Walking in Newness of Life

Well, greetings, everyone. Good afternoon on this Sabbath Day.

You know, much of modern Christianity has been distilled down to, if you look at the different versions and denominations of Christianity, after it’s been reduced to behavior management. There’s very little emphasis on real change, little on what we must stop doing. They pay a lot of attention on what they think the Bible tells them that they can do, but in all of those instances, most of the time, they’re absolutely wrong.

And from this single misunderstanding of Christianity being reduced to behavior management come entirely false versions of Christianity. They’re man-made self-help programs that resemble more like psychological therapy more than what we know to be the true gospel. These versions of false Christianity are aimed at rehabilitating people, reforming behavior, and slowly improving what, in the end, what cannot be rehabilitated, what cannot be reformed, what cannot be improved.

That entire approach assumes something that God never asked any human being to assume: that any one of us, any human being, can be fixed. Now, that may sound shocking to some of your ears, but the Bible does not set self-improvement as our goal as Christians, living out true Christianity. Someone might immediately object in their mind, maybe some new folks or younger folks, “But shouldn’t we grow? Shouldn’t we overcome in our lives?”

Yes. My answer is yes, absolutely. Scripture unequivocally commands growth and overcoming sin. But before we can get to that point, we must ask a fundamentally far more basic question, one that people rarely ask. So I’m going to ask it today. Who is it that God expects to grow and overcome? Now, you may be thinking, again, “I’m confused.” You won’t be for long. Until we fully grasp the answer to that question, I guarantee we will experience more confusion, more frustration, and even more discouragement than necessary if, and definitely when, we slip up or when we sin.

This applies to everyone, whether you’re pursuing baptism, newly baptized, or you’ve been baptized for decades. We want to avoid as much frustration, unnecessary confusion, sadness, discouragement as possible, because we will slip up, and we can fall, and we will fall. But today we’re going to look at how we can avoid unnecessary levels of discouragement and frustration and get to business when it comes to really living out true Christianity.

For example, God did not improve Jacob. Interestingly, though, He gave him a new name, Israel. We could ask why. God wasn’t pursuing a better version of Abram, but He did give him a new name, Abraham. What could that have symbolized? When God, when Christ encountered Simon for the first time, He wasn’t pursuing a refined version of this fisherman from Galilee. He gave him the name Peter.

And look at Saul. God wasn’t trying to improve or get a better version of Saul. Now that might be one letter difference, an S and a P, Saul to Paul, but those two individuals were a world apart. Now the world would like to reduce that just to simple symbolism, or as I said earlier, behavior management, trying, “God was attempting to make better versions of them.” But, brethren, this is more than symbolism for us.

The world either doesn’t understand or refuses to apply the lessons that can be learned from this type of symbolism. Brethren, the Apostle Paul helped the Church understand exactly what I am talking about. And that will lead us to today’s message, subject. Let’s turn to Colossians chapter three. Colossians chapter three. We really have to pause. If there’s anything we’ve learned in God’s true Church, we really have to pause and read God’s Word slowly.

Dive into the definitions, the Greek and the Hebrew, to get the maximum impact on what God is trying to communicate to us. And what we’re about to read is no exception, because it is critical understanding to my entire introduction. Colossians chapter three and verse nine. “Lie not to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds.” Again, we have to pause.

The world has little to no idea what God inspired the Apostle Paul to reveal here. That phrase, “seeing that you have put off,” is actually one Greek word, apekduomai, apekduomai. And it reveals three vital things. Number one, it means the action is finished. This word is the aorist middle participle. It means that the action Paul referred to was completed sometime in the past. And apparently, the Colossians had to be reminded of it.

Why would that be? So the action is completed. Number two, they did it themselves. Middle means reflexive, to do something to oneself. Paul apparently had to remind them of that, also. Whatever it was that they did, they did it themselves. Or whatever occurred, they did it themselves, is what he was trying to communicate by using this particular word.

And number three, this word or phrase means to divest entirely, to completely rid oneself of something or someone. So the Apostle Paul reminds me that I rid myself of the old Carl over a decade ago. My wife didn’t do it. In fact, God didn’t do it. My wife didn’t change or swap me out for a better version of Carl, although if you asked her back in the day, she may have said, “I would have liked to have had that option.” But she didn’t.

And what’s shocking about this word, God didn’t either. I did it. And we’re going to go into that even more deeply. If we don’t understand this phrase, we can struggle, as I said earlier, more than necessary with not just something as simple as lying. Because the setup for that was, “Don’t lie to one another.” Let’s look more deeply into what this phrase really means, because in my opinion, this is just a gentle way of describing what really happened to you if you’re baptized, or to me when I was baptized over a decade ago. And this is a very nice way of saying, “Seeing that you have put off.”

