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COLLECTIONS
Commentaries,
Word Studies, Devotionals, Sermons, Illustrations
Old and New Testament. |
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BUT YOU DID NOT LEARN CHRIST IN
THIS WAY: humeis de ouch houtos emathete (2PAAI) ton Christon:
(Lk 24:47; Jn 6:45; Ro 6:1,2; 2Co 5:14,15; Titus 2:11, 12,
13, 14; 1Jn 2:27)
Note:
Mouse over underlined links for Scripture popup.
But (de)
draws a contrast with the old self described in Eph 4:17, 18, 19.
You (humeis)-
Refers to "you, the saved Gentiles" and is first in the Greek text
presenting a sharp (emphatic) contrast with the pagan lifestyle
of the Gentiles who were yet unconverted.
Not (3756)
(ou) means absolutely not. In contrast to the insensitive,
passion-dominated pagans who lived to satisfy their lower nature, this
was not how the Gentile converts in Ephesus came to know Christ for
themselves.
But you did not
learn - Emphatic contrast with the unregenerate pagan (Ep 4:17, 18,
19). The implication from his statement in Ep 4:17 (walk no
longer) is that some of his readers had drifted back into their old
unregenerate ways. Paul is trying to correct their defective thinking
(note the words that have to do with "thinking" - learn,
heard, taught
in next verse)
and potentially destructive behavior and thus he begins by reminding
them of how they had been delivered from the ethical sewer in which they
had once wallowed.
John
MacArthur rightly sounds the alarm writing that...
The ways of God and the ways of the
world are not compatible. The idea, promoted by some who claim to be
evangelicals, that a Christian does not have to give up anything or
change anything when he becomes a Christian is nothing less than
diabolical. That notion, under the pretense of elevating God’s grace and
of protecting the gospel from works righteousness, will do nothing but
send many people confidently down the broad way that Jesus said leads to
destruction (Mt 7:13-note).
(MacArthur,
J: Ephesians. Chicago: Moody Press)
Learn (3129)
(manthano
[word study]) means to gain knowledge or skill by instruction. It
conveys a basic meaning of directing one’s mind to something and
producing an external effect. Depending on the context, the
learning can be through instruction, through inquiry (ascertain,
discover, find out), through practice or experience (come to know, come
to realize) or as achieving comprehension (understand). The idea is to
genuinely understand and accept a teaching accept it as true and to
apply it in one’s life.
When did they
learn Christ? The
aorist tense
marks a specific time which would equate with the time of their
conversion. They did not learn to follow Christ by the natural mental
processes that customarily lead to the degradation of unsaved Gentiles.
They learned to follow Him as His disciples from the gospel.
Christ teaches men to renounce sin and vice and to cultivate holiness
and virtue.
Manthano -
25x in 24v - Matt. 9:13; 11:29; 24:32; Mk. 13:28; Jn. 6:45; 7:15; Acts
23:27; Rom. 16:17; 1 Co. 4:6; 14:31, 35; Gal. 3:2; Eph. 4:20; Phil. 4:9,
11; Col. 1:7; 1 Tim. 2:11; 5:4, 13; 2 Tim. 3:7, 14; Tit. 3:14; Heb. 5:8;
Rev. 14:3 and is rendered in the NAS as educated(1), find out(1),
learn(12), learned(9), learning(1), receive instruction(1).
Vincent
says
The phrase learn Christ
occurs nowhere else. Christ does not stand for the doctrine of
Christ; but Christ is the subject of His own message. (Ephesians 4)
TDNT adds
that manthano is derived
From the basic sense “to direct one’s
mind to something,” manthano comes to be used for (1) “to accustom
oneself to something,” (2) “to experience,” (3) “to learn to know,” (4)
“to understand,” (5) “to learn under instruction,” and (6) “to receive
direction from a deity by oracle.” In the phrase tí mathon (7) it means
“why?” (often with an ironical note). The use consistently implies an
intellectual process that always has external effects and involves a
conscious or unconscious intellectual initiative. Hence other terms may
elucidate it but cannot replace it. (Kittel,
G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament. Eerdmans)
Christ
(5547)
(Christos from chrio = to anoint, rub with oil, consecrate
to an office) is the Anointed One, the Messiah, Christos being the Greek
equivalent of the transliterated Hebrew word Messiah. As a Jew learned
the Torah, now the Christian learns Christ!
Christ, the
Messiah, of Whom these Gentiles formerly did not even have knowledge of ("separate
from Christ" - Ep 2:12-note)
was now He Who was the very essence of the content of the preaching
which they had heard, the sum of the instruction they had received and
the knowledge they had gained at the time of their conversion.
Paul wrote that...
indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks
search for wisdom; but we preach Christ
crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness,
but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1Corinthians 1:22, 23, 24)
For I determined to know nothing
among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1Cor 2:2)
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Ephesians 4:21 if
indeed
you have
heard
Him and have been
taught
in Him,
just
as
truth
is in
Jesus,
(NASB:
Lockman) |
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Greek:
ei
ge
auton
ekousate
kai
en
auto
edidachthete,
kathos
estin
aletheia
en
to
Iesou,
Amplified:
Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as
[all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him],
(Amplified
Bible - Lockman)
NKJV:
if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth
is in Jesus:
NLT: Since you have heard all about him and
have learned the truth that is in Jesus, (NLT
- Tyndale House)
Phillips: if you have really heard his voice and
understood the truth that he has taught you. (Phillips:
Touchstone)
Wuest: since, indeed, as is the case, you heard and in Him
were taught just as truth is in Jesus, (Eerdmans)
Young's Literal: if at least you have heard His voice and in
Him have been taught—and this is true Christian teaching— |
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IF INDEED YOU HAVE HEARD HIM AND
HAVE BEEN TAUGHT IN HIM: ei ge auton ekousate (2PAAI) kai en auto
edidachthete, (2PAPI): (Matthew 17:5; Luke 10:16; John
10:27; Acts 3:22,23; Hebrews 3:7,8)
If indeed -
two particles ei (1487)
= if + ge (1065)
= indeed. It can be translated "seeing that" or "since" and when used
with the indicative this conditional clause is viewed as fulfilled. In
other words, what follows is not in any doubt but is taken for granted.
