Happy New Year! Time to take off the old and put on the new.

Happy New Year, everybody!  It’s time to take off the old and to put on the new.

Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul compared this to:

·         Putting off the old self and putting on the new self (Eph 4, Col 3).

·         Putting to death the earthly nature (Col 3).

·         Walking by the spirit and not gratifying the desires of the flesh (Gal 5).

·         Christians crucifying their old selves as Jesus Christ was crucified to be counted dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom 6).

·         Putting aside the deeds of darkness and putting on the armor of light (Rom 13).

The Apostle Paul puts it to the Christians in the church at Corinth in Greece as follows:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:

The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor 5:17)

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus in modern day Turkey gives additional instructions:

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;

to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

 

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

“In your anger do not sin”:

Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph 4:22-32)

When the Apostle Paul writes a letter to the church at Colossae in modern day Turkey, he instructs the Christians as follows:

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:

sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.  You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.

But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these:

anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Col 3:5-10)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Col 3:12-14)

In his epistle to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul instructs the Christians in Galatia in Turkey to walk by the spirit and to not gratify the desires of the flesh:

The acts of the flesh are obvious:

sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

idolatry and witchcraft;

hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy;

drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:19-23)

When writing to the church at Rome, the Apostle Paul says:

For we know that our old self was crucified with (Christ Jesus) so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—

because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. (Rom 6:6-7)

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Rom 6.11)

The night is nearly over;

the day is almost here.

So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Let us behave decently, as in the daytime,

not in carousing and drunkenness,

not in sexual immorality and debauchery,

not in dissension and jealousy.

Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. (Rom 13.12-14)

 

It’s important to note that if you don’t feel the same way that the Apostle Paul feels, the Apostle Paul did not always feel this way either.  Prior to being called by God to faith in Jesus Christ, Paul was violently opposed to Christianity.  He approved of the killing of the Christian preacher Stephen by stoning (Acts 7:58, 8:1), he breathed out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples, and he got letters from the authorities to take to Damascus in modern day Syria so that he could take any Christians he found there as prisoners to Jerusalem (Acts 9:1-2).

Happy New Year: Take off the old, and put on the new.