The Amish Voice 6
When you get born again by surrendering
your life and asking Jesus to live in your
heart, can you now go and live any way
you want to?
This question has been around as long as
Christianity has. Paul dealt with it in Ro-
mans chapter 6. To really understand
what is being said, it is best to read the
entire chapter. Have a look at verse 6;
Knowing this, that our old man is cru-
cified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin.
When you ponder what happens when a
person apparently receives Christ into
their life, has their sins wiped clean, life
seems to be renewed for a while only to
see the person eventually return to their
former life. Doing anything they want.
What has gone wrong? It seems such a
waste to have put so much effort into get-
ting clean and then it is all
tossed aside.
The scripture passage above
refers to dying with Christ.
You may wonder, what has
dying to self have to do with
falling away from a commit-
ment? Let me try to explain.
Suppose you had just bought
a 12 acre field from your
neighbor. It is good soil, but it
is full of weeds. You mow the
entire field, rake up the
weeds, clear the brush and
burn them. Now you clear the
fence rows and till the field.
Then you plant beans. It looks really good.
After a few weeks the weeds are back as
strong as ever. What is wrong? It seems
there is a factory just pushing forth weeds
faster than you can hoe.
Well, so it is with human beings. If our sins
are forgiven and the “old man” as Paul
puts it is still alive and well, we will have
what looks good for a while. Then pres-
sure of life comes back and sin once again
takes over. There seems to be a ‘sin fac-
tory” at work producing its terrible fruit.
There has to be a solution. The solution is
to put the “old man” to death. In fact, we
do not do the “putting” to death of the old
me. God does it when I recognize the need.
The “new man” is what is often called the
new birth. A new set of desires emerge
that look to serve my Lord. When we are
baptized into Jesus Christ, we are in fact
baptized into his death. Verse 3 says;
Know ye not, that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death?
The solution is death! A dead person can-
not sin any more.
In his book “The Normal Christian Life”,
Watchman Nee compares the situation to
a government deciding to dry the country
by dumping all the alcoholic drinks, but
failing to shut down the factory that pro-
duces it. You would be so quickly defeated.
Likewise, God foresaw human nature and
provided a way (in fact, the only way to
defeat sin).
You can make the consequences of sin ter-
rible. Enforce the law. Embarrass them to
no end. And you will find, it is not going to
work. If it would’ve worked, Jesus Christ
would not have had to go to the cross and
die. Jesus did not just provide part of a
solution, he provided it all. If your “old
man” is still alive, you never had a “new
man” either.
Just last week, I spoke to a new believer
and asked him if he felt he could now live
his life any way he wanted to. He told me
he now had a new set of desires and now
loves to meet with people who study the
Bible.
Yes, the “old man” is dead. The old sin fac-
tory is shut down, and although we may
sin on occasion, we now want to confess
and get right again. As we grow, then sin
should become less of an issue in our life.
So my question; is the “old you” really
dead?
Are You Dead?
—Written by Eli Stutzman
1. I gave you life, but cannot live it for you
2. I can teach you right from wrong but I
cannot always decide for you
3. I can take you to church but I cannot
make you believe
4. I can make you beautiful clothes, but I
cannot make you beautiful inside
5. I can offer you advice, but I cannot ac-
cept it for you
6. I can give you love, but I cannot force it
upon you
7. I can teach you to share, but I cannot
make you unselfish
8. I can teach you to respect, but I cannot force you to show
honor
9. I can advise you about friends, but I cannot choose them for
you
10. I can teach you the facts of life, but I
cannot keep you pure
11. I can tell you about alcohol and drugs,
but I can’t say No for you
12. I can tell you about lofty goals, but I
can’t achieve them for you
13. I can teach you about kindness, but I
can’t force you to be gracious
14. I can teach you about Jesus, but I can’t
make Jesus your Lord and Savior
15. I can pray for you, but I cannot make
you walk with God
Reflections of a Mother
—Author Unknown