Fighting The War: Executing The Old Adam

This is Part 3 of the Lent Series titled, 

"The Christian's War: The Life of the Christian as Saint and Sinner."

Text: Colossians 3:1-17

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

I have been told before that the worst kind of alcoholics are those who deny that they have a problem. These are individuals who keep their back bar shelves stocked full of booze and constantly tell their family and themselves that they do not have a difficulty with the bottle. Their talking point is that everything is under control. That is to say; these alcoholics are very difficult because they live under the delusion that they have the ability and willpower to control their alcoholism, but in reality, it is destroying themselves and those around them.

So, they may choose to go several days without a drink, which confirms that they are in control, but when they fall off the wagon, they then rationalize it away and say,

“Oh, it won’t happen again, I am alright. It was just one time. I’ve got this.”

Family members make it worse too when they encourage the alcoholic by giving him encouraging optimistic sayings,

“A couple of drinks are okay.  Everything will be alright. You are fine.” 

And so, the alcoholic will never get the help that he needs, as long as he thinks that he is not an alcoholic and feels that he can make changes on his own. Indeed, as long as he thinks that he is in control and that he can improve his life, he is unfortunately trapped in alcoholism. And being trapped in the addiction, nothing will change for the good, but more often than not, he will destroy himself and others.

But there is another possibility. As soon as the alcoholic bottoms out – reaches the absolute bottom where he can no longer escape his alcoholism – there is hope. Yes, when he realizes that he cannot fix and improve his struggle with the bottle, then he is finally in a place where he can get the help that he needs. At the bottom, the alcoholic will be able to take his eyes off the idea that he can fix himself and then look to help outside himself.  He will be able to look to others to help him with his addiction, which typically results in him dumping the alcohol down the drain and smashing the back bar into a thousand pieces while confessing to those around him, “My name is John, I am an alcoholic.”

Now, why do I share this? I share this because everybody else is no different than an alcoholic, when it comes to the sinful old nature – the old Adam. You see, way too many people are living as if they can improve their sinful old Adam. They have not bottomed out. They think that they are in control and can fix up the old Adam. They live with the delusion that their old Adam can advance and improve.

Consider, for a moment, some of the titles of these popular books,

“Think Confident”

          “Thinking Big”

          “The Power of Your Mind”

“You Can Get Rich”

“I’m OK-You're Ok”

“There is Nothing Wrong With You”

Now, all of these books understand to a certain extent that we humans have a problem, but like the alcoholic, they believe the delusion that we humans can fix our problems. They think that the old Adam can be renewed and converted and improved.

Dear friends, if you try to educate a person, you will get a smarter sinner. If you try to get a person to be confident, you will get a self-assured sinner. If you try to get a person to think big, you will get a big headed sinner. If you try to get a person to tap into power, you will get a power-hungry sinner. If you try to get a person to be rich, you will get a greedy sinner. If you tell someone that they are okay and that there is nothing wrong with them, you will get a satisfied and slothful sinner.[1]

As with the alcoholic, if we ignore the root of the problem, which is that the sinful old Adam cannot improve or be fixed, then meager advice and optimistic encouragements do nothing. Advice only gives the impression that we can fix our old Adam.  

Dear friends, whatever we do, we cannot change our sinful old Adam. The sinful nature is too addicted to sin. The sinful nature is too twisted, too dark, and too perverse. Therefore, "the old man is not converted, he cannot be; he is not renewed, he cannot be. . . . [But rather,] our whole old nature must be removed,”[2] it must be put to death. We must bottom out and realize that improvement of the old Adam is not only a delusion but an impossibility. Indeed, the sinful old Adam is not just a “mere figment of imagination which can be adjusted by thinking differently”[3] or more positively. But rather, the sinful old Adam must be put to death – it must be smashed into a thousand pieces. It must be poured down the drain. It must be dragged out and confessed before the throne of grace. It must be slain. And until this happens, nothing will change for the good, but more often than not, things will only get worse. 

