Another Man | E. J. Waggoner

Another Man

There is something exceedingly comforting in the thought of receiving the power of the Holy Spirit; and no wonder, for the Spirit is the Comforter. But the great comfort of it is shown in the result, as illustrated in one typical case. When Samuel had anointed Saul king over Israel, he said to him:

“Thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy; and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.” 1 Sam. 10:5, 6.

What a wonderfully pleasant thought, that the Spirit turns the one who yields to its presence into another man. {51} The old man is sinful. We are carnal by nature. We have done many wicked deeds, because sin was our very nature. The memory of those sins have often appalled us, as the knowledge of the sinful nature, whence they came, has often been to us a grief and shame. Past misdeeds which we could not wipe out, had been held up before us by Satan to discourage us, and thus to give him greater power over our sinful nature.

But now the glorious news comes to us that by yielding to the Spirit of God, we may be turned into other persons. That “new man” is “created in righteousness and true holiness.” Eph. 4:24. It takes the place of “the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.” This new man is “renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him” (Col. 3:10); and this renewing takes place “day by day.” 2 Cor. 4:16.

We yield, and the transformation is effected. We continue to yield, and renewing continually takes place. And now the devil comes to us again with his old tricks. He presents the long list of sins, but they do not appall us anymore. We can say to him, “You have made a mistake; the man who used to live here, and who committed those sins, is dead, and I have no connection with him, and therefore cannot be called on to settle his accounts.” There is no more a “fearful looking for of judgment,” for we shall not come into judgment, having passed from death unto life. John 5:24. 

The devil tries his old temptations, through the lusts of the flesh, but again he is baffled. He used to have no difficulty in leading us astray, but now he has another man to deal with, and to his astonishment he finds that his purposes fail. There is no condemnation to us, because we walk in the Spirit. 

This new man has never sinned, because it is “created in righteousness and true holiness,” and kept eternally new. How often we have wished that we might get rid of ourselves. We may. The word comes to us, “Put off the old man, with his deeds,” and with the word comes the power to put him off. And the new man cannot sin, because it is the very image of God. So that our part day by day may be to declare from the heart with the Apostle Paul:—

“For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:19, 20.

E. J. Waggoner
The Present Truth 10, 4 (January 25, 1894), pp. 50, 51.