Let’s go to Romans chapter six and see what actually occurred. Young folks, prospective members working toward baptism, listen very carefully to what the Apostle Paul said to the Romans, how he explained it to them, slightly different than to the Colossians. Romans chapter six, verse three. This is a question. “Know you not, that so many of us who were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” Well, that’s pretty strong, if you will, you could say at the very least symbolism.

Verse four, we’re going to spot through this very quickly. “Therefore,” here it is, “we are buried with him by baptism into death.” Verse six, “Knowing this,” knowing the two things that I just said to you, “that our old man is crucified with him.” What? “That the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” Now, we can all appreciate, and so I’m sure there are many versions of Christianity out there that can appreciate differences that the Scriptures can make in the way a person thinks or a way a person acts.

But, brethren, this event and action were not merely symbolic, or Paul wouldn’t have said it that way. Don’t think that anyone can experience lasting change without the first, most important event occurring in a human being’s life: death of our current selves. Because crucifixion, if you think, is not a process; it is a brutal event. It was designed to destroy, utterly destroy the one that’s hanging on the stake, on the tree.

It wasn’t designed, crucifixion, to reform someone; it was meant to kill them. And we don’t bury the living, just think about it logically. Baptisms are for the old self, thinking back to Colossians three, who accepted God’s judgment on their life and the sentence of death on their life and voluntarily walked to his or her execution. And that execution, as it says here, that our old man was crucified with Christ Jesus.

Jacob, therefore, had to die to fulfill his calling to be Israel. Prince with God, that’s what that means. Simon had to die so Peter could give his life to the cause of the gospel. Saul had to die so Paul could become an apostle to the Gentiles. Same was true for the Colossians, as it was for the Romans, and as it is for you and me. And those who refuse to divest themselves entirely of the old man will ultimately face destruction and death, because the wages of sin is death.

Galatians chapter six, just continue. Most of this message we’re going to spend going from one of the letters that Paul wrote to a church to another. And we’ll bounce back and forth. Galatians chapter six. Paul didn’t just reveal this truth again to the Colossians or just to the Romans only; this wasn’t exclusive knowledge to them only. He told the Galatians the following.

Verse fourteen, “God forbid that I should glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now let’s slow down. “By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Let’s pause there for a second. Now, if the Apostle Paul would’ve only inserted “am crucified” after the word “I,” it would’ve been even clearer. But his meaning is unmistakable. He, too, was crucified. I am crucified unto the world. Dead to it, dead to sin. The old Saul was useless to God.

And let me repeat, so were we. God had absolutely no use for the old Carl, for the old Frody, or for the old Fred, or Sally. Insert your own name. God had no use for you. So what we must continually put to death in our lives, brethren, is any idea that our old selves are still alive. Our old ways of conducting ourselves. Thinking that we’re battling against our old self and maybe the way in which we act, either like our father or like our mother, that we continued carrying all of those traits into the baptismal water and out again.

What’s living is the memory of our old self. The memory of how we grew up and how we learned to think and to act. Brethren, this helps me in my struggles to remember that my fight is not against an old Carl who occasionally rises from his watery grave. No. So who is it that God expects to grow and overcome? That’s the question. Because I said unequivocally, the Scriptures command us to grow and overcome. But who is really growing and overcoming?

Continue reading here. Verse fifteen, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. As many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and upon the Israel of God.” Of course, we’re spiritual Israel. God expects His new creatures to grow and overcome. God created us to walk in accordance with who we are, not who we once were.

Being Jew or Gentile carries no advantage to anyone, brethren. Neither does being Baptist, or Catholic, or Methodist, or Buddhist, or Hindu, or Muslim. And just think about this, just a quick side point here. Notice, peace and mercy are promised to anyone who walks in accordance with this rule. So God’s peace and mercy, brethren, rest on new creations, not on old ones. If you’re trying to sense peace and mercy from the old self, I’ve got news for you.

Only peace and mercy will fall on those or rest on those who walk according to this rule. That’s why no one in the world can truly experience peace and mercy from God, because they don’t have a new creation. Colossians chapter three, let’s go back to where we began. Yeah, so we won’t stray very far from the very Scriptures that we’ll be covering today. Let’s pick it up in the second half of verse nine, “seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds.”

Remember, aorist middle participle. Verse ten, “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” God created this new creation, this new creature, “where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, free, Christ is all, and in all.” Brethren, we must remind ourselves: true Christianity is not a second chance attempt to improve our old selves. That is the world’s false version.

Anyone thinking they can change prior to their old selves being crucified and buried at baptism misses the most important change. Repentance means change. And just like we read moments ago, that phrase, “have put on,” is also in the aorist middle participle. It means the entire action is finished. It already happened. It’s reflexive. We did it ourselves. Neither my wife nor God nor any minister rid me of my old self.

They didn’t either clothe me or array me, that’s what this word means, with my new man either. I think about baptism when some of the ladies step out of here, and the men step out of the tub. They have a towel waiting there for them. And it struck me as I was reflecting on this portion of Scripture that, you know, that could certainly be a symbolism of us putting on, arraying ourself of the new man that God gave us, just as hands are about to be laid.