This is exactly what we hear in our Epistle Reading from Colossians. We read that this old Adam, along with its fruit, must be ‘put to death.’ Yes, Paul says that the old Adam and its fruit must not be reformed or converted or improved, but put to death, put away, and stripped off! The sinful old Adam mustn’t pass Go and does not collect $200.

I think we are getting a clear picture right about now that there is no hope for this old Adam. In fact, this old Adam is not to be treated with kid gloves, but rather, this old Adam is to be treated as an enemy combative.  This old Adam needs to be kicked around – admonished, forced, threatened, punished, and ultimately executed.[4]

Too often though, we Christians give this old Adam a hall pass. That is to say; we are way too easy on our old Adam. Case and point – think of Sunday mornings. The alarm goes off. The old Adam says,

“Hit the snooze button you’ve had a long week.”

So the snooze button is hit. The alarm goes off again, but this time you are awake. So, you get up, and you’re your feet to the kitchen to make coffee. You then realize that it is Sunday and that church is in an hour, to which your old Adam says,

“It has been a tough week. You should just stay home. Besides pastor won’t care, he is a pretty nice guy.”

And so, you make the decision not to go to church, but then you find yourself conflicted. Maybe you should go, for church is a good thing. But then your old Adam speaks up again,

“You don’t need to go; you’ve been fairly consistent lately. Missing today won’t impact your spirituality, for you’ve got your faith under control. Besides if you go, your morning will be eaten up and you won’t have time to get to your weekend project done.”

And so, the old Adam wins out. Church is skipped, the Word and Sacrament are not received, and the Third Commandment is broken.  

Dear friends, I know this is a struggle for many of you on Sunday mornings because it is a struggle for me as well – and I am the pastor. You see, our sinful nature despises church because the last thing it wants, is to be confronted by the Lord. And unlike many churches in America, Zion Lutheran is not going to bait your sinful nature into the pew by promising you entertainment in the worship services.

So what does this mean?

Dear friends, first, we need to understand that not wanting to go to church is breaking the Third Commandment, which is not good, but bad.

Secondly, we have to acknowledge that this sinful old Adam within us is like a stubborn donkey and hates church. The old Adam will never change and like church, no matter what we do at the church services.  Even if we gave away free door prizes at church, the old Adam still would despise coming, because the old Adam despises the preaching of God’s Word.   

Thirdly, we need to realize that the very fact that our old Adam does not want to go to church is the very reason why we need to go to church. So, instead of letting the old Adam have his way, we instead confront the sinful nature. Remember you are a Christian, the sinful old Adam can never be given asylum with a Christian. The sinful nature is never to be granted a voice or a safe haven with the Christian, for it is our enemy. And so, when the stubborn sinful nature grumbles, you kick the old Adam and drag this sinful nature to church, where you stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone else and confess, “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You O God all my sins…” And then the pastor hearing the confession, makes the sign of the cross reminding you of your baptisms while saying, “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you of all of your sins.”

And at that moment the old Adam is executed – the old Adam is plunged into your baptisms where it drowns and dies.[5] Indeed, at that moment your faith is strengthened – faith that kills the old Adam and makes you altogether a different person.[6]

And here is the catch, dear Baptized Saints, this is the life of the Christian.  The daily Christian life is nothing other than a daily baptism. Because you belong to Jesus and because you have been put at war against your old Adam, you are to daily plunge into your baptisms by confession. Yes, when you confess your sins and confess the old Adam within you, the Lord declares to you that you are baptized - forgiven! Your baptism is not just a past event but a present reality. You received forgiveness of sins in baptism, and that forgiveness remains day by day as long as we live, that is, as long as we carry the old creature around our necks.”[7]   

So, we fight against the old Adam, not by reforming the sinful nature or trying to make it better, but by putting it off – putting it to death. And when we attack the old Adam by confessing, which is repentance, we are also walking in our baptism where we are given the grace, Spirit, and strength to fight the good fight and finish the course.[8]

Strip off the old Adam, put him to death, dear Baptized Saints, for you have died in Christ and are raised anew by faith in Him – clothed in the radiance of your baptisms.

