THE OLD SELF

Here are some thoughts on Josh’s tough question:
Why is it that when the Word talks about putting off our old selves and being made new in Him are we so easily swayed back to that old sinful flesh?
This is a great question and one that every mature Christian should be aware of. It’s definitely one that has troubled me over the years. I can appear to be living a holy and victorious life as a follower of Jesus one day, and be a complete disaster the next.
It is clear from the Bible that Christians exchange an old life for a new life:
2Cor. 5:17 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!
We might often hope this means that God destroys any longing in us to be rebellious or to fall foul of temptation, but in reality though, the remnants of our old life hang around and often persuade us to flirt with our old way of living. Paul, in his writings, talks about ‘sinful nature’, ‘natural selves’, ‘sinful passions’, ‘old self’, and other such phrases all to mean the part of our humanity that is selfish and not subject to the Lordship of Christ. This whole dilemma is why we say the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We are new spiritual beings but sin still attacks our ‘flesh’ lives.
Read these words of Paul from Romans chapter 7:
I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can’t help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things. I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right. I want to, but I can’t. When I want to do good, I don’t. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. But if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it. It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
Essentially he reminds us that we each have the mighty force of sin lying dormant in our lives, ready to strike. Now Jesus has completely defeated the power of sin, the war has been won, but there are still some battles to fight. Remember that in the Second World War, victory was secure for the Allies once they had invaded Europe on D-Day 6th June 1944, but the war dragged on until July of 1945. Similarly, Jesus victory over sin was secure once he died sacrificially on the cross and rose again. Yet sin will not finally release it’s grip on humanity until Christ comes again and reigns victorious.
Each of us won’t personally experience the ultimate victory over sin and over our old self until Jesus returns or we die and go to heaven, whichever comes first.
However, there are practical steps we can take to live more as a ‘new creation’ than as our ‘old self’. This story is a good way to finish:
An old Cherokee Indian was teaching his grandson about life.
"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a long minute, and then asked, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee replied simply, "The one you feed."