Steve McVey
Pastor and founder of Grace Walk
Ministries, an Exchanged Life discipling ministry in Atlanta
Paul often used the phrase “the old
man” to describe the old sin nature that gave us our identity before we were
saved. Since we have only one nature
now, the nature of Jesus Christ, the question arises as to what happened to our
old man. Look again at 2 Corinthians
5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have
passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Paul says the old has “passed away”…is
dead. Maybe you haven’t believed that
your old sin nature is dead. But just
for a moment, ask yourself this question:
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if my sin
nature was honestly dead? This is
where things get exciting because the Bible shows that our sin nature is dead!
“I have been crucified with Christ; and
it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and
delivered Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).
When Paul said that he had “been crucified with Christ,” he spoke of a
past event. The Greek word translated
“crucified” is in the aorist tense, indicating that it was a historical event
that took place at a particular time. He
went on to say, “It is no longer I who live.”
There is an unavoidable truth in this verse. We have been put to death with Jesus Christ
on the cross and do not live anymore.
Who was Paul speaking about when he
said, “I have been crucified and I no longer live!” He was referring to his sin nature. Our sin nature died with Jesus Christ on the
cross almost 2000 years ago. If you have
trouble accepting that fact, then consider this question: If it wasn’t our sin nature
that died, what did die? Paul
teaches here that the old self is forever dead.
The life we now possess is nothing less than the very life of Jesus
Christ!
You may not feel that
your sin nature is dead, but God says that it is. This in no way means that you will live a
life of sinless perfection. It does mean
that it is not your nature to live a life of habitual sin anymore. By the life of Christ the new you has the
desire to resist sin and the power to live victoriously.
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Within days after that night of absolute surrender in my
[church] office, God began to reveal the truths of my identity in Christ…and
it thrilled me. For the first time in
my Christian life, I saw myself as God saw me. I understood that when I was saved, He had
given me a new nature. For the first
time I knew that my old man really was dead.
But the time came when the process moved from the theological and
academic realm into practical experience.
Head knowledge alone wasn’t enough to experience victory. Just like a man who understands the gospel
intellectually and then finally receives Christ, so I came to the place where
learned truths became living truths to me. It became apparent that God didn’t want to change my life as I had asked – He
wanted to exchange it. |