Expositors
Greek Testament comments...
The point, therefore, is this—‘if, as
I take it to be the fact, it was He, the Christ, that was the subject
and the sum of the preaching which you heard then.’” (Nicoll, W
Robertson, Editor: Expositors Greek Testament: 5 Volumes. Out of print.
Search Google)
Heard (191)
(akouo) means to hear with attention, with the ear of the mind or
effectually so as to respond appropriately to what has been spoken
or taught.
McGee
writes that...
If anyone is not listening to Jesus,
then Jesus must not be his Savior. The Lord Jesus is the Shepherd and
His sheep hear His voice. If you haven’t heard His voice, then you are
not one of His sheep. What will change the Gentiles from their old
nature? What are they to do? They are to listen to Christ. They are to
hear Him. They are to be taught by Him. Those who are not His sheep will
not hear Him. (Ephesians
- Thru the Bible Mp3
Audios)
Earlier Paul
had written...
In Him (Christ), you also, after
listening (akouo - hearing) to the message of truth, the
gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him
with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ep 1:13-note)
Have been
taught (1321)
(didasko
[word study] from dáo= know or teach) means to provide
instruction in a formal or informal setting. Didasko refers to imparting
positive truth. It is the responsibility of every believer (Col 3:16-note),
and is part of the Great Commission (Mt 28:20). It is especially the
responsibility of church leaders. “An overseer, then, must be… able to
teach” (1Ti 3:2). Heresy flourishes where sound Christian teaching lags.
The idea is to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them by
word of mouth (tutor, direct, advise, put in mind). In the NT almost
without exception didasko refers to the teaching of groups.
Didasko
means to teach a student in such a way that the will of the student
becomes conformed to the teaching taught. So the teacher teaches in such
a way that as the student is taught, he now changes his mind saying in
essence ''I won't do it this way, but I will do it this way because I've
learned this doctrine or this teaching.'' Doctrine determines direction
of our behavior, conformed to world or to God?
Teaching that
Scripture finds significant is not that which provides information alone
but also the teaching that creates disciples who live in responsive
obedience to God's will.
Didasko - 97x in
91v in NAS - Matt. 4:23; 5:2, 19; 7:29; 9:35; 11:1; 13:54; 15:9; 21:23;
22:16; 26:55; 28:15, 20; Mk. 1:21f; 2:13; 4:1f; 6:2, 6, 30, 34; 7:7;
8:31; 9:31; 10:1; 11:17; 12:14, 35; 14:49; Lk. 4:15, 31; 5:3, 17; 6:6;
11:1; 12:12; 13:10, 22, 26; 19:47; 20:1, 21; 21:37; 23:5; Jn. 6:59;
7:14, 28, 35; 8:2, 20, 28; 9:34; 14:26; 18:20; Acts 1:1; 4:2, 18; 5:21,
25, 28, 42; 11:26; 15:1, 35; 18:11, 25; 20:20; 21:21, 28; 28:31; Rom.
2:21; 12:7; 1 Co. 4:17; 11:14; Gal. 1:12; Eph. 4:21; Col. 1:28; 2:7;
3:16; 2 Thess. 2:15; 1 Tim. 2:12; 4:11; 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:2; Tit. 1:11; Heb.
5:12; 8:11; 1 Jn. 2:27; Rev. 2:14, 20 and is rendered in the NAS as
instructed(2), preaches(1), taught(13), teach(33), teaches(5),
teaching(43)
In Him -
speaks of their union with Christ ("in union with Christ" or "in
fellowship with Him") (See discussions on
in Christ
and
in Christ Jesus
and
in Christ)
Expositors
Greek Testament adds that
en autoi (in Him) is not to be
reduced to ‘by Him,’ or ‘about Him,’ or ‘in His name,’
but has its proper sense of ‘in Him.’ The underlying idea is that
of union with Christ. The ‘taught,’ therefore, refers probably to
instructions subsequent to those which were given them at their first
hearing. It was in fellowship with Christ that they received these
instructions.” (Nicoll, W Robertson, Editor: Expositors Greek Testament:
5 Volumes. Out of print. Search Google)
JUST AS TRUTH IS IN JESUS:
kathos estin (3SPAI) aletheia en to Iesou:
(Eph
1:13; Psalms 45:4; 85:10,11; John 1:17; 14:6,17; 2Corinthians 1:20;
11:10; 1John 5:10, 11, 12,20)
Just as the
truth is in Jesus - Vincent comments that
Just as corresponds with not so. Ye did not in such a
manner learn Christ if ye were taught in such a manner as is truth,
etc. Render, as Rev., as truth is in Jesus. Schaff paraphrases:
‘If you were taught so that what you received is true as embodied in
the personal Saviour.’
‘Taught in the lines of eternal fact and spiritual reality which meet
in Him’ (Moule).
