Tonight’s study will cover verses Luke 17:31-37. Looking back as Lot’s wife did and who the two mentioned in this parable are, will be discussed. The last week’s questions about the two within were discussed on the email thread, and thanks to all that discussion, this study was created. First, let us look at what Lot’s wife was looking back to see.

Gen 19:23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities,and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Lot’s wife looked back to Sodom and Gomorrah, signifying us desiring to return to our old ways. The life we used to live is no longer useful to our new man and must be destroyed by fire. As we all know, God’s word is the fire that destroys the old man and saves the new man. This is the baptism of fire.

Mat 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

1Co 3:12-14 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

2Ti 2:1-26 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Now let us look at who the “Two” are mentioned in our verses. Thanks to an email conversation this week, several were able to answer this question.

Luk 17:34-37 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

Here is the first answer.

I wanted to address whether within us we have two separate people within us or just one. The reason I bring this up is that I see many of us speaking of the old man and new man as if they are two separate people within us.

If I am understanding you correctly, you are saying there are not two “persons” but one person, and that person is “me” with thoughts in me.

Col 3:6-10 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: (one group) In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: (the new man is renewed)

“I believe that the old man and the new man are not two separate people within us but are one and the same person that make up the individual person whether it be you or me.”

The new is not the same as the old, and they are not the same “person”. The old man has deeds, and the new man is made up of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Way, Truth and Life.

The old man lives in a certain way. This “way of living” is not the TRUE way. There is only one Truth, and He is Jesus Christ. The ways, or deeds, of the old man are his conversation… way of living.

Eph 4:20-24 But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

There is an old and a new. They are not the same person. Jesus Christ can be in flesh, in sin, but not commit sin. They are not the same. Jesus Christ is the Head and we are the body which are “the body of Christ.” That is the new man in us. He is the Light brought forth from darkness, but they are not the SAME, though they can be alike in certain attributes… such as being used equally the same to accomplish the will of GOD, but not be THE SAME.. because that would be making darkness and light the same thing but only in the image of the person.

That would be like saying Jesus Christ is the same person with the old man and new man in Him, but He was blessed with the Holy Spirit without measure, therefore he did not give in to the … OLD MAN.

Eph 4:18-19 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Jesus did not do the WORK of darkness. He did the work of LIGHT. Now, if the old and new are the same, then that would have to be the same for Jesus Christ since we are as He is?

The old and the new war against each other – the flesh against the spirit.

Rom 7:22-24 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Paul was calling HIMSELF a wretched man. There is a law of my mind, the call of Jesus Christ, that is at war with another MIND. That carnal mind pulls on the LAW OF SIN that is in my members.

These are not the same thing in one person.

Evil and good are not the same thing.

There are many verses that come to mind, but if I understood you wrongly then, this is already stuff you know and acknowledge, but there is an inward man, and He has the mind of Christ. The inward man is not the same as the outward man, also named the old man – inside the cup versus outside of the cup.

Next answer.

In line with the sum of God’s word (Psa 119:160), I think these Scriptures should be looked into as well.

Gen 25:22-23 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

2Ti 2:20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.

I believe 2 Timothy 2:20 can also be stated this way (1Co 3:12) since the great house and the foundation are referring to the same building:

1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

Mat 24:40-41 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Our fourth input.

I appreciate all the input on this question “The old man and the new man is it one or two people within us?” In other words, how does the Lord see us. I’ll ask some simple but hopefully helpful questions that I pray will add some weight to what has already been said in different ways.

All flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50), so we’re not talking about preserving our flesh, because “henceforth know we no man [including Christ] after the flesh” (2Co 5:16). Without God’s spirit within us, we are none of His (Rom 8:9). The spirit of God in us is what makes it possible for us to say that we have a new man inside us who now has inherited that kingdom in earnest as a kind of first fruits (Mat 22:14).

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

2Co 5:16-17 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Those in the lake of fire are raised as spirit bodies but still possess fleshly thinking and that is why they don’t inherit the kingdom of God first as first fruits, simply because the new creation was not yet formed in them, the man child that the elect represent. That is why they are the latter harvest and not connected to the first fruits.

The mind of Christ is what we have when we have God’s holy spirit (1Co 2:16). That mind is not the wisdom of this world but the power of God that can give increase in our heavens and help us mature into mature sons who go from this earnest relationship today (Eph 1:14) into one where we will see him face to face in the first resurrection (1Co 13:12).

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Now if we were to repeat everything I just wrote and apply it to John the baptist we could not say that he has this new creation being formed within him, this hope of glory within (Col 1:27). Therefore, although the Lord was working with John and all of the other fold that Christ referred to in John 10:16, there is only one man child of God, one remnant (Rev 12:5) who are truly being led by their head, Jesus Christ (Rom 8:14).

