The Old Nature Giving Way to The New

UV 3767/10000 The Old Nature Giving Way to the New Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour ( perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding) and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice ( all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence) Ephesians 4 v 31 We should put away like filth the traits of our human nature, our old nature- anger, wrath, fault-finding, slander, malice of every kind. Instead, we are to put on the qualities of Christ- kindness, helpfulness, compassion, understanding, forgiving nature. We should always be conscious that we are new creations or new creatures in Christ. We are to put to death our old nature and its traits and and encourage, allow the new life, the new nature to surge forward. Carrying the cross daily implies doing this- denying our old nature that is waiting in the background to assert itself and affirming the nature of Christ in us. Since we are grafted onto God in Christ, we are to reflect, manifest consistently the Christ nature. When a new branch is grafted onto a plant, the branch takes on the qualities of the plant. By grace we are grafted onto the True Vine, Jesus and we are to bear the fruit of the true vine. We are to get rid of the root of bitterness in us. Instead, we should apply the sweet balm of forgiveness as God has forgiven all our faults, mistakes, errors, willful sins in Christ. The sanctifying grace of God is poured on us by means of the Holy Spirit. We receive the power to break old habits and die hard qualities of our old nature. We cannot be a stream that bears both sweet and bitter water at the same time. It will be as if we are a mix, a split personality like Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde, showing two different faces, one to the church and the other to the world. We cannot lead a double life of holiness in public and adultery or impurities in our private life. Continually, measuring ourselves against the Word is a way to keep at it to be transformed into the Christ nature. The Holy Spirit also continually weighs our thoughts and the motives behind the thoughts. For the Lord expects integrity in our inner being.