Jesus is used rather than Christ; the
historical rather than the official name. The life of Christianity
consists in believing fellowship with the historic Jesus, Who is the
Christ of prophecy.” (Ephesians 4)
Truth
(225)
(aletheia from a = without + lêthô = that which is hidden or
concealed, the combination meaning out in open) is the the
unconcealed reality lying at the basis of and agreeing with an
appearance; the manifested, the veritable essence of matter. John writes
that...
For the Law was given through Moses;
grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and
the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through
Me. (John 14:6)
Blaikie
remarks that
All truth acquires a different hue
and a different character when there is a personal relation to Jesus.
Truth apart from the Person of Christ has little power. (Pulpit
Commentary. Ephesians. Ages Software)
TDNT
explains the origin of this word this way...
Etymologically aletheia means
“nonconcealment.” It thus denotes what is seen, indicated, expressed, or
disclosed, i.e., a thing as it really is, not as it is concealed or
falsified. aletheia is “the real state of affairs,” e.g., the
truth in law, or real events in history, or true being in philosophy...
aletheia is “that which has certainty and force”... aletheia
is “that on which one can rely”...aletheia is “the state of
affairs as disclosed”... aletheia is “truth of statement” used
with speaking (Lk. 4:25) or teaching (Mk. 12:14).... aletheia is “true
teaching or faith” (2Cor. 13:8; 4:2; Ga 5:7; 1Pe 1:22-note) (Kittel,
G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament. Eerdmans)
Truth then is the
correspondence between a reality and a declaration which professes to
set it forth. To say it another way, words are true when they correspond
with objective reality. Persons and things are true when they correspond
with their profession. Hence a truth is a declaration which has
corresponding reality, or a reality which is correctly set forth. Since
God is Himself the great reality, that which correctly sets forth His
nature is pre-eminently the Truth.
Truth is the
property of being in accord with fact or reality as defined by God.
Whatever God says is Truth. Truth is a person, Jesus.
Jesus
(2424)
(Iesous) is transliterated from the Hebrew Yeshua which means
Jehovah is help or Jehovah is Salvation. Jesus corresponds to the OT
name Jehoshua is contracted to Joshua.
MacDonald
makes an excellent point on why Paul would use the specific name of
Jesus in this context writing that...
The name Jesus takes us back to His
life on earth, since that is His name in Incarnation. In that spotless
life which He lived as a Man in this world, we see the very antithesis
of the walk of the Gentiles which Paul has just described. (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)
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Ephesians 4:22 that,
in
reference
to your
former
manner
of
life,
you
lay
aside
the
old
self,
which is being
corrupted
in
accordance
with the
lusts
of
deceit,
(NASB:
Lockman) |
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Greek:
apothesthai
humas
kata
ten
proteran
anastrophen
ton
palaion
anthropon
ton
phtheiromenon
kata
tas
epithumias
tes
apates,
Amplified: Strip
yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old
unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and
becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion;
(Amplified
Bible - Lockman)
NET: You
were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside
the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful
desires,
NIV: You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to
put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful
desires;
NKJV: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old
man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
NLT: throw off your old evil nature and your former way
of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and
deception. (NLT
- Tyndale House)
Phillips: No, what you learned was to fling off the dirty
clothes of the old way of living, which were rotted through and
through with lust's illusions, (Phillips:
Touchstone)
Wuest: that you have put off once for all with reference
to your former manner of life the old self who is being corrupted
according to the passionate desires of deceit; (Eerdmans)
Young's Literal: to put away, in regard to your former
mode of life, your original evil nature which is doomed to perish as
befits its misleading impulses, |
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THAT, IN REFERENCE TO YOUR
FORMER MANNER OF LIFE: kata ten proteran anastrophen: (Eph
4:25; 1Samuel 1:14; Job 22:23; Ezekiel 18:30, 31, 32; Colossians 2:11;
3:8,9; Hebrews 12:1; James 1:21; 1Peter 2:1,2) (Eph 4:17; 2:3; Galatians
1:13; Colossians 3:7; 1Peter 1:18; 4:3; 2Peter 2:7)
Former
(4387)
(próteros from pró = forth, before) means prior, previous,
of an earlier time, all pertaining to a point of time earlier in a
sequence. Proteros refers to a period of time preceding another period
of time.
Proteros -
11x in 11v in the NAS -Jn. 6:62; 7:50; 9:8; 2 Co. 1:15; Gal.
4:13; Eph. 4:22; 1 Tim. 1:13; Heb. 4:6; 7:27; 10:32; 1 Pet. 1:14 and
rendered in the NAS as before(2), first(2), first time(1),
former(3), formerly(2), previously(1).
Ruth Paxson
writes that their former manner of life was...
a life in sin
lived according to the debased standard of the trinity of evil (Ed note:
world, flesh, devil). Their former manner of life was the unregenerate,
unclean, unholy life of the sinner under the domination of "the old
man." (Paxson, Ruth: The Wealth, the Walk and the Warfare of
the Christian. 1939. Revell)
In chapter 2 Paul
had repeatedly reminded them of their former desperate spiritual
condition writing...
And you were dead in your trespasses
and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the
spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we
too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, even as the rest (See notes
Ephesians 2:1;
2:2;
2:3)
Therefore remember, that formerly
you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the
so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human
hands--12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ,
excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants
of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.13 But now in
Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near
by the blood of Christ. (See notes
Ephesians 2:11;
2:12;
2:13)
Manner of life
(391)
(anastrophe from aná = again, back + strépho = turn
- idea is turning back in forth in a place equates with living there)
means ones way of life or conduct, with apparent focus on overt daily
behavior. Thayer adds that the root verb (anastrepho) means “to conduct
or behave one’s self, to walk,” the latter meaning not referring here to
the physical act of walking but to the act of determining our course of
conduct and the carrying out of that determined course of action.
