# 28: 4-6-12

You Have Put off the Old Man and Have Put on the New Man
Ephesians 4:17-24; Colossians 3:1-11
As we look back over Pauls teaching in this portion of his letter to the Roman assemblies, we can see that
his laying out of the two men, Adam and Christ, was not just designed to show how God would accomplish
His purposes for mankind. It was also intended as a preparation for his teaching on sanctification.
Paul has given us Gods perspective on men; how God sees them. Either you are in the creation in Adam,
in which you were born into this world, or you are in the creation in Christ through faith, born again, a
new creation in Him.
Your creation in Adam was necessary, in order for you to become a living soul; to come into being, on this
earth. And for your earthy tenure, you were given a body of flesh; a temporary dwelling place, to house
your living soul; your spirit-being. There you were, a son of Adam.
But you could not stay in the creation in Adam, because it is condemned; and in it, you would have been
destroyed. Therefore, it was imperative for you to become a new creation in Christ, by which you escaped
the condemnation in Adam, and Gods purpose for your life was realized to become a son of God.
This was done by God, through your faith. But how did God accomplish it? How did He get you out of
that old creation, in Adam, and into that new creation, in Christ? Through death.
This is what Paul shows at the beginning of chapter 6. Through faith, we are united with Christ. Joined
together with Christ, we died with Him; were buried with Him; and from Gods perspective, are already
raised with Him, in His resurrection. It was all accomplished 2000 years ago; and when you were united to
Christ through your faith, it was accomplished for you.
It is the spiritual reality of this death that Paul draws upon for his teaching about sanctification about
living the righteousness that Christ died to give you.
Death is a severance. Our death with Christ completely severed us from the creation in Adam as Paul
said, the old man of each one of us was crucified with Christ; we have died out of that old creation in
Adam.
And death creates separation; permanent separation. Here is the sanctification of the believer by God,
freeing him from sins power.
And death is one-way; theres no going back. This freedom from the Sin is absolute; which is why Paul
concludes, your sin shall not have dominion over you; it cant.
This is how Paul laid out Gods perspective, on our death with Christ. There is power in that death power
to live our righteousness, in the here and now. But how do we access that power?
Well, some would say that God has to give us the power. After all, its all Gods doing; its His power, so
He has to give it to us, right? And until He does, were powerless. And furthermore, until we have faith,
and believe God for what He will do, He wont empower us. But wait God does all the doing, so He has
to give us faith, too, right? He even has to empower us to believe.

# 28: 4-6-12

There is that thinking out there, in the realm of Christendom. Whats wrong with that thinking? It isnt
Gods thinking; and we can know this from Scripture.
Lets start with faith. God does not give anyone faith, for anything. Faith is our right response to God, to
put our trust in Him; it is why God has given men freedom of choice, that they may choose to believe Him,
and the One whom He sent.
When Jesus dwelt on the earth, the gospel record shows Him again and again commending those who have
faith (Mt 8:10, 15:28; Lk 7:9, 50, 17:19). Why would Jesus be commending them, if God gave them the
faith to believe? Whats to commend, in that?
God will not empower us to believe Him; He encourages our faith, but does not give us faith; thats for us
to have. But what about our believing God, to empower us to live our righteousness? That is, believing
God, to give us the power?
We certainly do need to believe God, but not for that. Why not? Because He has already given us the
power, to live our righteousness; we already possess it.
How can we know this? Because we have been united to Christ, by faith, and He has taken us into death
with Him, and raised us up with Him in power just as we learned here, from Paul.
The power to live this life is already ours; the righteousness is already accounted to us. So if were not
living our righteousness, the problem is not that God hasnt given us access to the power to do it; the
problem is that we dont appropriate the power that God has given us.
So that means we have to modify our question a little: How do we draw on the power that we already
have; that God has already given to us, to live our righteousness? How do we put that power into effect?
This is what Paul spelled out as he concluded his discussion about the reality of our having died and being
raised with Christ. We must count on the fact that through our union with Christ by faith, we have died to
the Sin truly.
The Sin is no longer our master, so we must not let it have the say, in our bodies. Having died to the Sin,
we must not allow our bodies to be used as instruments of unrighteousness; we must no longer continue in
sin.
Instead, we are to count on the fact that in Christ, in union with Him, we are already raised in glory, alive
unto God. We are a new creation, in Christ. And as we consider this to be true because it is true as we
count on this fact we will live as glorified sons of God, here and now, on earth completely free from the
presence of the Sin. Presenting ourselves to God as His glorified sons our members as instruments to do
His will on earth we will live our righteousness.
This reckoning of yourself, as dead to the Sin, but alive to God, is expressed by Paul as a continuous
action; you must reckon, and keep on reckoning it to be so; you must keep on counting on the facts.
What Paul is showing is that being empowered to live our righteousness is a matter of having this
understanding, and maintaining this understanding through every circumstance and every moment of our
earthy lives. And as we do so, we become what we are righteous. This is the path of sanctification.

