Is The Old Man Dead?

Is The Old Man Dead?

“Now and then an old friend of mine I haven’t seen for some time,

Stops by & asks me, “Where’ve you been? What’s on your mind?”

He wonders why I’m not drinking, or still painting this old town red.

I tell him I’m serving Jesus now, and the old man is dead.” – Del Way

One thing that troubles me about the modern church is the leading of small children in the “Sinner’s Prayer”.  Read the following scenario, and realize that this same situation plays out in churches of all denominations across this country every Sunday.

             Reverend Smith, a large imposing figure with a booming voice, delivers a foot-stomping, fist-pounding message about the realities and dangers of Hell.  He tells of a lake of eternal, unquenching fire; prepared for the devil and his angels, filled with brimstone (sulphur), much wailing and gnashing of teeth – a place where people beg for just a drop of water to cool their parched tongue.  A place of indescribable pain and suffering that will last for ETERNITY! It will NEVER END!

 At the end of the sermon, 8 year-old Johnny comes walking down the aisle.  Reverend Smith kneels down next to Johnny.  He wants to be on the boy’s level – he needs to look him in the eye.

             “Do you want to go to Hell, Johnny?” Reverend Smith asks, while placing a firm hand on the boy’s shoulder. 

             “No, sir”, mutters a timid and tearful Johnny.

             “Then repeat after me . . .”

             He leads Johnny in a Sinner’s Prayer, and then together they stand and turn around to face the congregation.  Reverend Smith presents little Johnny to the church as having been saved, when in reality, Johnny is no more saved than the man in the moon.

When a person truly accepts the free gift of salvation offered through Christ’s sacrifice at the Cross, there is a change that takes place in the heart. 

Romans 6:6 tells us “that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.”

Know this:  If the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is living inside of you, you WILL BE a different person.  That’s not just one man’s viewpoint – That’s a fact.

Are you a brand-new man? Is the old man dead?