Anastrophe means in biblical use has the moral and spiritual aspect of
one’s manner of life is in view.
Anastrophe
- 13x in 13v in the NAS - Gal. 1:13; Eph. 4:22; 1 Tim. 4:12; Heb. 13:7;
Jas. 3:13; 1 Pet. 1:15, 18; 2:12; 3:1f, 16; 2 Pet. 2:7; 3:11 and is
rendered in the NAS as behavior(6), conduct(4), manner of life(2), way
of life(1).
Vincent
comments that...
The process of development in the
meaning of the word is interesting. 1. A turning upside down. 2. A
turning about or wheeling. 3. Turning about in a place, going back and
forth there about one’s business; and so, 4, one’s mode of life or
conduct. (Word studies in the New Testament)
YOU LAY ASIDE THE OLD SELF:
apothesthai (AMN)...ton palaion anthropon ton: (Romans
6:6; Colossians 3:9)
See related
resource:
Covenant: The Exchange of Robes -
Putting Off the Old Man, Putting on the New Man
You lay aside
the old self - without being too technical, the verb lay aside can be
translated one of two ways, either indicating a completed past action
(this would be our position whereas the second translation reflects our
practice) or
an action the believer is to carry out (the latter almost giving it the
sense of an imperative). This distinction is even seen in the way the
various Bible translations render the Greek text.
For example, the
following rendering translates the Greek as if it were a fact or a past
completed action...
Wuest: that you have put off once for all with reference
to your former manner of life the old self who is being corrupted
according to the passionate desires of deceit;
In contrast, the
following versions render lay aside (put off, throw off, strip)
as an action the believer is to carry out...
Amplified: Strip
yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed
self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes
corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion;
KJV: That ye put off
concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts;
NASB: that, in reference to
your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is
being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
NLT: throw off your old
evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and
through, full of lust and deception.
I favor the
interpretation of lay aside as an action the believer is to carry
out and that is how it is presented in these notes. However, in one
sense both interpretations/translations are correct, the former
(positional truth) emphasizing the bestowal of God's sovereign grace in
salvation and the latter (practical truth) emphasizing man's
responsibility to walk in the light (and power) of the grace and the
Spirit bestowed.
John Piper
using the analogy of cleaning out leaven says it this way...
Clean out the old leaven of sin, because it is really already cleaned
out. If you try to play
logic games with this reality and say, “I don’t need to fight sin
because it is already cleaned out,” you will prove only that you are not
among the number who are cleansed.
In other words the
Old Man has already been crucified with Christ (Ro 6:6). That is a
historical fact and a truth for believers to reckon as true (because it
is true). Now, based upon the truth that the Old Man has been crucified,
Paul is saying make it your experience of putting off this Old Man. And
so put off in your daily walk what has already been put off when you
died with Christ.
ISBE has this
entry for old man...
OLD MAN - (palaios, "old,"
"ancient"): A term thrice used by Paul (Ro 6:6; Eph 4:22; Col 3:9) to
signify the unrenewed man, the natural man in the corruption of sin,
i.e. sinful human nature before conversion and regeneration. It is
theologically synonymous with "flesh" (Ro 8:3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
(Ed: Not everyone agrees with this statement - see related
discussion
Old Man in Ro 6:6), which
stands, not for bodily organism, but, for the whole nature of man (body
and soul) turned away from God and devoted to self and earthly things.
The old man is "in the flesh"; the new man "in the Spirit." In the
former "the works of the flesh" (Gal 5:19, 20, 21) are manifest; in the
latter "the fruit of the Spirit" (Gal 5:22,23). One is "corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts"; the other "created in righteousness
and true holiness" (Eph 4:22, 23, 24 the King James Version).
J Vernon McGee writes that...
We are to put off the old man and put
on the new man in the same manner that we change our clothes. It is like
putting off an old and unclean garment and then putting on a garment
that is new and clean. The putting off the old man and putting on the
new man cannot be done by self-effort, nor can it be done by striving to
imitate Christ’s conduct. It has been done for the believing sinner by
the death of Christ. We are like babes who cannot dress themselves. I
have learned with my little grandson that a child doesn’t do very well
when he tries to dress himself. As Christians we never reach the place
where we can do that, and we don’t need to try. It already has been done
for us. We are told in the Epistle to the Romans that the old man has
already been crucified in the death of Christ.
“Knowing this, that our old man is
crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin” (Ro 6:6-note).
In view of the truth that the old man
has already been crucified with Christ, we are to put it off in the
power of the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that the flesh, the old
nature, is ever eliminated in this life. We do not get rid of the old
nature, but we are not to live in it; that is, we are not to allow it to
control our lives.
On the other hand, we do have a new
nature. This is the result of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Any man
in Christ is a new creature. We are to live in that new nature, that new
man. This is a repetition of the great message of Romans. (McGee,
J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)
Ruth Paxson
writes that...
Ephesians 4:22
"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts."
Ephesians 4:24
"And that ye put on the new
man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
This twofold clear, crisp exhortation marks the meeting-point between
God's part and ours in our sanctification. It is the
crossroads between God's sovereign work through grace and
man's cooperative action through faith. It is an exhortation to
practical holiness in every phase of one's daily life.
Paul takes us immediately to the very source of life in each sphere and
shows us two things. The character of life is due to its source and the
character determines the conduct.
