Have You Had Your Funeral?

We are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4

Your old nature, your old person, your old being was crucified with Christ on the cross, and he was buried! Baptism is an outward sign of an inward work of God. As you were taken under the water in baptism, so was your old man taken under the ground and buried— once and for all. When you came up out of the baptismal water, it represented a new man arising, a new creature living, a newness of life available. You no longer have to live subject to sin, to sickness, to worry, to fear, to the devil. A new life has been made available to you. It is a life of righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). It is a life of being justified before God (Romans 5:9). It is a new life of being made the victor rather than the victim, the head rather than the tail, a conqueror rather than a loser. Get a picture of the old man dead—the old man gone; the old man buried—and do not claim and identify with old habits and weaknesses. You can walk in a newness of life. He has paid the price and made a way for you! Bury the old and let the new be raised up in your mind! Newness of life awaits you.

Pastor Tom Kehres

The Old Man

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. —Romans 6:6

This is something every Christian must know! The old man is crucified with Christ. The old man is not being crucified; he is not in the process of dying; he is dead! We have been taught in the body of Christ to “die to self,” but in order to be dying, you must still be alive! You (the old man) are not alive; the old man you were is dead and has passed away! Until you “know” this, you will be fighting with the old man, struggling against the old man, acting like the old man—know this: He is dead! He was crucified with Christ! You are no longer an angry man, an insecure person, a failure trying to become a success. The angry man is dead; the insecure person is gone; the failure has been made a success! You now have God’s life and God’s divine nature in you—you are a new spiritual creature. Do not identify and associate with the old man. He is crucified with Christ. There is now a new man in town—one who no longer will serve sin, one who is able to serve God!

Pastor Tom Kehres

The New Person

. . . He is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17

The day you received Jesus as Lord and Savior, you became a new creature. Spiritually you were born again; in your spirit you were made new. You became a new creation, a new species of being that never existed before. For most of your Christian life, you will be slowly discovering who God made you at the new birth. As you find out who you are now and start to identify with your new nature, you will start to change into a brand-new person. This is accomplished, not by your efforts, but by faith in the Word and in the promises that tell you who you are. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new! Your old nature, with its old habits, has passed away; those old habits are dead and gone. Until you know this, you will identify with your old nature and your old thought life, and you will live like the old being. Put off the old creature—allow him to be put to death in your mind once and for all, and believe who God declares you to be, what He has made you. You are a new creature, born of God.

Pastor Tom Kehres

Put on the Promises

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. —2 Peter 1:4

God has placed within your hands many exceeding great and precious promises: promises of health, wealth, victory, power, peace, joy; promises of deliverance and total freedom. These promises have a purpose beyond the ideas of Gee, I wish I could have them, or Someday these will be mine. They have already been given to you so you can partake, or take part, in the divine nature of God. When you were born again and re-created, your old, sinful nature was replaced with the divine nature of God. Your very makeup contains the same traits as those of almighty God: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Galatians 5:22–23). You have God-potential and God-ability in you because Christ is in you. But you can go your whole life and never take advantage of this new, wonderful nature. How do you hook up to or connect to this new you? Through the precious promises of God. As you believe the promises, you will not only put on the new man and the new nature, but you will also put off the old man and escape the old nature. Do not struggle or battle with the old nature and old faults, but put on the new man in your thought life and the old will leave at the same time. Put on righteousness, and you will sin not! Put on health, and sickness will flee; put on the divine nature of God, and the old, corrupt nature will disappear. It is your responsibility to put on the new nature by spending time in the promises of God. Partake of, and start to live in, your divine nature today!

Pastor Tom Kehres