“But you
have not so learned Christ; If so be that you have heard him, and have been
taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you 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 you put on the new man, which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:20-24)
Most
modern translations, sadly, render this section of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians
as being about the “Old Self” and the “New Self”, which unfortunately obscures
the true meaning of his teaching here.
The actual
terms used by Paul are the “Old Man” and the “New Man”, which he explained
earlier in Ephesians 2:14-16 this way:
“For he
himself is our peace, who has made the two groups [both Jews and Gentiles] one
and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside
in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to
create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in one
body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to
death their hostility.”
This “New
Man” was created by removing the barrier between Jews and Gentiles. This refers
to the Church – the Body of Christ.
The “Old
Man” is found in Romans 6:6 where he says:
“Knowing
this, that our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be
done away with that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
At the end
of Romans 5 (the previous chapter), Paul talks about “Two Men”: One which
brought about justification and another man which brought condemnation. This
refers to Adam (the old man) and Christ (the new man).
Both Adam
and Christ are spoken of in these passages as corporate entities. Adam stands
for the entire race of mankind. Christ stands for the new creation as embodied
by the Ekklesia.
Literally
the word “Anthropas” in the Greek can refer to both one man and to humanity as
a whole; exactly as the word “Man” can refer to both a single person or to an
entire race of people.
Adam is
the representative of the Old Man. Jesus is the New Man. We are either of the
Old Humanity of Adam, or we are in the New Humanity found in Christ.
Going back
to the teaching found in Ephesian 4:20-24, Paul is talking about this same
reality of the Old Man (Adam) and the New Man (Jesus). He’s not talking about
my individual self at all. He’s talking about a reality that extends to all of
humanity.
What Paul
wants us to do is to put off the Old Man and embrace the New Man.
These are
not two divisions within me, these are two distinctions within the entire
Global sphere of mankind. Either I am a
member of the Old Man (and therefore I act as someone who is among the tribe of
Adam), or I am a member of the New Man (and therefore I act as someone who is
of the tribe of Jesus).
Therefore,
no one can be in Adam and in Christ at the same time. One is either living
according to the flesh, or living according to the life of the Spirit of
Christ.
Paul urges
us to “put off the Old Man” and to “put on the New Man”. The Old Man is
crucified with Christ and now no longer lives. Christ, who is our life, has
filled us and we inhabit Him as citizens of His Kingdom.
The part
of me that once lived according to the Old Man is dead. Adam is no longer my
example. Jesus is now my Lord and my King and I walk according to His blue
print.
This means
that I love like He loves. I forgive like He forgives. I serve like He did. I
have become a “little Christ” or “Christian” who has taken on a new nature and
a new identity found only in Jesus.
Now that
we are no longer part of the Old Man, we have to put off the old behaviors and
to put on the New Man and those new behaviors that are in character with
Christ.
“But you
have not so learned Christ…” Paul says. What are we learning? How to be like
Christ.
As Paul
explains in Eph. 1:23, the Church is the Body of Christ and “the fullness of
Him who fills everything in every way.” That means that Christians are designed
to be like Jesus in this world. It’s not automatic, but as we abide in Him we
learn to allow Him to abide in us and let Him live His life through us, day by
day.
Anyone who
is truly in Christ – who has been transformed from within by the power and
presence of Jesus – is now a partaker of the Divine Nature and a member of the
New Humanity. Nothing
will ever be the same again.
Even as
the members of my own body are animated and empowered by me, the members of
Christ’s Body are enlivened by Him and under His authority to accomplish His
agenda.
This is a
corporate reality, not an individual one. It's not about putting off an old version of my self, or about putting on a new version of my self. It’s not about my self at all – old or new. No, it’s about an old form of life being eclipsed and overshadowed by a new form of
life found only in Christ.
Now that
we are in Him, let us continue onward to live the life He wants to live through
us. Rather than being self-centered, let’s become Christ-centered.*
-kg
“Do not
lie to one another, seeing that you 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: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor
uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free: but Christ is all, and in
all.” (Colossians 3:9-11)
*NOTE: Special thanks to Steve Gregg for helping me to understand this concept of the New Man vs the Old Man.