Life in the old sphere is tracked to
its source, "the old man," and the conduct is corrupt because the
character is such.
Life in the new sphere is traced to
its source, "the new man," and the conduct is righteous and holy
because the character is so.
The fountain determines the flow. Let
us then consider these two fountain-heads and our responsibility in
relation to them. (Paxson, Ruth: The Wealth, the Walk and the Warfare of
the Christian. 1939. Revell)
Lay aside (659)
(apotithemi
[word study]
from apo =
away from, marker of dissociation, implying a rupture from a former
association, separation, departure, cessation, any separation of one
thing from another by which the union or fellowship of the two is
destroyed + tithemi = put, place)
means literally to put or take something away from its normal location
and put it out of the way. It was used literally of runners who
participated in the Olympic games who cast off their clothes and running
nearly completely naked in the stadium.
Apotithemi - 9x in 9v in the
NAS - Matt. 14:3; Acts 7:58; Rom. 13:12; Eph. 4:22, 25; Col. 3:8; Heb.
12:1; Jas. 1:21; 1 Pet. 2:1 and is rendered in the NAS as laid
aside(1), lay aside(3), laying aside(1), put(1), put aside(1), putting
aside(2).
Figuratively the idea of apotithemi
is to cease doing what you were previously accustomed to doing.
Stop doing it. "Throw" it off like you would filthy, foul smelling
clothes! Be done with it! The
aorist tense
calls for a definite action.
In this verse the verb signifies a change
of identities, calling us to live like the One in Whom we now positioned
(In Christ, In Union with Him, In Covenant with Him).
Apotithemi is the word Luke used in its literal sense of the Jewish
leaders in Jerusalem who
"began stoning (Stephen), and the
witnesses laid aside (apotithemi) their robes at the feet of a
young man named Saul. " (Acts
7:58).
They
laid aside their outer garments so they could more freely do their
wicked work. The Christian lays aside the following attitudes and
actions, so he can
be free to do the righteous work of the Lord.
Wayne Barber writes that now Paul...
goes on to show them the positive side. He starts telling them how they
ought to live. How then should we live if we are not to live like the
unregenerate Gentiles? We have to live in the world where they live. How do
we distill this down in practical terms that we can understand?
First, Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:20, 22, 23, 24 that living as a believer is
much like putting on a brand new set of clothes. A set of clothes is
what people see. Paul is saying something profound to us. He is saying,
Folks, you don’t have to wear old clothes. As a matter of fact, you are
not supposed to wear the old clothes that you used to wear.
You see,
wearing your clothes, putting on the garment, has to do with a way you
live. It is a lifestyle. He is saying,
In Jesus Christ you have a brand new set of clothes and you are going to
have to learn how to wear them.
He uses two phrases. One is in Ephesians 4:22: lay aside which has to do with taking something off. Then he says in
Eph 4:24- note
put on
which also has to do with clothes. One you take off, and one you put on.
It is dressing and undressing. How are you supposed to live as a
believer? You are supposed to be dressed the right way. Let me show you.
First of all, let me show you in Acts 7:58 how that word "lay aside" has
to do with taking something off. In Acts 7:58 Luke writes...
And when they had driven him out of the city [speaking of Stephen, the
martyr], they began stoning him, and the witnesses laid aside their
robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
So you have a picture of somebody taking something off. That word (apotithemi) is
used several times. In Ro 13:12- note
we get
an even clearer picture of what Paul is saying in Ephesians. Paul uses
the word and the phrase. We begin to realize that when you put off this
garment, this old man as we are going to see later, it has to do not so
much with just the old man itself, but the way he used to live. It is a
lifestyle. Romans 13:12 says,
The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay
aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ( see
note)
Paul uses the word again in Colossians. It gives us a little clearer
picture. Colossians 3:8
says,
But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and
abusive speech from your mouth. ( see
note)
Everything he mentions has to do with relationships. When we are rightly
related to Christ, when we are letting Jesus be Jesus in our life, when
we are being strengthened in the inner man by the spirit of God, we are
putting on the garment of a brand new lifestyle. The first place it is
going to show up is in relationships. When you have divided
relationships all you have is somebody wearing the wrong garment. That
is all there is to it. Somebody is not at peace with somebody else. We
are to be at peace with all men, to wear the right garment.
Look in Hebrews 12:1...
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily
entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us. ( see
note)
Take it off like a garment. Get it out of your life. Lay it aside.
There are two words that are used for that. One means away from, and the
other means to place, to get it away from you. Put it away from you.
Take it off. Peter uses it in 1Peter 2:1...
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and
envy and all slander ( see
note)
Peter said, "Get these garments off of you. You don’t live that way
anymore. Put that off. That is the old. Now you are to wear the new." So
the word "laying aside" means to take off something like you take off a
garment.
Let’s look at the next word. Ephesians 4 says:
and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created
in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
You can immediately see the fabric of this new garment. It is created in
righteousness and holiness of the truth. There is something contrasting
to the old way I used to live and the new way I am supposed to live.
I want to show you how the word is a simple word. Acts 12:21 reads,
And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his
seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.
Paul takes that word and uses it in an analogy of how we are to live as
if we are putting on a garment, for others to look at, for others to
see. In Ephesians 4, it is a garment. In chapter 6 it is armor. It is
the same thing. When you put on Christ, He is your garment. When you put
on Christ, He is your armor against anything the devil ever puts in your
life. In
Ephesians 6:11 he says,
"Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil." ( see
note)
Ephesians 6:14 says,
"Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having
put on the breastplate of righteousness." ( see
note)
Now this is interesting. I am to put on. Every day I get up and put on.