# 28: 4-6-12

So in this sense, do we sanctify ourselves? Certainly not; only God can sanctify, because only God is holy.
Holiness is a divine attribute. But we become partakers of Gods holiness in Christ (Heb 12:10), and
through that union, God sanctifies us, in time.
So sanctification is the work of God; specifically, the work of the Holy Spirit, in the believer; but
sanctification does require the believers participation in it; he responds to the Spirits work in his life; he
submits to God, in the process. From the earthly perspective, sanctification is the path to glory, where we
are holy as God is holy. Its Gods path; He set us on the course; He encourages us in the way; but we must
walk the path, setting one foot in front of the other.
Returning now to Pauls conclusion, we can see that the believer is empowered to live his righteousness
through counting on what God has already accomplished for him, in Christ that he is an entirely new
creation and the Sin no longer has dominion over him. Because understanding what God has done is key
to drawing on the power He has given us to live our righteousness, well be spending a little more time on
this today.
In this passage, Paul used the metaphor of baptism to show how the believer makes his exodus out of the
old creation in Adam, and becomes a new creation in Christ. In several other letters, Paul expresses it a
different way: as a putting off of the old man, and a putting on of the new man.
Paul equates this idea to baptism in his letter to the Galatian assemblies, in which he wrote, For you are all
sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on
Christ (Gal 3:26-27).
And we will discover that Paul visits this idea later in this letter to the Romans, writing, Put on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to lusts (Rm 13:14).
There are two letters in which Paul develops this idea more fully: Ephesians and Colossians. These give us
greater light on what Paul is saying here in Romans, about becoming a new creation. Well be looking at
both this morning, starting with Ephesians. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4.
Paul did not intend this letter for any individual assembly, but as a general letter to the churches in the
Roman province of Asia. These assemblies were composed mostly of Gentile believers, and several parts
of Pauls letter specifically address them.
Paul has been writing of all of the spiritual blessings that believers have by virtue of being in Christ. Based
upon these blessings, Paul began to exhort the believers to have a walk worthy of the calling with which
they were called their high calling in Christ Jesus, to be a son of God.
Starting in verse 17 of chapter 4, Paul is speaking of the believers in their former manner of life before
they had placed their faith in Christ. Back then, most were pagan Gentiles; and their walk was utterly
unworthy.
[Ephesians 4:17-24]
v. 17-19 Paul is describing how the believers in Asia used to walk that is, how they used to conduct
themselves. From where did their conduct originate, in verse 17? It originated in their minds; it came out
of the futility of it; this means the vanity, the worthlessness of their thinking.

