Put Off The Old Man and Put on The New Man Pt.3
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25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Paul is continuing on the topic of putting off the old man and putting on the new man. Which as we saw last week is at the heart of our identity as Believers in Christ.
One of the Scriptures that we looked at last week was Gal 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Death of self “I have been crucified with Christ”. When we come to the cross of Jesus we must lay down our ego. We yield our rights, we yield our agendas, we yield our dreams and aspirations. After all, where did these things get us?
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
So what loss is there? In fact Paul own evaluation of this sacrifice is in.
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
So we must lay down ourselves, our identity at the cross but we must also pick something up. We must pick up a new identity. A new self, a new life.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
We take up a new life, that is the life of Christ.
Again back in Rom 6:10-11
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In fact we cannot truely lay down our old self unless we pick up (or put on) the new self, Jesus Christ.
As the late Bob Dylan told us, Your gunna have to serve somebody. It may be the Devil or it may be the Lord but you’re gunna have to serve somebody.
Paul perhaps says it better
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
In other words, the only way to stop being a slave to sin is to become a slave of God. That’s a profound truth.
I have experience this in my own life and I have seen it in others. I’ve spoken to people who are in bondage to sin, stuck in addiction. And I ask them, “why do you want freedom from this addiction?” Perhaps it’s because it’s embarrassing or because we can see it’s destructive influence in our life. Truely these things are shameful and destructive but we cannot find freedom from these things simply because we don’t want the shame or destruction. The promise of freedom is only to those who have died. What I mean is that we are only free from sin when we become a slave to God. If you’re not ready to become a slave on God then you will not find the freedom that Paul speaks of here.
Sure there are many who have overcome addictions who have not surrendered to God but do they have true freedom? Or do they live in fear that they may go back to that sin or have they just traded one addiction for another. The freedom described here is true freedom, lasting freedom but it only comes from becoming a slave to God.
That’s why we must put off the old man but we must also put on the new.
25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.
Put Off Lying and Put on Truth
Put Off Lying and Put on Truth
Truth and deception have been a theme so far. We saw in
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
Which we noted is not just speaking truth but the word directly translated would be something like truthing. It is to be true and speak truth. And we do this in love. We don’t use truth as a weapon but we speak and live truth in love so that we build one another up in truth.
Then in
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
It is the truth which sets us free and Jesus is that truth. This is in contrast to the deceitful lust or the lie of sin.
So no Paul tells us to put off lying and to put on speaking and living truth in love and the reason given is because we are members of the same body.
So don’t tell lies, don’t live lies, but rather speak and live truth, speaking truth to one another so that we grow together.
Also...
Put Off Anger and Put on Forgiveness
Put Off Anger and Put on Forgiveness
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give place to the devil.
There is a righteous anger and there is an unrighteous anger. Righteous anger in angry at sin. It is a righteous hatred for sin which God’s people should have. We are far too tolerant of sin in our lives. But righteous anger also knows where that anger should be placed. Some of the most wicked sins are committed by those who believe that they have righteous anger.
Paul’s instruction here seems to be directed toward conflicts that we have with one another. I believe what he is saying is that we should be slow to react in anger and quick to forgive those we are angry with.
When you feel angry with someone I find that it is best to put off reacting or confronting them as long as is possible. Often times you will find that more information comes to light and you are glad that you didn’t say anything. What ever the case you are much more likely to sin when you are angry with them. Spend some time in prayer and find peace before you confront someone and you will be much less likely to sin.
Forgive quickly. Don’t hold grudges, anger and bitterness destroy your peace and make you an unhappy person.
How quickly should you forgive? Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath. Don’t even go to sleep until you have forgiven that person.
Some say but it’s hard to forgive this or that person because what they did to me was so bad. Pride is what makes it hard to forgive someone. It’s not how bad their offence is but it is how little you think your offence is to God.
Paul tells us how we forgive with ease.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
If you struggle to forgive someone just consider your vile sinful condition before God. Then picture Jesus who was perfect and sinless being slapped in the face and spat upon having his beard ripped from His face being beaten beyond recognition and mocked and falsely accused and yet answered not a word. then finally hung on a cross to die a cruel and painful death all so that your sins could be forgiven.
Now imagine that you are looking Jesus in the eye and try and tell Him that it’s just too hard to forgive this person because they have just wronged you so badly.
See to forgive one another even as God in Christ has forgiven you is not that hard at all when you think about it.
I believe that this is why the sin of unforgiveness is one that Christ gave the most stern warning.
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
I can imagine there is little that disgust God more than a person who gladly receives the forgiveness of Him and yet would withhold forgiveness from someone else.
Pride is at the heart of unforgiveness. If you carry bitterness and anger toward anyone then I would urge you before the sun sets one more time, humble yourself before God repent and forgive as you have been forgiven.
Forgiveness is not the same as restoration. the relationship may take time to heal but do not harbour bitterness in your heart for one more day.
Paul said “nor give place for the devil.” when we harbour unforgiveness we open the door wide for Satan to stir our hearts up against that person. We begin having conversations with them in out head and we get more and more angry. Don’t leave that door open for another day. Forgive as God in Christ has forgiven you and experience the freedom and peace that forgiveness brings you.
Let’s pray.
