The Old Man Was Crucified

The Old Man/Self: Who Died?

Stuart L. Brogden

I’ve become aware of some who say that Paul was referring to Adam being put to death in Romans 6:6, that the accepted understanding that Paul was referring to something in the Christian being put to death. Here is that verse, in the KJV: 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. The argument is that natural man’s federal head is Adam and our “old self” refers to our identity in Adam and Adam’s body was destroyed, not ours – we still have our old bodies! Here’s a quote from an advocate of this view: “It is in this sense only that it can be said that the body of sin is destroyed. It has not been destroyed in us, because as long as we are in this flesh, even as sinners made alive by the Spirit of God, the sinful nature has not, cannot, and will not change, Romans 8:7,8. The body of sin then is the legal condemnation of sin imputed in Adam to our account.”  

There is much in this brother’s statement that is cause for concern, the first is his use of Romans 8:7-8 to refer to the status of Christians. Here’s the larger passage, to provide some context:

Rom 8:5-9 (HCSB) For those who live according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit. For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

Paul is contrasting unregenerate (those who live according to the flesh) with the redeemed (those who live according to the Spirit). In verses 7 & 8 Paul describes the condition of the unregenerate: hostile toward God, unable and unwilling to submit to His law, unable to please God. This is not how the redeemed are described in Scripture. We are reconciled to God, equipped by the Holy Spirit to will and to do what pleases Him (Phil 2:13).

The last statement leaves me wondering if the author is aware of the need for our own sin, in addition to the imputed sin of Adam, is worthy of condemnation and needs to be forgiven. He further wrote: “The old man (what we were in Adam), and the body of sin (the legal condemnation by imputation), are destroyed, Christ having borne it away in His obedience unto death.” The “body of sin” which needs to be dealt with is larger than “the legal condemnation by imputation.”

I think part of this brother’s error is his reliance on the KJV, without consultation of other translations. Here’s how the HCSB presents Romans 6:6 - For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin. Note that it is “sin’s dominion over the body” that must be abolished; “the body of sin” (as in the KJV) does not refer to a literal body (like man’s) but to a “body of evidence.” When this body of evidence is rendered impotent by the propitiating death of Christ, it no longer has power over us, having been nailed to His cross (Col. 2:13-14) and cannot condemn us any longer. In Romans 7:2, the wife whose husband has died is freed from the law (i.e., the law of marriage no longer has any power over her, in spite of what she may feel). A similar point seems to be made here.

Back to the “old man/self” that was crucified. The immediate context of Romans 6 sheds some light on this.

Rom 6:5-11 (HCSB) For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin’s claims. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over Him. For in light of the fact that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in light of the fact that He lives, He lives to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Note the tenor of this passage – personal, related to the children of God and their relationship with Jesus. We have been joined with Christ; our old self has died; sin’s rule is finished; we died to sin; we died with Christ; we are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. If Paul meant Adam had died; how did that death reconcile us to Christ? Our relationship to sin must change in order for us to be reconciled to God. That is the focus of Romans 6!

A quick review of some of the other passages that describe who died to sin should clarify who Paul spoke of in chapter 6 and verse 6.

Rom 6:2 (HCSB) How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Rom 7:6 (HCSB) But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.

2 Cor 5:14 (HCSB) For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If One died for all, then all died.

Gal 2:19-20 (HCSB) For through the law I have died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Eph 4:17-24 (HCSB) Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more. But that is not how you learned about the Messiah, assuming you heard about Him and were taught by Him, because the truth is in Jesus. You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

Col 2:20 (HCSB) If you died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”?

Col 3:5-11 (HCSB) Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, God’s wrath comes on the disobedient, and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.

2 Tim 2:11 (HCSB) This saying is trustworthy: For if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him.

1 Pet 2:24 (HCSB) He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; you have been healed by His wounds.

There is no denial that we are twice-condemned: 1.) For the sin-nature we inherited from Adam and 2.) for the sin we commit. In being justified, the wrath due us for both of these was poured out on Christ. 2 Cor 5:17 would not be true if Adam’s death was meant in Romans 6:6 or any other of these passages. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. This is true for all who have been born from above! A new creation! Adam’s death didn’t bring us to that state; our death to sin and being made alive to Christ has wrought this.

