Therefore, verse
17, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things
are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. That's not talking about our character and conduct as
far as the flesh is concerned. There may be things that we did
in a fallen, dead state that we should stop doing. There's
no doubt about that. What did Paul say? Stop lying.
Don't be a liar. We're gonna look at these things.
Stop fooling yourself. Put away lasciviousness. Put
away lust. Stop those things. You're not
gonna be able to stop them completely because of the flesh. And what
inroads you make, what progress you make, it still will not make
you righteous before God. Because righteousness has to
be measured by Jesus Christ. That's what's changed. All false religion, what do they
believe? Salvation at some point, to some degree, in some way,
conditioned on sinners. I don't believe that, now do
you? That's passed away. I used to believe that. That's
the old man. Measuring righteousness on a
sliding scale. I used to do that. I used to
think, well, boy, I wish I could be like Brother So-and-so. Well,
Brother So-and-so's a sinner. Why do I want to be like him?
I wanna be like Christ. Christ is the measure of righteousness
now. That's what's changed. All things
made new in salvation. That's what it's talking about.
It's not talking about what we do outwardly. Again, the Lord
guides us in these things, but we look at them differently,
don't we? Don't you look at them differently than you used to? Turn over to Romans chapter six. This gives us some, now you know
a lot of people, when they think about the old man and the new
man, they think about what they call the old nature and the new
nature. And I don't particularly like
that language because I think it's confusing. But here's the
thing about it. A believer is a person who has
the spirit, the Holy Spirit, who testifies with our spirits
the life that God has given us in our thinking and all of this,
that we are the children of God, but he or she has the flesh too.
And they're at war. Paul describes that in Galatians
five. But look here, look at verse four, or verse three of
Romans six. He says, no you not, that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into
his death. Now that baptized there doesn't
mean water baptism. It's talking about being in union
with Christ. We're in union with Christ. And
there's several ways we can describe that union. I don't have time
this morning to go into all that. But here's what he's talking
about here. He's talking about being united to Christ spiritually
in the new birth. 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. God gives us life from the dead. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. And that's what we gain. And
we gain that because of what Christ did on the cross. He died,
he was buried, he arose again. That's the ground of it. You
see, the work of Christ on the cross is the ground of our justification
before God. My sins are forgiven, I'm declared
righteous because of what Christ accomplished on the cross. but
it's also the source and power of spiritual life given me in
the new birth. Romans 8.10 says, the body, this
body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. Well, where are you gonna find
righteousness? Not in stopping this and doing that and joining
the church and getting, no, we find righteousness in Christ.
So he says in verse five, for if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness
of his resurrection. Now look at verse six. Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him. Now that means the old man is
dead. He says that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin. And then he says, for he
that is dead is freed from sin. That means justified. The old
man is dead in what sense? Not in the sense that I still
don't have the flesh with me, struggling and warring against
the spirit within. I'm still a sinner. You've been
born again, you're still a sinner. One saved by grace, but you're
still a sinner. But how is the old man dead?
Legally, he's dead. That means this, that the sins
that I have done, the sins that I am, has fallen in Adam, born
dead in trespasses and sins, and still being a sinner saved
by grace, none of those sins can be charged to me. They've
been put to death with Christ on the cross. That's the sense
that the old man is dead. I cannot be condemned because
of the old man. I'm alive in Christ. My life
is hid with God in Christ, with God in Christ. And so look over
at verse 17 now. And when he says there in verse
seven, he that is dead is freed, he's justified, he's forgiven. Not just of some sins, but of
all sin. Past sin, present sin, future
sin, original sin, all sin, forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. I heard a preacher say one time,
he said, the cost of forgiveness is your repentance. My friend,
that's the flesh. God does not forgive you at the
cost of your repenting. God has forgiven all of his people
now and forever at the cost of the blood of Christ. You see
the difference? And you know when God the Holy Spirit brings
you to see that, he'll bring you to repentance then. Repentance
is the fruit of that, the evidence of that. And so We're justified,
we're declared righteous. Not because of what we've stopped
doing and started doing, but because of what Christ finished
on the cross. It's finished. And if you realize
that, and know that, and trust that, that's the power of God.
