Old Man, New Man

Q: What does the Bible say about the old man and new man in Christ?

The Bible teaches that believers experience a duality of nature, coexisting as sinful in the flesh (the old man) and righteous in Christ (the new man). The Bible presents a complex understanding of the believer's identity in Christ where both the old and new natures exist simultaneously. Romans 3:23 reminds us that 'for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,' illustrating our fallen state in Adam. This old man is described in Jeremiah 17:9 as 'deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.' However, upon salvation, believers become new creations, as 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, 'therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.' This new man is indwelled by the Holy Spirit, empowered to live in a manner that reflects Christ's righteousness, yet the old man, characterized by sin, still remains. Thus, believers are called to walk in the Spirit to combat the influence of the flesh, as articulated in Romans 7:18-23.

Q: Why is understanding the concept of sin important for Christians?

Understanding sin is vital for Christians to recognize their need for Christ and to live in accordance with His righteousness. The concept of sin is foundational in the Christian faith, primarily because it reveals our desperate need for salvation through Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23 asserts that 'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,' indicating that every person is in need of redemption. Sin is defined in 1 John 3:4 as 'the transgression of the law.' Consequently, understanding sin helps believers acknowledge their own shortcomings and the need for God's grace. Furthermore, it guides Christians in confessing their sins (1 John 1:9) and relying on Christ's righteousness rather than their own. This awareness fosters a deeper appreciation for the sacrifice of Jesus, who, as described in 1 John 3:5, was manifested to take away our sins, thus enabling believers to strive for holiness in their lives.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of regeneration is true?

The doctrine of regeneration is affirmed by Scripture, which teaches that believers are made new creations through faith in Christ. The legitimacy of the doctrine of regeneration is rooted in Scripture's testimony about the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. John 3:3 states, 'Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,' underscoring the necessity of being born from above. Further empirical support for this doctrine can be found in 2 Corinthians 5:17, which declares, 'if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.' This regeneration is not a surface-level change but a profound spiritual rebirth that reshapes a person’s desires and inclinations, aligning them with God’s will. Additionally, Ezekiel 36:26 speaks of God’s promise to give a new heart and spirit, highlighting the divine agency in regeneration. These scriptural foundations reassure Christians of the reality and truth of their regeneration.

Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. I'm going to go ahead and get
started. I don't have anything to turn to right yet, here in
just a few minutes. But I read, was on Facebook, and
I seen something posted to a Sovereign Grace group. And it doesn't matter
who wrote it, but this was given and had the heading of Hot Take. So here is the quote from what
was said. Quote, Jeremiah 17 9 doesn't
apply to the Christian whose heart has been cleansed and made
new by the blood of the lamb. This is not me saying that Christians
are to be following their hearts. Our hearts are to be led and
subdued by the word of the Lord. But my point is, if we are in
Christ, our hearts are no longer depraved or in the bondage of
iniquity. The Lord Jesus Christ dwells
in our hearts. He is supreme Lord of our hearts
and our hearts that were once desperately wicked and hostile
to God are now hungering and thirsting after his righteousness
and longing to become more like Christ." End quote. This statement
might sound good to some folks. but it's a complete lie on God
and what he tells us in his word on several things. It is at the
very least not very clear for sure. Because it does have some
things in pieces of it is okay and it says that it's okay. This
was given the heading hot take by the one writing it and of
course someone else shared it boasting about it. I read in
Scripture in 2 Peter 1.20, it says, knowing this first, that
no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. It doesn't matter what our take
on God's Word is, whether it be hot or cold. What God says
in His Word is true no matter what our take is on the matter.
When it says no prophecy of scriptures of any private interpretation,
it means it does not matter what our take is on it. Now maybe
God will show the one that wrote this different one day, and maybe
the one that shared it. But what was surmised by this
individual is totally wrong, and I hope to show that today.
But turn with me, if you would, to 1 John, 1 John 1. 1 John 1 right now, I've got a
couple of places in John I want to turn to and read before we
get started here. But 1 John 1, verses 5 through
10. 1 John 1, verse 5. But whoso keepeth
his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby
know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him
ought himself also so to walk even as he walked. Brethren,
I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which
ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word
which ye have heard. I think I'm in the wrong place
here. I am. I'm in chapter two, not
chapter one, so I'm sorry about that. Okay, chapter one, verses
five through 10. Okay. Verse 5 of chapter 1, this
then is the message which we have heard of him and declaring
to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light,
as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all
sin. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. And if we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Now turn over to
1 John 3. 1 John 3. verses 1-9 is what I want to
read. 1 John 3 verses 1-9. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God? Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, Joe. But we
know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this
hope in him purified himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever
commit a sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression
of the law. And ye know that he was manifested
to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth
in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. He that commiteth sin is of the
devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God. Two different passages in the
same book, and kind of seem like they conflict with one another,
don't they? But we're going to lay a straight
stick down and look, and then from that, and the straight stick
is this. And we're gonna lay that down
and we're gonna see what the truth is and then thereby we
can see what's crooked. So let's look at today and see
what part of scripture applies to us. This will be a short one.
And that is his chosen called out people, what applies to us.
What is our state as we are born in Adam? And what are we as we
are born from above? And how does this explain things?
That's my headings. So what part of scripture applies
to us? Those who have been chosen out
and called, those who have been regenerated, if you will, and
have heard the gospel and believed. 2 Timothy 3, 15 through 17, we
read this. and that from a child thou hast
known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture. is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works. So what does this
say? All scripture, or that is the
whole of scripture, is given for these very reasons. So for
someone to tell me something doesn't apply to the Christian
is just flat out wrong. For these reasons, it's good.
Doctrine for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness.
So all scripture is for the man of God. That is for those who
stand up and proclaim his word and for all those who hear his
word. So telling me something does
not apply to the Christian is a flat out lie against God and
what he says in his word. Because all of his word is God
breathed and applies to the Christian. That seems pretty simple to me,
but there are some who cannot see this. I tell you these things
because, you know, especially when you hear it on a sovereign
grace site, someone might go there and not really be paying
attention to what they're reading and think what they're reading
is good, but it's not from God. What I read you was not from
God's word. But let's go on and see even
more what we can see from scripture and how it applies to this called
out one. So next we have, what is our
state as we are born in it? We have a short, simple verse
that tells us this. Romans 3.23, for all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. And keep in mind our text
in 1 John. So we have all sinned, and not
only that, we are all sinned by nature. We are the fountain
of sin, and that brings forth sin as the stream. Why is this? Jeremiah 17.9. The heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The heart we are born with is
deceitful. It's not just a little bit deceitful.
It is deceitful above all things. It is incurably wicked, that's
what it says. And I want you to notice that
the word means incurable. This heart cannot be cured. God
is not going to fix up our heart or fix us up. There is no fixing
this fallen sinful flesh. It is as bad as it can be. It
will deceive you into thinking you are doing pretty good. It
will deceive you by taking pieces of scripture but not considering
the whole of scripture. This world does this all the
time. They pull out pieces of scripture and do not look at
them with a preponderant testimony of scripture. And it's easy to
do, to have a doctrine in your mind that you want to defend
and simply ignore scriptures that show you to be a liar. That shows you to be a liar by
doing that. Second Corinthians 517, we read,
therefore, if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature. Old things
are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. So whatever is going to be good or do good, it's not
going to be what we are born with in Adam. God is clear to
us in what we are by nature. We are sick from head to toe
in everything we do, even our righteousnesses are filthy rags
in God's sight. What else do we read, James 1
verses 23 through 25? For if any be a hearer of the
word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and
goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man
he was. but whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in
his deed. God's people know that they are
still corrupt as they can be. Knowing and holding to that perfect
law of liberty, that is, that law by faith, they see and know
what Christ has done, which has secured their salvation. The
unregenerate and the reprobate cannot see this because they
do not have that new creation, that new creature which has eyes
that can see, ears that can hear, and a heart that understands.
He has not, however, taken away that old man or that old heart.
I've read to you this before, the passages that we've read
in the Old Testament from Ezekiel, Ezekiel 11, 19. And I will give
them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And
I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give
them a heart of flesh. And also in Ezekiel 36, 26, it
says about the same thing. A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of
flesh. I know when most read this, and
seeing it saying both these things at the same time, makes them
see this happening at the same time. This does not say that
he will do this at one time, meaning the same time he gives
a new heart, he will take away the stony heart at the same time.
If we look into the mirror and forget what manner of man we
were, and yes, I do say we were, I will explain that a little
later. But that old man had no life. He had no understanding
and had no sight or hearing. God's people remember the pit