God created my new man in Christ. I put him on when I lowered my head and allowed hands to be laid on me over a decade ago. I am looking at new men in front of me. This is not merely symbolic either. We’re told in Second Corinthians to see everyone as new. Now, I think you know where we might be headed in terms of overcoming struggles even between ourselves. Our families still see us as the old selves. They think we’re still old Carl and old Frody and old Sally and old Fred.

But when we look at each other, we know we’re a new Carl, a new Frody, a new Sally, a new Fred. Insert your name there. And in fact, insert the name of the person with whom, maybe, you’re not getting along currently in the Church. Why? Why would God go to such extreme measures to communicate these truths through the Apostle Paul? Because God would only accept a new creature in Christ, whom He would be willing to develop and help grow.

Galatians chapter three. I think we’ve been there once already. Verse twenty-six, “For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Let you turn there. Galatians three, verse twenty-six, “For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free...” Wow, this seems repetitive, an ongoing theme within the New Testament. “...male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s,” not Abram’s, “seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Brethren, individually, became new men with a new identity. And that’s not hard to understand. Sometimes hard to remember when we’re going through difficult times, or we’re thinking that our old self has somehow remarkably and miraculously come up from the grave. It can be overly frustrating. It’s not hard to understand. It’s hard to remember that I am looking at a new man in the mirror, that I am looking at new men and women in front of me, regardless of the situation.

Sometimes we just have to stop and remember that. God, as a father, has always wanted children of faith and righteousness and holiness, like Abraham, Israel, Peter, and Paul. Again, hearkening back to my earlier point, God was not looking for improved versions of Abram, Jacob, Simon, or Saul. Nor was He, nor will He ever look for improved versions of old selves, of our old selves.

You’re a little bit ahead of me. Let’s go over to Second Corinthians chapter five and read what I referenced a moment ago. Second Corinthians chapter five; and read where I referenced a moment ago. Second Corinthians chapter five. Verse seventeen. Just skip right into the thought there. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Brethren, these are just not mere symbolic words on pages.

Or we would just be one other version of many versions of behavior management that the religions of the world are trying to offer people. This has to be true. Paul repeats this to the Corinthians. Again, a new creature. Everything, all things became new. Not some things, not part of the things. Everything old has passed away. Even the skills and talents that I once had, those have passed away. I can remember them. But those skills and talents in the hands of God as a new creature, powered by God’s spirit, guided by His word, now that’s another thing.

Part of the definition of “passed away” means to perish or neglect. The Apostle Paul is telling the Corinthians that old things, their old selves, their attitudes, their ways of thinking and acting, all perished. We heard, about recently, the importance of not forgetting and remembering God. It’s also crucial that we not forget and that we remember these things that we’re talking about. I mentioned walking earlier in Galatians six. Those who walk according to this rule, all this leads us to the most important reason God gave us a new life, a new self.

Let’s go back to Romans chapter six. I skipped over part of verse four. Rushed you through it because that wasn’t the right moment to reveal what I wanted to reveal right now: the reason God gave us a new life. Romans six, verse four, “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.”

Brethren, God created each of us in Christ to walk in newness of life. The opposite would be walking in the oldness of life. Now, why would Paul tell us this? Again, as I said earlier, the memory and patterns of our old selves linger. And it can influence our new selves. That’s the danger that we face. We’re not facing the old self; we’re facing the lingering memories, the way we thought, the way we act, the attitudes that we had.

We can remember all those, and our new self can be unnecessarily influenced by those memories. Most of you have heard the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Here’s one better. “You can’t teach a dead dog any tricks.” When we fall, slip up, or sin, it’s not our old selves; it’s the new self. That, though, through lust and pride, kind of an ongoing theme with me, going back to July, cutting off the fuel sources of sin, our new selves are enticed to learn old tricks.

Remember, we’re not fighting our old man that acts like our father or mother. He’s dead. She’s dead. We’re fighting to not act, or think, or have the attitudes like him. So let’s look at what walking in newness of life involves. Knowing that it at first required putting off the old man and putting on the new one, which are both complete at the time of baptism. Ephesians chapter four. Now let’s look at... now we’re ready to learn how to walk in newness of life.

Because the only one who can walk in newness of life is our new self, our new selves. Ephesians chapter four. Let me catch up to you. Ephesians four and verse twenty, “But you have not so learned Christ; if so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off,” verse twenty-two, “that you put off,” this is a different tense, this is not the aorist middle participle, “that you put off concerning the former conversation” or behavior, that’s what that word means, “of the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.”

So walking in newness of life, brethren, first requires that we rid ourselves of any former conduct. This applies to any sinful behavior that we may be struggling with, now or in the past, or maybe even the future. We are quickly approaching the pre-Passover season. This is the time of year that we more deeply focus on self-examination, not that we shouldn’t do that continuously throughout the year, but it’s the pre-Passover season.

