Apostle Paul lamented in Romans chapter 7 verse 24: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
We were saved to live the new creation life in Christ Jesus in the flesh, the body of sin which Paul referred to as the body of death. For “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5: 17). How shall we live the new creation life in this body of death is the lament of Apostle Paul and it is a challenge for most believers in our contemporary times.
First of all, we must understand that Paul’s lament does not portray a hopeless situation, he merely accentuates the state which the scripture described in Galatians 5 verse 17: “For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, to keep you from doing whatever you want.” Apostle Paul gave us a clue on how to resolve this paradox: says in verse 25 of Romans chapter 7: “So then, with the mind, I serve the law of God…” because God through Christ has given us victory over the flesh, our freedom and freewill to do and follow after what is right has been restored to us. The mind is the gateway through which the light of the life of the Spirit lightens man to enable him to live a Spirit-led life as against a flesh-controlled life which, is outside the life of God.
Understanding the flesh is important to know what we are dealing with. Our new creation life in Christ Jesus is like the new wine, and we know that new wine must be put in a new wineskin. The soul and mind are the wineskins which must be renewed to contain the new wine, the new creation life.
The flesh is not our bodily skin that decays when we die and are buried. The flesh is the core of man, the “living soul” (Genesis 2: 7) that became corrupt and alienated from the life of God because of sin. The flesh embodies the totality of our desires, will, habits, affections, dispositions, attitudes idiosyncrasies, cognitive, emotions and behaviour which became alienated from the life of God because of sin and had become steeped in sin more and more over the years and which we live out as a soulish being. This is the flesh and we see its tangibility in the works of the flesh namely: adultery, fornication, witchcraft, hatred, strife, envy, murder, wrath, heresy, lying, drunkenness, pornography, lasciviousness, idolatry and so on. The scripture is apt in its summation of this “old man”, it was conceived in sin, shaped in iniquity (Psalm 51:5). This was our lamentable estate until Christ came to set us free from our sins by His death. The flesh, the sum of our old lifestyle is what we are to mortify, put to death continually, so we can victoriously and successfully live the new creation that is in Christ.
The paradox of living this new creation life in the body of sin (flesh) that is so schooled and so steeped in sin, and in everything wrong and ignoble, has similarity to a drug addict who thought out of rehab yet is confronted with predisposing factors. In order not to go into a relapse, the rehab addict must:
believe that the new behaviour is important; he must think that he ought to perform the dictates of this new behaviour and;
he must imagine that the new off-drug behaviour is under his control, that is he has a choice to overrule any cravings. These are some of the tenets of the behaviour therapy. He must think, he must believe, he must imagine, all these are activities of the realm of the mind. Apostle Paul showed the importance of the mind in this paradox, saying in Romans chapter 7: 24, “With the mind, I serve the law of God”.
The book of Colossians in chapter 3 and verse 10 says we are to put on the new man, that is, adopt the new lifestyle of righteousness that is exclusive to the new creation life made possible by a renewed mind. The mind is the conscience of the soul and it has to be constantly renewed with the knowledge of Christ Jesus so that we may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We have seen that the flesh is not our bodily skin but the totality of our soulish attributes which we were schooled in and have exercised ourselves in, through association and socialisation from conception and which has become a bodily representation of who we are outside of Christ. These are the members we are to mortify daily (Colossians 3:5), and we do this by renewing our minds with the knowledge of Christ through the gospel to the end that we may prove or show what is good, acceptable and perfect will of God. It is a process of growing up till our spirit, our soul and our body, become perfect, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12: 1-2). We must bear the image and likeness of Him who has transformed us anew.
The new creation life is a life of love, it is a life of faith and it is a life born and empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is no doubt very superior to the old life which was a product of the will of the man, conceived in sin and shaped in iniquity.
The new creation life because it is a life of love has no law against it because it is not lawless. The new creation life because it is a life of love, grows in the knowledge of and in obedience to God and Christ and consequently is more spiritually discerning.
Also, the new creation life, since it is a life of faith is an overcomer’s life, it is also a life of certainty (Hebrews11: 1), therefore it is a life of rest, believing that God can perform what He promised. It is a life of authority because it is a life that is in Christ and seated at the right hand of God in Christ far above powers and principalities.
The new creation life being a life born of the Spirit, is not fashioned by this world and is not subject to the standards of this world. Being a life of the Spirit, it is one filled with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 21); it is a life filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Christ (the author of this new creation) unto the glory and praise of God.
Essentially, the new creation life is to bring praises and glory to God who has transformed us from the state of death and bondage to the full works of the flesh unto a life of glorious liberty of sons of God. Truly the new creation life is a life of sonship, a life of heirship, heirs of God; for as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the children of God. This is a life to have and a life to live. The purpose of it is that God, our heavenly Father might be glorified. Our Lord Jesus declared in Mathew chapter 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. As believers, we should invest ourselves in making this new creation life a reality in us. The evidence of our new creation is the good works, that is, a radically transformed lifestyle, that becometh of those who profess Christ.
How can we live this paradox successfully?
As believers, we understand that the old life “the flesh” and the new creation life, “the Spirit” are contrary and cannot live side by side. So we must take a stand to renew our minds and not to fall or dance to the dictates of the old life wilfully. As Daniel purposed in his heart that he will not defile himself in Daniel chapter 1 verse 8, each of us must do so.
Secondly, our Lord Jesus said in Luke 9 verse 23: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me”. To take up the cross daily means to mortify the flesh and all its workings daily. This is achieved by prayer (both in understanding and the Spirit), study of the word to gain knowledge of the life of the Spirit that is to be lived and confession. The new creation life is a life of faith so we confess our righteousness, our redeemed nature.
Thirdly we are enjoined to put on Christ, like wearing nearby clothes (Galatians 3: 27), to put on the new man created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4: 24).
There is a whole lot of characteristics, divine nature, that we are to manifest in our new Spirit-led new creation life. Where we fall short of any of these characteristics, we have the blood of Christ to cleanse us and restore us.
For an unbeliever, who desires to be a partaker of this new creation life and God’s divine nature that flows with it, you can only partake of this through faith in Christ. Jesus Christ is the author of eternal salvation (Hebrews 5: 9) to those who believe in Him. So you must express faith in Him as the author of salvation through His death and resurrection.
“If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things are passed away, indeed the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We must first partake of the new creation here and now to enjoy the new heavens and the new earth promised by God as declared in 2 Peter 3:13: “But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth He has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness”.
