What Happened To The Man I Used To Be? Series

Every fisherman knows that there are times that the fish are biting, and times that they are not. Sometimes, you might fish all day and come upon a moment where everything is just right. Your buddies are pulling in fish left and right. You’re eager to cash in. You cast your line out, eagerly anticipating a big one. But in your zeal, you cast a little too hard and get your line tangled. The more you frantically try to undo it, the worse it gets! You are hopelessly tangled in what fisherman call a “rats nest.” And just about the time you get the mess cleared, the fish are gone!

Getting tangled is no fun. It provides us a picture of being tangled in sin and it is our lesson from Romans 6:5-10.

Why is there still this struggle against sin?

How can I gain victory?

READ Romans 6:1-10

This is the central verse for these two paragraphs: Romans 6:6

"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin"

It provides FOUR LIFE CHANGING TRUTHS God wants you to KNOW.

The word know is the Greek word ginosko. It is a present tense participle, indicating continual knowledge. It means to know by experience.

TRUTH ONE: The Moment You Believed in Christ, Your Identity Changed. “Our old self.” “Old self” is a picture of the person that we were before salvation.

It was “corrupted” (Ephesians 4:22) "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;"

It was powerless to please God. (Romans 8:8) "Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."

But now there is a CHANGE!

Do you know the song we used to sing....

Little by little day by day

Little by little in ev’ry way

Jesus is changing me

Since I made a turnabout face

I’ve been growing in His grace

Jesus is changing me!

He’s changing me

My precious Jesus

I’m not the same person

That I used to be

Sometimes it’s slow going

But there’s a knowing

That one day perfect I will be!

The NEW Self is described in the following way:

We have been given a new life (Romans 6:4) "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

A new self. (Ephesians 4:22-24) "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

We have been given A new Master. Romans 6:22

We have been given A new family. (1 Peter 2:10) "Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

We have been given A new name. ISRAEL will be given a new name. (Isaiah 62:2) "The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow." (Isaiah 65:15) "You will leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse; the Sovereign Lord will put you to death, but to his servants he will give another name." BELIEVERS are given a new name. (Revelation 3:12) "Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name."

TRUTH TWO: The Change in Your Identity Happened When You Died with Christ. “was crucified.”

In the natural world, life proceeds death. In the spiritual world, DEATH precedes life! Jesus tells us that we have to DIE in order to have new life. This means that we must die to our self - to the old person that we used to be and live in exchange the life of Christ in us. (John 12:24) "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

Jesus DIED so that you might live. We see this identification with Christ in Romans 6:5

“We have been united” The KJV reads “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death.” This interprets the vers in a very literal manner.