In Romans 5, Adam is positioned against Christ. Nowhere is the death of Adam held out as our hope for peace with God. In verse 17, we see the condemnation that came from the one man’s trespass contrasted with the abundant grace we from Christ. Since by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. What is contrasted is consistently the condemnation of Adam with the righteousness of Christ, which is ours when we are given that faith to believe upon Him. Adam’s death plays NO PART in this reconciliation!

In all of these references, what the Spirit is pressing upon us is that a change has been wrought in us. We are no longer slaves to sin because we, being born from above, have died to that master. Just as another’s faith cannot save us, the death of another human (such as Adam) cannot redeem us. The life of the Christian is walked out in tension between who we were in Adam and who we are in Christ. All of the talk in these passages about us dying are exhortations to quit entertaining sin, stop submitting to that master. Read the Scriptures and ask yourself – who is being addressed? Who is the subject, who has “died to sin”? If you are in Christ, a new creation, that ought to be you! 

Genesis 22 - Trust and Obey

 Many years ago, J.I. Packer said, “The Christian moto should not be “Let go and let God” but “Trust God and get going!” Trust and obey.

Genesis 21:1-21 Promise, Joy, & Conflict

No matter our circumstances, God is working out His plan. We can trust Him. We SHOULD trust Him.

 

Genesis 20 - The God of Providence

God has decreed and we can rest on His faithfulness. If He promises something it will be done - either by His own arm or through means. 

 

YOU MIGHT BE A PHARISEE IF...

YOU MIGHT BE A PHARISEE IF...

• You are glad you are better than others.
• Your prayers are more like “self-talk” than speaking with God.
• Your sins seem so small when placed beside the really BIG sins of others.
• You rationalize that Christians who don’t agree with you are all “compromisers.”
• You routinely dismiss anyone who would dare to point out a “blind spot.”
• You verbally rip apart the people who disagree with you.
• You rehearse your virtues when you should be confessing your sin.
• You take delight in checking off your religious “to do” list.
• The standard you use to judge others is “you.”
• Prayer is more about you and your perception than about God and His praise.
• You assume your discipline and “preciseness” indicates true spirituality.
• Your memory is excellent when it comes to remembering your good works.
• You glory more in appearance than in heart.
• You are obsessed with externals, but blind to the internal reality of your own soul.
• Outward righteousness is more important than heart holiness.
• You find it difficult to fellowship with those different from yourself.
• You believe you are superior to others.
• You keep a list of your religious activities on the tip of your tongue.
• You justify yourself by condemning others.
• You build up yourself and your group by tearing others down.
• You despise people who do not hold your convictions.
• Your conscience is silent when you accuse and verbally abuse God’s people.
• You excuse your arrogant behavior because you hold to “the correct position.”
• You call your uncanny ability to catalog the faults of others “discernment.”
• You thank God you are not as other men.
• You really like to hear yourself pray.
• Your sense of self-importance blinds you to the fact of how repulsive you are to others.
• You always come out in a favorable light when you compare yourself with other men.
• You feel your anger is justified because you are right and those you are angry with are wrong.
• You cling to “emotional infallibility” – the belief that whatever you feel in your heart must be correct.
• You believe a person really pleases God by keeping all the rules.
• Your theological “rigidity” is more important than all other factors.
• You feel the trail of broken relationships in your past is due to some fault in the other parties.
• You visually and intellectually comply in order to gain acceptance and approval.
• You are so caught up in your own circle that you will do anything to maintain your reputation.
• You are dominated by the fear of man.
• You are insulted by the notion you may be a Pharisee

Harold Vaughan 

Not Willing That ANY Should perish

What Does 2 Peter 3:9 Teach?

There are many in the Christian community who believe that God wants to save all men, based in part on 2 Peter 3:9 (KJV): The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. It seems clear to many that this verse teaches exactly that – God wants all men to come to faith in Christ Jesus. Since it is just as clear that not all men do come to faith in Christ Jesus, something else is needed. Enter Charles Finney and his “new methods” and other things within our control. Is this what honors our Creator and King?

