Colossians 3:9-10 - Putting On the New Man, Pt. 2

Good morning everybody.

How are you?

Good good.

Charlotte reminded me we left out one prayer request. Miss Judy is on a long trek again. Remember a while back. I don't know maybe Three or four weeks. She'll be driving through the country. Which she loves to do.

She said it's not gonna be quite as many places as last time. But some of the same places and kin folks and so forth. So pray for her safety Each day and we'll let you know when she's back. All right.

We miss her. All right. All right. Good services today. Great Sunday school classes and Good to see you here. Appreciate brother Ron helping with John and the family there and Great to have Sharon and Raymond with us.

They are going through tribulation. The Lord says the only way we get to heaven is through tribulation all of us. But y 'all are having a special amount right now, but you're here and that's awesome. And everybody's praying for you.

Lord has answered every prayer you've ever asked in the past. No reason to think he's going to stop now. So good to see each of you. Let's let me pray we'll get right into the book of Colossians. Lord thank you for this day and we ask you to be with us as we do this special thing of Assembly where we can be together.

With each other and with you and thank you for ordaining that so that we have the togetherness. Which is so important, especially as we see the day approaching and so we ask you to bless the preaching of the word for Jesus sake amen.

The Old Man and the New Man in Colossians 3

The last chapter 3 and I think we were on about verse 10 so let's just pick it up right there where we left off last time and Good to have our online folks with us today. Glad to have you guys with us as always.

Had a good group. I noticed back there. So that's fantastic.

But we.

We had worked our way down to about verse 10, you know, I think I forgot my glasses.

And.

Tyler would you look up there and a little you know a little black Thing that holds my folded glasses just bring that to me. I might need them most likely will. See if he sees it up there should be with my keys to the right right up there at the top.

Yep, that's it. Thank you very much. So Look at verse 10 there in Colossians chapter 3 it says and have put on the new man. Do you guys see that the word man is in italics? That means it's not in the Greek.

It just says put on the new. But it's interesting if you look right a verse above it. Why not one to another thing that you've put off the old man with his deeds. The word man is not in italics. Is it in that one?

So it's actually in the Greek and it means man good translation so really just grammatically that's sort of a. It just reads well to say put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new and it's implied.

That it still means man, but the truth is what I want you to think about today. I think I'll make this a little easier because it's very difficult. Passage to me if you really think it through on what's going on.

What God is telling us to do. Sunday school lesson today was interesting because it had a lot of that same Interaction between Positional truth and experiential truth like the things that are true from God's viewpoint, which means they're true.

Like you're saved by grace period you're just flat saved. God already sees you as glorified that kind of stuff is called positional because the father sees that from an out-of-time Position a point of view but it is our true position.

We stand in that position and it's real and it's true. But at the same time Connected with the same verse you're gonna find experiential things like so therefore live this way right live this way. That's what we're supposed to do and we're responsible for that.

But we're never responsible to try to do it in the flesh on our own. We're always supposed to do it hand in hand with Christ or else. It's wood. Hay and stubble. It doesn't even count. Right. So but those things are interesting to think about because For us, you know, we wonder how do you divide them or should you divide them?

Or are they one thing two aspects of one thing and this is very interesting when you start talking about the old man and the new man because like we're. We're a person. In fact, let's look at this verse to sort of start off this morning turn with me, too.

We're gonna be in Colossians here in a minute, but turn to 1st Thessalonians 5 23. Take a look at this and the very God of peace sanctify you holy and I pray God that your whole spirit Soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faithful is he that calls you who also will do it. Now, you know, there's the there's the God viewpoint. Okay, your your whole spirit soul and body will be preserved blameless until Jesus comes back and God will do that.

Which means that's positional. I mean, I won't say it's positional, but it's a fact. It's it is Ordained it is predestined. So it is going to happen your entire soul spirit and body. Will this body that you're living in will be preserved until Jesus comes back or when he comes back if we die first.

But.

