DOMINION OVER THE FORMER LIFE

Ephesians 4:22-23 OEBus
For you learned with regard to your former way of living that you must cast off your old nature, which, yielding to deluding passions, grows corrupt; that the spirit of your minds must be constantly renewed…

Dear Believer,

When we see ourselves or fellow Believers in Christ exhibiting a character flaw or doing something a Christian should not do, we sometimes excuse it.

“Oh, he’s still growing and doesn’t know better.”

“It is a mistake, not a sin.”

“Oh, we all fall once in a while,” and so on.

Surprisingly, nowhere does the Bible give us leave to use such lines. While those excuses might be true, what the Word of God emphasizes is the dominion that the Believer exercises over sin and evil.

Romans 6:14 KJV
For sin shall not have dominion over you…

In the scripture focus of today, Paul makes a reference to ‘your former way of living.’ He then tells us to ‘cast off’ the old nature.

This is a way to correct a great error found among many Christian groups. They call on God to come and destroy the works of the flesh and take sin away from their life. What we see in the scripture, though, is that it is our personal responsibility to do that. The Holy Spirit will help, but you have to deal with the ‘old man’ and ‘your former way of living.’

The feeling of helplessness and hopelessness that many believers have when they are faced with all kinds of sin and character flaws is not of God. Nothing is more powerful than the Holy Spirit in the Believer. The New Creation has dominion over every form of evil.

Not only have we been given power to ‘put off the old man,’ (KJV); we all have the power to put on the New Man.

Ephesians 4:23-24 KJV
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

You can see that this isn’t something God does for us. This is our responsibility. Just like you wear or take off your clothes, you take off your old character and put on the new man fashioned after Christ.

I’m challenging you today, friend, not to feel helpless before sin. God has given you the power to handle it. You can resist, refuse and reject every overture of sin. It is your heritage.

It is important to emphasize this so that we won’t think God will come to handle sin for us. He has already done that. When the Believer knows for sure that he can deal with sin by the power of the Holy Spirit in Him, he will rise up in faith and stop complaining in ignorance-imposed weakness.

You can also see that it is the Believer’s responsibility to continuously renew his mind. You do this by filling your mind with the Word of God. The Word cleanses. You also do this by staying with God in prayer.

Believers may pray that God should come and wash them clean, but you won’t find a precedent for such a prayer in the New Testament. You have already been washed with the Blood. It is your responsibility to stay clean and stop the stains of sin from contaminating your white garment.

Pray and make the confession according to the Word of God.

“I have been given power over sins. No sin will control my life. I put off the corrupt old man and put on the New Man in Christ. The Holy Spirit helps me to break any power that sin is trying to wield over me. I walk in victory always in the name of Jesus.”

Have a beautiful day

Your friend,
Deon

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