And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
To have put on the new man is to have died to self and been made alive again in Christ, risen to seek the things above where He sits at God's right hand and to live a changed life in Him. The renewal is continual and present, growing day by day in knowing God and reflecting the Maker rather than resting on a past profession. It restores the inward person to God's moral image, lost and marred by sin, bringing body, mind and soul back toward the perfection in which humanity was created. This requires putting off the old life with its deeds — impurity, covetousness, anger, malice, filthy speech and lying — and mortifying every earthly and selfish passion. In its place is put on Christ Himself, clothed with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness and love, with God's law written in the heart so that all divisions of race, rank and religion disappear in Christ who is all and in all.
Setting and Wording
The verse stands within the charge to those risen with Christ to seek the things above where Christ sits at God's right hand, to set affection on things above and not on things on earth, having died with life hid with Christ in God until appearing with Him in glory, and therefore to lay aside the former way of living and live in a renewed condition that grows in knowing and reflecting the Maker. It belongs to the life of those who have put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man renewed in knowledge after the image of the Creator, mortifying earthly members and laying aside fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, covetousness, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication and lying. This renewal follows identification with Christ in baptism and resurrection, pledged by those buried with Him in baptism and raised in the likeness of His resurrection to walk in newness of life, and it calls for a changed way of living shown in leaving sinful practices behind and living in Christlike character. In that renewed state divisions of nation, rite, culture and rank end, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, because Christ is all and in all believers. Those so renewed clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness even as Christ forgave, charity as the bond of perfectness, peace ruling in the heart, thankfulness, and the word of Christ dwelling richly in teaching, admonishing, singing, and doing all in word or deed in the name of the Lord Jesus. The instruction is straight, plain and unvarnished for keeping believers from Satan's trap, and those who desire to be like Christ fulfill it by praying in faith, watching unto prayer, singing praise, guarding weak points of character by Christ the pattern, and living by heaven's standard of perfection with power and wisdom from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to stand as victors and deny nothing of Christ.
Putting on the new man happens at conversion when self dies and a new life of heavenly origin is imparted through receiving Christ and the truth, with changed life purposes and no thread of selfishness drawn into the pattern of daily life. It is the change of being born again, made all over new, in which the new person is renewed in knowledge according to the image of the Creator and marked by thorough transformation and fruits of righteousness rather than old sinful conduct. It is pictured and pledged in baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, where rising from the water pictures Christ's resurrection, the old life is dead, the new life is hid with Christ in God, and power and grace are pledged from heaven to resist every temptation and to walk in newness of life and keep baptismal vows. Those who receive Christ and follow His example of cross-bearing and self-denial become children of God by putting on the new man, bringing the principles of the new life into daily experience and into each person's place in the Lord's work. This brings great responsibility to represent the life of Christ and practice the virtues of His character in mercy, kindness, humbleness, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, charity, peace, thankfulness and wisdom.
The new man is Christ Jesus Himself and His character, so to put him on is to put on Jesus Christ. It is becoming a partaker of the divine nature, changed from debasement of character into the image and likeness of Him who created him, delivered from sin to receive Christ's character and live for God with all words and deeds representing His holiness. It is Christ coming to elevate humanity by renewing God's image in man through dwelling in the heart by faith as a branch grafted into the true Vine, cleansing malice, hatred, jealousy and selfishness and filling the soul with kindness, patience, longsuffering, benevolence and love. It requires truth to have a sanctifying influence to mold the character, discipline by the Holy Spirit to acquire moral power and self-control, development of character with defects seen and corrected, and grace united with persistent personal effort, strongest energy and unfaltering determination to control self, that through Christ's merits what scars and deforms the soul may be put away. By adopting Christ's life as guide, talents and intellect are devoted to God's service, with the soul guarded, strength sought from God, the heart humbled day by day, and the walk in meekness and lowliness advancing step by step toward the crown of life, while constantly receiving power from Him spreads sanctified activity through every part of the being and develops unselfishness in God's service.
Renewed in knowledge means a continual, present renewal that grows in knowing and reflecting the Maker, a life continually made new in knowledge to reflect the Creator. It is not a past profession of conversion but a present new state before God transforming the entire being, in which old things are overcome and emptied from the heart and no longer seen in the life. It goes forward step by step and day by day, requiring power of thought, a store of knowledge and a renovated will, with the mind not crowded with trifles that shut out heaven's goods, and renewal in true knowledge and spiritual experience happening every day. It means being dead to carnal desires and fierce, burning passions that consume love and gentleness, kindness and Christian courtesy, with quick impatient temper, hate, envy, revenge, retaliation, pride, emulation and seeking supremacy overcome. Since the converted still face a tempting devil and a strong undercurrent pulling back to sin and the natural passions of the unrenewed heart, remaining in this state requires arming with faith and prayer, watching unto prayer, keeping the soul firmly united to Christ every moment, trusting Him, and working with faith and works against sinful indulgence, lest failing to seek grace leave the soul unguarded toward the devil's snare. In this renewed life old divisions no longer define people because Christ is all and in all, and believers put on mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love, bringing a happier life now and preparation for immortal life through cherishing heaven's joys.