Every single atom in your body will be gathered by the Lord. Nothing in in this university created Is gone it just changes forms, right but still the atoms are there it puts it right back together. It will be you we will recognize each other, but we'll be in a glorified body.

It's as different as the moon is to the glory of the Sun the moon being your current body the Sun being the new body. It's it's the same but it's different in the fact that it's so much more glorious.

I I was watching Winston out here. He had a yellow cape his raincoat, but to him it was a cape and he told his Grammy as he Ran down the hall. I'm a bat. So the Cape were his wings and so he was in his glorified body he could already fly and so it'll be you know, it'll be like that in some manner of speaking, but So we have this God's viewpoint and man's viewpoint going on here with what we're talking about them thing I wanted to show you here though is it mentions that you Exist as a spirit soul and body.

So you're you have three parts, but you're one whole. So is it a whole or is it three parts? Well, it's both. Can you study the three parts individually? Yeah. But like Ben was talking about in Sunday school If you just all you do is focus on that you'll get it wrong because you also need to look at the oneness of like We're one person.

Right. Well God's the same way. You can study that Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the Father are three distinct persons. But if all you ever do is study that you won't be healthy. He exists as three distinct persons, but he's one God and we're one person.

But we have these three parts or components now what's interesting about it? Let me ask you this out of these three you got spirit soul and body. Which one is your brain? Which one of those three is it.

It's part of the body. It's just one part of the whole body, right? It's a very important part. Because wouldn't you say that that part of your body controls your whole body? Okay, and so the more you train it like can it learn to ride a bicycle?

Eventually, isn't that an interesting thing as a parent that time in life where you teach your children to ride a bicycle. It's not. I think it's harder for the parent than it is the child. What do y 'all think?

I mean the child will get it but the parent thinks they'll never get it and. And the parent feels like it is my responsibility to make them do this and it's never gonna happen. And then all of a sudden they say let go daddy.

And there they go.

Right.

So you can train the brain? To do more and more marvelous things. Could you train this? This is not a trick question. It may sound like one but could you train the brain? To do good things. From man's viewpoint, I'll make it easy.

Yes, you you do teach your children in the home to be good. Not bad, right? Now are you teaching the new nature that or the old nature that you see how this gets muddy? Trying to understand it. Are you training the old man of your child or the new man?

Are you training their brain or I was asked been this after last Sunday? I asked him. After the sermon I said do you think this time at the brain or the mind? So what's the difference? There is a difference so these these questions are sort of interesting to me and I'm preaching through it because we came to it in the book.

We're studying but also I got to figure it out because I'm starting a new book on this topic. So I have to learn what the books about. But we keep learning new things about everything in the Bible. So I may when I get to be 90, I'll think why did I start?

Why did I start writing? It's such a young age. It's a joke sort of.

Okay.

So we have these three parts and you guys are telling me that the brain is part of the body and that it is Controls the body. So if you train the brain the body can do good things. If you now let me ask you this.

If you don't do any training, do you think the brain could cause the body to do some bad things automatically? Without even teaching it. Yeah. Because of what? What's the doctrine that tells us why that's true?

Gravity of man. Sin. How sin came into the world and all that and we have a sin nature now. Here's one thing that I think will help as we talk about the new man and the old man. Maybe substitute the word nature for man.

The new nature and the old nature. Do you think that would be acceptable? I mean, I know the Greek says man, but couldn't couldn't Paul be using that as Sort of an allegory to talk about the nature the two natures that you you a one person.

You're like one person, but you have two natures. So I think it will help you to think that way because I don't haven't always thought that way. I tend to think of it as literally a new created man. You know, we have that one great verse that says we're a new creation right old things are passed away.

All things are become new as if it's already happened, but that's a positional verse. There's a lots of verses that act like it hasn't totally happened. The old man is still there and even names back this passage.

It names all the stuff he'll do. But is it a he is it a he or is it you? But it's part of the nature that you have and I know I know that positionally he's already crucified too, isn't he from God's viewpoint?