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Rom 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

That new creation and body of believers is one and the same and at one with Christ as God gives us the increase and the ability to overcome our self-willed nature that wants to do what we want to do, and will be overcome by Christ (Rom 7:14-25, Php 2:13). That will of man is what we call the old man, and that man was with Christ but never ruled on the throne of his heart as it does in the life of all mankind and in each of the elect’s lives, less and less as He increases and we decrease.

Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing [‘true of Christ as well’]: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

It is hard to always distinguish this point with our own carnal minds that we wrestle with, but David, Abraham, John the baptist – whoever you want to name – were all yet operating by their own righteousness and only typified the righteousness of Christ. They were not bad men as we would typically think of bad men; murderers, whoremongers, murderers of mothers, etc (1Ti 1:9-10). Yet they are not the new singular creation the body of Christ has become since pentecost (Act 2:4). We are one bread and one spirit, one body (1Co 10:17). That is the new man that we are all to be concerned about and are maturing into together (Eph 4:13).

1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

1Co 10:17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Prior to that relationship which started when we received God’s holy spirit, we either had a hedge about us as Job did, or the prophets of old who were an example of patience (Jas 5:10-11), but that was only the shadow of the real patience and faith of the saints (1Co 10:11, 1Pe 1:12) who have become a new creation through Christ (2Co 5:17) as we learn obedience by the things we suffer and are received of God through Christ via chastening and scourging (Heb 12:6-7). We still have hedges that come down, but our trials form the mind of Christ within us and are precious to God because of the purified life formed within us through those trials. Christ our hope of glory gives us the power to endure those trials to the glory of God (Php 4:13). A trial in the days of king David, for instance, who experienced many fiery trials was not forming the new man in king David and could not because God’s spirit was not within David.

Jas 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

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

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

There has always been two juxtaposing forces working with mankind, light and darkness, and God has always been completely in control of them as He works all things according to the counsel of His will (Isa 45:7, Eph 1:11). The old man is that part of us which cannot inherit the kingdom, and that old man was in Christ, and that is the part of Christ we don’t need to know (2Co 5:16). I didn’t say He sinned, because He did not, but His sinful flesh did not inherit the kingdom. That sinful flesh is represented by the word flesh, but it really was the part of His physical brain that said, “Nevertheless not my will (‘the way that seems right to my mind, my old man’) but your will be done.” This part of Christ was overcome by the grace and faith He received so He could drink the cup and go onto perfection on the third day, being obedient unto death, ruling over those diverse temptations that would lead to spiritual death, and ultimately, as a result of that overcoming, seeing the new creation brought back to the fullness He had as the Word when He was resurrected after suffering throughout His life of carrying His cross and then dying on the cross.

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

As Christ is so are we, and no one on this earth can make that claim accept His body (1Jn 4:17). We have a new life being formed within us. There is an old and new man, as a struggle with two children, and only one is going to continue, and the other will not. That is the representation being shown us in that particular story. The world has a typical struggle, and they groan with those powers and principalities in which they live and move and have their being (Act 17:26-28), and God is in control of the hedge in their lives as well, just as he was with Job. However, that old man and new man relationship is only a type of what is now the reality, the hope of glory Jesus Christ within us Who is the new creation overcoming within us the old man; the same old man in the prophets of old who was only typically being overcome. They all died being yet carnal, in other words!

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Act 17:26-28 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

That pagan Athenian part of the creation groaned, but when the scripture goes on to say but “even we groan within ourselves” it is talking about the nation that is going to be born in a day, in the moment and twinkling of an eye that all the world are going to see (Rom 8:22-23). That is the man child, the first fruit sons of God, the remnant, the church, the bride, the body of Christ, and we are so privileged and blessed to know what we know that Christ says all these prior types of the elect, who were for our sakes, desired to know these things we know but did not, simply because the spirit was not given yet (Luk 10:24).

Rom 8:22-23 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Luk 10:24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

There are two men with whom we are wrestling (Jacob and the angel), powers and principalities, and He who is within us is greater than he who is in the world, whose influence is being dethroned to the glory of God (1Joh 4:4). That is why we are sons of God and no longer of our father the devil (1Jn 3:1).

1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Most of the world does not know it, but Satan is the god of this world, and God has granted him to be in control of the hearts and minds of humanity, both within the typical righteousness of mankind and the overt sins of man that manifest in the wicked (2Co 4:4-5). The race is given to those who have Christ in them, and He is the one working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure so we can overcome those powers and principalities that have the world in bondage (Ecc 9:11). The whole world lies in sin, John says. Regardless of how clean the cup may look on the outside, Christ says there’s none righteous and that no flesh will inherit the kingdom of God (1Jn 5:19, Rom 3:10).

