When a person is born on this earth, the person is born in the flesh and has a body and soul. Every person is born of the seed of Adam and is born in a fallen state and is born in unrighteousness and sin. Therefore, every person is born as a sinner and belongs to the adulterous and sinful generation of the old man (old creation). What does the Bible say about the old man aka the old creation? What did Jesus say about the old man and his nature and works?
Who is the old man?
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me (Psalms 51:5)
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:38)
But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14)
The old man is not born again and is still a sinner. The old man belongs to the adulterous and sinful generation and is carnal.
The flesh reigns in the old man, whereby the old man walks after the flesh (body and soul) and is led by his or her senses, will, carnal mind, feelings, emotions, lusts, desires, etc..
Because the old man is carnal and sense ruled, the old man acts from – and lives in the visible realm (the natural realm).
The old man is unspiritual and therefore the old man is not able to see nor comprehend the spiritual realm.
The old man is unspiritual because the spirit of the old man is dead; under the authority of the death. Because the spirit is dead, the old man is separated from God.
What does the Bible say about the old man?
In the Old Covenant and the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), we read about the generation of the old man, who is carnal and lives after the flesh. The people were ruled by their senses and led by their will, carnal mind, lusts, and desires. Although there were some exceptions of course, and although the Holy Spirit came upon the prophets of God, priests, and other elects of God, the people were and stayed unrenewed. They remained the old creation aka the old man.
For that reason Jesus came to the earth, to restore the position of the fallen man and reconcile the old man back to God. Through His sacrifice, and by His redemptive work, God made through- and in Him a new creation.
When you become born again, you become a new creation; a new man; born of water and Spirit.
Therefore you can’t compare yourself anymore to any person in the Old Testament and in the four gospels, including the disciples, before they were born again.
The only Person, who lived in the Old Covenant, you can compare yourself with is Jesus Christ, Who is the Firstborn of the new creation; born of water and Spirit, and showed us how to live as the new creation.
Because of the fact that everything in heaven and on earth is created by God through the Word, Jesus, Who is the living Word, had to come to earth and through Him, the new creation was born. Jesus became the Firstborn of the new creation; the new man, Who walked after the Spirit. He set the example of how a Son of God should walk on this earth.
Why is the Bible difficult to read and understand?
Many people find it difficult to read the Bible. They don’t understand and comprehend the Bible or say that the Bible contradicts itself. Although the world becomes smarter every day, it seems like Christians become dumber every day.
The higher the IQ of people, the more difficult the Bible becomes. The people don’t understand the Bible anymore and therefore the people need easier Bible translations.
Why do people don’t understand the Bible or wrongly interpret the Bible and why do they need easier Bible translations?
The answer to this question is quite simple. The old man is carnal and has a carnal mind and lives in the kingdom of darkness and is not able to understand nor comprehend the spiritual things of God and His Kingdom.
The spirit of the old man is dead and has not yet risen from the dead and made alive. Therefore the old man tries to understand and comprehend the Bible with his carnal mind and his soul knowledge; his own intellect.
The words of Jesus are spirit and life
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63)
Jesus says, that His words are spirit and life. If your spirit has not been raised from the dead yet, you will not be able to understand the Bible. When you don’t understand the Bible, you shall not be able to live according to what the Word says and walk after the will of God. No matter how hard you try.
If someone says, that the Bible is difficult to understand and/or that the Bible contradicts itself, then in most cases the person is not born again (born of water and Spirit) and tries to understand the Bible with his carnal mind, his own intellect (soul knowledge).
That’s why in the Old Covenant, the people of God always needed scribes, priests, prophets, etc. to reveal to them the spiritual things of the Kingdom of God. They had to ‘translate’ from the spiritual realm into the natural realm, in order to teach and guide them and to make the commandments of God and His will known to them.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3)
God’s people were not able to understand the spiritual things, because they had a vail before their eyes, ears, and mind (a.o. Mark 8:17-18, John 12:40, 2 Corinthians 3:14). This vail will only be taken away when someone becomes born again in Jesus Christ and becomes a new creation; a new man, who is born of water and Spirit.
Jesus spoke in parables
The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14)
Jesus walked in the flesh after the Spirit and revealed the things of God and the Kingdom of God to the people by the means of parables. Why? Because the spirit of the old man is dead and therefore the old carnal man, who is unspiritual is not able to comprehend nor see the spiritual things of the Kingdom of God.
Therefore Jesus ‘translated’ from the Spirit (the spiritual things of the unseen realm) to the flesh (earthly things of the visible realm).
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand (Matthew 13:13)
All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world (Matthew 13:34-35)
Jesus spoke only in parables to the multitudes, because Jesus knew, that if He spoke directly to the people about the Kingdom of God they wouldn’t be able to understand. Only when Jesus opened the understanding of His disciples, they were able to understand the Scriptures.
Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures (Luke 24:45).