The old Adam cannot be carried forward because Christ is your life. 

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] Don Matzat, Christ Esteem: Where the Search for Self-Esteem Ends (Harvest House Publishing, 1990), 32.

[2] R.C.H. Lenski quoted on Buls Notes on the New Testament, “Colossians 3:1-11,” Pericope Dot Com, http://pericope.org/buls-notes/colossians/colossians_3_1_11.html (accessed March 6, 2018).

[3] Don Matzat, Christ Esteem, 32.

[4] See the Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, VI:24.

[5] Martin Luther, The Large Catechism: Baptism.

[6] Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, IV:10.

[7] Martin Luther, The Large Catechism: Baptism.

[8] Paraphrase of 1 Timothy 4:10.

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Christ Destroyed Your Record Of Wrong And Bled To Cleanse Your Conscience

Texts:  Colossians 2:6-15 & Hebrews 9:11-14

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

God’s holy Law has not only been inscribed on mankind’s heart at creation, it has also been chiseled into stone in what we know as the Ten Commandments.  These commandments of God are the voice of God’s holy, perfect, true, and good will towards and for mankind.    God’s Word of Law makes prohibitions, “Thou shall not,” and it makes demands of what we should do, “Thou Shall.”  God’s Word of Law addresses how we should live externally speaking and it also addresses the proper attitudes of the mind.  Yes, the Law addresses our thoughts, words, and deeds; the Law addresses the whole person.

So what is our attitude towards God’s Law?  It should be one of reverence and respect, for God’s Law is true and good and holy.  God’s Law is not unfair or unjust.  However, with that said, when we look to God’s holy character and His will for us as expressed in the 10 Commandment, we find ourselves out of our league.  Frankly, we cannot manage God’s standards as expressed in the 10 Commandments.  We cannot meet the demands of God’s perfect and holy Law.  Thus, as a result we find ourselves at odds with God’s Law.  We find that God’s Law, which is good, true, and perfect, now stands against us as it speaks its prohibitions and its demands. 

As we look at the Law we come to realize that the Law has a valid claim upon us because we have not kept it to perfection.  We have voided the contractractual nature of the Law.  Thus, because of our sinful nature we find ourselves experiencing pressure from the Law; this good and holy standard stands against us because we violate it daily by our thoughts, words, and deeds.  This is not the fault of the Law.  The Law did not turn and become our enemy; no because of our sinful nature we have turned our backs on God’s Law.  Thus, just like a mortgage, car loan, or credit card statement with its red numbers showing us our debt, the Law of God does the same; it shows us where we have sinned.  It shows us just how much in the hole we are.  Putting our life up against the Law results in a record of wrong that truly stands against us.    

Not only does the Law show us where we have sinned but it also makes continual demands to us.  Like that mortgage statement showing us how much in debt we are and then demands further payment, the Law of God does the same.  The Law continues to make demands upon us, “You shall be holy just as your Heavenly Father is holy!”  Indeed, God’s Law is like those red letters on the mortgage statement jumping off the paper saying, Payment Due Now. 

Yes, the Law not only shows us our wrongs thus convicting us by compiling a criminal rap sheet, but it continually exerts pressure upon us by reaching out to us and calling forth for perfection.  Alas, our consciences become bound, guilt sets in, and pressure is applied. 

As a result of the God’s Law bringing pressure to us, following us, and constantly revealing sin, our consciences most certainly become weighed down and burdened with conviction and guilt.  As a result though, we construct all sorts of methods to deal with the pressure and accusations of God’s Law upon the conscience. In our day and age people will cut themselves and abuse drugs on the one extreme and on the other extreme people will give a million dollars to the United Way and serve in soup kitchens to calm the rattling conscience and to satisfy the demands of the Law.  However, the result is the same.  The conscience still condemns us for the Law demands continual perfection.