Every moment I move, put on. But wait a minute. When did I get the
garment? Look in Colossians 3:9-11. We are going to find that we have
already put it on. That is interesting. He says "put it on" in Ephesians
while Colossians says, "Wait a minute, you have already put it on."
Colossians 3:9
says,
"Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its
evil practices, and have put on the new self." ( see
note)
Here is what I want you to see. It’s in the
aorist tense,
middle voice. Aorist means there
has been a time, a certain time when you have put it on. But it also
middle voice: you chose to do it. You understood what you were doing
when you put on the new man.
I can hear some of you thinking, "Wait a minute. God chose us." It has
nothing to do with that argument. That is not what Paul is saying. Paul
is saying in essence
"You understood what you were doing when you bowed before Jesus Christ.
You may not have had much understanding then, but you understood that
the old garment was a product of a sinful nature and that you, being in
Adam, could not save yourself. You understood that, because repentance
is taking a garment off and turning and putting a garment on."
We did that at salvation. We put the garment on at salvation. We turned
around, sick of the old and put on the new.
"Now, I don’t understand. If I have already put it on, how come I have
to put it on?"
When we put it on, we put it on inwardly. Now we have to wear it
outwardly. Folks, it is the same thing Paul is saying in Philippians
when he says work out your salvation. In other words, get what is on the
inside on the outside (Php 2:12; 2:13 notes
Php 2:12;
13). Put it on.
Aorist
is also punctiliar: put it on, put it on, put it on. But it is a
conscious choice in doing it.
I want to show you the very thread of that new garment. Paul does
something in Ephesians 4:20. He does not link us to a creed or to a
code. He links us to a person and shows us that the very thread of the
garment we are to wear is the Lord Jesus Himself. It is putting on
Christ. It is letting Jesus be Jesus in your life. Verse 20 says,
"But you did not learn Christ in this way."
You didn’t learn a creed or a code. We are not tied to a set of rules.
We are tied to a Person. As we put Him on, then everything He has
commanded us to do strengthens us in the inner man with an ability to do
and to be beyond what we have ever been or we have ever done. It is
Christ in us. That is all it is. It is the same thing as being filled
with the Spirit. It is the same thing as walking in the light. The Bible
doesn’t say seven different things. It says one thing several different
times. We are to surrender, and when we do, we are taking off something
and putting on something. Not only will it be real to us on the inside,
but it will be real to others on the outside.
Can I ask you a question? What garment do you have on? Have you put the
old back on? You know, some people enjoy the rags of the old. It is kind
of like Lazarus when he came out of the grave. They said,
"Unbind him, and let him go." (John 11:44)
In other words "Loose him and set him free. Take those grave clothes off
of him." He can’t walk. He can’t witness. He can’t worship. Everything
about him is all bound up. But you know, some people like to take some
of those rags and stick them in their pockets and say,
"You know, I kind of like some of that old stuff. I’d rather wear this
garment than the garment of Christ in my life. I don’t want to bow. I
kind of enjoy my self-pity. I kind of enjoy my bitterness. I kind of
enjoy my lust. I don’t want to bow. I enjoy being covetous. I enjoy
dividing people. I would rather wear the old."
The Scripture says,
"No, you put on the new. You have no option. Wear that garment you got
when you received Christ."
Remember, you understood at that time what was causing you all the pain.
Don’t go back to what caused you all the pain.
Well, the second thing I want you to see is before I can put on the new,
as he says in verse 24, I have to put off the old. I want to talk about
that old garment just for a little bit. In verse 22 it says,
"that, in reference to your former manner of life."
The word there is anastrophe. It always means everything you do, think,
and say. We are in regard to that. He says,
"you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with
the lusts of the deceit."
Remember, that word "accordance with" is not "out of." It is "in
accordance with." You mean as evil as the flesh can be, it is being
corrupted? That old man is getting worse and worse and worse." That is
exactly what I see that it saying in Scripture.
Let’s walk through it a second. The "old self" there translated
in the New American Standard is really "old man." The word
literally is new man and old man, not old self and new self. This man of
old, which you used to be, that which was in Adam, needs to be taken off
because now you have been placed into Christ. Take that old man off. But
I tell you what, if you are not sick of the old man yet, you will be
when I finish this verse.
Let me show you what I get out of that verse. Paul is trying to show you
how rotten the old man is. It is the picture of something that is very
putrid and is in the process of rotting. The idea of this word is of a
dead corpse or cadaver that is now rotting and decaying and stinks and
it is getting worse all the time. If you want to go back and put the old
garment on, help yourself. But I want to tell you, when you do, you are
going to smell up relationships. There is going to be an odor about you
that is going to be putrid and rotten. Hebrews says don’t ever let a
root of bitterness develop among you because when it comes up, it is
going to defile men.
If you take a barrel of apples and throw a rotten one in it, you’ve got
exactly the picture right here. People who won’t put on the new garment
are the people who are causing all the rot in the body of Christ. This
is pretty heavy stuff. You know the Holy Spirit inspired this. The Holy
Spirit doesn’t mince any words, does He? He just tells you what the old
life is like. Folks, we have been saved out of that. Thank God we have
been saved out of it. Don’t think for a second that there is anything
there for you when you go back and put on that old garment.
Paul uses the term "old man" three times. In Romans 6, in
Colossians 3 and in Ephesians 4. I want you to go back to Romans 6 and
see if I can explain it. Just like the new man, I have put him on. Now I
have to put him on. I have to choose to put him on. It is my
responsibility. I have put him on, positionally. Experientially, I
choose to do it every day. The same is true about the putting on of the
old man.