2Co 4:4-5 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

Ecc 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

1Jn 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Christ had an old-man nature over which God gave him power to rule, two men. All humanity have that same nature over which God determines the boundaries regarding behavior. There is no new creation in John the baptist, but that is not to say that there is not the same typical struggle being accomplished in his life as God’s spirit works with John. In that sense, John has two men as well. God’s spirit was working with him and moving him to point to Christ as he did (Joh 1:29). So many want to know Christ on the cross after the flesh, but are not able to be crucified with Christ. That is really at the heart and core of the elect’s distinction from the world. Christ, our hope of glory within, can make it possible for us to be found with His righteousness at His return and not with our own (Php 3:9).

Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

There are not two men in John the baptist; only one yet carnal man who can be and was influenced by God’s spirit. God creates a hedge for flesh, and humanity sees His goodness toward them in the flesh as the start and finish of the story, whereas God’s elect see God’s goodness as leading us to repentance that changes us and forms a new creation within us by putting off the flesh. The analogy I like to use is oil on the water that floats on the surface of the prophets’ minds and moves them to do what they do, as opposed to the holy spirit within us which can be likened to oil that has been mixed into the water, which is what happens when we have God’s spirit in us, that goes through this emulsifying process that happens through a lifetime of much tribulation (Act 14:22).

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

If we are granted to endure until the end, the world will clearly see that a new creation was being formed in the elect who were in the world and not of it, and the elect will clearly see Christ face to face and will be able to minister judgment to the rest of the creation in the lake of fire so they can learn of the righteousness of Christ.

This is our final input.

The bible typifies numerous accounts of us being two separate people. Abram/Abraham, Ishmael/Isaac, Esau/Jacob, Saul/David, Jacob/Israel and Saul/Paul. Each of these typify uniquely showing us we are two people, the old man and the new man; two separate individuals fighting for the SAME LAND. One, who by fleshly wisdom and a fleshly mind, tries to obtain what he believes is his by birthright, because he was born first.

Gal 4:21-31 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

The Amorites, the Hitites, the Philistines all possessed the literal land first. The Israelites came in and said, “This is now my land given to me by God.” The inhabitants of that land obviously were furious and fought back. They were though, a separate people, a whole different person who had inhabited the land by the power of God. They built, they planted, they harvested, yet it was all for the Israelites to possess. The same is true for our old man and new man. Everything I learned from birth, while dwelling in this land, I credited to the fleshly carnal mind. I believed all of it was obtained from my own life’s wisdom and thinking. Now that I am being dragged to the truth, I am shown that all I was, is from the hand of The Creator, of which I thought I was. This old man still exists in this land in which Israel is slowly conquering, little by little, battle by battle but, the old man still exists in this land as a separate individual with all his ideas of truth which have to be destroyed by Israel. Though they exist together in the same land, it does not mean they are the same people, because they are not. They are two separate people with two separate desires. One desires all things to feed the pride and SELF-ESTEEM of the flesh and carnal mind, while the other desires to feed the Spiritual man, who only desires to please his Creator. Look at Esau and Jacob while they struggled in the womb. They were in the same land but were two separate people fighting for the same inheritance – life.

Gen 25:22-23 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

TWO NATIONS, not two thoughts, but literally TWO NATIONS struggled within Rebekah. When my old man flares up in an overt act of self-righteousness, it is displayed in an evidentiary fruit called sins of the flesh. This display of an overt act of “I am my own God” will produce a fruit of a work of the flesh.

Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

The flesh, the old man with his carnal mind, will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do the verses mean if I ever commit one of these literal acts listed above, I will not inherit the kingdom of God? Yes, it does. If I have ever lied, cheated or stole, I, THE OLD MAN WHO COMMITED THESE ACTS, will not inherit the kingdom of God because these acts are the fruits which show he is not the new man. The first Adam commits sins of the flesh because they are the fruits of a carnal mind, the ways of the old man. Now, if we say we have never sinned in the flesh, in an outward overt act of murder, adultery, cheating, stealing, etc. then we are committing the act of lying, because scripture says we have all sinned in the flesh because all are born sinners.

Rom 3:10-18 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Modern religion will tell you and me that “we are all sinners and that we all fall short of the glory of God” and use that, (as I did for the majority of my carnal life), as an excuse to justify our sin. By doing so they are confessing that they do not understand the difference between the old man and new man. They see them as ONE MAN. This false doctrine comes from the false doctrine of substitutionary atonement, where Christ did it all, and we are still the same man but with a new title – Christian. I admit my failures as a man, say a ten-second sinner’s prayer, and I am no longer held by any standard. When I sin, I say, “Well, we’re all sinners.” However, if we have the new man in us, which is a new man totally separate from the old man, then we know we are dead and that whatever comes from the flesh is flesh and is not inheriting the kingdom of God. At the same time I confess that all things are from The Creator Jesus Christ and by HIM, not me, do all things consist.

