The old Mike that loved pornography, the old Mike that was sexually impure, died on the cross with Jesus. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live...” (Galatians 2:20 NIV).
Now the reason our old man died with Christ was “that the body of sin might be done away with,” and that “we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Do you see it? Jesus died to set you free!
There is a beautiful illustration of this in the Old Testament: When the nation of Israel was enslaved to the Egyptians, their bondage was severe, their taskmasters were cruel, and their spirits were broken in their captivity. A series of plagues poured out on the Egyptians culminated with all the firstborn males of Egypt dying.
At this time God told the Israelites to put to death a lamb, called the “Passover Lamb” and put its blood on the doorposts of their houses. The death of the Lamb would not only save the Israelites from death, as God would “pass over” the place where He saw the blood but simultaneously they would be set free from slavery (see Exodus 12).
When Jesus, “our Passover Lamb” (1 Corinthians 5:8) died, we died in Him, and the wonderful result is that we have been set free from slavery to sin.
It’s clear that anyone who has died has been set free from sin. For a moment picture yourself in a casket. Now surround that casket with pornographic images. Can you sin by gratifying your flesh? No, through death you have been set free. Sin no longer has power over you!
Paul’s point in Romans 6 is that you died with Christ and therefore you have been freed from sin. The cross put your old self in a casket!
And yet we know the truth that we can still be tempted, and we can still sin as believers. So where is the discrepancy found? If we’ve died with Jesus, and therefore have been set free, why do we still sin?
The answer to that question is that even though our old man has died with Christ and we have risen with Him, our “new man” still has flesh.
The flesh is the “residue” of the old man; it’s the remnants of the fallen nature. This is why we are told to “put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5 ESV). We died with Christ, yes, but we are to put to death everything that belongs to our old nature. That is, we are to War against our flesh and crucify it!
If I don’t understand that my old man- my corrupt nature has been crucified with Christ, then when I sin I assume that is me, it’s my identity. I’m a pornographer; I’m an adulterer. I’m impure and unclean. This is all wrong.
I need to understand that my old man has died, that I’ve been crucified with Christ, then when I sin it is not me but rather sin living in me, which is called “the flesh.” I’m not a pornographer or an adulterer; I’m a Christian. That’s my identity; it’s who I am. Yes, I still have flesh that can trip me up and that is a source of real discouragement. Paul worded it this way:
Romans 7:20 ESV Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.