He but is he really dead? Is that old man really dead or do you count him as dead? Well, there's places where the Bible says he is dead. But whose viewpoint is that? That's the father's. Okay from your viewpoint.

Is he dead or did he bother you this week? No one should raise in their hand, I don't want you to because then I'll have to raise mine. That but so you have two natures and they're both very much alive.

In an experiential world that we live in in space and time but God sees us as having been saved and As already saved and already even glorified and of course at that time the old man will be gone. He will drop off on the way up if we get raptured and if we pass away before the rapture he that's who died the old man died and The new man is risen immediately instantly to be with the Lord the Bible says so I think it's kind of fascinating topic that we live as.

Two and.

Was it an old Indian that said which one's the biggest. Is the dog like you got a white dog and a black dog. Which One's the meanest the one you feed the most. You've heard that it must be true because I've heard.

What is it? Something old preacher cool cool old preachers. Is that what it was? I've heard cool old preachers say it so it's got to be true and Anyway, it's kind of like that. So, all right. So now we know that we have these three parts well in verse 10.

Well verse 9 it gives a list of things the old man will do now. Let's think of it as an old nature the nature that you had when you were born. It says put off anger wrath malice blasphemy filthy talking cursing and stuff with your mouth.

Lie not one to another stop lying. Don't tell lies to each other. Put off the old man with his deeds. Put off the old nature. Now you couldn't put him off if he wasn't still there right in space and time.

So Paul both says that he's crucified and that he's still there. How do you figure that out? It's positional versus experiential. It's God's viewpoint versus our viewpoint in space and time. So he is still there from our viewpoint and How do we deal with him?

Well, the first thing it says, you know put off these things. Stop lying to each other all these things put off the old man and the stuff that he does. Okay, so Now look at the next verse and put on the new which is renewed in knowledge.

After the image of him that's created. So now let me ask you this question. But I want us to understand as I ask it. One of the things about Bible study and interpretation that's really important is You you can never take an isolated verse.

I don't care who you are and how much how well, you know the Bible. You just can't do it because if you do You likely might get it wrong. Even if you got the grammar right and the word definitions right and everything about that little passage, right?

You still have to hold it up against the whole of the Bible to truly know what it means and I ran into this in this study. Where I could have gotten it pretty wrong. If I hadn't put all the verses together and I'm gonna do that for you today, and there aren't many so don't worry 42 I think but it's a good number.

Not really just a few but if you put them all together it starts to add up. But put on the new nature put on the new man. Which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of him that created him. So let me ask you this.

What part of you is it that is renewed at least in this verse? Okay, what part of you is it that's renewed in knowledge? After the image of Christ in the sentence, who is it that's renewed who? The new man or the old man the new man, well.

Okay, so when your child is little bitty and You know, I have to I want to be careful how I speak because we have little ones in the room. So let's just say when they're just born and there they are and you're raising them and you're teaching them good things to do and not to do bad things.

Are you are you? Instructing the old man or the new there? Okay, let's assume they're not yet little bitty ones little bitties, okay. Old these are the old man. Okay, can you. Can you Heal the old man where it'll totally learn that new stuff and not do any bad.

You can't can you so why do we do it? So they won't hurt us when they get bigger is the answer, okay. Yeah to teach self-control now, can they be saved by self-control later? No.

But.

It is very good for in the home to have children where they are pleasant to other people who visit. Right. That's a great thing to use to understand if you're rearing the children. Well, are they do other people enjoy being around them?

Are they pleasant and. That's training and it's never perfect is it I Mean the ones that you may enjoy the best when they get home today might get us banking, right? And but that's part of it. And so that's Dealing with the old man, but is that what verse 10 is talking about here?

Because I don't think it is because I think here this is Paul literally speaking to born-again people, right? This is born-again people. We're talking about here and it says to put on the new nature it describes that as a new person which it is like that if you want to think of it that way and That one now, let me give you a little help with the Greek here when it says which is renewed.

