In order to understand some of the important concepts related to the new covenant, it is necessary to clarify some potentially confusing terms. We sometimes use words and ideas which we assume we understand because they sound familiar, but, when pressed to explain them, we realize that we do not. We sometimes communicate in what some call “Christianese,” which is the use of idiomatic terms that have little or no meaning to those new to church life. An example would be when we speak of being “washed in the blood.” Church people understand that phrase to mean that Jesus’ blood which was shed on the cross cleansed our consciences from the deadly effects of sin.
And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22 (NASB95)
To those outside the church community, these words may seem quite odd. Even when we try to avoid “Christianese” terms, people may not understand the meaning of our words, especially theological terms such as the words and phrases that I will cover in this article.
Our understanding of the New Covenant will grow as we gain greater insight into what Paul meant when he used the concepts mentioned in this article to show how Christ’s death and resurrection impacted our lives.
The “old man” – (Greek: palios anthropos)
When God created Adam, he formed his body out of the dirt and imparted the spirit.
Then the LORD God formed man (his body) of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath (Hebrew: breath, wind, spirit) of life; and man became a living being (literally: soul). Genesis 2:7 (NASB)
As a result, Adam became a living soul or being. I and many others define the soul as the mind, will, and emotions, what we call the personality. The Greek and Hebrew languages use three distinct words for spirit, soul, and body. In both languages the word for spirit also means breath or wind. Paul acknowledges this tripartite makeup of humans in 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NASB)
The author of the letter to the Hebrews confirms that the spirit and soul are distinct.
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (NASB95)
God created us in his image. He is a Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and so are we (spirit, soul, and body).
Understanding how salvation affects each part of our being will increase our understanding. Failure to make these distinctions can lead to confusion.
(If you wish to learn more about spirit, soul, and body, I encourage you to read the linked articles.)
Before the Fall, Adam’s spirit, body, and the resultant soul were in complete harmony. Neither sin nor death had entered the world. Sadly, however, Adam’s state of moral innocence was no match for Satan’s temptation to become independent from God by knowing good and evil for themselves instead of simply relying upon the Lord. Satan still lures us away from simple faith and obedience to God.
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NKJV)
When Adam believed the devil’s lie and disobeyed God’s clear command, his spirit became alienated from God, which initiated the death process, just as God warned.
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:17 (NASB95)
Spiritually he died that very day, just as God said he would; even though it took years for death to finally destroy his body. Ever since every person born into the world has inherited sin and death from Adam. Paul described this dismal situation in the following verses.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— Romans 5:12 (NASB95)
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Ephesians 2:12 (NASB)
Death permeated humanity spiritually, physically, and in the personality or soul. In addition, when Adam sinned, the entire creation was negatively affected, which Paul called “slavery to corruption.” (Romans 8:20-21)
This post-fall-of-man combination of a spirit alienated from God and a body programmed to die resulted in a new version of the soul that was at odds with God and in harmony with sin and deception. Instead of being in submission to and in partnership with God, as God intended, we are fully committed to living independently from and in opposition to God.
because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, Romans 8:7 (NASB95)
This fallen death-permeated spirit-soul-body configuration is called the “old man.”
The “old man” we all inherit from Adam at conception is naturally inclined toward evil and is the driving force behind sin.
People who have never been born again (the regeneration of the spirit) can only experience human life as the “old man.”
The “old man” is incapable of being reformed or rehabilitated because the core problem is a dead and alienated spirit.
If we are ever going to experience God’s life, the old man has to be put to death and replaced with what the Bible calls the “new man.”
This is precisely what Christ did for us over 2000 years ago. Paul described how Christ freed us in the following verse.
We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Romans 6:6 (NET1)
The “new man” – (Greek: kainos anthropos)
When a person is born again, God regenerates the spirit, the innermost part of our being, which previously had been alienated from God and was spiritually dead.
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6 (NASB)
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, Titus 3:5 (NASB)
This supernatural rebirth makes us new people spiritually. The sin generating “old man” is negated by the introduction of a reborn spirit which is in complete harmony with God.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB)
...put on the new man who has been created in God’s image — in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. Ephesians 4:24 (NET1)
God’s Spirit becomes one with our spirit, fusing God’s life to ours in the innermost part of our being.
The “new spirit” or “new heart,” which was promised by the prophets (Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26-27), is the result of a supernatural union with God in the spirit.
But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17 (NASB)
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 (NASB)
If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. Romans 8:10 (NASB)
The “new man” is the combination of the recreated spirit (“inner man” – Greek: eso anthropos), which resides in every born-again believer, with the not-yet-resurrected body inherited from Adam.
The regenerated spirit only desires God’s will, but the residual pull of sin, called the “flesh,” remains and is associated with the Adamic body.
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Romans 7:21-23 (NASB)
This conflict makes us spiritually “bipolar.” We all experience this inner battle between conflicting forces, which Paul calls the “flesh” and the “spirit.”
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. Galatians 5:17 (NASB95)
The “inner man” or recreated spirit is the source of the believer’s new identity in Christ.
But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Romans 7:20–23 (NASB95)
Eventually, at his Second Coming, Jesus will raise our Adamic bodies from the dead, completing our salvation. At that point, there will no longer be any inner disharmony. Our recreated spirits will live in complete agreement with our new spiritual bodies, eliminating the flesh-spirit warfare. For now, however, we only have the “down payment” of the new birth and our union with the indwelling Spirit, which guarantees that God will eventually fulfill his promise to fully redeem us – spirit, soul, and body.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14 (NASB)
The soul in this “in between time” – the period between the new birth and the resurrection – is being transformed or sanctified (made holy or set apart to God) by the Spirit of grace on a daily basis as we choose to believe the truth (the renewing of the mind) and “walk in the Spirit” – living in dependence, harmony, and obedience to God’s Spirit who indwells us.