This short article is not a comprehensive examination of any “new methods” nor of the overall nature of the atonement – Is it intended for all men or only for those chosen by God to be saved? I simply want to examine the question, What does 2 Peter 3:9 teach? As with all such questions, we run to the first rule of hermeneutics – context! What does the paragraph teach, what does the chapter and book teach? What does the whole Bible teach about the topic?

The first contextual element gives clear evidence of the intended meaning of verse 9. Let’s read the paragraph in which this verse appears. It is widely agreed that a new paragraph starts with verse 8, although where the paragraph ends appears to be another matter. The ESV is shown below.

2 Peter 3:8 - 10 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Peter opens this paragraph addressing his audience: the beloved, his brothers and sisters in Christ. Whatever comes directly after this is intended for Christians, not for the world. The main idea presented in this paragraph is that our Lord is not tied to calendars and time, that His promise to the elect is a sure thing that will come to pass, culminating in a dramatic event that cannot be missed.

Verse 9 begins with a clear indication of the subject of the Lord's desire: YHWH is patient toward you (ESV), or longsuffering to us-ward (KJV). God is patient towards the beloved, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. Not wishing that any of what group should perish? If we take verse 9b out of its context, we are free to imagine that Creator God wants to save everybody. As I observed in the opening, that brings in all sorts of questions and has serious consequences on our theology of salvation.  But if we allow the Word of God to guide us, the immediate context tells about whom verse 9 speaks. YHWH is addressing His beloved, and towards them He is patient, not willing that any of His redeemed lose heart but trust Him to bring to completion that which He started, as YHWH Himself builds His temple (1 Cor 3:9 & 16; 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16) with the spiritual stones (Eph 2:19 – 22; 1 Peter 2:4 & 5) He has chosen. To claim verse 9 shows that YHWH desires all men to be saved actually works violence on the Scriptures, leading one to conclude the Creator and Sustainer and Judge of all things is unable to bring His desires to pass – contrary to what is declared about Him in Psalms 115:3 and 135:6.

When our interpretation of Scripture puts limits on God (beyond what the Bible describes, in that He cannot lie nor can He stop being YHWH), we know our interpretation is wrong. Every instance I know of wherein men do such a thing has been founded on a view of man that is too high and a view of God that is too low. Rather than attempt to bring God down to our understanding, we should bow before Him as revealed in Scripture and worship Him in humility.

Before we take a look at the greater context within this letter, it will be helpful to review the overall structure of this letter. Chapter 1 has a short greeting with an emphatic description of the believer’s positon and security in Christ Jesus, and an exhortation regarding the truth of the gospel. Chapter 2 is a warning about false teachers, their characteristics and their doom. Chapter 3 turns again to the believers to provide comfort in the promises of God, His power over all creation, and the beautiful culmination of His grand plan of redemption of sinners, with words of instruction to continue to learn about our Lord until He returns.

Now let’s see if there be any reason to overturn the clear meaning of our subject paragraph. Chapter 3 begins in much the same way as verse 8, as Peter addresses the audience of his letter as “beloved”, contrasting these dear brothers and sisters with scoffers and false prophets who question whether Christ will return. And in passage that ends this chapter, and the letter, Creator God addresses His people as “beloved” in verse 14 and 17, connecting them with this characterization with the Apostle Paul in verse 15.

The letter begins with a greeting to the saints, who are the beloved: Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Every sentence in this chapter is addressed to these saints, and we see the first use of the word “beloved” in verse 17 as it is used to describe God the Father’s view of His Son. There can be no argument that being called “beloved” in this letter is anything less than a glorious reference to our status as children of the most high God.

Since chapter 2 addresses believers indirectly, as Peter describes the enemies of God, we have nothing to add to our review of the topic in this chapter.

2 Peter begins and ends calling Christians “beloved”, as a reflection of our standing in Christ, and in verse 3:9 it is these people about whom Peter says God is patient towards and not willing that any of them would perish. This is not a half-baked promise to lost people that they can ask Jesus into their hearts and be saved. It is a glorious promise to Christians that those chosen before time (Eph 1:4; Rev 13:8) will be raised from spiritual death to new life in Christ Jesus before that terrible day of judgment. When He returns, one time, it will be bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him (Heb 9:28), those who have been called (John 6:36 – 44). Verse 9 is a promise from God that God will keep His promise to save every sinner He chose – none will perish, but all will come to faith and repentance. Let the saints praise His name! 