The amount of head knowledge doesn’t prove if a person is born again
There are many people, who have a lot of head knowledge about the Bible and know the Scriptures by heart. Some people went to a Bible school and/or have studied theology and earned a degree and have a lot of head knowledge about the Bible. But many of these people, including theologians, pastors, etc., remain the unregenerated old carnal man, whose spirit is still dead.
They do possess a lot of head knowledge (soulish knowledge) instead of heart knowledge. They do know the letter, but they don’t know the Word; Jesus Christ.
They know the written letter, but they don’t belong to the Kingdom of God and don’t have an experiential relationship with God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Knowledge about the Bible shall not save any person nor change any person. A person will not be able to please God with a lot of head knowledge about the Bible. Because everything that is done out of the flesh, in this case, the carnal mind (soul), can not please God.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:6-8)
The flesh can’t please God
There are people, who have been raised in a Christian family and have been a Christian all of their lives. They are friendly and go to church, read their Bible, pray, tithe, give alms to the poor, do charity works, care for the sick and elderly and maybe even volunteer at the church, but stay the carnal man; the unchanged old man.
They think that by doing these ‘good works’ and by going to church, they serve God and are saved. But doing these things, don’t save anyone and don’t give anyone access to the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life.
There are a lot of unbelievers, who are friendly and humanistic and do charity works and maybe even give more to charity organizations than Christians, but they are not saved.
The only way to eternal life and to enter the Kingdom of God is through Jesus Christ.
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5)
Only through Jesus Christ, by His blood and by becoming born again, by water (baptism) and Spirit (baptism with the Holy Spirit) you will become a new creation and receive eternal life.
As long as the spirit of a person has not been raised from the dead, a person remains the old creation; the old man and is not saved.
What did Jesus say about the old man?
When Jesus walked upon this earth, Jesus walked among the generation of the natural carnal man; fallen man.
Jesus wasn’t surrounded by new creations but old creations. What did Jesus say about the old man and the generation of the old creation, who is born of the seed of Adam?
The old man always wants a sign of God
The generation of Adam; the old man, always wants a sign of God. The old man prays about it to get some kind of confirmation or approval about a matter. But what does Jesus say about signs?
An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign (Matthew 12:39, 16:4)
And Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? (Mark 8:12)
And when the people were gathered thick together, Jesus began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign (Luke 11:29)
The devil works in the flesh and also works through signs and wonders. When a person asks for a sign, the devil is more than willing to give a sign to the person. Because this way the devil can deceive and mislead a person, so that the person will do his will instead of God’s will (Read also: ‘The will of God vs the will of the devil‘).
There are many believers, who make a decision on the basis of a word, a sign, a feeling, a revelation, a dream, etc., instead of making a decision on the basis of the Word.
How many people are there that make a wrong commitment on the basis of a so-called sign of God?
There are many people, who are married to an unbeliever on the basis of a so-called sign of God? This so-called sign of God would have given them permission to marry an unbeliever. But during their marriage they found out that the unbeliever wasn’t the right partner for them and now they live in sorrow and misery. Or even worse, they get a divorce, which is not the will of God (Read also: ‘May a Christian divorce?).
The generation of the new creation; a born-again son of God doesn’t need a sign. Because a son of God knows the will of God through His Word and is able to discern the spirits and discern good from evil. God is very clear in His Word, He couldn’t be more clear.
A son of God has received the nature of God and shall walk after the Spirit and the Word.
The new creation shall be led by the Spirit in all wisdom and truth all the time.
Therefore it is important after you’ve become born again in Christ, to renew your mind with the Word of God and do the Word of God, so that you grow up into the sonship of God. Train your spiritual senses, so that you will be able to discern what is from God and what isn’t.
The old man is led by a feeling
The old man makes a lot of decisions on the basis of feelings and emotions. (S)he always needs some feeling to be led, and to do something or to be sent. They assume that this feeling is the Holy Spirit. Without this ‘feeling’, they will not do anything. But when you are led by a feeling, you are being led by your flesh and not by the Holy Spirit.
But the new man, who is the new creation, knows that the Holy Spirit lives inside him or her and acts without being led by feelings or emotions. Because the new man knows the will of God and knows that feelings and emotions belong to the flesh and can be deceiving.
The new creation knows that as long as he or she walks after the Word and the Spirit in obedience to the words of God, which are also the words of Jesus, that (s)he shall be continuously led by the Holy Spirit. As long as the new creation walks and acts according to the Word, the Holy Spirit shall empower the words and actions.
Jesus wasn’t led by feelings and didn’t need ‘a feeling’ before He acted. Feelings are part of the flesh and Jesus knew that if He would be led by His own feelings, He would walk after the flesh. But Jesus knew the will of His Father and acted out of His will.
Jesus walked after the Spirit and when He was moved, He was moved in the Spirit. Especially, when He saw the multitudes wondering about like sheep without a shepherd. The Holy Spirit is not a feeling, the Holy Spirit is a Person.
