Freedom from the Power of Sin

Dead Old Man (5)

When God created the world, there was no sin. Everything was very good, even in God’s eyes. Knowing God’s standard, when he says it’s good it must be good. Man had everything he needs and enjoyed all that God had created.   But when sin came into the world as a result of Adam’s disobedience, things changed. This verse sums up the practical side of things (God was speaking to man):

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return. (Gen 3:19, NKJV)

Because of sin, man got a curse instead of blessing. Man was created to live on God’s blessing and favour; that was his confident posture before God. It was as natural as breathing. But after sin, curse had become his lot.  

Because of sin, the ground was also cursed and man had to work hard for a living - this is the source of poverty on earth. Poverty is not only a sense of lack, but also a sense of difficulty in fulfilling need.

Because of sin, death came upon man to return him to dust. Sickness either became an agent to cause weakness in the body or sickness resulted due to weakening of the body. Either way, sin brought sickness into the world.

Sin is powerful and its effects far-reaching, the above are the effects it had on the Old Man. Not only was the Old Man a slave to sin, he was also a slave to curse poverty sickness and death. But since our Old Man is dead we are no longer under the power of sin. Our Old Man who was ravaged by, or susceptible to, the power of sin was crucified with Christ on the cross. We are no longer under the power and effects of sin. We have been freed from its power!

If the Old Man was a slave to sin curse poverty sickness and death, then the New Man’s nature must be one of righteousness, blessing, wealth, divine health and life. I am not saying that we will not die physically, but as long as we live here on earth we should live free from the power of sin and in the nature of the New Creation, which we are in Christ. Why call ourselves the New Creation if we see ourselves the same as the Old Man?

This is indeed good news. Do you see yourself as poor and sickly? It’s time to see the poor and sickly “you” crucified on the cross.  The new “you” is a different person: one who is rich healthy and strong. You are a New Man. Have the correct image of the new “you” and you will live out the life of the New Man.

Photo Credit: thampapon1 on FreeDigitalPhotos.net

You Have Died

Reminder: your Old Man is dead!

Dead Old Man (4)

You have died!

I am not kidding you.  If you have scarcely given it a thought it’s high time you do so; it will change your life for good. Not just a thought, let this fact sink in and grab hold of you, and be absolutely sure about this: your Old Man is dead. You can live by it.

There can hardly be better news than this. Imagine one day Mr. Sin wakes up and wishes to dispatch his slave to run some errand – inevitably something bad: to steal; to worry; to get sick; to condemn a cell group member because she failed to turn up in cell group (mind you, all these and more the Old Man used to faithfully comply) – but alas, the slave is no more. He is dead! Mr. Sin has just lost the instrument to propagate darkness in your life and in the world around you.

What Jesus has done on the cross is not only to put your sins on Himself so that He could pay the penalty on behalf of you. More than that, He put you – your Old Man the sinner, Mr. Sin’s slave – in Himself so that you were crucified together with Him.

Do the following scriptures mean anything to you? These should do in convincing you that you have been crucified with Christ and died with Him.

… our old man was crucified with him… (Rom 6:6, NKJV)

 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me… (Gal 2:20, NKJV)

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:3, NKJV)

How God managed to do so I don’t know, but the result is far-reaching. Mr. Sin used to have a legal right over you – your Old Man. But because your Old Man died, even if you are alive now Mr. Sin has no right over you. His relationship was with your Old Man. He knows that your Old Man is dead.

The problem is that many believers don’t know. Perhaps I should put it this way: many believers are not sure what it means that their Old Man is dead and they act as if he is still alive. They do things only meant for the Old Man. They pull out God’s Law and try to become righteous by trying to fulfill the Law. They get miserable when they cannot. They try to become righteous when they are already righteous. They try to become wealthy when they are already rich. They try to become healthy when they are no more sick.

It’s vitally important that you realize your Old Man is dead. Don’t try to do anything to him. Don’t try to resurrect him! Be very glad that he is dead.

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Get the Old Man Killed

Dead Old Man (3)

How God solved the sinner problem?

The sinner was the old “you” – called the “Old Man” - before you became a born again believer. The Old Man was a slave to sin, to the extent one might say he could be expected to sin. Anyway, being a slave meant he’s bound to heed the bidding of his master, to do what his master wanted even if he didn’t like it.

When you read Romans you cannot fail to notice that most times “sin” takes on personality. That is to say it is quite alright to regard “sin” as a “he”. This “Mr. Sin” was the master of the Old Man. Mr. Sin is a tyrant. He loves to dominate and wants things his ways. If he is a good man than it’s still okay, but the fact is that he is evil personified. His very nature is evil and he is not capable of good. All that he could think of and all that he could do are opposite to what’s good.

Now, imagine what it’s like to be a slave under Mr. Sin. That was the lot for the Old Man. Sad, isn’t it? How could our Old Man be freed from this miserable state? How could we be separated from Mr. Sin?

In the first century slavery was commonplace. Paul expected everyone to understand what it meant to be a slave. Bonded to his master, a slave could only be free when either of two conditions was met. First, a ransom was paid. Second, the slave died.  According to Paul, God did work by way of the second. He said that we must know this:

that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that  we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. (Rom 6:6-7, NKJV)

So that’s how God solved the problem for us: get the Old Man killed!

Somehow, when Christ was crucified our Old Man was crucified with him and we died with him. It’s only logical that once the slave has died his master has no more claims over him. He is now free. In the same manner, we are now free from our old master Mr. Sin. He can no longer command us to do this or do that. Sure he would still want to boss us about but we have the liberty to say no to him and he can’t do a thing.

This is a most liberating truth: we don’t have to listen to Mr. Sin any more. He could yell or holler all he like, but the man who was bound to obey him is dead. The Old Man is no more.

Have you ever said no to Mr. Sin? Of course, if you didn’t know that the Old Man was dead and thought that you were him you would obey Mr. Sin. But now you know. If Mr. Sin comes around and ask you to do this or to do that, tell him off like this:

You got the wrong man, the Old Man is dead!