Romans 6:6
says,
"knowing this, that our old man [or self as it is translated] was
crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with that we
should no longer be slaves to sin." (see
note)
In God’s reckoning, the old man died with Christ on the cross. In that
death, God put an end to the old creation in Adam and now replaces it
with a new creation in Christ. It depends on which side of the cross
that you are on. If you have been taken out of Adam, you have been put
into Christ. The old man is dead. He is powerless in the believer’s
life. However, it’s mark is left on us in the lust of our flesh.
So even though it has been put off,
we must now choose to put it off.
The way we do it is by choosing against what our
flesh
wants and
choosing what the Lord God desires in our hearts (cp Gal 5:17-note).
This choosing is analogous to the idea of
putting on and putting of. We have put on and now we need to put off. It
has been put off, but now we need to put it off in our life.
So therefore, we reckon ourselves to be dead to sin (Ro 6:11-note).
Do you realize that you don’t have to lust, men? You don’t have to be in
bondage to immorality (Ed: cp Col 3:5-note,
in a very real sense a "putting off" of the Old Man). You don’t have
continue to yield to the sin of immorality. You are a new
person in Christ (2Cor 5:17).
Sin has been rendered powerless in your life
(Ro 6:6-note). The only
reason it (Sin) has any power over you at all is because you choose to let it
do so. That is all. You don’t have to covet. You don’t have to throw
rocks at your house every time you go home because you want a bigger
one. You don’t have to live that way any more. You can be content
wherever you are. You don’t have to live under bondage anymore. If
you are bitter and it is ruining relationships around you and other
people know about it, you don’t have to live that way (cp Ep 4:31-note). You have been set
free (cp Jn 8:36), redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (1Pe 1:18,19-note). You are no longer to be held
hostage to sin anymore. It doesn’t have to rule over you (Ro 6:12, 13-note).
My exhortation to you is to wear the right garment. When you go to a
restaurant the waitress who walks over to you may be deceived and blind
in sin, as described in Titus 3:3
(note).
You don’t know her spiritual state, but perhaps you sense that there is no life in this
person. Remember you used to be that way. But now that you have come out
of it, God sends us back into the world to put on a brand new garment to
demonstrate to them that there is another way to live if they know
Christ, the Christ that you know. (Ephesians 4:20-24: A Brand New Way of Life
- 2)
Ruth Paxson has this note in regard
to lay aside the old man writing...
God always takes the initiative in salvation. Before He asks or expects
man to act, He has acted. The work of Christ in salvation is a
completely finished work. So in regard to "the old man" God has already
done His part, which is plainly recorded in Scripture as an accomplished
historical fact.
Ro 6:6 "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the
body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in
bondage to sin."
By the sovereign act of God that "old man" was crucified with Christ. In
God's reckoning he died on the Cross as truly as Christ died. In that
death God put an end to the old creation in Adam that He might replace
it by the new creation in Christ (2Co 5:17). He put "the old man" out of
employment, as it were, by depriving him of his dominion over the
believer in Christ. In God's reckoning the crucifixion of "the old man"
was a final, once-for-all act. From that moment God sees him only on the
Cross. In God's purpose all the old, filthy, sin-infected garments in
which "the old man" was clad went into the discard also as utterly
unbefitting the life of the new sphere into which the believer was
translated.
Can you conceive of Mr. Bosshardt, when delivered out of 560
days of captivity by bandits in China, refusing to lay aside the filthy,
vermin-infested garments he had been compelled to wear? Would not his
deepest desire be to be rid of everything that in the slightest degree
pertained to that experience, now past through God's grace and goodness?
What God has made true for us positionally, He longs to make real in us
experimentally (experientially). This requires our intelligent,
wholehearted co-operation in willing consent and in active choice as the
imperative "that ye put off" clearly shows (Ed note: Some take it to
have the force of an imperative, but the Greek is strictly speaking not
the imperative mood.). There is a part for us to play if the
crucifixion as historical fact is to be made an experimental reality in
our lives.
Therefore we should know what our responsibility is, and then fulfill
it. (Paxson, Ruth: The Wealth, the Walk and the Warfare of the
Christian. 1939. Revell)
Comment: In a parallel
teaching Paul does use the imperative mood to command believers to "work
out their salvation" (which would include "putting off" the old garments
of sin) but be enabled to carry out this supernatural activity only
because God is now in the believer given him or her not only the
motivation to carry out this divine activity but the power to do so.
(see Php 2:12-note,
Php 2:13-note;
cp God's promised power in the New Covenant in Ezekiel 36:27)
Old
(3820)
(palaios
[word study]) mans old (as in ancient) and describes that which is no
longer new or which is worn by use or which is worse for wear. Palaios
pertains to that which has been in existence for a long time. It also
refers to that which is obsolete or inferior because of being old.
Palaios -
19x in 15v in the NAS - Matt. 9:16f; 13:52; Mk. 2:21f; Lk. 5:36f, 39;
Rom. 6:6; 1 Co. 5:7f; 2 Co. 3:14; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9; 1 Jn. 2:7 and is
always rendered "old".
Paul used
palaios in a similar context in Colossians commanding the saints...
Do not lie
to one another, since you laid aside (apekduomai)
the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self
who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the
One who created him (Col 3:9-note;
Col 3:10-
note)
Vincent
writes that palaios...
carries the sense of worn out by
time, injury, sorrow, or other causes. Thus the old garment (Mt 9:16)
is palaion. So the old wine-skins (Mt 9:17). The old men of a living
generation compared with the young of the same generation are palaioi.
