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What Is The Old Man And The New Man?
The “old man” is one who is living according to his old habits, or lifestyle. The “new man” is one who has a new knowledge that is “like” (or according to) the knowledge of the One who created him. When we are born again, we are said to be a new man.
Col 3:9-10 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
So as a new man, we have new knowledge, and this knowledge is given to us by the Holy Spirit, who is sent from God to be a helper for His people. But HAVING knowledge and USING it are two different things. WE are responsible for putting this new knowledge into practice in our life. This knowledge is whispered into our conscience by the Holy Spirit as He teaches us and reminds us of the things Jesus has said. In other words, the Holy Spirit will help us understand things we have never been taught, plus He will help us understand God’s written Word.
Does Our Lifestyle Automatically Change When We Become A New Man?
Although we are immediately given access to new knowledge when the Holy Spirit comes into our heart, the lifestyle changes are not automatic. Learning to abide in Christ by doing what pleases Him is up to us. We have to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then use our self control to overcome old habits. This is what Paul meant when he wrote that we should find out what pleases the Lord and walk in that way.
Eph 5:8-10 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord … Walk as children of light finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
Col 3:8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
Col 3:12-14 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
Obviously when Paul said that we, ourselves, are to “put off” certain things and “put on” others, he was indicating that there is no automatic change in our lifestyle. The guidance and advice of the Holy Spirit is made available to us, and by walking in obedience to His counsel we will develop a changed lifestyle, but we are always able to override His advice and follow the desires of our flesh.
1Thes 5:19-22 Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
When we choose to ignore what the Holy Spirit whispers to our conscience, we are quenching the Spirit, and Paul warns that we should not do this. He does, however, encourage us to test what we think our conscience has heard from the Holy Spirit, and we do that by comparing it to what is written in the Word and by comparing it to what we know is true of God’s character. The Holy Spirit will never, ever advise us to do something that is contrary to either of these.
So we see that the new man immediately receives new knowledge, but our lifestyle will remain unchanged and fruitless unless we choose to listen to and obey the Holy Spirit’s counsel.
Keeping it real,
Photo Courtesy Of: Joe Houghton, on Flickr
Article Written: Oct. 13, 2011 / Edited: Oct. 19, 2011