It’s important we understand we don’t diagnose a corpse; we know the cause of death. It wasn’t natural causes; it was crucifixion. Do you remember the question at the beginning? Who is it that God expects to grow and overcome? Remember my answer earlier? Well, let’s just repeat it. Verse twenty-three, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind,” right here, continuing what we were reading, “and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

God is not developing the old man; He’s developing the new. God wants the new man to grow and overcome in righteousness and true holiness. So, we examine him during the pre-Passover season to see whether he is behaving like the old one. Why? Because again, the new man can be enticed to conform to the world just as the old man was. Let me say that again, the new man can be enticed to conform to the ways of the world just like our old selves were.

And when that pressure comes, and it will, and it does, you all know that, young people, prospective members, even those who have been decades in the Church understand the pressures that come when living in this world. We must put off and allow God to renew our minds, which helps ensure we will live according to righteousness and true holiness. So, walking in newness of life applies to any area that we may be struggling with, and that we may identify during the pre-Passover season.

The Apostle Paul doesn’t speak in generalities about this issue, about this topic. He gets very specific when it comes to putting on and putting off, which is walking in newness of life, Colossians chapter three. Let’s go back. We don’t have to go far. Verse eight, “But now you also put off all these...” So, we know we’re dealing with new creations. Paul isn’t confused. He knows he’s talking to the new men who have been created by God and have been put on by those individuals themselves.

“Put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another.” We’re back to where we started. The Apostle Paul commands us to put off all these, not to manage them, not to justify them, and certainly not to repeat them. And he’s not, again, reasoning with our old selves who would tolerate or try to phase out or try to justify or try to reason why we’re doing these things or feeling these things.

He is commanding the new man. That, my friends, is Christian living one hundred and one. Oh, and it’s Christian living two hundred and two, and three hundred and three, and four hundred and four, and five hundred and five, and if you’ve been in the Church fifty years, five thousand and five. Whatever number of years in the Church, it’s just less or more advanced. We’re continuously putting off things that our new man is starting to take on.

He understood the pipeline here, too. Read it very carefully. Harbored anger becomes wrath. Wrath fosters malice, and malice is expressed through speech and actions. Ill will toward someone, wanting or willing to do something bad to someone. Anger refers to strong feelings of annoyance. Now, who hasn’t had strong feelings of annoyance? Even new creatures in Christ can have strong feelings of annoyance. He’s not saying that that’s a problem.

It can mean also feelings of hostility. Think of it as irritation you carry towards someone because of offenses you don’t release. Someone offends you. You get angry. The anger simmers. And if it simmers long enough, wrath will erupt eventually. It’s got to have an outlet. And wrath refers to explosive anger. And like anger, we can say the same thing about wrath. Why would we develop malice, have ill will, or intend evil towards someone, even toward God?

Destroying God’s work, trying or thinking that you can, and actually developing ideas on how to do it. It’s not like it can’t happen. It isn’t like we haven’t seen it. Anger grew into wrath, brethren, and wrath developed into malice. Why blaspheme God? Why use filthy language? Why lie about someone, or murmur against them, or gossip against them, or someone, if we don’t feel some degree of malice?

So how do we put these off? Well, I don’t have behavior charts. Can’t show you any of those, nor would I. I don’t have any emotional techniques to teach you. I don’t have any count to ten advice. I have none of that to offer you. I’ll just let the Apostle Paul explain how to effectively put these off, and it’s not complicated. It just takes a few steps. Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four.

Someone might say at the end of this message, “Wow, I’m exhausted from turning from one end of the Bible to the other.” No, we can’t say that. We’re staying right in here in these letters. We may jump out here shortly. Ephesians chapter four, verse twenty-six. Here it is. Remember the pipeline? Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth, lying to one another. Here’s what Paul says.

“Be angry, but sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Well, here’s a thought when it comes to avoiding sin due to an emotion that we might be feeling, because we all feel emotions: don’t let it linger. Stop it as soon as possible. Speed matters when it comes to these things, brethren. So much so that the Scripture gives us a deadline. I have my entire life to rehabilitate. I have my entire life to get over that offense.

I have my entire life Christian walk to get over the anger that I feel towards so-and-so. Hmm, let’s see here. Sunset. Whatever you’re feeling right now towards anyone, you have till sunset. I wonder how many violated the minimum speed limit in their lives. You ever see those? Minimum speed forty-five. I thought that was always hilarious. Me being a young guy, I was never going to hit the minimum speed limit. My concern was going over the speed limit.

But when it comes to Christian feelings, we can always want to pull over onto that right lane. Maybe some of us are so annoying, we get right in the middle lane, or even when we want to really be annoying towards other people, and we don’t want to get over our feelings, we get into the passing lane, we go thirty-five in a sixty-five. Brethren, we can do that as Christians. Now that may sound humorous, but in reality, it’s not funny.