Col 1:15-17 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Why did He create all things in my old man, and why does He allow all things that happen or not to happen? Why does he CONSISTENTLY allow the new man to be grieved by sins of the old man? The answer is so that the new man will see the old man will not inherit the kingdom of God. What the old man displays is ignorance of God, and in this showing of ignorance we are taught patience.

Jas 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The fruit of this distinction between the old man and the new man is fruit of the new man.

Gal 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

If we live in the Spirit, knowing that all things are from God and by God and that all things are created by Christ, then we know that no matter what happens we can have love, joy, peace, and if we have those things fruits about ourselves, then we can have these to our neighbor, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance, AGAINST SUCH THERE IS NO LAW. Fruits of the flesh are for the purpose of showing us that there is a creation of the first Adam, separate from the second creation, the second Adam, the new man. Fruits of the Spirit are for the purpose of showing us there is a new creation being created, separate and independent from the first creation. If we are living in the new creation, then we are seeing that whatever the old creation brings forth is for the new creation to feed off.

Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Our new man is the eagles that feed off the carcass of our old man. We feed off him by learning all he does is self-centered and self-glorifying. Everything the old man does he does for self and for self-preservation. The new man works for God because he knows, is coming to know, that all that he does, and the old man does is by the hand of the Creator. We give no credit to the old man, to the flesh, for anything he has done, is doing or will do, and this is what brings out the fruit of the Spirit in the new man; the peace, love, joy, etc. They are not ONE man, they are distinctly TWO different men. One is made of be destroyed.

2Pe 2:12-14 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

The other is being created into the image of his CREATOR through the death of the old man.

Eph 1:4-6 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Eph 1:10-12 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

There are two distinct men living in the same land; one is increasing in the land as the other is decreasing, one is living while the other is dying. One desires things of the flesh to consume it on the flesh, while the other desires the truth to glorify God by that truth. One thinks he is his own creator, and the other knows he is being created by his Creator. One will die forever, and the other will live forever. One was destined for the grave/death, while the other was predestined for life eternal. One lives by the death of the other, therefore they cannot be ONE person. The caterpillar is a caterpillar, not a butterfly. The butterfly is a butterfly, not a caterpillar. The butterfly comes from the death of the caterpillar, the caterpillar does not become a butterfly, he is the food of the butterfly. The butterfly becomes a butterfly from the consumption of the caterpillar.

“First, the caterpillar digests itself, releasing enzymes to dissolve all of its tissues. If you were to cut open a cocoon or chrysalis at just the right time, caterpillar soup would ooze out. But the contents of the pupa are not entirely an amorphous mess. Certain highly organized groups of cells known as imaginal discs survive the digestive process. Before hatching, when a caterpillar is still developing inside its egg, it grows an imaginal disc for each of the adult body parts it will need as a mature butterfly or moth — discs for its eyes, for its wings, its legs and so on. In some species, these imaginal discs remain dormant throughout the caterpillar’s life; in other species, the discs begin to take the shape of adult body parts even before the caterpillar forms a chrysalis or cocoon. Some caterpillars walk around with tiny rudimentary wings tucked inside their bodies, though you would never know it by looking at them.

Once a caterpillar has disintegrated all of its tissues except for the imaginal discs, those discs use the protein-rich soup all around them to fuel the rapid cell division required to form the wings, antennae, legs, eyes, genitals and all the other features of an adult butterfly or moth. The imaginal disc for a fruit fly’s wing, for example, might begin with only 50 cells and increase to more than 50,000 cells by the end of metamorphosis. Depending on the species, certain caterpillar muscles and sections of the nervous system are largely preserved in the adult butterfly. One study even suggests that moths remember what they learned in later stages of their lives as caterpillars.” Caterpillar/Butterfly Metamorphosis Explained

If you read these paragraphs with the spiritual eye and see yourself being created from a caterpillar, you can see that they are not same thing, they are two separate creatures. One comes from the death of the other. It feeds off the death of the one. We crawl around as caterpillars, never knowing we are butterflies, until we enter the cocoon, where we die to self and a new man is created. We have wings as a caterpillar while we can’t fly. We have wings as a caterpillar before we know their use. We have wings as caterpillars because we are the elect of God, crawling around in the world until God has predestined we start our change. I hope this helps us all know we are two people, and it is very important to know that we are two people not one. Believing we are just one person with separate thoughts, then we are saying that there is only one creation, and the old man lives on with a new mind. This is not the case as the old man must die.