Chapter 2: The Death of the Old Man

The power of the New Creation is only realised to the degree that the old man is understood as dead.

Not wounded.
Not suppressed.
Not improved.

Dead.

This is where many believers struggle, not because freedom has not been given, but because death has not been fully embraced.

•The Necessity of Death

God does not coexist with the old nature, He replaces it.

From the beginning, His pattern has always been this:

Death - Burial - Resurrection

Yet many attempt to skip the first step and live in resurrection power while still holding onto the old identity. This creates contradiction, professing life, yet experiencing bondage.

“For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:5)

Resurrection is not accessed independently of death, it flows through it.

• The Old Man Defined

The “old man” is not merely your past actions, it is your former identity in Adam.

It is the nature that was: 

 • bound to sin
 • governed by the flesh
 • separated in consciousness from God
 • driven by fear, pride, and self-preservation

This nature cannot be trained into righteousness.
It cannot be disciplined into holiness.
It must be crucified.

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed…” (Romans 6:6)

Notice the language, knowing this.

Freedom begins with revelation.

•Crucified With Christ

When Christ was crucified, He did not die alone, He carried humanity into death with Him.

“I am crucified with Christ…” (Galatians 2:20)

This is not something you are trying to achieve, it is something you must acknowledge.

The old man has already been dealt with.

The issue is not its existence, but your agreement with it.

As long as you identify with the old nature, it will appear alive in your experience. But the moment you see it as crucified, its authority collapses.

•Why Many Remain Bound

If the old man is dead, why do so many still struggle?

Because they are trying to fight what God has already killed.

Instead of standing in truth, they strive in effort:

 • battling sin instead of standing in righteousness
 • resisting identity instead of embracing truth
 • focusing on behavior instead of source

This keeps them locked in a cycle of:
sin - guilt - effort - failure - condemnation

But this cycle is broken not by trying harder, but by seeing clearer.

•Sin Loses Its Power

Sin is not first a behaviour, it is a fruit of identity.

If you see yourself as a sinner, you will sin by nature.
If you see yourself as righteous, you will begin to live accordingly.

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:11)

The word reckon means to consider it true, to account it as reality.

This is the shift.

Not: “I am trying to die to sin.”
But: “I am dead to sin.”

Sin no longer has dominion, not because you are strong, but because the nature it ruled has been crucified.

•The Power of Repentance

Repentance is not merely turning from sin, it is realigning with truth.

It is a change of mind that leads to a change of direction.

True repentance says:
“I no longer agree with who I was, I align with who God says I am.”

This is why repentance is powerful, it breaks agreement with the old man and restores alignment with the New Creation.

•Buried With Him

Death is followed by burial.

“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death…” (Romans 6:4)

Burial signifies finality.

God does not resurrect the old man.
He does not revisit it.
He does not negotiate with it.

He buries it.

Yet many believers keep digging up what God has already buried, revisiting past identities, rehearsing failures, and carrying what Christ has already removed.

You cannot walk forward while holding onto what has been buried.

•Freedom Through Identification

Victory is not found in self-effort, it is found in identification.

You are not trying to overcome sin, you are recognising that in Christ, it has already been overcome.

You are not trying to become free, you are learning to live from freedom.

“He that is dead is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:7)

Freedom is not a future goal, it is the present reality of those who have died with Christ.

•The Daily Outworking

Though the old man is crucified, the mind must still be renewed.

This is where daily walking comes in.

You will be presented with thoughts, desires, and patterns that reflect the old nature, but they are no longer you.

The question is: will you agree with them?

Each moment becomes an opportunity:

 • to align with truth
 • to reject the old identity
 • to walk in the Spirit

•The Key: Agreement

The old man has no power apart from agreement.

The moment you stop agreeing with it, it loses influence.

This is why Scripture continually calls us to:

 • reckon
 • consider
 • renew
 • put off

Not to become, but to align.

•Activation: Stand in the Death

This is where you draw the line.

No more:

 • identifying with sin
 • excusing the flesh
 • revisiting what God has crucified

Stand in truth.

Declare it.
Believe it.
Walk in it.

•Prayer

Father,
Bring me into full revelation of the Cross.

Where I have held onto the old man,
I release it now.

I choose to agree with Your Word, 
That I have been crucified with Christ,
And I am no longer bound to sin.

Teach me to walk in this freedom daily,
To reject every lie,
And to live fully alive unto You.

I lay down the old completely,
And I receive the fullness of the New Creation.

In Jesus’ Name.

•Next, we move into something powerful and identity-shifting:

Chapter 3: Born of God – The New Nature

This is where we establish what you actually became, not just what died, but what was born.