If we don’t do it immediately, we must be quick enough to beat the sunset. Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. A little cheeky, as they would say in England. “Well, what if I get angry after sunset at someone?” I’m going to give you till sunrise. Or I’m willing to cut a deal with you. “Can I have at least until next sunset?” Ah, okay, I’ll let your conscience tell you.

Talk it out. Pray about it. You’re on the clock. Be open about what you’re trying to achieve with yourself. God or the person with whom you are angry. If you’re angry at God, be open with Him. Talk it out. Tell yourself, tell God, tell the person that you’re feeling these feelings toward, that you’re committed and striving to obey this verse. “I want to get over this before sunset.”

It may sound strange. You wouldn’t use, maybe, this kind of language, but even people in the world, “Well, I just don’t want to go to sleep tonight until, you know, this matter is resolved between us, honey, darling,” as always helpful. Even for unconverted people, this applies. It’s our new man. We have an obligation. It doesn’t qualify, necessarily, only amongst the brethren. Certainly does, but in every area of life.

All the sins back in Colossians three share a common danger: they grow when they’re left unchecked. Pick any sin, pick a sin. Pick a card, any card. Let not the sun go down upon your malice. Let not the sun go down on your blasphemy. Let not the sun go down on your filthy communication. Let not the sun go down on your lies. That’s a low bar, if I could put it that way. It’s not a high bar where you have a lot of room to do it.

It’s by sunset. That’s a low bar. You got to get under it. You got to meet the deadline. Ecclesiastes chapter seven. It’ll help you a little bit. My plan is not to go through every single sin, but to give you the basics of “just put it off.” Ecclesiastes seven. Moving along here. In verse nine, “Be not hasty in your spirit to be angry: for anger rests in the bosom of fools.” I always like it when I can use the word “fool” in a righteous way.

It’s foolish to be hasty in anger because you know what? Those who are hasty at getting angry usually allow it to rest in their bosom. And Solomon’s saying it’s not wise, or plainly said, it’s foolish. I can tell, particularly on a bad day when I’m starting to get angrier faster. You ever had one of those days? Your fuse grows shorter. The littlest things set me off or set you off. Wait a second. I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about all of you. I’m sorry.

This message was meant for all of you, not me. Of course, it applies to me. But let me say it this way. There’s a guy I know. Mr. Minister, there’s a gal I know that gets angry pretty quickly. We have to all be careful, all of us. Something goes wrong at the beginning of the day, and it makes you angry, deal with it. Don’t wait till sunset. Now I’m even lowering the bar, if I could put it that way. Why? Deal with it immediately.

That is what the verse is essentially saying because anger does not improve with fatigue. It grows more intense when we are physically and mentally drained. You have to deal with it quickly before you get home, because how many of us have had the experience where we’ve been angry throughout the day at work or wherever we may be during the day, and those who pay the price are the ones at home? So we need to deal with it.

Hebrews chapter twelve. Hebrews twelve. We took a brief trip over to the Old Testament. Now we’re back into the New Testament. Hebrews twelve, verse fourteen. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, with which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God.” Wow, powerful language here. Powerful warnings. Not talking to the world, not talking to false versions of Christianity.

“Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby,” listen to this, “many be defiled.” Oh. Here’s an example that illustrates the effects of harboring anger, or wrath, or bitterness, or grief, which Ephesians four adds later on, in I think verse thirty-one. Have you ever let garbage accumulate in your kitchen or garage? Have you ever just gone a little bit too long before putting it out? I want my wife to answer that question.

It stinks. And that stink, that smell, never stays just in the kitchen. Anyone who walks in the front door smells it. They want to turn around and leave because of the smell. Brethren, people in our lives are impacted when we don’t put off or put away things quickly and regularly in our lives. If you deal with anger promptly throughout the day, anger cannot rest in your bosom.

Solomon says, again, foolish people do this. Foolish because someone will be the object of our wrath, or our malice, or our filthy speech, or blaspheming, someone who had nothing to do with the original issue that caused us to be angry in the first place. Men, husbands, you need to deal with your anger before you leave work. And if necessary, on the way home from work. Talk to the person, talk. Don’t explode in wrath.

Say, “I’m committed to overcoming, you know, the anger that I just felt.” Find ways to do it. Will it get messy at times? Yes. Is it appropriate to do it all the time? No. And if it isn’t appropriate to do it or you can’t do it the right way, then you need to talk to yourself throughout the day and on the way home, then to God about it. Talk to yourself about it. Challenge yourself. Just don’t always go to God immediately. God’s given you the instructions on what to do.

Yes, there are times that we need to pray about this. Ask for help, guidance from Him. Again, speak to yourself. Talk yourself out of anger, not deeper into it. That’s a command to the new man. Thought I’d throw that in there. Don’t waste time trying to analyze or reason why you’re angry, why you’re feeling wrath, why you’re developing ideas that align with malice, ill will towards someone, or you’re reckless with your words, including lies.