But you did not learn about Christ like this, 21 if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. 22 You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image — in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. Ephesians 4:20-24 (NET1)
The challenge for us followers of Christ is to identify with Christ’s Spirit, who indwells and is in union with the “inner man,” and realize that the Holy Spirit empowers us to live above the downward pull of the Adamic body of death, which is called the “flesh.”
The “flesh” (Greek: sarx)
The flesh is the sinful pull still present in the born again person’s soul, which is connected to the old Adamic order through the body, which has not yet been fully redeemed through the resurrection.
Until then, we are “saved in hope,” which means we are still waiting confidently for the last installment of our great salvation.
For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Romans 8:22-25 (NASB)
We are completely confident (the meaning of the Greek word for hope which is elpis) that God will fulfill his promise to raise us from the dead, which will set us free from our current conflicted state and make us whole again by transforming the Adamic body into something radically new and unaffected by sin and death.
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.1 Corinthians 15:52-57 (NASB)
After the resurrection, we will no longer have a struggle between that which is connected to Adam (the “flesh”) and that which is reborn by God, since there once again will be complete harmony between spirit and body, but this time oriented fully toward God.
In the present however, the “flesh” is the source of spiritual weakness.
I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. Romans 6:19 (NASB)
Even though all believers have “flesh,” we are not ruled by it so that we must live “in the flesh,” which means under the domination of sin.
For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. Romans 7:5 (NASB)
Walking in the Spirit means we set our minds on God’s truth – the things of the Spirit. When we do this, the power of God enables us to walk in freedom from the downward pull of sin.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:1-8 (NASB)
Walking in the Spirit is called “putting on Christ,” which is an act of faith by which we choose to identify with the regenerated “inner man” and rely on the indwelling life of God’s Spirit to give us victory over sin.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. Romans 13:14 (NASB)
Even though, the “old man” has already been crucified with Christ, the flesh must be put to death by us on a daily basis. This is equivalent to what Jesus called denying ourselves.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:24-25 (NASB)
In summary, our great salvation has past, present, and future components. Jesus accomplished our justification in the past, making us perfectly right with God, when he died and rose again. This was a once for all time event. In the future, we confidently expect God to raise us from the dead, fulfilling his promise and completing our salvation. In the present, we are engaged in an ongoing process called sanctification or transformation, during which we cooperate with the Holy Spirit through belief of the truth and obedience.
God is changing us day by day into Christ’s image in how we think, speak, and act.
Living in the present requires us to draw upon the eternal truth of justification and lock on to the hope of the resurrection.
It requires us to walk by faith in Christ’s finished work while dealing with the unfinished business of still living in a pre-resurrection-Adamic body. It leaves us in a “conflicted” state that necessitates our keeping our eyes firmly upon Christ and his promises.
The “body of sin” – (Greek: soma tes hamartias)
We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Romans 6:6 (NET1)
This term is more or less synonymous with “flesh.” The body is not evil, but before the resurrection it is linked to Adam’s fall and is an instrument through which we sin.
We can say that the “flesh” is derived from the “body of sin,” since it will only be present as long as these fleshly bodies are still alive. Once the body dies and is resurrected, it will no longer be a “body of sin,” and the “flesh” will disappear.
The “body of sin” participated in Christ’s crucifixion in the sense that we were spiritually identified with (or “in”) Christ when he died and rose again. Obviously our human bodies were not crucified, only the spiritual component. What this accomplished was the nullification of sin’s power or authority to enslave us.
We can still choose to sin, but those who died with Christ now have the ability to walk in the Spirit rather than in the flesh.
The “body of sin” and the “flesh” were not annihilated at the cross. They were rendered ineffective in their power to rule us. We can allow them to dominate us, but we do not have to submit to them. In fact, now it is against our inmost being, spiritual nature, and or our identity in Christ to do so.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body (Greek: thneto somati) that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:12-14 (NASB)
The “body of death” – (Greek: somatos tou thanatou)
This term is synonymous with “body of sin,” but emphasizes the pre-resurrected body’s connection with death through Adam’s sin.
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:24-25 (NASB)
The “body of flesh” – (Greek: somatos tes sarkos)
and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. Colossians 2:11-12 (NASB)
This term is synonymous with “body of sin” and “body of death.”
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. Colossians 3:1-11 (NASB)
By faith we understand that the power of the flesh, the sinful tug of the pre-resurrected-Adamic body, has been stripped of its power to rule us. As long as we “walk in the Spirit” by faith in Christ’s finished work and in cooperation with the Spirit’s ever present power indwelling us, we are able to live above the downward pull of sin. This is a daily, even moment by moment, interaction with God’s grace.
Conclusion
My purpose in this article is to provide clarity to some potentially confusing terms. Some may disagree with my definitions, which are an attempt to better understand a mystery. Perhaps God has given you a better understanding than I have. In that case, I hope you will share your insights with me. The important thing is for us to believe what the Bible teaches. We never want to nullify the Word of God just because it has not yet become our experience or is difficult to comprehend. To the degree that what I have written helps our faith, I will consider that I have been helpful. Now we can move on to applying these marvelous truths.