# 28: 4-6-12

Why was their thinking without any value? Verse 18 because their understanding was darkened. In the
spirit of their being, they had no light. Their minds took in information through the senses of their bodies,
but they couldnt understand what it truly meant; like trying to read a book, in the dark.
And why did they lack this understanding? Verse 18 because they were alienated from the Life of God
Life everlasting. They were strangers to that Life, of which the Holy Spirit is the guarantee (Eph 1:14).
Without the Holy Spirit, they had no understanding in their spirits; they could not know the truth. They had
no idea what God thought; the only One who has thinking of value, and who could give them
understanding.
So why were they alienated from the life of God? Paul says it was because of the ignorance that was in
them that is to say, they didnt know God. And this was because of the blindness of their heart; literally,
thats the hardness of their heart. When the Holy Spirit tried to reveal Christ to them, they had hardened
their heart in unbelief.
What Paul has done here was to trace the futile mind of the pagan Gentile back to its source: the heart of
unbelief. Thats the pattern of all unregenerate men; all the sons of Adam. But now Paul goes on to show
how that manifested itself, in the case of the pagan Gentiles in particular.
Being past feeling refers to a seared conscience. As we learned in Romans chapter 2, the conscience is a
reflective mechanism that God has placed in the minds of all men; an inner judge which informs a man
when he has violated the righteous requirements of God.
But unregenerate men with their hardened hearts ignore the judgment of their conscience, until they are
insensitive to its cry. This leads to complacency concerning their sin, to the point of the pursuit of it with
reckless abandon; they give themselves over to it. In the case of the unregenerate Gentiles here, Paul cites
the sin which best characterized the pagan world of his day: sexual immorality, which they practiced
without restraint.
In listing only one area of sin here, we can see that Pauls point is not to catalog the sins of the pagan
Gentiles. What Paul is doing is showing the origin of the conduct of the lawless Gentiles; in the futility of
their minds, based on the hardness of their hearts to God. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov 23:7).
Now Paul shows the contrast with those who have believed.
v. 20-24 But YOU; Paul is emphatic here. You Gentile believers, you have not so learned Christ. Notice
that Paul doesnt say learning about Christ; its learning Christ Himself. Paul uses His office, the Christ,
emphasizing His work of redemption, which believers have learned, experientially; they have been baptized
into Christs death, and raised with Him, and so have learned Christ.
Pauls statement in verse 21 does not express doubt as to whether they have really learned Christ, but is
meant to be inclusive of those hearing the letter who may not yet have heard the gospel, to believe it
remember this letter was being widely circulated, to places that Paul had never been.
Those who truly believed had heard the preaching of the gospel, had been taught in Christ in His death
and resurrection and had learned Christ it became their experience, through their union with Him, by
faith.

# 28: 4-6-12

In verses 22 and 24, the English translation of the verbs sound like commands put off, put on do it. But
in the Greek, the verbs just indicate simple action you have put off, you have put on. The time of the
action is not specified, but it is a one-time action not a continuous process.
This putting off and putting on are what Paul is labeling the truth in Jesus (v. 21); and that is the truth you
learned, you heard, you were taught all past tense; so must you conclude that this putting off and putting
on are also past tense having learned Christ, you did this? Yes.
This is the truth you have believed: you have put off the old man; you have put on the new man. When did
you do that? When you died with Christ; you died out of that old creation in Adam, and were raised in new
life, a new creation in Christ.
The Greek word for put on is used literally for a garment; it speaks of clothing. What clothes you your
soul, your inner man, your spirit-being? A body. When you died out of that old creation in Adam, the body
that served the Sin was rendered inoperative; powerless to the Sin; as if you took off that body, and cast it
away. You put off the old man, in your death with Christ.
And when you were raised with Christ, you put on the new man. Your spirit-being is now clothed in glory;
alive unto God, in the glorified Christ. In eternity, it is already accomplished; you have put on the glorified
body a body created according to God, meaning in conformance to His image (Col 3:10) the image of
the glorious Son a body over which Sin and Death have no power.
And in that body, you now have the power to live in genuine righteousness and holiness. In this context,
righteousness refers to our responsibilities toward other men; holiness refers to our responsibilities
toward God. As a glorified son, you fulfill both.
Now in between these two statements, Paul says, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. If its all
finished, why do we see that there? Because sandwiched between the heavenly realities is the earthly
reality.
Since you have put off the old man, since you have put on the new man since you are a new creation in
Christ now you are being renewed, in the spirit of your mind. The verb for be renewed expresses
continuous action you are being renewed; this is the ongoing process that you, the believer, are
experiencing, over time; your sanctification.
Notice that this work of being made new is done, not in your mind, but in your spirit. The Holy Spirit
shares with you, in the spirit of your being, the things of God Spirit-being, to spirit-being.
The Greek word here for being renewed is unique; this is its only occurrence in Scripture. The Greek has
two adjectives for new kainos, which means new in a qualitative way new in the sense of different; and
neos, meaning new quantitatively that is, new in the sense of age; young. The word for renewed here is
derived from neos, and it literally means to make young; to rejuvenate.
What is Paul saying, here? The key is back in verse 22. There Paul spoke of the former conduct of
believers, as members of the old creation in Adam. In Adam, men grow corrupt; they are being corrupted
according to deceitful lusts.
Lusts are the passions and pleasures of the world. They are deceitful in that they seem as if they will lead
to joy and gain, but do they? No; thats just an illusion. Instead, lusts lead further and further down the
path to destruction. Their promises are empty its a deception while their influence is corrupting.