We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good work.
Now look at verse 17 of Romans 6. But God bethink that you were
the servants of sin, that's unbeliever, but you've obeyed from the heart
that form of doctrine which was delivered you, that's the gospel
and the power of the spirit, being then made free from sin,
you became the servants of righteousness. A servant of righteousness is
a believer. Now as I said, look back at Ephesians
four. We're in a struggle. We still
have the vestiges of the old man, the sinful flesh that influences
and even contaminates everything we do. That's right. Even the good works
that God does that come through us can only be accepted with
God in Christ. Listen to this, this is 1 Peter
2, verse five, I'll just read it to you. He says, you also
as lively or living stones, now that's a born again person, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood separated, priesthood
meaning we have the right title to go to God through Christ,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices. Now what are those spiritual
sacrifices? Well, we're met here today. to
offer up spiritual sacrifices. You say sacrifices? You're not
killing a lamb or a goat, no. What are our spiritual sacrifices?
Our prayers, our worship, the worship that you're doing right
now. That's a spiritual sacrifice. My preaching, all of that. And what does Peter say? Offer
up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. It's not acceptable because you're
sincere. Now, I hope you are sincere.
We need to be sincere. I want to be more sincere than
I am. But that's not what makes my prayers and my worship, my
singing acceptable to God. You understand that? You ought to be genuine. Don't
be hypocrites. Oh, the flesh would make us hypocrites.
That's the old man. We gotta struggle, we gotta fight
that. But it's not my genuineness that makes my prayers and my
preaching and my worship acceptable to God. It's the blood of Jesus
Christ. We have a great high priest who's
passed through into the heavens. And that's the reason we have
a right and title to go boldly to the throne of grace. It's
because of Christ. Well, he says to put off and
put on. Put off the old man, put on the
new. Well, what is that? That's acts of God-given faith
and repentance. Paul wrote in Galatians 3, 26,
he says, you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put
on Christ. What is it to put on Christ?
It's to believe in him. It's to rest in him. It's to
plead his blood and righteousness continually. and never come off
of that. And when you do, you know what's
happening? That's the struggle. Job came off of it for a while,
didn't he? He got to justifying himself, and then God brought
him to his knees. Well, I've run out of time. So let me just say this, now
what he does here, and we'll come back to this next week, he gives us specific words of
guidance that apply not just in our relationship with one
another, but apply with our relationship to God and our relationship to
one another as children of God. And just to give you an idea
of what he's talking about there, when he says stop lying, well,
listen, if you're a liar, stop being a liar. I don't need to
give you a 12-step program to do that. Just stop it. If you're known
to be a dishonest person, there used to be a car lot when we'd
go into Ashland. We'd get off I-64 and go in on,
what is that, Route 5, I think? But anyway, there was a car lot,
and the guy who owned it, he had a sign up, and it said, Lion
Lee's car lot. And I noticed he's taking that
down. I don't know if the city made
him do that, or if he just got convicted or something, I don't
know. He said, Lion Lee's. Go buy a used car from Lion Lee.
I thought, what an idiot. But anyway, well, he ought to
stop it, but that's not gonna save him. If you're a dishonest
person, don't be a dishonest. But you know what the mainstay
of this stoplight is? Stop lying to God. Stop trying
to come before God as if he owes you something. Take your place
in the dust before a holy God and beg mercy, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. And that's the way you approach
your brethren too. showing I'm no better than you.
Don't come up, I think it's in the book of Isaiah, y'all correct
me if I'm wrong, but where it says those people who say, don't
come near me, I'm holier than thou. That's a lie. Stop it. That's what he means, and we'll
go on with some more of that next week. All right, let's sing
Blessed Assurance, hymn number 255.