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I. The old man:
А. The origin of the old man.
B. The condition of the old man.
C. The destiny of the old man.
II. The new man:
А. The origin of the new man.
B. The condition of the new man.
C. The new man being Christ abiding in the believers.
III. The believers in Christ having already put off the old man and put on Christ.
IV. The battle of the two natures.
V. The way to overcome.
Every believer has two natures, and if we desire to grow in the divine life, we must have a clear knowledge of these two natures. Every brother and sister, especially the younger ones, must pay attention to this crucial truth.
1. “Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground” (Gen. 2:7).
Every believer has two natures because every believer is related to two men. While a believer is in Adam of the old creation and also in Christ of the new creation, an unbeliever is only in Adam. Consequently, an unbeliever has but one nature. However, every believer has two natures because every believer is also part of the new man with its new nature. Every believer has two natures — one that is old and one that is new. God, however, did not create the old man. The old man came into being only after the man formed by God became fallen and corrupted.
In the beginning the man in God’s creation was good and upright (1:31; Eccl. 7:29). He became the old man due to the corruption of the fall (Gen. 3:1-7). When the man of God’s creation was corrupted by the fall, he became the old man. Although man was created by God, God did not create the old man; rather, the man of God’s creation became old through the corruption of the fall.
2. “You are of your father the devil” (John 8:44 see also 1 John 3:10).
In the beginning Satan, the devil, tempted man with his speaking and with the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He injected his life and nature into man. When man received Satan’s speaking and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Satan’s life was injected into him. Thus, the good and upright man whom God originally formed became the corrupt and evil man of the old creation, the creation made old by the injection of Satan’s life and nature into it. In the beginning man was pure and clean, but through the fall Satan and his life were injected into man, making him something of mixture and corruption. Thus, man became the old man. The man who was created by God has the life of Satan because of the fall. He belongs to Satan, and every descendant of Adam has the life and nature of Satan. This is the reason that the Bible speaks of the devil as being the father of corrupted man. All of fallen humanity are of the devil and are his children. The corrupted man is the old man, and the old man is of the devil. Everyone in the world is part of the old man.
3. “In Adam” (1 Cor. 15:22, see also vv. 45-48).
Adam was formed by God in the beginning. After his fall and corruption he became the old man. Furthermore, since the life and nature of the devil were injected into Adam, the old man who comes out of Adam is also corrupted with his evil life. As descendants of Adam, we are related not only to Satan but also to Adam, the old man. Since we are born in Adam, we are in Adam and of Adam.
First Corinthians 15:45-48 says that Adam was a living soul, soulish, and earthy and that those who are out of Adam are the same as Adam. Since the old man is in Adam and of Adam, the old man is the same as Adam. The old man is soulish and earthy, not spiritual and heavenly. This is the reason that those who are in Adam cannot understand spiritual and heavenly matters.
4. “Born of the flesh” (John 3:6).
When man was in the garden of Eden, he lived before God according to his spirit. The spirit with its capacity for fellowship with God directed the body through the soul in relation to man’s living and actions. At that time man’s body was pure; it did not have any corrupting element in it. However, Satan’s life with its element of sin was injected into man’s body after man ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This corrupted his body with sin (Rom. 7:23). When man followed the desires of the soul according to the lust of his corrupted flesh, his soul came under the control and direction of the flesh to such an extent that the old man is altogether flesh in God’s eyes. Thus, our old man is of the flesh.
5. “Out of the earth” (1 Cor. 15:47).
Adam was formed out of dust, so he is out of the earth. Since Adam is out of the earth, the old man is out of the earth. Therefore, the old man is also out of the earth and earthy.
There are five matters related to the origin of the old man: (1) the old man comes from the old creation, (2) the old man is out of the devil, (3) the old man is in Adam, (4) the old man is born of the flesh, and (5) the old man is out of the earth. The old man is of the old creation, the devil, Adam, and the flesh, and it is earthy.