The verse calls believers to turn mind, affections, heart and intellect away from the world and toward the things of God, as part of the high calling in Christ Jesus. It means the transforming power of Christ's grace must affect heart and character, directing desire to heaven where Christ sits.
After the image of him that created him points to the Creator and to restoration to the perfection in which humanity was created, for sin marred and nearly erased God's image while redemption works to restore it and develop body, mind and soul so God's purpose in creation may be fulfilled. This renewal in God's image belongs to the people Christ redeemed through the sacrifice of His life, freeing them from what is common and earthly, and it connects human renewal with the creation account preserved in Scripture.
Restoration to Creator's Image
The renewal restores the inward person to God's image, to His moral image in the soul, expressed in a new heart and life. That image was lost and degraded by sin, which marred it and nearly erased it, and redemption works to bring body, mind, and soul back to the perfection of creation so that God's purpose in creation may be fulfilled. This restoration is the object of education and the great object of life, to be served by making conversion the all-important aim, guarding against conformity to the world, and being sanctified through the truth. Christ sacrificed His life so that a people could be redeemed from earthly and commonplace things and renewed in that image.
Jesus alone does this restoring work, having been equal with the Father from the beginning. Having sacrificed His life and mediated, He frees the pardoned sinner from sin's power, reveals the Father, and reconciles people to God to make them new. He reshapes character ruined by sin after the pattern of His own divine character, making it beautiful with His glory, and His grace draws people to obey the truth. Through His active influence wielded by the Father throughout the world, even outcasts can be restored to what sin has ruined.
The Spirit gives the soul new life and brings thoughts, desires, and motives into obedience and harmony with Christ, with God's will, and with what is right. As God's character is contemplated the mind is renewed and the soul is recreated in His likeness, renewing connection with God. This inward renewal appears outwardly as a transformed character, showing that Christ dwells within and that grace can develop a faulty character into wholeness and abundant fruitfulness. It strengthens character against evil, selfish desire, and worldly ambition, making godlikeness the goal of continual progress.
Knowing God as revealed in Christ, received into the life, is essential to salvation and transforms character and re-creates the soul in Christ's image, beside which all other knowledge is worthless. As believers receive Christ as spiritual food and feed on God's Word, the new nature is implanted and they are renewed daily after the divine image revealed in His perfect human life. Their character increasingly shows meekness and lowliness. Heed to the instruction of the Word brings renewal by Christ's grace with high intellectual attainment and true spiritual refinement in sentiment and manners.
Restoring God's moral image requires the whole heart consecrated for God to mold and fashion after the divine likeness, with every power of the being converted to God. It takes the grace of God united with persistent personal effort, strongest energy, self-control, and unfaltering determination to control self, being disciplined to acquire moral power, develop character, see and correct defects, and part through His merits with what scars and deforms the soul. This calls for whole-souled consecration rather than following own inclinations, pleasures, and tastes, devoting talents and intellect to God's service and acting up to the highest standard of duty. The restoration requires the believer's consent and cooperation with Christ, and the resulting change in life testifies that Christ is the Son of God.
Putting Off Old Life
To put off the old man with his deeds is to mortify the members that are upon the earth and to lay aside the deeds of the former life. Those earthly members are fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection and evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. What is to be put off also includes anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of the mouth, and lying one to another.
It means being dead to carnal desires and to fierce, burning passions that consume love and gentleness, kindness and Christian courtesy. Old things are to be overcome and emptied out of the heart so they are no longer seen in the life: quick impatient temper, hate, envy, revenge and a spirit of retaliation, pride of heart, emulation, seeking for supremacy, selfish motives and resistance to God, selfishness and self-indulgence, all that is offensive in words, and whatever is cheap and common and unholy not even so much as named. True conversion digs out the root of bitterness instead of leaving its fibers to spring up again under temptation, and when self is laid aside self-righteousness is seen not to be Christ's righteousness.
Renewal requires leaving pride, unhealthful fashions, love of display, and desire for approval with the world behind. God uses pointed truths for the last days to separate a people from the world and purify them for Himself.
The instruction is straight, plain, and unvarnished, given to the church of God to the end of time to keep believers from Satan's trap. The wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience for these evils, and the warning is needed because workers in the cause have given place to some of them. These wrongs are to be sternly and determinedly resisted and cleansed from the soul.
Without this new birth of being made all over new, a person keeps an insubordinate, untamable spirit that sacrifices the peace, unity, and prosperity of the church. Submission of will and way must be learned from the cradle, or children grow up self-willed, stubborn, irritable, and self-sufficient and bring difficulties into the church.