Don’t justify your irritation. Deal with it quickly. Ridding ourselves of something is not ignoring it. Getting rid of anger is not ignoring it. Talking yourself out of anger isn’t a weak approach; it’s a strong approach, a powerful approach. That’s what new creations in Christ do. To rid yourself of these things is to confront and remove it. God isn’t asking you to confront someone; He’s telling you to confront your own self first.

Replaying offenses or mistakes of others doesn’t help because you will get good at articulating other people’s faults. Satan is pretty good at that. I wonder how many times he rehearsed his accusations against Job before bringing his case to God. We can do that against other people. And you know what that is? That’s just harboring anger in our bosom, resentment. How often do we practice complaining about someone or someone else to ourselves?

And if you do it enough to yourself, you get pretty good at it, and you get impressed with yourself, so you go and complain about somebody to someone else. We go to our husband. “Well, that person’s the person I go to for counsel.” No, that’s the person you go to to complain about other people and express your anger towards those individuals. We go to our wives, go to our husbands, go to our sisters. We go to our minister before ever going to the person.

It hardly ever works because it violates Matthew eighteen, fifteen. I’m not going to tell you what it is. But I will ask you to note it down and go back and read it slowly. What’s the saying? Practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect; it does, however, make it permanent. Don’t replay offenses because you’re going to perfect getting angry. Ephesians chapter four, that’s step one. Just put it off. Deal with it before sunset.

Have you ever tried using a soft word to your own self? You know what it says, right? A soft answer. Well, if you’re getting angry, again, talk yourself out of anger. Say a soft word to yourself about someone else. Yes, a soft answer towards your wife if she’s heated, or your husband, or a work colleague. That can soften the anger. What about with yourself? Have you ever tried applying that to yourself, where you give a soft answer to yourself so that you’re not angry either at yourself or towards someone else?

Ephesians chapter four, so that’s step one of putting off, walking in newness of life. Here’s step number two, Ephesians four, verse twenty-seven, “Neither give place to the devil.” These are all interrelated. Step number two: don’t let Satan get involved. Keep him out of our business. The word “place” here means opportunity, foothold, or room. Entertaining anger, wrath, bitterness, or grief for too long grants Satan access to influence your new man.

Satan doesn’t create any of these. He walks about, waiting to exploit them to devour us. He wants to devour the new man. The old man’s dead. Second Corinthians chapter two. Let’s build on this. Second Corinthians two, verse eight, “I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward him.” Now, Paul’s talking about restoring the young man who slept with his father’s wife, and he’s repented, and he wants to come back.

Well, who needs to learn the lesson now? Who is learning the lesson now? “I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward him. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether you be obedient in all things. To whom you forgive anything, I forgive also: for if I forgave anything,” any trespass against him, the Apostle Paul could have been talking about anyone, “to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ.”

The new self is commanded to do these things, to put off these things. He was telling the Corinthians not to inflict further punishment. It looks like, or sounds like, it appears that they went too far. Many, it says, did it in verse six. Many did it, and it looks like even leaders were involved. Where the head goes, the body tends to go, right? I can tell you they were holding probably resentment of the embarrassment that this young man brought to that local congregation, to the Corinthians.

Those were feelings of resentment, but what did they do with those feelings of resentment once the punishment was dealt? It looks like they lingered with that resentment. And here’s what Paul, the Apostle Paul, is nicely telling them to do, “Stop it. You need to stop punishing this man.” And I will go one step further. The reason they couldn’t stop punishing him, or wanted to continue inflicting punishment, is because they didn’t deal with their own feelings of resentment or anger towards that individual.

Verse eleven, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us.” Why? Why was he telling them to do that? Because they were giving room for Satan to operate “...for we are not ignorant of his devices.” They were running the risk of Satan getting an advantage on them. That word “advantage” means to defraud or outmaneuver. When we allow the former conduct of our old self to operate, when we don’t put off the former conduct, Satan has little resistance, and he can outmaneuver us. He’s in the room. And let me tell you, he’s quick and agile. The apostle James tells us to resist the devil, and he will flee from you. “Well, how do we resist the devil, Mr. Houk?”

Putting off resentment is a practical way to push Satan out. Putting off anger. Putting off wrath. Putting off the feelings and conduct of the old man is how we oppose this lustful, conniving, manipulative, untruthful, evil being. Put off any of these types of feelings. And the apostle Paul said, “I can. So can you. Why? I’m a new man in Christ, and you’re a new man in Christ.” What about us? Do we tend to hold on to things for longer than we would admit? We all need to learn to let go more quickly, whether it’s our spouse… converted or unconverted… children, work colleague.