1. “Of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
Since the old man is of the devil, the old man has the devil’s life and nature. When we live according to the old man, we are living according to the devil’s life and nature, so we are living out the devil’s life and manifesting his nature. When a person sins and does evil, he is living a devilish life and often manifesting a devilish appearance. Look at the people who are dancing in a dance hall, gambling in a gambling den, smoking opium in an opium parlor, or drinking wildly in a bar. Are they not living a devilish life? Do they not have a devilish appearance? When the Chinese refer to these evil habits, they call them “lifestyles of devilish confusion,” and they refer to the people involved in these evil habits as “little devils.” If a person does not have the lifestyle of a “little dancing devil” or a “little gambling devil,” he may have the lifestyle of a “little opium devil” or a “little wine devil.” Even a person who loses his temper looks like a little devil. If a person who is in the midst of a terrible fit of temper would look in a mirror, he would see that his appearance is devilish. People living by the old man spontaneously manifest a devilish appearance because their old man is constituted with the devilish life.
The Lord Jesus was incarnated in the likeness of a man, in the likeness of the flesh of sin, and in this likeness He was crucified on the cross. This matter is typified in the Old Testament by the bronze serpent in Numbers 21. Whereas the serpent is the embodiment of the devil (Rev. 12:9), the bronze serpent had only the outward form of the devil, not his sinful content. Although the Lord was in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3), He did not have the sin of the flesh. Instead, He was without sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). In contrast, the flesh of man is the issue of a mixture of the human life and nature and the devil’s life and nature. In God’s eyes man not only has the form of the devil, but his flesh is a mixture of the human life and nature with the devil’s sinful life and nature. With such a mixture, the old man is of the devil and has the devil’s life and nature. This is man’s true condition. The old man is a “devil-man.” The old man is evil and corrupted because the old man is of the devil and has the devil’s life and nature.
2. “According to...the spirit which is now operating in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2).
In this verse the word spirit refers to the aggregate of all the evil angelic authorities in the air, over whom Satan is the ruler. On the one hand, Satan is ruling in the air, controlling this dark world, and on the other hand, he is operating in man’s heart, causing man to follow him in disobeying God. Since he is personified in man as sin (Rom. 7:17), he easily and conveniently operates in man’s heart. Given this mixture of sin, the old man spontaneously follows Satan’s operation and obeys him. The thoughts, words, and actions of the old man all come from Satan’s operation in us and from our obedience to Satan’s operation in our heart related to our thinking, speaking, and doing. The old man obeys Satan because the old man is of Satan.
3. “In sin did my mother conceive me” (Psa. 51:5).
The old man was born of fallen Adam in whom there is sin. Consequently, the old man was conceived in sin and has a sinful nature. The old man not only contains the element of the devil’s life but also the element of sin. The old man commits sins because the old man is born in sin and is of sin, and since the old man is of sin and has the element of sin, he spontaneously sins. Whenever we live by the old man, we spontaneously commit sins. The old man cannot be separated from sin because the old man is of sin.
4. “The heart is deceitful above all things, / And it is incurable” (Jer. 17:9).
In this verse the word heart refers to the heart of the old man. The heart of the old man is deceitful above all things, and it is incurable. Deceitful above all things means that the heart is the most deceitful thing: nothing is more deceitful than our heart. Incurable means that our heart is in the worst possible condition. It is incurable can be translated “it is exceedingly wicked.” This means that the heart of the old man is wicked to the extent that it cannot be cured. Since our heart is wicked to this extent, the old man is wicked to this extent, and since the heart is deceitful above all things, the old man is deceitful above all things. The old man is deceitful and evil because he has the devil’s life and nature with its element of sin. Since the devil is personified in the old man as sin and since the old man is conceived in sin, he is corrupt beyond compare.
5. “In me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells” (Rom. 7:18 see also Mark 7:20-23).
In our flesh nothing good dwells. Nothing good dwells in our flesh since we are of the devil, conceived in sin, and incurably evil. Every sin that we commit comes from living by our flesh because our old man is full of sin. Even if we do not commit a particular sin, we still are inwardly full of sin because we have the flesh, which is inwardly full of sin.
6. “Enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, for neither can it be. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8).
These verses speak of our condition when we set our mind on the flesh. To set our mind on the flesh is to live by the flesh. In such a condition, there is enmity against God, and our mind is not subject to the law of God. In such a condition, it is not possible to be subject to the law of God even if we wanted to be subject to His law. Consequently, we cannot please God in our flesh. The flesh is of the devil, so it is enmity against God and not subject to the law of God. Furthermore, being conceived in sin, the flesh cannot be subject to the law of God. It is evil to the uttermost and full of sin, so it cannot please God. We must know the condition of the flesh. It is at enmity with God, it is not subject to God, it cannot be subject to God, and it cannot please God. If we have such a knowledge of the flesh, we will hate and reject it in order to not live by it.
