The Day I Died – Week 1
Eph 4:22-24 & Col 3:9
Gal 5:13, 16-17
John 3:3-4, 7-8
Read Eph 4:22-24 & Col 3:9-10
***For Leaders – After reading the texts above, take a poll with the participants in your Group with the following question. Do we struggle with our old man or old self after we become a Christian? Why or why not? Have each person explain their answer and tell them that we’ll answer the specific question later in the discussion.
A moment of reflection: Pastor Josh said, “Christ is not an add on to our previous life. He is the replacement of our old life.” Have you thought about this before? What went through your mind when Pastor Josh said this to us?
***For Leaders – This is a moment for people to reflect on the actual process of becoming a Christian. Few of us actually think about what is happening in that moment. More about that process will be below in Jesus’ conversation below with Nicodemus.
Let’s check out what Jesus said to Nicodemus about becoming a Christian. Read John 3:3-4, 7-8
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.””
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
[Jesus replied] “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
How do the texts from Ephesians & Colossians work together with this text in John?
***For Leaders – The most simple answer is that after the spiritual death of your old self), there is the birth of your new self. Something old and wicked (your old self) dies and is replaced with something new and divine (your new self). Your new self literally has divine spiritual DNA because it was born of the Spirit.
Read Gal 5:13, 16-17
“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love...So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want.”
Is our “flesh” and our “old self” the same thing? Explain your response ?
***For Leaders – This is an answer to the first question. Our old self and our flesh are not the same thing. Our flesh is a remnant of something that has already died. The new self that was born of the Holy Spirit resides in us now, so our old self is officially dead. Our new self will be in conflict with our “flesh” so this is why we feel a war inside of us sometimes. Our “flesh” is always going to give some push back against our new self because it still wants our old way of living.
(After studying the difference between the flesh and the spirit). There is an old cliché that says that you have two dogs inside you…whichever one you feed is going to win. How does that play out in your life?
***For Leaders – Answers will vary.