NEWNESS OF LIFE

"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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 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" (Rom 6:4-6)

Devotion 3 of 11

THE OLD CANNOT BE MADE NEW

In Scripture, "old" suggests unavoidable decline and death. It is what precedes destruction, or passing away. This is graphically seen in the passing of the old covenant. Once the new covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:19 24), the first covenant, or testament became obsolete, or old. The statement of Scripture on this point is significant. "In that He saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first OLD. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is READY TO VANISH AWAY" (Heb 8:13). Whatever is "old" will be replaced. It will not be restored, refurbished, or reformed! This is a consistent principle seen throughout the Word of God.

In Christ, our unregenerate nature becomes "old." This is the part of us that is limited to the natural order. It includes our body, together with all of the affections and appetites that are integral to it. Although this part of our makeup remains with us, like excess baggage, we are admonished to put it off. This is to be done because it is "old," and cannot be renewed. Thus it is written, "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" (Eph 4:20-24). Later, the Spirit affirms that those in Christ Jesus "HAVE crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24). That is an essential trait of new life in Christ.

The "old man," or that which is natural about us, is to be "put off," or refused dominance in our lives. This is imperative because it cannot be made new, reformed, or made acceptable. Only by walking in the strength of the "new man" can we be approved by the Lord. When we were born again, we became a "new creation" (2 Cor 5:17). That very fact confirms the old creation--what we were before--has been repudiated by God. For that very reason, faith constrains us to throw off the yoke of that nature. That repudiated part of our persons insists on having the preeminence, but faith refuses to grant it that privilege.

The nature of what is "old" is also confirmed by its inability to hold, or contain, what is new. Jesus said, "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins" (Mk 2:22; Matt 9:17; Lk 5:37. By this He meant that the fresh new things of God cannot be maintained in old and condemned vessels. The New Covenant, for example, could not be poured into the lifeless forms of the Old Covenant. Vibrant spiritual life cannot be contained by cold and powerless rituals. Neither can the powerful life of the Spirit be governed by the unregenerate nature, or what we have that came from Adam. Old procedures cannot contain the new life we have in Christ. The "mind of the flesh" cannot have an affection for "things above."

If our "old" nature could be reformed, or made acceptable to our Lord in any way, these things would not have been said. Newness of life is not an option, it is the only type of life God will receive or honor.

PRAYER POINT: Father, through Jesus Christ, I seek for grace to subdue the part of my person that regeneration has made "old."

-- TOMORROW: REAL WORSHIP --