When you lose a loved one or a close friend, after the funeral is over you don’t ever see that person again. I shouldn’t have to say this but the reason is... they died, ...and were buried, and they ‘are no more’ (in this lifetime). You will miss them, you will hold on to dear memories of them, you may even have very ‘vivid dreams’ of them from time to time. But you won’t run in to them again; and if you do, then something quite eerie is unfolding that should not be happening. That’s what ‘zombie’ and ‘vampire’ movies are all about.

For a host of reasons, many in the ‘church’ world have failed to make a similar connection with this truth in regards to someone else who ‘allegedly died’, and I’m not talking about Jesus, either. I’m taking about our “old man”. Could you take a minute and read Romans 6:1-8? As usual, I will wait here for you. :- )

Now what I am sharing with you here today may offend and even anger some folks, but for others, this should be wonderful news...IF...you allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of what you just read there in those eight verses. Putting that ‘old man’, that ‘carnal/flesh nature’ to death...is not just a bunch of religious, symbolic jabber. He really meant this literally, that this ‘body of sin’ not only ‘can’ be put to death’ - it MUST be put to death. Otherwise, you will continue to sin. And we know those who have been ‘born of God’ and continue to abide in Him...’no longer sin’. (1 John 3:6;5:18)

Look how Paul opens up that portion of writing: “How...shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (2). In verse 5, we see that pesky 2-letter word, ‘if’ ...we have been united together in the likeness of His(Jesus) death...certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection...KNOWING this: our old man WAS crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away with ...” That sounds so final, does it not?

The reason I say this is ‘great news’ to some is because if you have struggled with anger issues or lust issues or any and other carnal impulses most of your life, you really can be free of that. And when I say ‘free’, I mean ‘free indeed’. (John 8:36). To put it another way, you don’t have to hide or try and conceal that ‘ugly part’ of you anymore. You know you should not be yielding to and manifesting those sinful traits, and Lord knows you have tried to get control over it for years, maybe even succeeding... for a while...but then it raises its ugly head again when you were least expecting it. Yes, you probably wept and confessed and told the Lord you were sorry...for the hundredth time; but why does it not seem to be ‘buried and gone’...if you really have ‘died’ to it?

This my friends...is where I truly believe God has made some things so clear to me these past four, almost five years now. I don’t say that to draw attention to myself or to boast or come across as some ‘holier than thou’ mouthpiece. I’m telling you...what happened to me in March of 2020 changed my life in ways I never dreamed possible. It seems to me that what I have learned has been missing in so much of our basic church teachings. I only say that because for the most part, we brainwash new believers into thinking they will continue to live with this ‘old man’ for the remainder of their time here on earth while they struggle to live a ‘good Christian life’.. And that...is a lie born from the pit of hell. How can I sound so confident when I say that? Because God’s word has declared: “Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24)...and have ‘ceased from sin that they no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men, but for the will of God’. (1 Pet. 4:1-2). Oh, and who are the ones that will ‘enter the kingdom of heaven’? (Matt. 7:21)

I don’t mean to sound disrespectful here towards anyone, but it doesn't matter what your preacher has told you, what your denomination has decreed, what your favorite commentary explains, or what your personal experiences have dictated to you: “Let God be true...and every man a liar!” (Rom. 3:4). I don’t want to come across like some raging lunatic, but friends...this is more serious than you could ever have imagined. And the hour is urgent!