“You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do … You learned Christ …and were taught in him … to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life … and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:17, 20-24).
Paul does not mind challenging the Ephesians on the issue of overcoming sin. In fact, he does not hesitate to preach about sin. He addresses the topic boldly, even though these are Spirit-filled, on-fire believers who had withstood persecution and witnessed to thousands of people. Why dare bring up the matter of sin among such great Christians? Because we sin — plain and simple. We all have the propensity to move back into sins we have been rescued from. This in no way means we lose our salvation, but the pleasure of our relationship with Christ is threatened because sin breaks that sense of intimacy, the nearness and freshness of his presence.
Paul refers to “the old self or the old man” that falls back into a pattern of sinning in an area we have been weak in. In Ephesians 4:18 and 19 he mentions darkened understanding, hardness of heart, deceit, greed, sensuality, to name a few — all sins that find their way into our lives even though we are walking with Christ. But he offers a remedy! Christ has enabled us to put off the old self — the old nature — and keep him off.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). God is on your side and you are on his side. He wants you to be free from sin more than you want to be free; he wants you to be holy more than you want to be holy. As you walk with your Lord in freedom, allow him to continually create new life and a pathway to victory!