What About My Old Me?

Someone recently wrote that “my old self is bugging me, and I keep dragging it around. What am I to do about my old me?”

I replied that there is no more "it" to drag around. The old self is gone, having been replaced by the new. Christians do not have two selves, each competing with the other; one that needs to be beaten and killed, while the other needs to be nurtured and grown. The "bad self" that some refer to is the flesh, which is in conflict with the Spirit (See Galatians 5:16-17), and which still produces feelings and behavior through our bodies (Galatians 5:19-20). You need to read that because you’ll see that the flesh produces through your body (“The acts of the flesh are…” which you don’t want), as does the Holy Spirit—that’s what you want.  So the flesh is not us. We’re not in the flesh. We’re not of the flesh (See Romans 7:5-6; 8:9). We have no old self that is some ugly thing.  It’s simply the flesh.  We’re new creations, who now share in the nature of our Father (See 2 Peter 1:2-5).

That's the new birth, which was preceded by something rather significant—your death!  (See Romans 6:3-7) You were included in Christ’s death and resurrection.  So when He died, you died.  When He was raised, so were you—holy and new.  It's amazing!  And shouldn't it be?  We’re Spirit-born sons and daughters. For real.

Life for the Christian is not found in beating up our presumed sneaky and evil selves, while nourishing our struggling new selves. We’re all-the-way new. Life is found in the grace of God’s gift to us of the Holy Spirit, who, as He attracts and secures our attention and trust, produces the evidence of eternal life now in us. Really, it’s the life of Christ Himself. 

Frankly, He doesn’t even require our attention to do it; it just makes it a whole lot more enjoyable and invigorating for us, and we get to know Him in the process.  And that looks and feels great (See Galatians 5:22-25).

We're His workmanship, and He loves His work.  Right?

(This is a transcript of yesterday’s video, “What About My Old Me?”, and is for those who might rather read than watch.  To see the video, scroll down.)