Brethren, it’s paramount that we let go of those feelings that divide because it gives room for Satan. When we’re unified, there’s no room for Satan to get in between us. But if we separate ourselves, even by feelings, that gives Satan room to get in between us. Or your marriage. Or your children. Or your work team. “Who? Me, Mr. Houk? I’m not angry or bitter. I can put off my feelings and forgive. I’ve forgiven that person. You want me to forget too?” Well, you didn’t really forgive, did you? I think you know where I’m going at.

And again, I’m not just talking to your new man, I’m talking to my own new man. This verse also reveals what to do when our feelings get the best of us. It’s pretty easy to see, but it’s even clearer back in Ephesians four. Let’s go over to Ephesians four. Ephesians four. Here we go. These self-help programs or twelve-step programs… let me give you a one-step program for the new man, because the old man needs about fifty steps to rehabilitate, if he can ever rehabilitate. It never really rehabilitates or reforms.

Verse twenty-eight. Ephesians four twenty-eight. “He who stole,” brace yourselves, “…steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands.” Oh, there’s a hint to another step. Won’t get there yet. “…working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have to give to him that needs. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.” Oh, close your mouth. Stop. Before what you’re going to say, before you say what you’re going to say, don’t say it. “…but that which is good to the use of edifying,” oh, there’s another clue to where we’re headed, “…that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

“What? I’m angry. I want to communicate why I’m angry and what the person did.” Nope, you got to stop because what has to come out of your mouth as a new man in Christ must edify. “Oh, I want to tear down. I want to destroy.” Nope, we’re called to edify and to build up, to minister grace unto those who are hearing. “Oh, just the people that I’m complaining to about another person, right?” No, to the person himself, or herself, as well is included.

When we fail to put off lust, and pride, and covetousness, and resentment, and bitterness, and anger or wrath, and ultimately sin, the Bible says, stop. Stop lying as fast or faster than putting off anger before the day ends. Stop stealing from God. Stop stealing his tithes, first, second, or third. Anything that belongs to God, stop. Anything you’re stealing from others, stop it immediately. Stop cheating. Stop fornicating or committing adultery. When? Today, before sunset.

Throw out any unsuitable clothing that doesn’t dignify who you are as a new creation in Christ. Stop filthy and corrupt communication. Stop the foolish talking and inappropriate jesting. Stop any kind of blasphemy. Stop using euphemisms that take God’s name in vain in a covert way. Stop breaking the Sabbath. Stop threatening and fighting. Stop your drunkenness. Stop the backbiting. Stop the whispering. Stop the murmuring. Stop the evil speaking. Stop the gossiping. Stop sowing discord or division. Parents, stop provoking your children to wrath. Children, stop dishonoring your parents. Whatever you’ve done that is the conduct that the old man would do, stop it. Stop it before the sun goes down or before the sun goes up.

Stop your feet, stop your hands, including your mouth and any other body part, immediately. And once you stop, remember step one, put off what’s fueling it. Rid yourself of lust and pride. Stop these causes of covetousness. Get rid of self-will and self-gratification. Throw out inordinate affection. Put away imaginations, evil imaginations of the heart. Put off hardness of heart, stubbornness, and rebellion. Put off envy, jealousy, anger, hatred, bitterness, wrath, the list goes on. Put off your love of money. Do away with vanity, high-mindedness, ingratitude, impatience, and discontentment. Put it all off.

So step two is simple: push Satan out and close the door on him. Don’t allow the devil to get an advantage. Why? And this is absolutely critical. Certainly, one reason is to avoid the damage that is done to yourself and to others when you do any of those things. Stop it. Stop it before you do it because it’s hard to get the genie back in the bottle once you’ve acted, once you’ve spoken. Now it’s damage control. Now, sometimes you even forced your hand to start acting and taking on more of the conduct of the old self, and justifying, “Well, I did it because of this. I did it because of that.”

“No, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have been speaking more from a position of grace and understanding, and trying to understand, and edifying, and unifying.” Because if you don’t do steps one and two, or two and one… they’re interchangeable… here’s where it gets incredibly dangerous for the new man. Verse thirty. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

When you do not put off evil or put away sin quickly and allow Satan’s space to work in your life, if I allow it to happen in my life, it grieves God’s Spirit. God’s Spirit will only work in the spiritual mind of the new man, not the carnal mind that loves the ways of the old man. The carnal mind and God’s Spirit are archenemies. The carnal mind did not die with the old self. The old self died. The memories, the carnal memories of that way of life still linger.

The way you can facilitate, not frustrate, the work of God’s Spirit is to stop and shut out Satan. Because here’s what God’s Spirit, when it’s unimpeded, will help our new man do: it helps with the third and most decisive step. God’s Spirit will help you bar the door and place immovable objects behind it that make it impossible for Satan to break in. Colossians chapter three. This will be our last verse that we turn to as we begin to wrap up.

