September 12th, 2024
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
No matter where we might find ourselves on our Christian journey, I think it is helpful to ask ourselves every now and again whether or not we are truly changing. There have been many believers throughout history who have simply forsaken the idea of change. For many reasons, they sincerely believe that after you are saved there no longer remains anything else to do. Comfortably, they attend the church and carry on with just the right amount of care to stay afloat. However, just because you are slightly above the water doesn't mean you aren't spiritually drowning. I am convinced that if we're not attentive and alert, this untroubled care-free attitude will descend into lukewarmness and effectively prove the falseness of our salvation.
Well, how then should we escape this dangerous terrain? It is only in seriously sitting down in honest reflection and asking ourselves if we really are changing. From the moment you encountered the love and majesty of King Jesus to this very moment, has there been any measure of change to your life? That might be more difficult to answer for some than others. Our passage today helps to guide our minds into the right kind of self evaluation.
The apostle Paul firstly asks us to recall the kind of life we lived before we were enlightened to the truth and spiritually saved. He asks us to put off our old self because it is being corrupted by deceitful desires. You should notice right away that there is a negative opinion portrayed of our former way of living. It wasn't simply a life that needed a small renovation or gentle improvement. It was a life that needed to be totally renounced in every way and set aside. Paul said it much more violently in Romans 6:6 in which he stated our old self was crucified with Christ that our bodies of sin might be done away with. Think deeply on this for a moment. Paul isn't commanding an immediate state of perfection from us. He is simply asking have you buried the old person you once were? Or, are you secretly revisiting the grave? Are we thankful and overjoyed that our old self has been thrown away and set aside? Or, are we secretly desiring that former way of living we used to have? The truth is, we will only be changing if we desperately wanted change in the first place. A kind of change that isn't a small adjustment, one that is completely transformative and utterly opposed to the old way of life.
It is interesting to realize that the Bible never advocates for light spiritual modifications to our lives. For example, if we wanted to modify our homes, it might be small fixes that never disrupt the structure of the house. The beauty of the gospel is that God desired so much more than this when He saved us. He sought to destroy the old house in order that He might build something completely new. As Paul writes, we are to be completely transformed in the attitude of our minds by putting on the new self. The new self is the image and person of Jesus Christ. He has become the renewed foundation by which God is using to build us back again. And He is decorating this new home with spiritual fruit of godliness, holiness and righteousness.
We return to where we first began. Am I really changing? We might need to be more specific today. What specifically has changed in you? And, what hasn't changed at all? If Jesus were to show up to each one of us today, would He be able to find Himself in us? We have two vital responses today. Find what is old in us and throw it away. Then, clothe ourselves with the mind, heart and attitude of our Lord, Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14).