It is no longer I who live
A Christian who truly believes in
the Lord has two persons living in him. One is the ‘old man who existed before
he believed in the Lord. The other is the ‘new man’ who exists after he has
come to believe in the Lord. The ‘old man’ was the first Adam while the ‘new
man’ belongs to the last Adam. The first Adam was from the earth, a man of
dust; while the last Adam is from heaven, of the spirit. The bible says, “As
was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of
heaven, so are those who are of heaven” (1 Cor -49).
The old man was dead on account of
his sins and the sin inherited from Adam (Row ).
We arc by nature children of wrath, condemned to die, without any hope in this
world. There is but a fearful prospect of judgment waiting for us. But God
shows his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
The righteous Father passes judgment and condemnation to those who are sinners
but through His mercy He delivers those who believe in Him. Paul wrote in his
epistle to the Ephesians saying, “As sin reigned in death, grace also might
reign through righteousness to eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Row
). Our old selves died when we
were baptized into His death. Therefore, “It is no longer I who live, but
Christ who lives in me” (Gal ).
Paul wrote, “And we all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord,
are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for
this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor
3:18). Since the Spirit of the Lord has changed us to become a new people, the
old man should not control us any more. There must be a distinction between ourselves and the worldly people in regard to our speech and
conduct. We must put away our old nature and put on the new nature, created
after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, we
must rely on the Holy Spirit, putting to death the wickedness of our old selves
so that it is no longer we who live but Christ living in us.
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