Who Are We?

By Tammy Lacock

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24 KJV)

In this week’s podcast, Warren Litzman stresses the importance of having, what the Apostle Paul calls, a constant mind-renewal as we live our new lives in Christ. This constant mind-renewal will help us see who we really are. Certain areas in our thinking must be updated to our new life in Christ.

First, we must acknowledge that being born again means we now have Christ literally living in us. It’s not so much about having a new life moving forward, although this is true. It’s about God’s birthing of another life, Christ’s life, in every believer. His life makes us brand-new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). His Life, His Seed, birthed within us and joined to our spirits (1 Corinthians 6:17) literally replaces our old sin-nature passed down by the curse of Adam by Satan. A radical change took place within us and most of us don’t know it. So we don’t live that change; instead, we live by our old understanding.

“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1 John 3:9 KJV)

Second, we must understand the three types of sin so that we can break free from sin consciousness and move into being solely conscious of Christ in us now. In the garden of Gethsemane, all three of these sins were poured in the cup of which Jesus drank and all of these sins were crucified with Him.

The first is innate sin, the sin we were born into by the curse of Adam from Satan.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Romans 5:12 KJV)

Christ’s death on the cross outright freed us from the bondage of Adam’s sin. We cannot commit this sin again.

“But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” (Romans 5:15 KJV)

The second is sin of ignorance, sin of the flesh. This sin is committed without any knowledge of it. First John 1:7-9 tells believers we are cleansed from this type of sin, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The third is sin of knowledge, knowingly committing sin, which is another fleshly sin. These sins require repentance (a mind change) with one another.

Ultimately, Jesus forgives these and all sin. “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (John 1:8-9 KJV).

Now knowing Christ is in us, we must step away from our former sin-focused, legalistic thinking and focus our thinking on the one who has fulfilled the law, the one who has no sin, who is our righteousness and no longer sees our sin. We must focus on Christ, the one who literally lives in us now. We must understand that our “old man” which Paul describes three times in his epistles is really our old mindset of who we think we are. We must put off the “old man” and allow these old mindset to be crucified with Christ.

And lastly, we must set our minds on the “new man,” Christ, who now lives in us, standing on His promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is with us always. There is no separation between Him and us. The greatest Superhero of all lives right inside us. He is our new life. He is our identity. He is who we are now.

How will you live now with Christ as your life? May we put off the “old man” and allow the “new man,” Christ, to come through us now.