Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
Paul coined the term "the old man" as a reference to the carnal nature of humans. As with all creatures, our nature is in our flesh. Because our flesh is human flesh, we have the nature of humans. This nature is very strong-willed, and it is determined to rule the body it covers. This nature that is in your flesh is what Paul called the "old man", and it is determined to be Lord over your body. It is determined that you will fulfil its lusts, with or without your consent. In everything, the nature of the flesh is contrary to the Spirit of God because the "old man" knows that the Spirit of God will subdue him and liberate the person over whom he has ruled. Jesus, in effect, rescues us from ourselves, from our own nature, by the power of the Spirit of God. Paul even spoke of the old man being crucified by the Spirit of God, and he dreads that righteous work of God as much as ancient evildoers dreaded being nailed by Roman soldiers to a tree.
Peter pointed out that Spirit baptized people have been made partakers of God's divine nature, thus ending the tyranny over us that the old man previously exercised. "Walk in the Spirit," Paul advised the saints, "and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." Paul remembered the extraordinary frustration he felt when he tried to serve God without the power of the holy Ghost in his life. He desired to do righteousness, but his own flesh constantly frustrated his efforts. "O wretched man that I am!" he cried at last, "Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" Then, he joyfully confessed what he had found: "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
It is your nature to serve somebody, and you will either serve the old man and his lusts or you will serve God. That is your nature, and you cannot escape it. Joshua challenged Israel with these piercing words: "Choose you this day whom ye will serve; if Baal, then serve him; but if Jehovah, then serve him." The world has no choice; it must sin. But children of God are free; they can choose to serve God and be happy or to rebel and be what Peter called "cursed children". "Gird up the loins of your mind", my dear brother or sister, to keep your hope alive in Christ Jesus until the end.
Jesus alone can subdue our "old man" and make us free to obey God. Let us be thankful, for if we have had any godly thoughts, if we have done any righteous deeds, then we have been blessed by God to partake of His divine life. The old man did not want us to think those good thoughts or do those righteous deeds. But he cannot resist the power of God at work in the hearts of God's children.