“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” (Ephesians 4:22-24)

The Actors’ Club (or the Thespian Club) is represented by two faces, Tragedy and Comedy. These are taken from Thespis, a Sixth Century Greek poet, reputed as the originator of tragedy. The actors on the stage of drama (a series of events involving conflicting forces, tragedy and comedy) are but pretenders of the imagination.

However, on the real stage of life, all of us are the actors. These “actors” are not pretending, but living the one time “play” of their life. There are four acts to the Play of Life: birth, life, death, and eternity. There is no re-doing or going back; there is only the present and the future.

The actors of the screen of imagination wear a false face. Many so-called Christians are also wearing a false face; for the face they are wearing (or the fruit being borne) is not reflective of what they profess.

On the stage of life, there are only two faces. However, they do not represent imaginary characters, but the true nature of the inner man.

The first of these two faces is the face of the “Old Man,” or better described as “the flesh” wherein Paul says, sin dwells (Romans 7:15-24). Paul said the “former conversation” (or behavior) of the old man is “corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Ephesians 4:22). John says in 1 John 2:15-17, the fruit of the old man is found in “…the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life…”  Then in Galatians 5:19-21, Paul gives definition to the lusts and pride found in the old man. This “old man” face represents men who are dead spiritually. They are completely separated from God and are totally depraved. Their “will” is bent to sin (Ephesians 2:1-3). They choose sin over righteousness. They are under the rule, or dominion, of the law of sin and death; and their attitudes, actions, and attire prove this to be a fact.

The second face is that of the “New Man.” Paul said in Ephesians 4:24, “…which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” The fruit of the New Man is found in “…righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17). Paul defines this fruit in Galatians 5:22-23 as, “…love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance…”

Therefore, you are either dead spiritually or alive spiritually. If you are dead your face is the Old Man. If you are alive, your face will be the New Man. When you are dead, you are controlled by evil lust; when you are alive, you are controlled by the Holy Spirit of God.

Which face (or testimony) do you present each day? Which fruit are you bearing in your daily life? Consider not only the face you show to the public eye, but also to the private eye. Which face do you wear in your home; before your wife? Even before yourself in your most private moments, when no one but God is viewing your attitude and actions?

This devotion is not addressed to the spiritually dead man (the lost man), for he is not a pretender. He is proud of his “old-man” face and the fruit thereof.

This devotion is addressed to the man who is trying to wear the wrong face; he is a pretender, a professor of Christ; but not a possessor. Or he is a possessor, but his works are of the old man, and he needs to repent and confess and change; or he will receive chastisement, maybe even death (1 John 5:16).

If you are indeed saved, Born Again, filled with the Spirit of God; then you will walk in the Spirit, be led of the Spirit, and live in the Spirit. For Paul says in Galatians 5:24, “And they that are Christ’s have (not maybe, but have) crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” If indeed this has happened in your life, then your fruit will reflect that of the “New Man” and not of the “Old Man.”

Paul makes this truth very plain in Romans 6:1-23, especially in verse 6a, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified (not maybe, but is) with him (or with Christ)…” Since this is true, what is the course of action once this is known in a man’s life? Romans 6:12 shows us the path, “Let not sin therefore reign (or rule) in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Therefore, those who have had a “nature change,” from deadness to life in Christ, have no choice but to be a “Servant of Righteousness” wherein is the fruit of the New Man: “…righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17). Paul verifies this Victory in Christ (Romans 6:1-23; 7:24; 8:1-17) through the Power of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God in the believer.

Which face do you have? Are you a hypocrite? Are you a pretender? Are you professing something you are not? Matthew 7:20 states that the corrupt tree and the good tree will be known by the fruits born on the tree. You can say “I am a Christian.” But what do your works (your fruits) say?

Many Bible preachers have made it easy for the false professors to exist in the congregation of the Righteous, and eased the conscience of the real possessor, whose works are corrupt; by not identifying sin and the judgment of God on unconfessed sin.