Day 105: How Do You Put On The “New You”?
Even though we have been made spiritually complete in Christ, we are still “broken.” Part of our “brokenness” is the sin that indwells our flesh—in the members/limbs of our physical bodies (“this body of sin” Romans 6:6, “this body of death” Romans 7:24). Our bodies are the last part of us to be renovated. Now, they have not been redeemed so that they may fully reflect the glory of God as He desires. This problem will not be fully dealt with until the Resurrection when our physical bodies are freed from its corruption.
Philippians 3:20-21
…our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Don’t misunderstand what we are talking about here. First of all, Paul and the Bible does not think that our bodies are evil as some philosophers have taught. The reality is that our bodies are twisted and corrupted. They have been marred by the effects of sin in our world. They are still subject to disease and death. But they will one day be redeemed, transformed – glorified to be like Jesus’ own powerful resurrected body.
Laying Aside the “Old Person” (The Old Me)
There are ways to deal with the power of sin at work in our flesh in our present lives, but first we must first realize and accept the fact that we are powerless to do what is right and good by our own self-will and self-empowerment. We, like Paul, must first cry out, “Wretched people that we are!!! Who can free us from this body of death?”
The first step, then, in “putting on the new self” is realizing and owning our brokenness: we are still subject to sin’s power and influence if we choose some other way that is not THE Way of Jesus. Left own our own, we are powerless to do what is good. We may desire to do what is good but we find that we are powerless to do it. Apart from God’s grace, we cannot make any progress in our spiritual growth. We lay aside, don’t identify ourselves with the “old self” that is self-focused. Instead, we put on the “new self” that is Christ focused and this means that we will be “others” focused as well.
The sin that dwells in your flesh, like a vicious and ravenous animal, seeks to kill and devour you. This power of sin, however, does not define who you are. It only lives in your flesh, on the “surface” of who you are. Deep within, at the core of your life and identity, The Spirit of Christ, who now lives in you by faith, defines your new identity and seeks to set you free from the power of sin.
Once we admit and own our own brokenness, we have only one choice to make: who we will follow. Will we set our minds to follow the leading of the Spirit who seeks to focus us on Christ, trusting Him and loving others, or we will set our minds to follow the desires of our flesh which seeks to keep focused on ourselves in all things.
This mindset that is shaped by the flesh (and the power of sin that dwells there) will never submit to God and therefore those who are dominated by this mindset will never be able to please God:
Romans 8:5-8
…the mindset that has its basis in the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in (controlled, identified by) the flesh cannot please God.
The sin that lives in your flesh actually desires that you put yourself under Law—an external list of do’s and don’ts— to relate to God. This is the “mindset that has its basis in the flesh.” This is the desire to relate to God through the way of Law (what we can do) rather than through The Way of Christ (what has been done and is being done for us, in us and through us). The sin that lives in our flesh seeks to have us live by our own self-will and self-empowerment. If we try to follow Christ in this way, sin will come alive and enslave us.
Putting on the “New Me” in Christ
Your new identity is defined by the goodness, holiness, joy, peace, love of Jesus Himself. The Holy Spirit desires to lead us in the Way of Jesus—faith working through love. We trust Christ to be our One and Only Savior and this sets us free to love others, giving them a taste of what Christ has given us.
When we put on the “new self” along with other brothers and sisters in Christ, we will not be surprised that our churches, our communities will be characterized by the “fruit” of the Spirit which is Love (those other “fruits” – joy, peace, patience, etc, are just results of the main fruit of love).
The New Self is concerned with others. It wants to serve other brothers and sisters in Christ, counseling them in Truth so that they may be encouraged and strengthened for their daily battle in the Great War. The New Self is also concerned about others who are not yet following Christ in the New Way of Life. The New Self wants to give these who are still lost and dead in the World a taste of Jesus’ self-sacrificial love so that they too may be transferred into His Kingdom.
In the end, our choice is simple: Will we submit to the sin that lives in our flesh or will we submit to the Holy Spirit of Christ who dwells in our hearts? We have to serve one or the other. If we serve the Sin that yet lives in us, we will do all of the work and those “works of the flesh” will be evident (Galatians 5:19). If, however, we submit ourselves to The Spirit of Christ who dwells in our core—our hearts—He will do the work and produce his “fruit” in us and through us (notice the difference between “work” and “fruit”—how hard does an apple tree work to produce apples?). As we submit to The Spirit we will find that He will do in us and through us what we cannot do in and of ourselves.
*These last sessions have only been a basic introduction to “putting on the new self in Christ.” We will focus on this topic more deeply in the Phase 3: Living the Life.
Walking/Living in the Spirit is simply following Him has He leads us in a life of trusting Christ and loving others. Does this characterize your life? If not, why not?
One strategy that is helpful in learning to “put on the new you in Christ” is to begin each day, even before you get out of bed, by praying, giving thanks for you new identity in Christ:
“Father, thank you that I am a new creation in Christ. Thank you that I am now your beloved child and that defines my true identity. Thank you for your love; empower me to love others today as you have loved me. Thank you for your grace; enable me to be gracious to everyone is meet today. Thank you for your power; help me to live by this power today.”
It is important to constantly remind ourselves who we are in Christ and ask for the power we need to make this identity real in the way we live our lives in hope, trust, and love.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
