While driving home from Church, a believer noticed a homeless man standing out in the cold asking for handouts. His only protection from the frigid wind was a filthy, worn-out lightweight jacket. The Christian sensed the prompting of the Holy Spirit to put his faith into action. He stopped, walked toward the man, and took off his new winter coat. The beggar expressed gratitude as he reached for the coat. However, the homeless man’s next action surprised the kind believer. Instead of taking off the filthy smelling jacket and throwing it away, he slipped the new warm coat over the old jacket. This puzzled the man who gave the coat. “Why didn’t he take off his old jacket and get rid of it?”
I’d read this testimony recently, and it came to mind while studying 1 Peter 2:1; Therefore, putting aside [getting rid of, laying aside], all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. The phrase that caught my attention was ‘putting aside’. The New Testament uses this word in two ways, first in a literal action to put off clothing; the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul (Act 7:58) and more often in a metaphorical sense to cleanse defilement. ‘Put off’ and ‘put on’ are common analogies in scripture to illustrate a spiritual principle through literal human activity.
Another important insight comes from the grammar Peter chose. Putting off is an action we must do for ourselves. It isn’t something God does for us. Note it does not read, let God put it aside for you. Some might already be thinking, “I can’t do that. I’ve tried and failed.” And you are right. You can’t fulfill this command by yourself in the flesh. Neither will God do it for you while you sit back and wait on Him. But He will help you. He will guide you and give you His strength. When we accept Christ as our Savior, He gives us new life and a new nature. He also gives us the Holy Spirit to help us put away our old life and grow in Christ. This is a lifelong journey.
Being saved by grace does not eliminate works. Grace sets us free so we can work. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God . . . For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph 2:8-10). Part of our good works is to become more and more like Jesus. As we grow in Christ, the Holy Spirit exposes faults that are not like Jesus and we must put them aside. My struggle was with temper. I begged the Holy Spirit for years to take it away. Nothing changed until I realize I must do something. I began following the guidance of the Spirit and the word and He taught me how to control my anger through His guidance and strength.
Why didn’t the homeless man remove his old filthy worn-out jacket before he put on the new warm coat? We aren’t told. But maybe it was sentimental because he’d had it so long, or maybe he kept it just in case he lost the new one. Whatever the reason, it still can illustrate new believers hanging on the part of their old nature. They may enjoy something they did in the past and don’t want to give it up. They believe they should keep it around just in case the new nature fails.
All these and any other reason you give are deceptions Satan puts before you and you have believed. Paul addresses our old and new nature at length in Romans 6, 7, & 8.Note 6:6 in Mounce’s translation; We know this, that our old self was crucified with him, that the body of sin would be rendered powerless, so that we would no longer be enslaved by sin. The old nature will always be with us in this life, but the Holy Spirit will be with us forever (Jn 14:16). The old nature has no power unless we allow it. The Holy Spirit is always with us, giving us His power to live free from sin and grow into the nature of Christ. The first step is to know the old self is powerless and cannot enslave us to sin anymore. It also means we can put aside any fault or sin the Holy Spirit shows us that is not Christ-like.
The second step is to make a decision. You are free to decide not to let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts (Rom 6:12). You are free to present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God (v13).
Sustaining Word for the Week: Do you know you are no longer enslaved to sin and can put aside all that is not like Christ? You can’t and God won’t, but together all things are possible.