1. “Our old man has been crucified with Him” (Rom. 6:6).
Since our old man is exceedingly evil and corrupt, God deals with it by death. The destiny of the old man is death. Since our flesh is evil to the uttermost and incurable, and since it is at enmity with God and cannot be subject to God, God can only put the flesh to death, using the cross of Christ to crucify our old man. Our old man was crucified with Christ and terminated. Therefore, we should no longer live by our old man. We must see that our old man is dead. We should confess that the cross of Christ has crucified our old man. We should apply the crucifixion of the old man in our living in order to terminate his life and power in our practical living.
2. “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live” (Gal. 2:20).
The old man is what we are in our self; the old man is our fallen self. Therefore, the crucifixion of our old man with Christ is the crucifixion of the fallen self. For this reason, we should no longer live according to “I,” the old man, because the old man has been crucified with Christ.
3. “They who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts” (Gal. 5:24).
The flesh and the old man are related. The inward constitution of the flesh is the old man, and the living out of our old man is manifested as the flesh. The living out of the old man is manifested as the flesh. Consequently, since the old man has been crucified with Christ, the flesh also has been crucified with Christ. While the crucifixion of the old man was accomplished by Christ on the cross, the crucifixion of the flesh is carried out by the Holy Spirit’s application of Christ’s accomplishments on the cross to us. Since our old man has been crucified with Christ, we can crucify our flesh with its passions and lusts by allowing the Holy Spirit to apply the death of Christ on the cross to our flesh in our practical living. God’s destiny for the old man and the way that He deals with him is death by crucifixion. God has no desire that our old man would improve, and since our flesh is incurable, there is no way that the old man can be improved. God’s only action toward our old man is to terminate him through the death of the cross.
1. “The new man, which was created according to God”; “He is a new creation” (Eph. 4:24; 2 Cor. 5:17).
In addition to being related to the old man, every believer is related to the new man. Nevertheless, the new man does not originate from the improvement of the old man; the new man was created by God and according to God. The new man has nothing of the old creation; the new man is something completely new. Just as our old man is old, our new man is new. The old man and the new man belong to two different creations, having different origins, one that is old and one that is new. The old man is of the old creation. The new man is of the new creation.
2. “Begotten...of God” (John 1:13; see also 1 John 3:9).
When God formed man out of the dust of the ground, He did not impart His divine life, but when He created the new man, He imparted His divine life. Since the new man was created with the life of God, the new man was begotten of God. To be begotten of God is to be regenerated. The new man was produced through regeneration with the life of God. Just as the old man is out of Satan and has Satan’s life and nature, the new man is out of God and has God’s life and nature. Satan injected his life into man through craftiness, but God begot the new man with His life in righteousness. The new man is a matter utterly related to the mingling of God’s life with redeemed humanity, and the new man has no connection to the old man, which is the issue of God’s creation being mixed with the satanic life and nature.
3. “In Christ” (1 Cor. 15:22, see also vv. 45-48).
God regenerates us with His life, which is in Christ, to make us a new creation. Therefore, the new man not only is begotten of God but also is in Christ. Just as the old man is in Adam, the new man is in Christ. Just as the old man in Adam possesses the things of Adam, the new man in Christ possesses the things of Christ. Adam was soulish and earthy, and the old man in Adam is soulish and earthy. Christ, as the life-giving Spirit, is spiritual and heavenly, so the new man in Christ is spiritual and heavenly. Just as the old man in Adam is of the soul and the earth, the new man in Christ is of the Spirit and the heavens.
4. “Born of the Spirit” (John 3:6, 8).
God regenerates us with His life, making us a new creation. He accomplishes this in Christ through the Holy Spirit. His Holy Spirit enters into our spirit and regenerates us with His life, making us part of the new man. Therefore, the new man is in Christ and is born of the Spirit. Just as the old man in Adam was born of the flesh, came out of the flesh, and is of the flesh, the new man in Christ is born of the Holy Spirit, comes out of the Holy Spirit, and is of the Holy Spirit. Since the new man is born of the Holy Spirit and is out of the Holy Spirit, the nature of the new man is spiritual.
5. “Out of heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47).
God is in the heavens, Christ is out of heaven, and the Holy Spirit descends from heaven, so our new man, who is from God, in Christ, and born of the Holy Spirit, is also out of heaven. Just as the old man in Adam is out of the earth because Adam is out of the earth, the new man in Christ is out of heaven because Christ is out of heaven. Because the new man is out of heaven, the nature of the new man is heavenly.
The origin of the old man is related to five points, and the origin of our new man is related to five points. The five points related to the new man are the exact opposite of the five points related to the old man. The old man is of the old creation, but the new man is of the new creation. The old man is out of the devil, but the new man is out of God. The old man is in Adam, but the new man is in Christ. The old man is born of the flesh, but the new man is born of the Holy Spirit. The old man is earthy, but the new man is heavenly. Each of these five points, as they relate to both the old man and the new man, are true of every believer because every believer is related to both the old man and the new man. Both the elements of the old creation and the new creation are in us. Both the life of Satan and the life of God are in us, and both the things in Adam and the things in Christ, the things of the flesh and the things of the Spirit, and the things of the earth and things of the heavens are in us.