Putting On New Character
The renewed life is clothed as chosen, holy and dearly loved people, with compassion and mercy, kindness, humility of mind, gentleness, patience and longsuffering, bearing with one another and forgiving even as Christ forgave, with love as the binding tie of completeness, with peace ruling in the heart, with thankfulness, and with Christ's word dwelling richly in teaching, admonishing, singing, and doing everything in word or deed in the Lord's name in obedience. This putting on belongs to those risen with Christ who have died to earth with life hidden in God until appearing with Him in glory, and it is a continual being made new in knowing and reflecting the Maker, guarded at weak points of character by Christ the pattern and aided by power and grace pledged from heaven to resist temptation and stand as victors. Those who desire this likeness fulfill the instruction by praying in faith, watching unto prayer, and singing praise and thanksgiving.
Where this new humanity is put on there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, for former divisions of ethnicity and nation, religious standing and rite, culture and social rank no longer divide or define people. The reason is that Christ is all and in all believers, all redeemed by the same precious blood, so skin color does not determine character in heaven. Believers therefore give their colored brethren just as much respect, showing across those distinctions mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and fervent love, and learning to cherish heaven's joys brings a happier life now and prepares for immortal life.
Being renewed in the Creator's image means having divine love implanted in the heart in fulfillment of the new-covenant promise that God's law will be written within, so that renewal shapes a life of obedience. Through sacrifice and mediation the pardoned sinner is freed from sin's power, brought back to obedience and loyalty to God's law, grafted as a branch into the true Vine by Christ dwelling in the heart through faith and made a partaker of the divine nature, cleansed of malice, hatred, jealousy and selfishness and filled with kindness, patience, longsuffering, benevolence and love. Such a one delights in the law as holy and just and good, loves God supremely and neighbor as self, works no ill to neighbor, is redeemed from all iniquity and purified as a peculiar people zealous of good works, living out faith and confidence toward one another and loving one another as Christ loved, which fulfills the two great principles of love for God and neighbor. Obedience here is not mere outward compliance but loving service and allegiance, the true sign of discipleship, for faith does not release from obedience but supplies grace that enables it.
The renewal appears in a kind, courteous, gentle and gracious life marked at all times by Christian politeness to everyone, learned by daily practice of letting Christ's word live richly within. Selfishness and self-indulgence are cut away, all that is offensive is cleansed from words, and whatever is cheap and common and unholy is not even named, while beneficence and doing good become the sure fruit borne on the Christian tree to bless family, neighbors, acquaintances and fellow workers. This brings unity and love, with a constantly growing influence for good that leads others to marvel at what God has done, and it is the privilege of all believers to live it out in home and church religion.
The new creature represents Christ's character and holiness in cross-bearing and self-denial, sacrifice, unselfish service, honest words and faithful actions, shining as victors and light-bearers amid darkness, sin and crime while constantly meeting principalities and powers that take Satan as leader. Those renewed are called out of darkness into light to live as children of light, following and imitating Christ the light of the world, drawing near to Him for strength to resist the enemy. They are crucified to the world and made alive in Christ, united to God as living stones in the spiritual building rather than having only a form of godliness or a name on church records, walking in love, following Christ, and separate from worldly friendship and sinful cooperation. This renewal in knowledge and true holiness belongs to vital connection with Christ and makes God's people distinct from the world in spirit, pursuits and practice.
Means of Renewal
The new life is formed by the Holy Spirit in the birth of the Spirit, imparting a life of heavenly origin when self dies and the truth is received. Receiving divine truth and Christ's grace reshapes human character by Christ's presence, while feeding on God's Word restores the moral image and brings even the thoughts into harmony with the divine will and into renewed connection with God. God's truth sanctifies, transforms and refines, making character like Christ's and pure from sin, and those who accept it stand with Christ in its defense while those deceived join satanic agencies to oppress truth and uphold error through unjust laws.
It comes as the soul submits to God, surrenders self, and yields the heart and its desires, with the whole heart consecrated for Him to mold and fashion after the divine likeness. As God's character is contemplated the mind is renewed and the soul is recreated in His likeness, bringing motives and desires into line with what is right and strengthening character against evil, selfish desire and worldly ambition. This renewal belongs to the life of the new person formed after God's image and shaped into His image with godlikeness as the goal of continual progress, and it is clothed with humility and pure, gentle, peaceable love after the holy life and character of Christ as the example.