Contentment

This talk is narrow in scope, focused on being content with temporal things.

Contentment

Proverbs 30:8b-9

Perhaps the biggest SCAM in professing Christianity is the health and wealth movement. From ancient times people have associated being healthy and wealthy as having God’s favor and being ill or poor was a sign of His judgment. This was the foundation of Job’s counselors, and it was why Jesus’ disciples responded as they did when Jesus told them it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. They were astounded, and asked “Who then can be saved?” (Luke 18:26)

Being healthy and/or wealthy is not sinful, we are to not TRUST in these things but use them in service to God and His people. Contentment with what we’ve been allotted in this world is a goal for each child of God – it takes learning and is often taught with trials and successes.

As He drew near to the end of His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus began speaking plainly to them about the Father and the trouble this world brings. John 16:20-31. When Paul said he had learned to be content, it was founded on this rock of comfort: in this world we will have tribulation – much trouble – yet we can be of good cheer, we can take heart, be encouraged and comforted by this: Jesus has conquered the world!

If we be in Christ, He is our comfort and fellow saints are given to one another to encourage and care for each other. A most beautiful picture is given by an author of the early part of the second century. He observed:

The Christians are not distinguished from other men by country, by language, nor by civil institutions. For they neither dwell in cities by themselves, nor use a peculiar tongue, nor lead a singular mode of life. They dwell in the Grecian or barbarian cities, as the case may be; they follow the usages of the country in dress, food, and the other affairs of life. Yet they present a wonderful and confessedly paradoxical conduct. They dwell in their own native lands, but as strangers. They take part in all things, as citizens; and they suffer all things, as foreigners. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every native land is foreign. They marry, like all others; they have children; but they do not cast away their offsprings. They have the table in common, but not wives. They are in the flesh, but do not live after the flesh. They live upon the earth, but are citizens of heaven. They obey the existing laws, and excel the laws by their lives. They love all, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown, and yet they are condemned. They are killed and made alive. They are poor and make many rich. They lack all things, and in all things abound. They are reproached, and glory in their reproaches. They are calumniated, and are justified. They are cursed, and they bless. They receive scorn, and they give honor. They do good, and are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice, as being made alive. By the Jews they are attacked as aliens, and by the Greeks persecuted; and the cause of the enmity their enemies cannot tell. In short, what the soul is to the body, the Christians are in the world. The soul is diffused through all the members of the body, and the Christians are spread through the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, but it is not of the body; so the Christians dwell in the world, but are not of the world.

This sounds like something from another world, does it not? I believe it is so easy for us to get accustomed to living in the richest nation on earth and drift into that age-old belief that temporal blessings are the measure of God’s favor.

1 John 3:13-17. The world is set up on a system of using people and things for self-benefit. Capitalism rests on this foundation – and if allowed to operate freely, all things for self-benefit would actually benefit all involved because there would be no coercion. People freely enter into business because they see a way to profit. When people are coerced to do business or kept from doing business, those doing the coercion profit at the expense of others.

The Christian faith has often been described as a volunteer organization; this description to contrast with the state-church which is built on subscription – the coercion of man by man. We know our call by God to become part of His family is irresistible; and yet, once called, we come freely and eagerly. We should not use coercion to get things done. Coercion happens by word and deed, by personality and circumstance. These things reveal a lack of being content – they reveal a selfish heart. Those who are not content are described in Jude 10-16. Always this contrast between two kingdoms, two ways of life, two masters.

We have encouragement from our Master in 1 Timothy 6:3-12. In the midst of warning about who slander and quarrel, are envious of others and promote disputes, Paul reminds us that godliness with contentment is worth much. Some promote godliness as a means to material gain, but our Lord tells us we are to be content with food and clothing, knowing that we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it. Men who love money are vulnerable to many pitfalls and harmful desires, but the man of God is to run from that, pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

This is the good fight we are called to. Not one of carnal weapons of coercion, brought forth by envy or selfishness; but a battle in the spiritual realm, where only the Holy Spirit within us can win the war. 1 Peter 4:1-17. May God give us grace to suffer as Christians and keep us from falling into envy and selfishness.