It's present passive participle with which in English is like adding an ING, right? Which is being renewed. The new man is being renewed in knowledge to be more and more like Jesus. What is the greatest tool for that?

The Bible. The Bible is the greatest tool and now that let's just take this for adults in the room who are born again the greatest tool for you to renew the new man for the new man to be being renewed is The Bible but it's not the only thing because This is passive which means someone bigger and stronger than you is doing this to you.

So it goes beyond the Bible. It goes to the author of the Bible as well that relationship you have with Jesus with the Holy Spirit with the Father and Whose word this is? Works together to renew you now, I think this is interesting.

Let's look at this word renew for a minute. On a car he no oh on a car he no or on a car he no ho. Sounds more like Indian doesn't it then Greek when I say it because it's Texan for Greek.

But.

This word literally means to renovate something. Think about that that's kind of interesting. You were told that you are being renovated. What part of you though. Okay, so the new man according to this verse.

Anyway, it looks like it means the new man Is being renovated. Now, let's look at Webster, you know Webster was a Christian. Webster's dictionary says renovate means to restore to a former better state as By cleaning.

I like that. Then the Bible say that the Word of God washes us, you know. And clean cleanses us by repairing or by rebuilding. Second definition and this is fascinating to me because this is not a secular definition.

But it's in the dictionary because mr. Webster was born again. It says to restore to life.

Vigor or.

Activity in other words to restore the person where he is alive and properly active before the Lord. That's a cool diction. That's a cool definition. So I think that's the meaning even in the Greek here of what's happening so here when you got born again your old man Might have been a certain number of years old.

I was 24 years old when that happened when my new man was Created by Jesus. It's a birth. It's just as that's why I don't mind calling it new man old man. It is actually a new creation That God did a miracle in your life where now you have to though old nature new nature but the new one was just born he's a baby and The old man has been if you want to think of it as a black dog and a white dog.

The old the black dogs been fed your whole life now when you get saved later in life. Like I did like Colin did I'll use use an example because it was 2024, right? Towards the end. You know, we lived a good amount of time on this earth as adults as Just an old man and then all of a sudden the new man is born and he's a baby.

So, how can you catch up? You you have to feed that one more than you feed the other one. So you've got a you've got a really focus on Stopping whatever the bad input was the world the flesh of the devil input comes in from all three of those stopping that the best you can and Putting this in fast and a lot of it.

I don't mean read it fast contemplate it a lot often Throughout the week and feeds the new man and when that happens, of course the Holy Spirit is working to sanctify you as You are reading the Word of God and now all of a sudden you're being renewed.

Being it's ongoing present passive participle By someone greater than you God is doing this to you. You're being renewed in knowledge. You're being renovated in knowledge. After the image of him that created your new man, well, he created you old man, too, didn't he but it's fall.

But now he's created the new man and Paul makes it clear. That's the real you now. That is you. The old man from Paul's viewpoint should be counted as crucified as dead and the real you is the new so you need to focus on the new man the new nature and Let him grow in knowledge why because he's behind he is behind he the old man is way ahead.

In.

The world's knowledge and. The new man's got to get ahead because the new man needs to be what controls our whole body soul and spirit. Or at least our body and soul. Okay, so. The very definition of the word is is sort of interesting.

So we have put on the new man. Which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of him that created him. Remember I said last time that This is a verbal adjective. You could look at put on the new man as a verbal adjective.

But if you look at the Greek, it's going to call it a verb but if you look at.

Renewed.

That is an Adjective that tells what kind of new man it is. What kind of man this is. This new man is a renewed man. It's a verbal adjective and Really the whole thing could be looking in English. Anyway, the whole thing could be a verbal adjective if you changed a couple of words in the front of the sentence because it's the kind of person you are and when we look At it and we see that it's in the passive.

That this putting on the new man is in the passive. It means God is making you be that person. So another way I want us to look at this is Through like Three three ways. Okay. Number one Who we are and I'm talking about the new man.

It is who we are. Number two, how do we think? Because if you've got to renew it It's got to start to think differently. The new man can monitor the old man. Your new man can hear your old man thinking I'm gonna drive you nuts.