It is kept by receiving God's exceeding great and precious promises to escape corruption through lust, become partakers of the divine nature, and be cleansed by Christ's blood to be holy and glorify God. Communion with God and nearness to Him through prayer renew the soul in knowledge and true holiness and strengthen against temptation and the enemy's assaults, and those who desire to be like Christ pray in faith, watch unto prayer, and sing praise and thanksgiving. Remaining in the renewed state requires arming with faith and prayer, keeping the soul firmly united to Christ every moment, trusting Him, guarding weak points with Christ as the pattern, humbling the heart day by day, walking in meekness and lowliness, and holding confidence firm against the strong undercurrent pulling back to sin and the natural passions of the unrenewed heart. Then experience grows brighter and brighter unto the perfect day, with power of thought, a store of knowledge and a renovated will renewed in true knowledge and spiritual experience every day, the mind not crowded with trifles that shut out heavenly good, and daily victories obtained over self, pride and love of the world. If there is not an increase of faith there will be a decrease of light and blessings, and failure to seek grace leaves the soul unguarded and led on step by step till caught in the devil's snare.
Affliction can prompt this work by leading to searching of heart and removal of character defects, so that a person emerges purified and reflects Christ's image, for renewal in knowledge and true holiness is the work of God's Spirit and wisdom and not a reason for self-satisfaction.
Education, home and schoolroom serve this restoration by making conversion to a new heart and life the all-important aim, making eternal interest the great theme, guarding strictly against conformity to the world, being sanctified through the truth, and overcoming hereditary tendencies in youth. Sanitarium work serves it by relieving physical suffering, bringing the gospel to sin-burdened souls, sowing truth in hearts, relieving suffering after Christ's way and teaching righteousness, so that even outcasts can seek to restore the moral image in others. Humble missionary service helps people recover the moral image through religious love without self-exaltation, teaching love to Christ and service to others, and learning to obtain and prepare wholesome food and using simple natural remedies with faith can cooperate with God in restoring mental and physical vigor.
Calling and Daily Witness
Putting on the new man brings great responsibility to represent Christ's life and practice His virtues, with the principles of the new life brought into daily experience and into each person's place in the Lord's work and with no thread of selfishness drawn into the pattern of daily life. Baptism pledges to the service of God, with power and grace pledged from heaven to resist every temptation to dishonor God, and calls for mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness as Christ forgave, charity as the bond of perfectness, peace ruling in the heart, thankfulness, and wisdom dwelling richly in teaching, admonishing, singing, and doing all in word or deed in the name of the Lord Jesus. Talents and intellect are to be devoted to God's service by adopting Christ's life as guide, through discipline to acquire moral power and self-control, develop character, see and correct defects, and part with what scars and deforms the soul. Christ alone gives fitness for work in any position and must be honored as Guide and Counsellor in everything undertaken, calling for whole-souled consecration to God's ways rather than following own inclinations, pleasures and tastes, cherishing the highest powers and acting up to the highest standard of duty, which is a high standard of character not too high to pursue.
The instruction belongs to parents and children, masters and servants, employers and employed, as those under the Holy Spirit's guidance learn duty and doctrine from the Word with the whole heart consecrated for God to mold after the divine likeness. It is the privilege of all who believe to live it out in home and church religion, with beneficence and doing good as sure fruit blessing family, neighbors and acquaintances in kindness, mercy, humility, meekness, forgiveness and charity, cleansed from anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication, lying, selfishness, self-indulgence, and whatever is cheap, common and unholy. Living it out means faith and confidence toward one another and loving one another as Christ loved, fulfilling love for God and love for neighbor, through seeking the Lord, conversion, confessing sins and praying for one another. The warning stands to the end of time because workers in the cause have given place to some of these evils, and these wrongs are to be sternly and determinedly resisted and cleansed from the soul.
The chapter plainly shows how Christians should live so that unbelievers receive a favorable impression of the truth, in mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and thankfulness. Its beauty appears as Christians draw near to one another in Christlike love, revealing union with God in renewed identity according to the image of the Creator. That resulting change, by consent and cooperation with Christ in restoring God's moral image, testifies that Christ is the Son of God.
Young men preparing for ministry must read and study this instruction, giving first attention to themselves before doctrine and giving themselves to the Lord for sanctification to His service. They are to value a godly example above the greatest eloquence without a well-ordered life, seeking from Christ grace and clearness of comprehension for successful work. They must have Christ formed within as the hope and strength of life before going forth to labor for souls.
The change is urgent and should be made without delay while there is still time, putting away the old life and its deeds to take on the new life in Christ Jesus. Living by this instruction brings a happier life now, and learning to cherish heaven's joys prepares for immortal life where distinctions such as Greek or Jew, bond or free, no longer divide because Christ is all and in all. Becoming new means recovering God's moral image day by day, with every perverted affection and attribute restored through Christ's grace, preparing to endure greater trials. Putting on the new man means every day putting on Christ by laying off masterly self-confidence, becoming willing to be advised and to learn in humility, heeding cautions without failing or becoming discouraged, holding confidence firm unto the end, growing in grace and ability to help people, and cooperating with God to make all possible of oneself so influence and efficiency increase and the last days become brightest and best.
Human goodness and gifts cannot please God when used for self, for renewal means becoming new in Christ in knowledge and grace rather than retaining the old nature. God delights in those whose lives show Christ and whose renewal rests on His atoning sacrifice.
