The Old Man Is Gone

“knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

Romans 6:6 · NKJV

Paul opens with knowing, which means the Christian life starts with information rather than effort. Something already happened, and you are being told about it.

The old man is not your bad habits. It is the person you were in Adam, the whole identity, and Paul says he was crucified with Christ. Not improved. Not disciplined into cooperation. Put to death.

You may know the old man well: the one who lied easily, who used people, who needed to be the center of every room. Sometimes he seems to show up again in a flash of temper or an old reflex, and the accuser is quick to say nothing really changed. But a memory is not a resurrection. The old man was crucified with Christ, and what you feel now is the leftover habit of a life that no longer owns you. The fight against that habit is real, and it can be hard. You fight it as a free person, not as a slave hoping for release.

That is why you are no longer a slave. A slave has no say in the matter; you do. The pull may still feel familiar, but the ownership changed hands, and you answer to a Master who already secured your freedom.

The old you died with Christ. You are not managing a slave anymore.

Go deeper: Sold Under Sin →