Because if you start trying to do that while I'm preaching you're not gonna hear anything else. Because the old man will take over. No, but your new man can monitor what the old man is thinking it does it should all the time.

That's part of the training of a Christian is to monitor all the time. It's tiring, but it's important you Monitor so the new man can hear the old man thinking. How does it get good at knowing that the old man's thoughts are bad?

How does the new man recognize?

The.

Compares it to God. The person of God which is shown to us in the scripture. Ben's been teaching on that a lot. You throw that in a lot of noticed on on like like when you read the word. It's more than just Academic it's more than just words.

It is the very nature of God. You are knowing God when you study this Bible. You're becoming a person who knows God and The new man knows God better and better. That's why this is an ongoing process of Renewing the mind and it's not just you.

I've had times in my life where I read the Bible because I thought I was supposed to as a new Christian. It got really dry and I got nothing from it. I Probably did but I mean like I didn't emotionally feel good about it.

And.

When that happens if it does and to me that was a new baby Christian thing because I haven't had that happen since then but I mean, I just love the word so it just doesn't happen, but it did my first year of Christianity.

Because imagine that old man was 24 years old, right? And the new man was a few weeks old. And so I would people would tell me you need to be studying the Bible every day. Well, okay. It just wasn't working for me.

Okay. So what do you do when that happens? Well, you need to pray about that and say Lord when I read the Bible. I want you to be there with me. Teach me something new out of whatever I read today. Teach me something.

I didn't know teach me something that will fill me with either joy or awe you know about you our knowledge of you and then all of a sudden it becomes something you look forward to and So we have this renewing going on.

Now, let me get you to look at some of these verses about this process. But let me show you one thing. I want to jump ahead and we'll cover this later. Before I go to that, let's look at the passage. We're in Colossians chapter 3 verse 10.

I just want to jump ahead a little bit and show you something interesting. Okay? Look at verse 10 again and Have put on the new man, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him and after Knowing Christ the more, you know Christ which we learned by seeing him in the scriptures and talking with him in prayer walking with him.

It renews the new man. So Have put on the new man you see that in verse 10 have put on the new man. Okay. Now look down at verse 12, which we won't get to today, but just look at it put on.

Therefore.

So don't you think the word therefore is referring back up to the first two or three verses above it, right? So now put on the new man and you skip right to verse 12. Put on therefore as the elect of God Holy and Beloved.

Here's here's the things bowels of mercy now bowels to them is what we would say heart a heart that has mercy towards people. A Heart of mercy towards other people. A heart of kindness Towards other people humbleness of mind put the other higher than yourself.

Meekness long suffering which is patience Forbearing one another. Do you know what that means in the Greek? It means putting up with somebody.

Why.

Why does it tell why does the Holy Spirit tell us as Christians to put up with each other. Because the old man is still alive, right? Right. Yeah, I mean you're not gonna have a problem with someone's new man, but the old man shows up even at church.

I mean it everywhere in the car coming to church going home. Charlotte was terrible on the way to church today. You do you see I'm going a little slower today and I'm having a little trouble getting into it was just terrible.

Well, it was her birthday. I told just let the old lady go. Have fun for a day. For bearing one another put up with one another honey, you remember that because you have to live with me. Forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also.

Do you now don't you find it interesting? At first he just kind of looks at the forest but not the trees. He just says put on the new man and then two verses later. He starts telling you what that means.

What does it mean to put on the new man? You put you put the character of Christ on that new man you train him you train the new man. But the cool thing about the new man is he wants to do these things.

The new man when he does the opposite hates himself instantly. Well, it's really your new man hating your old man. That's what that is. Isn't it weird it's a schizophrenic life. It's so strange. Your new man hates it when the old man shows up and you open your mouth and it's too late and you figured it out.

After the fact it's terrible. And or an action or whatever or even thoughts, you know thought your new man sees you think your old man. Think of thought you go that is that is not me. That's not the Lord Lord.