To have put on the new man is to have died to self and been made alive again in Christ, risen to seek the things above where He sits at God's right hand and to live a changed life in Him. The renewal is continual and present, growing day by day in knowing God and reflecting the Maker rather than resting on a past profession. It restores the inward person to God's moral image, lost and marred by sin, bringing body, mind and soul back toward the perfection in which humanity was created. This requires putting off the old life with its deeds — impurity, covetousness, anger, malice, filthy speech and lying — and mortifying every earthly and selfish passion. In its place is put on Christ Himself, clothed with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness and love, with God's law written in the heart so that all divisions of race, rank and religion disappear in Christ who is all and in all.
Setting and Wording
The verse stands within the charge to those risen with Christ to seek the things above where Christ sits at God's right hand, to set affection on things above and not on things on earth, having died with life hid with Christ in God until appearing with Him in glory, and therefore to lay aside the former way of living and live in a renewed condition that grows in knowing and reflecting the Maker. It belongs to the life of those who have put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man renewed in knowledge after the image of the Creator, mortifying earthly members and laying aside fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, covetousness, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication and lying. This renewal follows identification with Christ in baptism and resurrection, pledged by those buried with Him in baptism and raised in the likeness of His resurrection to walk in newness of life, and it calls for a changed way of living shown in leaving sinful practices behind and living in Christlike character. In that renewed state divisions of nation, rite, culture and rank end, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, because Christ is all and in all believers. Those so renewed clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness even as Christ forgave, charity as the bond of perfectness, peace ruling in the heart, thankfulness, and the word of Christ dwelling richly in teaching, admonishing, singing, and doing all in word or deed in the name of the Lord Jesus. The instruction is straight, plain and unvarnished for keeping believers from Satan's trap, and those who desire to be like Christ fulfill it by praying in faith, watching unto prayer, singing praise, guarding weak points of character by Christ the pattern, and living by heaven's standard of perfection with power and wisdom from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to stand as victors and deny nothing of Christ.
Putting on the new man happens at conversion when self dies and a new life of heavenly origin is imparted through receiving Christ and the truth, with changed life purposes and no thread of selfishness drawn into the pattern of daily life. It is the change of being born again, made all over new, in which the new person is renewed in knowledge according to the image of the Creator and marked by thorough transformation and fruits of righteousness rather than old sinful conduct. It is pictured and pledged in baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, where rising from the water pictures Christ's resurrection, the old life is dead, the new life is hid with Christ in God, and power and grace are pledged from heaven to resist every temptation and to walk in newness of life and keep baptismal vows. Those who receive Christ and follow His example of cross-bearing and self-denial become children of God by putting on the new man, bringing the principles of the new life into daily experience and into each person's place in the Lord's work. This brings great responsibility to represent the life of Christ and practice the virtues of His character in mercy, kindness, humbleness, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, charity, peace, thankfulness and wisdom.
The new man is Christ Jesus Himself and His character, so to put him on is to put on Jesus Christ. It is becoming a partaker of the divine nature, changed from debasement of character into the image and likeness of Him who created him, delivered from sin to receive Christ's character and live for God with all words and deeds representing His holiness. It is Christ coming to elevate humanity by renewing God's image in man through dwelling in the heart by faith as a branch grafted into the true Vine, cleansing malice, hatred, jealousy and selfishness and filling the soul with kindness, patience, longsuffering, benevolence and love. It requires truth to have a sanctifying influence to mold the character, discipline by the Holy Spirit to acquire moral power and self-control, development of character with defects seen and corrected, and grace united with persistent personal effort, strongest energy and unfaltering determination to control self, that through Christ's merits what scars and deforms the soul may be put away. By adopting Christ's life as guide, talents and intellect are devoted to God's service, with the soul guarded, strength sought from God, the heart humbled day by day, and the walk in meekness and lowliness advancing step by step toward the crown of life, while constantly receiving power from Him spreads sanctified activity through every part of the being and develops unselfishness in God's service.
Renewed in knowledge means a continual, present renewal that grows in knowing and reflecting the Maker, a life continually made new in knowledge to reflect the Creator. It is not a past profession of conversion but a present new state before God transforming the entire being, in which old things are overcome and emptied from the heart and no longer seen in the life. It goes forward step by step and day by day, requiring power of thought, a store of knowledge and a renovated will, with the mind not crowded with trifles that shut out heaven's goods, and renewal in true knowledge and spiritual experience happening every day. It means being dead to carnal desires and fierce, burning passions that consume love and gentleness, kindness and Christian courtesy, with quick impatient temper, hate, envy, revenge, retaliation, pride, emulation and seeking supremacy overcome. Since the converted still face a tempting devil and a strong undercurrent pulling back to sin and the natural passions of the unrenewed heart, remaining in this state requires arming with faith and prayer, watching unto prayer, keeping the soul firmly united to Christ every moment, trusting Him, and working with faith and works against sinful indulgence, lest failing to seek grace leave the soul unguarded toward the devil's snare. In this renewed life old divisions no longer define people because Christ is all and in all, and believers put on mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love, bringing a happier life now and preparation for immortal life through cherishing heaven's joys.
