–George Sheffield “Put off concerning the former lifestyle the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts…and put on the new man” (Eph 4:22,24) Toby Keith sang Don’t Let The Old Man In, referring to aging. But Paul preached about another old man, and he said for us to “put off” that old man. The old man Paul was referring to is our old, sinful, flesh nature and its desires.
We are to put off this old man like we would take off dirty, filthy clothing. That old man of ours is a dirty old man, bent on doing corrupt and deceitful lusts. He only wants to please the flesh and nothing else.
He is not your friend.
As believers, we can put off the old man by the power of the Holy Spirit Who gives us the ability to do so. But while we put off the old man, we need to put on the new man, created in the image of Jesus.
The old man has been crucified, no longer having the power he once had in us. And the new man has been made alive in us.
All this accomplished by Jesus when we were born again. But the old man won’t retire easily. Yet as we “put on”--grow--in the new man, the old man will gradually fade. While we can’t stop the old man of aging that Toby Keith sang about, we do have Holy Spirit authority to stop the old man of sin and put him off from our lives.
