The Old Self is Dead: Fact, Faith, or Feeling?

The Holy Spirit was again reminding me of the reality of Romans 6:6 which says, "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."  In being totally honest with you this has often seemed more like a fantasy that I would like to believe than the facts according to God and the Good News of the gospel.  The reason is that I see so much evidence in my life of the old self being alive, I see passivity causing my wife to be overloaded, feelings of anxiety causing me to ignore the voice of God, experiencing being overwhelmed by life, and then becoming self-centered.  All of this points to the reality that the Old Self enslaved to sin is very much alive and well, yet these are not the facts but evidence that my soul mounts up to contradict the fact of God's Word and what my spirit says.  True Biblical faith is not an energy or power that we must like New Age attempts to but it is a discovery of what I already have "in Christ".

The Old Self (or Orphan Life) was formed by living on this fallen earth with all the influences and hurts of sin.  The only way Father could bring us into right relationship with Himself was to deal with this old nature once and for all by uniting us to the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension with Christ.  It is not only the truth that the Old Self is dead but it is also a fact.  Father is not looking to improve this Old Self, make it behave, or expect in any way that it has life.  Death is the only solution for the Old Self and the one that brings us ultimate deliverance.  In Romans 6:4 the Word says, "...we too might walk in newness of life."  This means Holy Spirit is always leading you in living in newness of life, not seeking to change, improve, or mold the old orphan life.  Your old self is dead!  Dead!!!  Dead!!!  Dead!!!  One of the most deceptive realities is since much of our believing is about our old self, we often have a lot of feelings emanating from the belief in the old self so we conclude the old self is alive.  Deception is very deceiving.

Even though I continually see evidence from my own life and soul that the old self is really what I am living, I choose to believe the Word of God.  I believe the greatest battle in the Christian life is really about who am I.  This follows the most important question:  Who is God?  When Father is revealed through Jesus Christ (exact representation of the Father), then we can see who we are in Him.  Holy Spirit is continually working on growing, expanding, and increasing the fruitfulness of the New Creation we are "in Christ".  This means our spirit man (or woman) united to Christ is what is growing to overcome the Sumo Wrestler of the soul.  Just as in the video attached to this blog, the Sumo seems daunting, huge, and like he is no match for the smaller fighter (MMA fighter- our spirit).  Yet watch what actually happened.  Truly the New Creation you are "in Christ" is so much more powerful than the soul.  The world has fed us the lie that our soul (mind, will, and emotions) is the ruler of our life (better known as the flesh).

New Creation in Christ,
Bret