The verse calls believers to turn mind, affections, heart and intellect away from the world and toward the things of God, as part of the high calling in Christ Jesus. It means the transforming power of Christ's grace must affect heart and character, directing desire to heaven where Christ sits.
After the image of him that created him points to the Creator and to restoration to the perfection in which humanity was created, for sin marred and nearly erased God's image while redemption works to restore it and develop body, mind and soul so God's purpose in creation may be fulfilled. This renewal in God's image belongs to the people Christ redeemed through the sacrifice of His life, freeing them from what is common and earthly, and it connects human renewal with the creation account preserved in Scripture.
Restoration to Creator's Image
The renewal restores the inward person to God's image, to His moral image in the soul, expressed in a new heart and life. That image was lost and degraded by sin, which marred it and nearly erased it, and redemption works to bring body, mind, and soul back to the perfection of creation so that God's purpose in creation may be fulfilled. This restoration is the object of education and the great object of life, to be served by making conversion the all-important aim, guarding against conformity to the world, and being sanctified through the truth. Christ sacrificed His life so that a people could be redeemed from earthly and commonplace things and renewed in that image.
Jesus alone does this restoring work, having been equal with the Father from the beginning. Having sacrificed His life and mediated, He frees the pardoned sinner from sin's power, reveals the Father, and reconciles people to God to make them new. He reshapes character ruined by sin after the pattern of His own divine character, making it beautiful with His glory, and His grace draws people to obey the truth. Through His active influence wielded by the Father throughout the world, even outcasts can be restored to what sin has ruined.
The Spirit gives the soul new life and brings thoughts, desires, and motives into obedience and harmony with Christ, with God's will, and with what is right. As God's character is contemplated the mind is renewed and the soul is recreated in His likeness, renewing connection with God. This inward renewal appears outwardly as a transformed character, showing that Christ dwells within and that grace can develop a faulty character into wholeness and abundant fruitfulness. It strengthens character against evil, selfish desire, and worldly ambition, making godlikeness the goal of continual progress.
Knowing God as revealed in Christ, received into the life, is essential to salvation and transforms character and re-creates the soul in Christ's image, beside which all other knowledge is worthless. As believers receive Christ as spiritual food and feed on God's Word, the new nature is implanted and they are renewed daily after the divine image revealed in His perfect human life. Their character increasingly shows meekness and lowliness. Heed to the instruction of the Word brings renewal by Christ's grace with high intellectual attainment and true spiritual refinement in sentiment and manners.
Restoring God's moral image requires the whole heart consecrated for God to mold and fashion after the divine likeness, with every power of the being converted to God. It takes the grace of God united with persistent personal effort, strongest energy, self-control, and unfaltering determination to control self, being disciplined to acquire moral power, develop character, see and correct defects, and part through His merits with what scars and deforms the soul. This calls for whole-souled consecration rather than following own inclinations, pleasures, and tastes, devoting talents and intellect to God's service and acting up to the highest standard of duty. The restoration requires the believer's consent and cooperation with Christ, and the resulting change in life testifies that Christ is the Son of God.
Putting Off Old Life
To put off the old man with his deeds is to mortify the members that are upon the earth and to lay aside the deeds of the former life. Those earthly members are fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection and evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. What is to be put off also includes anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of the mouth, and lying one to another.
It means being dead to carnal desires and to fierce, burning passions that consume love and gentleness, kindness and Christian courtesy. Old things are to be overcome and emptied out of the heart so they are no longer seen in the life: quick impatient temper, hate, envy, revenge and a spirit of retaliation, pride of heart, emulation, seeking for supremacy, selfish motives and resistance to God, selfishness and self-indulgence, all that is offensive in words, and whatever is cheap and common and unholy not even so much as named. True conversion digs out the root of bitterness instead of leaving its fibers to spring up again under temptation, and when self is laid aside self-righteousness is seen not to be Christ's righteousness.
Renewal requires leaving pride, unhealthful fashions, love of display, and desire for approval with the world behind. God uses pointed truths for the last days to separate a people from the world and purify them for Himself.
The instruction is straight, plain, and unvarnished, given to the church of God to the end of time to keep believers from Satan's trap. The wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience for these evils, and the warning is needed because workers in the cause have given place to some of them. These wrongs are to be sternly and determinedly resisted and cleansed from the soul.
Without this new birth of being made all over new, a person keeps an insubordinate, untamable spirit that sacrifices the peace, unity, and prosperity of the church. Submission of will and way must be learned from the cradle, or children grow up self-willed, stubborn, irritable, and self-sufficient and bring difficulties into the church.