Indeed, no amount of good works, personal piety, and spiritual aerobics can alleviate and lift this stain of sin from our conscience or appease the demands of the Law. Because of our violation of the Law, this guilt and stain of sin embeds itself at the depths of our being and it clings to us, it follows us, it haunts us, and it presses down on us.

As a result our mission then subconsciously becomes one of trying to avoid, escape, overcome, ignore, and suppress the guilty conscience.  When we realize that we can’t clean our conscience and appease the demands of the Law with our own works, we employ all sorts of escape tactics.   We deny that we have sinned.  We run from the accusations of the Laws, ducking, tucking, and rolling from its demands of perfection.  We try to suppress the guilt of the conscience by exchanging the truth of our sin for lies.  However, the problem is that none of these actions can cancel out this debt, satisfy the demands, make an adequate payment, and cleanse the conscience.  It is truly amazing to see the amount of money and resources that we spend and exert in order to calm the troubled conscience. 

My friends, some things never really change.  The problem of a stained and dirty conscience that stands condemned under God’s holy and perfect will is as old as Adam and Eve.  As soon as Adam and Eve sinned by violating God’s Word, their conscience was stained and troubled. Indeed this violation of God’s Law not only resulted in having the written demand standing against them, scripture also shows us that their conscience was convicted as they covered themselves with fig leaves and hid from God.

What this all boils down to is that like Adam and Eve, we as mankind have a God problem, a problem with God’s character of righteous holiness. 

Tonight though, we ask the question yet again, does this Old Rugged Cross do anything about the demands of the Law?  Does the Old Rugged Cross do anything to this tension between God’s holy character and our unholy character?  Does the Old Rugged Cross do anything about the burdened conscience?  Does the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus do or saying anything to us?

In our Colossians reading for tonight we read something remarkable, that there is a cancellation of our debt.  This cancellation of our debt happened on the cross when it was nailed to the cross.  Indeed, this record that stood against us, our record of sin; our record of the times that we violated God’s perfect holy Law was canceled and erased.  Yes, this damning record was cancelled as it was nailed to the cross.  How was this damning record nailed to the cross?  Parchment was not nailed to the cross, rather, Christ was.  Yes, this damning record of our violation of God’s Law was ascribed to Christ and He endured our damnation thus destroying this record of wrong.  Therefore, this record of you does not say ‘payment due’ but says, ‘paid in full.’

But what of the Law that continually stands against us?  The very perfect, holy, and righteous Law that condemns us is the very Law that Jesus was born under; so that by His righteousness He might fulfill, yes fulfill it, on our behalf.  Thus, Jesus not only destroys your record of wrong, but then gives you His record of right as a pure gift!  Yes, you have a new record and that is Jesus’ perfect record of righteousness. 

But what of the guilty conscience?  Hebrews says that the blood of Christ removed this stain from the conscience.  Yes, the blood of Christ cleanses and gives relief to the conscience as well.  The blood of Christ is the only cleansing agent that the universe knows that can give the conscience the relief in life and peace in death.  Yes, the Gospel actually ‘purges’ or ‘cleans’ our conscience.  You who have ears, listen to the Words of the Gospel, “Your Sins are forgiven, Christ has atoned for your sins, God is now well pleased with you…”  These words are not mere abstract ideas, but God’s Word for you.

My friends, in Christ, you are not condemned by the Law.  In Christ, God’s wrath has been satisfied.  In Christ, God is pleased with you because of Jesus’ righteousness for you.  In Christ, the Law has been fulfilled for you.  In Christ, all of your haunting sins from your life cannot slam you.  The blood of Christ not only cleanses and covers you now, but reaches back into your history and deep into your closets and washes you clean.

Rest my friends in Christ and Him crucified for you.  Rest in the shadow of this mighty cross; a cross that drips of Christ’s blood, blood that was shed for you.  Rest, knowing that you are indeed righteous because of Christ for you. 

Now, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.