“that you have put off once for all with reference to your former manner of life the old self who is being corrupted according to the passionate desires of deceit; moreover, that you are being constantly renewed with reference to the spirit of your mind; and that you have put on once for all the new self who after God was created in righteousness and holiness of truth”. Ephesians 4:22-24 (WET)
One morning, I was sitting on a back porch with a hot cup of coffee when a lizard waddled within view. It was about the length of a large foot. It stopped for about a few minutes. Then something amazing happened…it kept walking but left its outer shell behind! It had a brand new outer shell on its body. The old shell was left there ready to be swept away by the next breeze.
Lizards shed their skin as they grow. It’s called “ecdysis”. For this to happen, the lizard must be in a state of rest.
Natural things show us spiritual things. The way the lizard dismisses old skin is the new covenant way of dismissing the old self…by replacement.
You can’t kill off the old “you” by working hard at it. You have to replace the old “you” with a brand new “you”. You have to “rest” in the fact that God has made you a brand new person!
As you embrace who you are in Christ, (this is the new “you”), the old “you” is gradually left behind. It “drops away”. That is why the new covenant is so powerful.
The Kingdom of God is now internal. We internalise the Kingdom of God by applying it to all aspects of ourself. Then the “old self” loses its grip. The old “you” loses its influence.
As you begin to love the things you used to hate, you begin to hate the things you use to love. Then without realising it, each day you are changing into a brand new person.
God’s way in the new covenant is that you don’t put off by putting off…you put off by putting on! You change by “replacement”. God’s replaces the old you.
The old “you” died at your funeral; your water baptism. The old “you” was instantly replaced by a brand new person when you came out of the water. Then the Holy Spirit began the process of replacing the “old you” in practice. Today, God is working out your “water baptism burial” in practical ways and in everyday events. He uses everything in your life; both positive and negative, to transform you into a brand new person, a new self, a new you…just like that lizard!
In a nutshell;
- You don’t put off the “old you” by putting off, but by putting on the “new you”
- God’s way of changing you in the new covenant is by replacement
- God has made you a new person. As you rest in that, you gradually change
- More replacement verses; Galatians 3:27, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Ezekiel 11:19, Romans 13:14, Romans 6:6, Colossians 3:10-14, Galatians 5:16-18.
Peter C Hall 