Putting On New Character
The renewed life is clothed as chosen, holy and dearly loved people, with compassion and mercy, kindness, humility of mind, gentleness, patience and longsuffering, bearing with one another and forgiving even as Christ forgave, with love as the binding tie of completeness, with peace ruling in the heart, with thankfulness, and with Christ's word dwelling richly in teaching, admonishing, singing, and doing everything in word or deed in the Lord's name in obedience. This putting on belongs to those risen with Christ who have died to earth with life hidden in God until appearing with Him in glory, and it is a continual being made new in knowing and reflecting the Maker, guarded at weak points of character by Christ the pattern and aided by power and grace pledged from heaven to resist temptation and stand as victors. Those who desire this likeness fulfill the instruction by praying in faith, watching unto prayer, and singing praise and thanksgiving.
Where this new humanity is put on there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, for former divisions of ethnicity and nation, religious standing and rite, culture and social rank no longer divide or define people. The reason is that Christ is all and in all believers, all redeemed by the same precious blood, so skin color does not determine character in heaven. Believers therefore give their colored brethren just as much respect, showing across those distinctions mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and fervent love, and learning to cherish heaven's joys brings a happier life now and prepares for immortal life.
Being renewed in the Creator's image means having divine love implanted in the heart in fulfillment of the new-covenant promise that God's law will be written within, so that renewal shapes a life of obedience. Through sacrifice and mediation the pardoned sinner is freed from sin's power, brought back to obedience and loyalty to God's law, grafted as a branch into the true Vine by Christ dwelling in the heart through faith and made a partaker of the divine nature, cleansed of malice, hatred, jealousy and selfishness and filled with kindness, patience, longsuffering, benevolence and love. Such a one delights in the law as holy and just and good, loves God supremely and neighbor as self, works no ill to neighbor, is redeemed from all iniquity and purified as a peculiar people zealous of good works, living out faith and confidence toward one another and loving one another as Christ loved, which fulfills the two great principles of love for God and neighbor. Obedience here is not mere outward compliance but loving service and allegiance, the true sign of discipleship, for faith does not release from obedience but supplies grace that enables it.
The renewal appears in a kind, courteous, gentle and gracious life marked at all times by Christian politeness to everyone, learned by daily practice of letting Christ's word live richly within. Selfishness and self-indulgence are cut away, all that is offensive is cleansed from words, and whatever is cheap and common and unholy is not even named, while beneficence and doing good become the sure fruit borne on the Christian tree to bless family, neighbors, acquaintances and fellow workers. This brings unity and love, with a constantly growing influence for good that leads others to marvel at what God has done, and it is the privilege of all believers to live it out in home and church religion.
The new creature represents Christ's character and holiness in cross-bearing and self-denial, sacrifice, unselfish service, honest words and faithful actions, shining as victors and light-bearers amid darkness, sin and crime while constantly meeting principalities and powers that take Satan as leader. Those renewed are called out of darkness into light to live as children of light, following and imitating Christ the light of the world, drawing near to Him for strength to resist the enemy. They are crucified to the world and made alive in Christ, united to God as living stones in the spiritual building rather than having only a form of godliness or a name on church records, walking in love, following Christ, and separate from worldly friendship and sinful cooperation. This renewal in knowledge and true holiness belongs to vital connection with Christ and makes God's people distinct from the world in spirit, pursuits and practice.
Means of Renewal
The new life is formed by the Holy Spirit in the birth of the Spirit, imparting a life of heavenly origin when self dies and the truth is received. Receiving divine truth and Christ's grace reshapes human character by Christ's presence, while feeding on God's Word restores the moral image and brings even the thoughts into harmony with the divine will and into renewed connection with God. God's truth sanctifies, transforms and refines, making character like Christ's and pure from sin, and those who accept it stand with Christ in its defense while those deceived join satanic agencies to oppress truth and uphold error through unjust laws.
It comes as the soul submits to God, surrenders self, and yields the heart and its desires, with the whole heart consecrated for Him to mold and fashion after the divine likeness. As God's character is contemplated the mind is renewed and the soul is recreated in His likeness, bringing motives and desires into line with what is right and strengthening character against evil, selfish desire and worldly ambition. This renewal belongs to the life of the new person formed after God's image and shaped into His image with godlikeness as the goal of continual progress, and it is clothed with humility and pure, gentle, peaceable love after the holy life and character of Christ as the example.