from which they were digged. What do we read of David? David
was a man where it said God had sought him out and that he was
a man after God's own heart. I know this is speaking of one
greater than David and that's Jesus Christ. But God did choose
David from his father's sons. That's from Jesse's sons. What
do we read in the Psalms from David who followed after God
and after that time with Bathsheba where he committed adultery and
murder and lies against God? We read in Psalm 51 10, create
in me a clean heart. Oh God and renew a right spirit
within me. God hears before we even ask. God gives before we even ask. For a man to know he needs a
new heart, he has that heart before he even asks. He would
not know otherwise if he did not already have that heart. What does Christ tell us in the
New Testament, Matthew 15, 19? For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, Murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. Do you have evil thoughts? Not
talking about actions, I'm just talking about thoughts. If you
say no, God says you make him a liar. This is talking to God's
people when it says that, 1 John 1.8. If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. And also
in verse 10, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him
a liar, and his word is not in us. We have this old man with
us, and though we do not follow after this old man, we follow
after Christ in the new man. But we still have that old man,
and with every fiber it has, it cries out, I will not have
this man reign over me. But we have another account that
we are all very familiar with, and if you would, turn with me
to Romans 7. Romans 7. Romans 7 and verses 18 through
23. For I know that in me that is
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For
the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now if I do that I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring
against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin, which is in my members." There is this battle. This battle, who some mockingly
sometimes like to say, makes us schizophrenic. I'm gonna tell
you, sometimes the thoughts I have and the way I feel sometimes,
I feel a little bit schizophrenic with some of those. It's a real
battle, one that every believer has because they have been created
new. But they still have that old
man. What does this cause Paul to say in the next verse? O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
We are wretches. We are in a trial in this life
constantly. But Paul does not stop there.
He says, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
There is only one answer, and that answer is Christ. He gives
us a new heart. He creates us new. This is not
talking about creating the Holy Spirit in us. For what need is
there of creating the Spirit of God new? As Joe and I was
talking about this one time, he made this statement, and it's
certainly true. Does God create a new creation
of the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit has always been.
The Holy Spirit is the I Am. The Holy Spirit is not created,
period. He is given by Jesus Christ to
those to whom he loves. This is a new man created which
then has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God to guide them.
Think about it. If we only have one heart and
the Spirit is guiding us in that heart, why do we sin? Do you
have evil thoughts? Is the spirit of God guiding
you into that? God forbid. God does not tempt
any man. James 1, 13 and 14 says, let
no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God
cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.
But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust
and enticed. It is this old man which we still
have with us. He is as corrupt as he ever was. But what about this new man?
So where are we as we are born from above? James 1 17 we read,
every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh
down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. So that new man is perfect. That
new man with the fruit of the Spirit has many perfect gifts. That new man that is in Christ
and is filled with the Holy Spirit from above does as the Lord directs
his steps. If we say we do not sin, if we
say we have no sin, we make God a liar. When we become Christians
and if the heart we are born with in Adam is led by the Spirit
of God, then why do we fall? There is no doubt that we do
fall. But that new man, that new heart, is led by the indwelling
spirit of God, and with those fruit of the spirit of which
there is no law against, those things the new man honors him.
But there's nothing about that new man that causes him to look
within himself to find righteousness. What do we read in 1 John 3,
verses three? And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. What hope
is it talking about? Back up in verse two. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. There will come a time when we
will put off this body of flesh, this flesh which does always
fight against God. That fight that comes from this
old man is a fight that thinks, I can of myself do something
worthy of God. But the new man knows he is created
by God and that everything that he is and does comes from God. What do we go on to read in 1
John 3 and verse 4? Whosoever committeth sin transgresses
also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. If
we say we have no sin, we make God a liar. But this new creation
is born of God. But let's keep reading it in
verse 5 of 1 John 3. And ye know that he was manifested
to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Jesus Christ has
no sin, and it was his purpose to come into this world to take
away our sins, and he did. Verse six, whosoever abideth
in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Is the apostle John telling us
one thing and then telling us another? No. That new man created
in Christ Jesus does not sin. This new man, what does he look
like? I can't tell you. All I can tell
you is what God tells us. If we abide in Him, we have no
sin and we sin not. So 1 John 3 verses 7-9, let's
read that. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of
the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Whosoever is born of God does
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God. So what is the reason why this
new man does not commit sin? His seed remaineth in him. He
has the spirit of God, the spirit of Christ in him. So we have
next, how does this explain things? I think it's kind of apparent
already, we've been looking at these things, but we have as
scripture puts it, this old man. And if you're one of God's and
you are born of God, you also have the new man, both at the
same time. We are as bad as we can be, but
also perfect and righteous in Christ Jesus at the same time. Romans 6 says, 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. Not
that we have no sin because this old man is full of sin. Jesus
Christ crucified that old man on that tree. Being born of God,
we no longer serve sin. Not that we do not sin, but we
no longer serve sin. Should God leave us but a moment
and take his hand from us, we would fall into a deep, dark
pit. But he does not take his hand
from us. He does allow us to fall, but
he and only he is able to keep us from falling. I do not have
it in me of myself to keep myself from falling. Isn't that what
we're told in Jude? To him that is able to keep us
from falling is who we look to. He works in us both the will
and to do of his good pleasure. But I want to give another verse
of scripture, Ephesians 4 verses 22, that ye put off concerning
the former conversation, the old man. which is corrupt according
to the deceitful lust. You don't think you're as bad
as you can be? God tells us that the old man
which we still have with us is corrupt. That word corrupt there
means to ruin. We are told to put off this old
man. How are we to do that? We look
to Jesus Christ. We look to him for everything.
We can do nothing if it were not for God. I do not look to
myself for if I do, I will see nothing but corruption and it
will have its way. But I look to him and trust him
that one day I will totally put off this old man. We read it
already in 1 John 3, 2. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. We are waiting in hope for that
day that Jesus Christ will return, and we will see him as he is.
We see through a glass darkly right now, 1 Corinthians 13,
12. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even also I am known.

Old Man, New Man

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the old man and new man in Christ?

Why is understanding the concept of sin important for Christians?

How do we know the doctrine of regeneration is true?

Sermon Transcript

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Old Man, New Man

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the old man and new man in Christ?

Why is understanding the concept of sin important for Christians?

How do we know the doctrine of regeneration is true?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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