The New Man

The book of Ephesians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul primarily to gentile believers who had recently accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Paul told them they were now accepted into God's family and redeemed from a life of sin to serve the living God. In chapter four Paul tells these new believers that they are to put off the old man and put on the new man. How do we do this?

The "old man" Paul is talking about is our fleshly nature. That’s the part of us that wants to sin and rebel against God. We are to put off the old man. We do this by making a quality decision to no longer cater to the desires of the fleshly nature. The same way someone would take off an old ragged jacket that no longer serves any useful purpose, we put off the old man, whose identity is in rebelling against God.

Then, we are to put on the new man. How do we do that? By making a quality decision to obey God and whatever His word tells us to do. The same way someone would decide to put on a beautiful new jacket given to us by a friend, we can put on the new man. It starts with a decision to follow God with our whole heart. Our identity is no longer with the old man, but with the new man who is created in Christ Jesus to do good works. It starts with a decision, but the power necessary to maintain this decision has to come from God. We don’t have the power in ourselves to consistently put on the new man, but by surrendering our lives daily to Jesus, His power helps us to put on the new man.

The Value of Salvation

Salvation is one of the greatest gifts Almighty God has offered to man. Hebrews 2:2 asks the question “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation”? Have we neglected God’s salvation? In our world today, the subject of salvation has been so watered down that almost everyone thinks that they will receive it, yet very few have taken the time to find out what God says is necessary to receive it. 

To get an idea of the worth of any item, one must first get an idea of how much it cost to make this item. The same is true of salvation. What was the cost when God sent His only Son Jesus to come to this earth to offer His life as a ransom for our sins? What did it cost our Lord Jesus, when on the cross after taking the sins of the whole world on himself uttered, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”? What is the value that God places on salvation, and do we approach salvation with the reverence and respect it and God deserves? 

The good news is that God did not make salvation difficult, yet it came at a great cost. Jesus said “He who comes to Me, I will by no means cast out”. Jesus also said “He who does not forsake all and follow me, cannot be my disciple." And again, “whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple."

Salvation is a free gift, yet it’s worth is beyond anything we could imagine. Salvation is free, yet it costs our complete surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Count the cost, then realize the benefit of receiving Jesus as Lord of your life. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?