It is kept by receiving God's exceeding great and precious promises to escape corruption through lust, become partakers of the divine nature, and be cleansed by Christ's blood to be holy and glorify God. Communion with God and nearness to Him through prayer renew the soul in knowledge and true holiness and strengthen against temptation and the enemy's assaults, and those who desire to be like Christ pray in faith, watch unto prayer, and sing praise and thanksgiving. Remaining in the renewed state requires arming with faith and prayer, keeping the soul firmly united to Christ every moment, trusting Him, guarding weak points with Christ as the pattern, humbling the heart day by day, walking in meekness and lowliness, and holding confidence firm against the strong undercurrent pulling back to sin and the natural passions of the unrenewed heart. Then experience grows brighter and brighter unto the perfect day, with power of thought, a store of knowledge and a renovated will renewed in true knowledge and spiritual experience every day, the mind not crowded with trifles that shut out heavenly good, and daily victories obtained over self, pride and love of the world. If there is not an increase of faith there will be a decrease of light and blessings, and failure to seek grace leaves the soul unguarded and led on step by step till caught in the devil's snare.
Affliction can prompt this work by leading to searching of heart and removal of character defects, so that a person emerges purified and reflects Christ's image, for renewal in knowledge and true holiness is the work of God's Spirit and wisdom and not a reason for self-satisfaction.
Education, home and schoolroom serve this restoration by making conversion to a new heart and life the all-important aim, making eternal interest the great theme, guarding strictly against conformity to the world, being sanctified through the truth, and overcoming hereditary tendencies in youth. Sanitarium work serves it by relieving physical suffering, bringing the gospel to sin-burdened souls, sowing truth in hearts, relieving suffering after Christ's way and teaching righteousness, so that even outcasts can seek to restore the moral image in others. Humble missionary service helps people recover the moral image through religious love without self-exaltation, teaching love to Christ and service to others, and learning to obtain and prepare wholesome food and using simple natural remedies with faith can cooperate with God in restoring mental and physical vigor.
Calling and Daily Witness
Putting on the new man brings great responsibility to represent Christ's life and practice His virtues, with the principles of the new life brought into daily experience and into each person's place in the Lord's work and with no thread of selfishness drawn into the pattern of daily life. Baptism pledges to the service of God, with power and grace pledged from heaven to resist every temptation to dishonor God, and calls for mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness as Christ forgave, charity as the bond of perfectness, peace ruling in the heart, thankfulness, and wisdom dwelling richly in teaching, admonishing, singing, and doing all in word or deed in the name of the Lord Jesus. Talents and intellect are to be devoted to God's service by adopting Christ's life as guide, through discipline to acquire moral power and self-control, develop character, see and correct defects, and part with what scars and deforms the soul. Christ alone gives fitness for work in any position and must be honored as Guide and Counsellor in everything undertaken, calling for whole-souled consecration to God's ways rather than following own inclinations, pleasures and tastes, cherishing the highest powers and acting up to the highest standard of duty, which is a high standard of character not too high to pursue.
The instruction belongs to parents and children, masters and servants, employers and employed, as those under the Holy Spirit's guidance learn duty and doctrine from the Word with the whole heart consecrated for God to mold after the divine likeness. It is the privilege of all who believe to live it out in home and church religion, with beneficence and doing good as sure fruit blessing family, neighbors and acquaintances in kindness, mercy, humility, meekness, forgiveness and charity, cleansed from anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication, lying, selfishness, self-indulgence, and whatever is cheap, common and unholy. Living it out means faith and confidence toward one another and loving one another as Christ loved, fulfilling love for God and love for neighbor, through seeking the Lord, conversion, confessing sins and praying for one another. The warning stands to the end of time because workers in the cause have given place to some of these evils, and these wrongs are to be sternly and determinedly resisted and cleansed from the soul.
The chapter plainly shows how Christians should live so that unbelievers receive a favorable impression of the truth, in mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and thankfulness. Its beauty appears as Christians draw near to one another in Christlike love, revealing union with God in renewed identity according to the image of the Creator. That resulting change, by consent and cooperation with Christ in restoring God's moral image, testifies that Christ is the Son of God.
Young men preparing for ministry must read and study this instruction, giving first attention to themselves before doctrine and giving themselves to the Lord for sanctification to His service. They are to value a godly example above the greatest eloquence without a well-ordered life, seeking from Christ grace and clearness of comprehension for successful work. They must have Christ formed within as the hope and strength of life before going forth to labor for souls.
The change is urgent and should be made without delay while there is still time, putting away the old life and its deeds to take on the new life in Christ Jesus. Living by this instruction brings a happier life now, and learning to cherish heaven's joys prepares for immortal life where distinctions such as Greek or Jew, bond or free, no longer divide because Christ is all and in all. Becoming new means recovering God's moral image day by day, with every perverted affection and attribute restored through Christ's grace, preparing to endure greater trials. Putting on the new man means every day putting on Christ by laying off masterly self-confidence, becoming willing to be advised and to learn in humility, heeding cautions without failing or becoming discouraged, holding confidence firm unto the end, growing in grace and ability to help people, and cooperating with God to make all possible of oneself so influence and efficiency increase and the last days become brightest and best.
Human goodness and gifts cannot please God when used for self, for renewal means becoming new in Christ in knowledge and grace rather than retaining the old nature. God delights in those whose lives show Christ and whose renewal rests on His atoning sacrifice.