Give me the mind of Christ, you know, and you just keep doing that, you know throughout the days. Well here where it says put on and it names these things. It's heiress to middle. Imperative which imperative means it's God telling you do this.

He's telling you to do this. Middle means you do it to yourself. So this is all about responsibility now. This is not positional. This is not the Holy Spirit doing this to you. It's you doing something with him.

Does that make a difference you see the difference? It's still not you doing it by yourself because you're not Catholic. They're not all I guess some numbers say but most of them are just doing it in the flesh.

Like a Jew like your Jews you talked about in Sunday school the Pharisees doesn't work, but It is your responsibility.

To.

Renew to renovate this new man because it's not really you can't renovate the old man. He is crucified. He's just put away, but you can you can renovate yourself. So you see now here think of yourself as one whole person you can renovate yourself.

Because your new man is the part of you that can renovate your brain and how it think isn't it? Just a marvelous computer. It's been programmed by the world of flesh and the devil and some of the Lord because your mama told you Bible verses probably.

Hopefully if you grew up in a Christian home. You heard some you heard some on the radio if you didn't ever went to church. You might even gone to church a few times as a lost person so some of that's in there, but most of your brain needs total renovation and Somehow the Holy Spirit and our spirit use the brain to communicate the new man to the world and For the Lord and to act and live and do good works as the Sunday school lesson talked about at the very end of it.

Anyway, it'll be next time probably in your Sunday school lesson next time. You know do good works Paul said so this is all part of this renovation. So now now let's look at a few of the verses that talk about This renewing of the mind and see if we can grasp what that what just that means.

Romans 12 1 is the most famous 12 1 2. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your body now. I ask you something. When when in the context when we're talking about the body is that your brain?

Like his let me say it this way is that your spirit soul or body? It's your body. So what part of your body is it? It's all of it, but. The part about presenting it as a sacrifice is all of it. But what part of it is it that can present it?

Don't you agree the brain has to decide to present it. If your brain does not decide to present it as a sacrifice to the Lord your brain can just as easily present it as a laughingstock of the devil. If you choose to sin.

Which is what you become when you send a laughingstock to the demons watching you in a lab. Yeah, look at this Christian right the accuser of the brethren. So your brain can decide which you do at any given moment.

Kind of frightening but isn't it nice to know that the Lord has created birthed within your body a new nature a New you and if he decides you won't sin. If he decides on it, he's gonna always decide not to sin.

So look at this we're commanded this is an imperative present your body as a living sacrifice. Why does it call it a sacrifice? Because to the old man anything Godly you do as a sacrifice because you're giving up all the worldly lusts.

Right all the covetousness everything you want to go do all the selfishness. Everything about me you're you have to sacrifice to put that aside. But you're told to do that. Why would you be told to do that?

If you're just a new man if the old man is not still there. Do you have to make a choice? We make the choice every moment of every day until we see the Lord in person face to face. So Paul as a man as our Apostle beseeches us, but God as our God commands us.

To present our bodies to him as a living sacrifice. Holy. Wow, did I ever see a good definition for that. Charlotte read it to me this morning out of her Bible where she had Written down. Dr. Rocky Freeman's definition of holy man.

I didn't have time. I couldn't get it because we were in the car, but I'll type it up and give it to you Next Sunday the Lord willing it ties in with this whole message and with his Sunday school lesson.

It is the most phenomenal thing I've ever heard and we've read, you know scholars talking about what holy means and you know. It's good. It's good stuff. But Rockies was like way up here way in the heavenlies the way he worded it.

Oh my goodness. He was something else. He wouldn't want us to be talking about him though, would he. But anyway, maybe he would.

But.

God commands us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Holy which means separated unto God and away from the world. Acceptable unto God which means covered by the blood and having confessed sin.

Which is our reasonable service. We don't even get a reward for that. That's just what we're supposed to do. We've been saved. That's what we're supposed to do. It's reasonable to do it. It's not like we get special credit for living this way.