THIS OLD MAN WAS CRUCIFIED FOR HIS SINS: MUST READ

Looking at himself in the mirror, the old man had come to understand his deeds and what he truly was. He understood that he was corrupt and carnal, and that he was cut off from God without access to His Holy Spirit. Even more, this old man understood that he had to repent of his past sins, to which he had been enslaved his entire life. If the old man died, he knew that he would be free from sin.


This old man was crucified for his sins.

But, this man lived again and became a new man, through his Savior. He now had to put on righteousness and true holiness. He was required to mortify—destroy—those things within him that were part of his carnal nature, and in turn, build true character.

Do you recognize this person? This person—the old man who became a new man—is every Christian! This old man is specifically mentioned in three separate places in the New Testament. (See Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9. Note the context surrounding each scripture.)

While this man was replaced by a new man at baptism, each of these passages explains a process of mortifying—putting to death—aspects of our nature such as “fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness…” (Col. 3:5). They also speak of putting off “anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication (Col. 3:8) and also “the former conversation [way of life]…which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Eph. 4:22).

The apostle Paul understood the battle against our old carnal self. Even as a great servant of God, he struggled against his flesh. Read his statements in Romans 7:14-23.


Paul, like every Christian today, was battling carnality—warring after the flesh. Our entire Christian lives deal with battling three enemies: Satan, ourselves and society.

After baptism, we were still 99.9 percent carnal. The rest of that carnality does not disappear in a week, month, or year. Throughout our physical lives, we must overcome—get rid of—our carnal nature and replace it with true, godly character.

It has been said that terrorism is a very difficult war to wage because it is hard to figure out who the enemy is. You cannot win a war without knowing who you are fighting. Similarly, in order to battle against carnality, we must understand who and what we are up against. God does not leave us hanging—He does not require us to fight and overcome our carnal nature without showing us exactly what we have to fight.