Colossians three, and we’ll go to the second half of verse nine, where we began, “…seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of him that created him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.” Verse fourteen, “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

The third and definitive step to completely put off is to put on. Nature abhors a vacuum. We must immediately replace what we put off. When we read those verses earlier, I alluded to it. Stop what you’re about to say that’s evil, and destructive, and bad towards someone else or to someone else and replace it with words of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering. Paul never tells us to put off without also telling us to put on. He’s speaking, I’m sure, from personal experience. Go back to anger. The new man is capable of getting angry. We’ve already established that.

Before you respond or speak with someone, or before you arrive home, talk to yourself, and again, try applying Proverbs fifteen, “Soft answer turns away wrath.” So instead of wrathful words or wrathful actions, use a soft answer. Soft words. Soft actions. Grievous words will stir up anger and also grieve the Holy Spirit. Think, it is impossible for anger to occupy our new man if we already filled it with longsuffering and we continue to pile on, longsuffering, more longsuffering. That’s why we ask for more of God’s Spirit. It’s one of the fruits of the Spirit.

The Bible says, “…be filled with the Holy Spirit,” be filled with all the fullness of God. Why? Because our entire walking in newness of life is about putting off, putting off, and leaving space to put on. Our new man is constantly taking off old clothes and putting on new clothes. Remember, the old man’s dead. The Bible says, “…be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Why? Because it fills you with the fullness of God. “…be filled with the knowledge of His will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” The Bible tells us to be filled with joy. The Bible is full of things for us to fill ourselves with.

You can’t fill your new man with any of these without God’s Spirit, and the Holy Spirit can only operate unimpeded if you do steps one and two, put off the feelings and don’t act. Stop whatever you’re doing. Shut the door. If you don’t, you inhibit the Spirit if you’re not putting off the old conduct of the old man. If you’ve reached wrath, put it off. And if you’ve done something, apologize and repent. Change. Change clothes. Put off the anger and the wrath, and the bitterness and the blasphemy, apologize for even having put it on, and put on all these things that we just talked about, mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, and the list could go on and on and on.

Change your wrath for meekness. If you’re at the point of feeling malice towards someone, wanting to do them evil, put on kindness. It’s kind of neat how they oppose one another. The pipeline. If you’re anywhere along the pipeline, we can stop it and replace it, and then start working ourselves backwards. Meditate on that. Think about that. If you are at the point of speaking irreverently of God, irreverently of His Church, of His government, stop. Put off pride and put on humility.

And finally, if you’re struggling with filthy or corrupt speech, ask God to help you array your new man with mercy. Whenever you want to put something off of your new man, don’t leave yourself naked. Search the Scriptures. Search in your mind. Search by praying to God what it is that you can put on. “No, I forgave him.” But do you feel longsuffering towards that individual? “I feel ill will towards him. I felt it. I apologize.” Now, do you feel like doing something good towards that individual? Putting not just your words of repentance or change halfway into action, but putting it fully into action by putting on.

And here’s the fruit that blossoms. Here’s the flower that blossoms when we do all that we talked about today, when we truly walk in newness of life. Let’s finish off with verse thirteen, “Forbearing one another and forgiving one another,” if any new man, I’ll put there, “…have a quarrel against another,” new man or against someone outside the Church, “…as Christ forgave you, so also do you.” And we could add, be generous, use edifying words, and do many good works.

Brethren, Christianity is not behavior management. It is not self-rehabilitation. It is not reforming the old man. Nor is it slowly improving what God already declared must die. God did not improve Abram. He didn’t improve Jacob, Simon, or Saul. He worked with Abraham. He worked with Israel. Christ worked with Peter. And God worked with Paul. At baptism, you put off the old man God would not develop and put on the one he created in Christ, the one he can work with. Think about that as we, again, go into the pre-Passover season.

You’ll have a little less frustration, a little less confusion, a little less disappointment, because you know you’re working with a new man that’s capable of everything that we just talked about today. Brethren, when you fall… and you will… when you slip… and you will… do not become confused, frustrated, or discouraged more than necessary. Your old man is dead. So is mine. I find it interesting that God had to tell Joshua, kind of a side point, that Moses was dead multiple times. Sometimes we just have to come to the realization that we’re dead, our old selves, and who’s battling today is the new man.

The new Carl, the new Frody, the new Fred, the new Sally, the new, insert your name. You’re learning to ensure the new man does not imitate the old man. That’s your job. So when former conduct appears, stop it quickly. Do not let it linger past sunset. Remember the deadline. Shut the door to Satan. Do not give him room. And then do what the Spirit was given to help you to do: put on mercy, and kindness, and humility, and meekness, and longsuffering, forgiveness, and charity, and onward, and onward, and onward.

Because when we do this, brethren, when we truly put off and put on, we distinguish the new man from the old, we separate ourselves from false Christianity, and give the world an actual real look at what true Christianity is. We distinguish ourselves from the world. Brethren, that is not behavior management, that is walking in newness of life.