# 28: 4-6-12

Now, although corruption generally pertains to the body, the idea here is that what corrupts the outside the
flesh also affects the inside; the inner man. Deceitful lusts cause the heart to grow harder and harder to
God (Heb 3:13). They destroy character. What a horrible picture to grow in corruption. Yet that is how
men conduct themselves, in the flesh; how you conducted yourself.
But now, having believed into Christ, you have a new influence in your life; the Spirit of God has come to
dwell in you (1 Cor 3:16). The Holy Spirit guides you into all truth (Jn 16:13); and He reveals to you the
deep things of God (1 Cor 2:10), so you can know Gods ways. And as you receive the things of God by
faith, the eyes of your understanding are enlightened; you are made new, in your spirit-being.
This is a rejuvenation of the spirit of your being, of your inner man being made new, as if time has been
reversed, and the corrupting influence of sin removed. Eternity is being worked into your heart.
This is your experience under time, as a believer; you are growing in the grace and knowledge of your Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3:18). And as you grow in grace, your inner man is being made fit for your
glorified body which you have already put on, by faith. You are growing into the garment of glory, that
God has given you.
Paul then continues in this letter to show how the believer, having put off the old man, and put on the new
man, now conducts himself not walking in the futility of his mind, as the pagan Gentiles walk, but
walking in the Spirit.
The righteous acts which Paul records are not meant to be exhaustive, but just examples examples of how
a believer conducts himself, as a new creation in Christ. Is Paul saying that these are things a believer must
try to do, to become righteous? No; Paul is saying that these righteous works will simply flow out of the
righteous character which the Holy Spirit has formed in the spirit of the believer.
What we can conclude from Pauls thought here is that the way we draw on the power that God has given
us, to live our righteousness, is by submitting to the Spirits work in us. As we mind the things of the Spirit,
as we receive what He shares with the spirit of our being, by faith, we are being made new on the inside;
and that rejuvenation of our inner man is creating a righteous character in us which gives us the power to
do the will of God to live our righteousness.
Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians at around the same time as this letter. It was written specifically for
the assembly in Colosse, though it was to be shared with nearby assemblies. But it contains many thoughts
in common with Ephesians, along with Pauls teaching that weve just discussed, here.
Turn to Colossians chapter 3. Well begin in verse 1.
[Colossians 3:1-11]
v. 1-4 Paul is approaching his subject a little differently, here. When you were baptized into Christs death,
you died out of that old creation in Adam, and were raised a new creation in Christ a glorified son of God.
But in the temporal realm, that glorified body is still future. So Paul says here, your life, your glorified
body, is hidden with Christ in God.
But notice how Paul led into this statement. The word If in verse 1 can also be translated Since, which
fits Pauls thought here. Since you were raised with Christ past tense. Paul is first considering the
believers glorification from the eternal perspective; in Gods sight, you are already a glorified son of God.