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 the things of the heavens are in us.
1. “Partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4).
Our old man is of the devil and has the devilish nature. Our new man is born of God and has the divine nature. Just as the old man with his devilish nature lives according to the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts (Eph. 2:3), the new man with his divine nature proves what is well pleasing to the Lord (5:10). When we live by the new man, we spontaneously know God’s preferences, inclinations, and tendencies, and our living has the flavor of God. The new man is out of God and partakes of God’s divine nature, so he can live out God.
2. “Led by the Spirit of God” (Rom. 8:14).
Whereas the old man obeys the aggregate evil spirit that is now operating in the sons of disobedience, the new man is led by the Spirit of God through the inward abiding of the Holy Spirit. Just as the aggregate evil spirit operates within the realm of the old man, causing the old man to follow Satan, the Holy Spirit operates in the realm of the new man, causing the new man to follow God. When we live by our old man, our living is the result of the operation of the aggregate evil spirit, over which Satan is the ruler (Eph. 2:2). Similarly, when we live by our new man, our living works out God’s good pleasure according to the operation of the Holy Spirit (Phil. 2:13). Just as the old man obeys the aggregate evil spirit and fulfills the evil will of Satan, the new man follows the leading of the Holy Spirit and fulfills the good will of God.
3. “Does not practice sin...and he cannot sin” (1 John 3:9).
The old man is born in sin, so the old man commits sin spontaneously. In contrast, the new man is born of God, so the new man does not practice sin and cannot sin. The old man is capable of sinning, but the new man is not. According to the nature of the new man, the new man does not sin and cannot sin. Therefore, if we desire to be freed from sins, we must reject the old man and live by the new man. The new man is out of God, not out of sin. Consequently, the new man is not capable of sin and can enable those who live by the life that is out of God to not sin.
4. “In righteousness and holiness of the reality” (Eph. 4:24).
The old man is deceitful above all things and is evil to the uttermost, but the new man is according to the righteousness and holiness of the reality. The old man is deceitful, but the new man is real, that is, true. The Greek word for reality contains the meaning of both “real” and “true.” The old man is evil to the uttermost, but the new man is righteous and holy. Strictly speaking, reality is God Himself, since only God is real (Rom. 3:4). Righteousness refers to God’s ways and to the principles of His working. Holiness refers to God’s nature, to God Himself. Righteousness and holiness belong to God’s reality; consequently, the Bible speaks of “righteousness and holiness of the reality.” In the new man there is the reality of God, or the God of reality. In the new man there is righteousness according to the reality of God, which refers to His ways, and holiness according to the reality of God, which refers to His nature. Since the new man was created not only with God’s life but also according to God Himself, the new man has the righteousness and holiness of His reality. Thus, if we want the reality of God and the righteousness and holiness of this reality, we must live by the new man.
5. “My laws into their mind, and on their hearts” (Heb. 8:10 see also 10:16).
In the old man there is nothing good. On the contrary, he is full of every kind of sin. In the new man, however, there is righteousness and holiness and the law of God’s holiness, righteousness, and goodness. This law is the law of the Spirit of life, which is in us as an all-powerful living law of life (Rom. 8:2). This law does not consist of dead letters; it is strong and powerful, not weak and impotent. Therefore, when we live by the new man, the law of life frees us from the law of sin and of death.
6. “We love God” (1 John 5:2).
The old man is at enmity with God, but the new man loves God. The old man is of the devil and obeys the aggregate evil spirit, so the old man is at enmity with God, but the new man is out of God and follows the Holy Spirit, so the new man loves God. We love God only when we live by the new man.
The condition of the new man and the condition of the old man are in utter contrast. The old man is of the devil and has the devil’s nature, but the new man is out of God and has God’s nature. The old man obeys the aggregate evil spirit, but the new man is led by the Holy Spirit. The old man is born in sin, belongs to sin, and cannot help but sin, but the new man is born of God, does not sin, and cannot sin. The old man is deceitful above all things and evil to the uttermost, but the new man has the righteousness and holiness of the reality. There is nothing good in the old man, but the good, righteous, and holy law of God’s life is in the new man. Finally, the old man is at enmity with God, but the new man loves God.
