September 24, 2020 LAY ASIDE AND PUT ON
Ephesians 4:20-24 “But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
To understand, to embrace and to put into practice the admonitions of the above verses is absolutely necessary if we are going to live the Christian life as God has designed-they are non-optional. Some may wait on God to ‘zap’ them, believing that everything is up to Him; God is for sure reigning and ruling, but He has given us responsibility in the process of living according to His plans. The crux of this section of the scriptures is that of laying aside our old way of life-our flesh- and putting on the new self. That sounds simple enough, but it requires us working with the Holy Spirit if we are to live according to the truth of these scriptures. I think that the biggest obstacle that prevents many from living out the truth of these verses is that they do not know or do not believe that they have been made a new creation, and that this new creation that God has made them to be “is in the likeness of God, has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (We made need to meditate on that truth for some time and let that soak into our spirit.) It is a stretch for us to believe, but nonetheless true, that our new self is in the “likeness of God.” Yes-you and I can live in this world in a way that is like God (not God but like Him), expressing His character and His nature to all. But some would disagree saying that our sin nature makes this an impossibility. That’s the very point-because part of being a new creation is that we now have the power to ‘lay aside’ the old self (the sin nature) and the power to ‘put on’ our new person. Our old life is of the flesh and contrary to the ways of God. Here is the ‘big’ deal of it all: we have the power to choose whether we lay aside the old man or whether we put on the new self-the new creation. God does not force us to walk in the new. If we do not know in our spirit our new identity as sons and daughters of God, we will not experience the life God has made available to us. To believe with our mind only our identity is not enough; we need the Holy Spirit to reveal this truth to us the deepest part of our being. There are no three easy steps to getting revelation from God, but we can be assured that if our heart is turned to Him, if He is our chief desire in life, and if we read His word in order to learn of Him, He will reveal truth to us about our new identity. Being tempted to sin is not sin; only when we act on the temptation does it become sin. The liberating truth is that we can say no to temptation, we can reject thoughts and actions that do not please the Lord, and we can live out of our new heart, new spirit and new nature. Let us lay aside our old self and put on our new self-sounds simple, but that’s what it’s all about.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Romans 6:4 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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