# 28: 4-6-12

What is the purpose of a body of glory? To provide a dwelling place for you for your spirit-being
which will fit you for heaven with your Lord, Jesus. The glorified body incorruptible, undefiled, that will
not fade away (1 Pet 1:4a) is where you will live, forever.
But meanwhile, your inner man needs to be made ready for that outer man. So Paul says, seek those things
which are above, where Christ rules and reigns pursue the heavenly realities, in the spirit of your being.
Set your mind on those things, not the things on the earth.
The things on the earth are temporary. Material goods are perishing. Earthly cares are just for a moment.
Earthy pleasures are fleeting. So how real are they?
Being occupied with the things on earth will not prepare you for your heavenly home, and they will not
even equip you for living here, as a Christ One, because you are in this world, but you are no longer of it.
As Paul says, you died by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the world has been crucified to you, and you
to the world (Gal 6:14).
Paul says, since you were raised with Christ by virtue of your union with Him, through faith, pursue the
things above, where Christ is; where He is already ruling and reigning; in heaven.
That is your absolutely certain destination. He has prepared a home there for you (Jn 14:2) the New
Jerusalem (Rev 21:2) where you will always be with your beloved Lord (1 Th 4:17). Your dwelling place
your body of glory is already there, according to the plan of God; it is reserved in heaven for you (1 Pet
1:4b). And in that glorified body, you will live in union with Christ, forever. It is absolute; permanent;
everlasting. How real is that?
As you set your mind on things above as you pursue those things, and not the things on the earth your
thinking will be changed; transformed, so that you share your Lords thinking. This transformed thinking
separates you from the world, drawing you into closer and closer union with your Lord; sanctification.
The result is a heavenly mind; holiness, unto the Lord. Then, when Christ appears when He returns for
His bride, the true church, He will present us to Himself a church of glory (Eph 5:27) glorified sons of
God; holy as He is holy.
So since believers have died, and have been raised with Christ, now, with their minds fixed in pursuit of
heavenly things, Paul exhorts them in their conduct, here on earth.
v. 5-7 Again, the sins which Paul lists are not meant to be exhaustive, but we can see that they reflect a
pagan Gentile culture, which Colosse certainly was. This was their former conduct.
Paul says put to death your members, meaning the members of their bodies. The idea is the same as in
Romans 6; our old man was crucified with Christ, so that the body of the Sin has been rendered
inoperative; powerless to sin; dead, indeed, to the Sin.
v. 8-11 In verse 9, notice that Paul says they are to not sin since they have put off the old man, with his
deeds, and have put on the new man. The power to live their righteousness comes out of what God has
done in Christ, which became theirs, by faith. And as they count on the fact that they are a new creation, in
Christ, that is where they will live by faith.

# 28: 4-6-12

Paul says that the new man is renewed in knowledge. Paul, writing this letter back-to-back with Ephesians,
in a parallel passage, nonetheless chooses a different Greek word for renewed here; the word that he
regularly uses in other letters, derived from the Greek word kainos, meaning not new in age, but in quality;
of a new kind, different than before.
Pauls focus here is not the rejuvenation of the inner man, but the fact that the believers thinking is being
transformed; it is being changed to Gods thinking.
The knowledge that Paul refers to here means a full knowledge. It speaks of a greater participation by the
knower in the object known, thus more powerfully influencing him. And what is the object of knowledge
here? Christ. It is the deep knowledge of Christ Himself, as the glorified Son of God.
The believer is having his thinking changed, in conformance to the image of Christ in conformance to
that glorified body that the believer will inhabit, in heaven. The idea is to come to a full understanding of
the glorified Son. And how will we do that? Through the Holy Spirit as He glorifies Christ to us, in our
spirit.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul will speak of this as a process, of coming to know Christ not know
about Him, but know Christ Himself: That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Phil 3:10); conformed to Christs glorious body
(Phil 3:21).
Again, the action is continuous, in verse 10; we are being renewed, coming to a full knowledge of the
Christ in His power. Our thinking is being progressively transformed, as we take in and understand Him, in
His glory. More and more, we seek those things that are above. And in doing so, we live there; we live, as
glorified sons of God; we live our righteousness.
Thats what Paul is talking about, in verse 11. Where is there neither Greek nor Jew; where is their neither
circumcised nor uncircumcised; where is there neither barbarian, Scythian, slave or free man? In Christ. In
Christ, everyone is a son of God, in a body of glory; those things pertain only to the earthly creation.
You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. You have put off the old man, and put on the new man. Count on it.
You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, who wants to share with you the deep things of God, so that you
can understand Gods ways. Receive those deep things; think on them.
And the Holy Spirit desires to glorify Christ to you, so that you dont just know of Him, or about Him, but
that you know Him. Let the Holy Spirit reveal Christ to you.
Choose to set your mind on the things above. And as those things become real to you, you will find in
them the power to live your righteousness.
Next week: Finish reading Romans 6; Deut 15:12-17.