1. “Christ in you” (Col. 1:27 see also Rom. 8:10; 2 Cor. 13:5).
The old man is out of Adam and in Adam, so the old man is just Adam. Similarly, the new man is out of Christ and in Christ, so the new man is just Christ. The old man is Adam in us, and the new man is Christ in us. Just as the old man in us is Adam, the new man in us is Christ.
2. “Christ our life” (Col. 3:4).
Just as Adam is the life of the old man, Christ is the life of the new man. When we live by the old man, we live by Adam and live out the life of Adam, which is Adam himself, but when we live by the new man, we live by Christ and live out the life of Christ, which is Christ Himself.
3. “Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
Just as Adam lives in the old man and lives himself out, Christ lives in the new man and lives Himself out. Just as God used the cross to put the old man to death to destroy Adam and the life of Adam within us, God makes the new man alive through Christ to live out Christ and the life of Christ within us. Therefore, the new man living within us is just Christ living within us. When we live in the new man, we live in Christ.
1. “You have put off the old man”; “The putting off of the body of the flesh” (Col. 3:9; 2:11).
The believers in Christ have put off the old man because our death with Christ has freed us from the old man, who was crucified with Christ. In Christ we were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, which is the old man. God regards Christ’s death on the cross as a circumcision that put off the old man and freed us from our flesh. This circumcision was accomplished by Christ on the cross through His death. It is an accomplished fact. We participate in this fact by faith. When we believed in the Lord and were saved, the Holy Spirit applied this fact to us in Christ. Therefore, we have put off the old man in Christ. May we see this fact. May we see that Christ has freed us from the old man through His death on the cross and that we no longer have to live by the old man. Brothers and sisters, we do not have to live by the old man, because Christ has freed us from the old man.
2. “Have put on the new man”; “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Col. 3:10; Gal. 3:27).
In Christ we not only have been freed from the old man, but we also have put on the new man. Not only has Christ freed us from the old man through death; He also enables us to put on the new man through resurrection. We were included in Christ’s death, and we were included in His resurrection as well. We died together with Him, and we resurrected together with Him. His death freed us from the old creation, and His resurrection brought us into the new creation. These are accomplished facts related to His death and resurrection, and because we are in Him, we can partake of these facts. When we received Him as our Savior, the Holy Spirit applied these facts to us in Him. Now His history is our history. Therefore, we have put off the old man and put on the new man. Through our baptism into Him, we have put off the old man in Adam and put on the new man in Christ. Now we can live by the new man instead of the old man. We can live out Christ, not Adam. May God open our eyes to show us this glorious fact that we have received so that we may live by the new man, not by the old man.
1. “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these oppose each other that you would not do the things that you desire” (Gal. 5:17).
The flesh here is the expression of the old man in our fallen being, and the Spirit is the realization of the new man in our regenerated spirit. The Holy Spirit, who is mingled with our regenerated human spirit, is one with the new man. Therefore, the opposition in us between the flesh and the Spirit is equal to a battle between the old man and the new man. Our two natures can be called the old man and the new man. Thus, this verse indicates that there is a battle within us between our two natures, the old and the new. Our two natures oppose each other so that we would not do the things we desire and so that we could obey God, follow God’s will, and do the things that are pleasing to God.
1. “Reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11).
If we want our new nature to win the battle, we must stand in the fact of our co-death and co-resurrection with Christ by faith in Christ and reckon ourselves dead to sin but living to God. This is to believe and confess the fact of our co-death and co-resurrection with Christ.
2. “Walk by the Spirit”; “Live by the Spirit”; “Walk... according to the spirit”; “The mind set on the spirit” (Gal. 5:16, 25; Rom. 8:4, 6).
It is not enough to believe and confess the fact of our co-death and co-resurrection with Christ; we must walk by the Spirit, live by the Spirit, walk according to the spirit in all things, and set our mind on the spirit. This is to live by the new man and to set our mind on the sense of the new man.
3. “By the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body”; “Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth” (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5 see also 1 Pet. 2:11; Rom. 13:14).
We must continually put to death the practices of the body by the Spirit through the application of the cross of Christ to our sinning members. This applies the death of Christ to the lusts of our flesh so that we would not live by the old man but by the new man. In this way we can overcome through our living according to our new nature.
