The High Calling
Three Steps to Spiritual Growth
Colossians 3:9 (KJV)
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
In the body of my flesh, there are a few things the Bible teaches that I wish it didn’t.
· I wish, for instance, the Bible taught that when a person puts off the old man and his deeds, it would be impossible for him to lie.
· I wish the Bible taught that the things listed in verse 5 were supernaturally mortified: “fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
· I wish the Bible taught that the things listed in verse 8 were put off automatically at the moment of salvation: “anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.”
Conversely, I wish the Bible taught that, at the moment of salvation, when we have put on the new man, we would have also put on the things listed in verses 12–14: “bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, charity.”
But that is not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible teaches that when we put off the old man and put on the new man, we have only begun the work of undressing and…