The old man is surprised when a miracle takes place
When a miracle takes place many times the old man can hardly believe it. But the new man will not be surprised but will expect it, so that Jesus will be exalted and God will be glorified.
The old man wants to prove the authority of the Bible through science
The old man wants to prove the authority and liability of the Bible by science. But if the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes scientific proof, how can you walk in faith? Because if you walk according to the visible, it’s no longer walking by faith (Read also: ‘Do the Bible and science go together?‘ and ‘Did God create the heaven and the earth in 6 days? or…)
If scientists prove the Biblical truth by science then faith is no longer faith. Besides that, it proves that people rely more upon science, which is human knowledge, and have more faith in science than the Word of God.
Only by faith you can walk after the Spirit and call those things which are not, as though they were. That’s faith!
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report (Hebrew 11:1)
God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were (Romans 4:17)
The old man is afraid and worries
The old man is afraid and worries about daily matters, which controle his life. And so the old man worries about the daily circumstances, family, children, future, work, finances, health, future, things happening in the world, etc., and carries daily this heavy burden (Read also: The two ways to go through a storm).
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? (Matthew 6:25, 30)
Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? (Matthew 8:26)
The old man doubts and can’t walk by faith
The old man belongs to the faithless generation (unbelieving generation), and doubts. That’s why the old man is not able to walk in faith.
Jesus called His disciples ‘you of little faith’. His disciples witnessed twice that Jesus fed the multitude.
The first time, they witnessed the feeding of the 5000 (women and children not counted). They even helped Jesus distribute the bread and the fish to the multitudes (Read also: Did you know that the feeding of the multitude not only occurred in the New Testament?)
The second time, they witnessed how Jesus fed the 4000 men (women and children not counted) with only seven loaves of bread and some fishes.
But one day, when the disciples forgot to bring bread with them, they didn’t think about these two miraculous occasions. No, instead they worried about the fact, that they didn’t bring bread with them. But Jesus reminded them and said:
O you of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? (Matthew 16:8-10)
Another example is the story about the father, who brought his son to Jesus. His son had a dumb spirit and the disciples of Jesus were not able to cast this dumb spirit out of the boy and deliver him. Jesus said to them:
O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? (Mark 9:19)
The old man can’t understand the creation
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear (Hebrews 11:3)
Only by faith, you’ll be able to believe that God created the heavens and the earth and all there is within and understand the creation.
That’s why many people, who are still the old man (the natural man) are not able to understand the creation but believes in the big bang theory and evolution (Read also: Did God create the heaven and the earth in six days or…).
The old man doesn’t know the will of God
When your fathers tempted me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known My ways. So I sware in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest (Hebrews 3:9-11)
The spirit of the old man is dead. The old man doesn’t have the Holy Spirit of God and doesn’t walk after the Spirit and the Word; Jesus. But the old man is carnal and walks after the flesh and is controlled by his senses, emotions, feelings and thoughts, etc.
The old man doesn’t’ know the will of God or rejects the will of God, because the will of God always strive against the will, lusts and desires of the flesh ((a.o. Romans 8:1-14, Galatians 5:13-26)
When we read about the exodus of the people of God, we read about the many miracles and wonders God had done before the eyes of His people.
But despite all the miracles and wonders, the people still didn’t trust their God.
God made His will known to them, through Moses, but the people stayed rebellious against God and did according to their own will, lusts, and desires, and tempted God over and over again.
But the new man, who walks after the Spirit and the Word, knows the will of God. Because His law; His will, is written upon the new heart of the new creation.
God’s ways and His thoughts live inside of the new creation, by the Holy Spirit and therefore the new creation will walk after His will.
God has revealed the things, which God has prepared for them, that love Him, by His Spirit
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)
Before you became born again in Christ in the spirit, you weren’t able to see, nor understand the Kingdom of God. The will of God and the thoughts of God were unsearchable. But now by faith in Jesus Christ and through the process of regeneration and by the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in you, you possess His nature.
The old man feeds his flesh, the new man feeds his spirit
You have God’s nature and by the renewing of your mind with the Word of God, the thoughts of God become your thoughts, and His will becomes your will, and therefore His way becomes your way.
The more you feed your spirit and renew your mind and apply His words in your life, the faster you will grow up into a mature son of God. The faster you grow up into a mature son of God the sooner you shall walk as Jesus walked upon this earth, Who was and is the reflection of God.
But as long as you keep feeding your flesh, instead of your spirit, and your mind remains carnal, you shall keep walking after your flesh. The will of God and the thoughts of God will remain unsearchable, because you don’t know God and don’t get to know God through the Word. You shall not get to know His will, and therefore you shall worship and live according to an imaginary Jesus, whom you’ve created in your own mind.
Therefore it’s necessary to put off the old man and put on the new man as soon as possible
‘Be the salt of the earth’