In palaios the simple conception of time dominates. (Word studies in the
New Testament)
Trench
defines palaios as
old in the sense that it is more or
less worn out. (Trench,
R. C. Synonyms of the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers. 2000)
Wuest adds
It describes something that is worn
out, useless, fit to be put on the scrap pile, to be
discarded...archaios, means “old in point of time,” palaios, means “old
in point of use.”...The expression “the old man” therefore refers
to the unsaved person dominated by the totally depraved nature.
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans)
Self
(444)
(anthropos) means man and refers to humanity in general.
As
John MacArthur reminds us
"You can tell a lot about people in
our society by the way they dress. From baseball players to bus drivers,
from postal carriers to policemen, people wear the uniform of their
profession. Who we are determines what we wear, and failing to “dress
the part” can sometimes have embarrassing consequences. Many years ago
a very wealthy man in a Southern California town was found wandering
around the local country club wearing shabby clothes. He was promptly
seized by security guards and charged with vagrancy—even though he owned
the country club. He had failed to dress consistent with who he
was...Christians must dress themselves spiritually in accordance with
their new identity. They have died with Christ and risen to new life.
Salvation thus produces a two-sided obligation for believers.
Negatively, they must throw off the garment of the old, sinful
lifestyle, as Paul pointed out in Col 3:5-9a. Positively, they must
put on the lifestyle of the new man." (MacArthur,
J. Colossians. Chicago: Moody Press)
THE
OLD MAN
The Old Self or Old Man
is the worn out, useless, and unconverted sinful nature. The Old Man
is all that one is before conversion and all that he is as a child of
Adam (all unregenerate men are referred to as being in Adam [cp
1Co 15:22, 45, Ro 5:12-note,
Ro 5:17-note,
Ro 5:18, 19-note]
- all mankind is either in Adam or in Christ, but not in
both). The Old Self is the me that is rebellious against God, and
refuses to submit to God's law, and which is blind to God's glory, and
finally is unbelieving toward His promises. The Old Self is
the unregenerate person that was in Adam and was spiritually dead. The Old
Self is continually being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of
deceit (Ep 4:22). The corruption occurs as a result of giving in to deceitful,
evil cravings which are pleasant and promising in anticipation but
hideous and disappointing in retrospect.
Ruth Paxson
in her devotional commentary on Ephesians writes that the Old Self
or Old Man is...
primarily the old,
corrupt, sinful nature inherited from Adam; the inborn tendency to evil.
But here it includes the whole manner of life in the old sphere. This
term is used only three times in Scripture,—in Ro 6:6- note;
Col 3:9-note;
and Ephesians 4:22. There are three equivalents. It is all that a man is
by nature, so is called "the natural man" (1Cor. 2:14). It is the "I"
which is thrown into such sharp contrast with "Christ" in Galatians
2:20. (Paxson, Ruth: The Wealth, the Walk and the Warfare of the
Christian. 1939. Revell)
Using the garment
or robe analogy, the Old Self is all I was in Adam's clothes.
Paul explains that
as in Adam (in "Adam's clothes") all
die, so also in Christ (in "Christ's New Covenant attire") all shall be
made alive (1 Cor 15:22).
Stated another
way, if the Old Self isn’t dead, conversion has not occurred.
When we entered the New Covenant with Christ by grace through faith, our
Old Self was crucified with Christ (Ro 6:6-note),
so that our body of sin (does not mean that the physical body is
itself sinful but that our body can be the instrument which the power of
Sin uses to carry out its deeds of darkness) was rendered inoperative
(deprived of its force, influence and power over us, but not
annihilated, not yet at least - that wonderful promise awaits our
glorification!).
Now you may be
asking
If my "Old Self" was crucified, why
do I still have this propensity to commit sin?
The answer is that
all believers still possess what Scripture refers to as the flesh
(Click
in depth analysis of
flesh)
and the flesh is
unredeemed. The term flesh (here not referring to the physical
body) describes what remains of the Old Self” or Old Man
after a person is saved or redeemed. The flesh as our
unredeemed humanness is a part of the believer that will remain with us
until each of us receives our glorified body (Ro 8:23-note), at which time we
are finally free from the presence of sin as well as the pleasure of sin (at
which time we
will no longer possess the "flesh").
Until that wonderful day of glorification, every believer possesses or
"consists of" a redeemed self living with an unredeemed humanness
("flesh"), and that creates great conflict. Stated another way, the
flesh is that part of a believer that functions apart from and
against the Spirit (see
Chart contrasting in the flesh vs in the Spirit).
Flesh stands against the work of the Spirit in the believer’s new
heart. The unsaved person often regrets the sinful things he does
because of guilt and/or painful consequences, but he has no spiritual
warfare going on within him, because he has only a fleshly nature and is
devoid of the Spirit. The sinful things he does, though often
disappointing and disgusting to him, are nevertheless consistent with
his basic nature (his "Old Self") as an enemy of God and a child
of God's wrath. The "Old Self" or "Old Man" therefore has no real
internal conflict beyond whatever conscience may remain in his sinful
state (Ro 2:14,1 5-note). In the poem Maud,
one of Tennyson’s characters yearns,
“Ah for a new man to arise in me,
That the man I am may cease to be!”
The Christian can
say that a New Self (see below) has already arisen in him, but
like Tennyson's character, he also must confess that the sinful part his
Old Self (i.e., the "flesh") has not yet ceased to
be.
To review (as this subject can be somewhat
confusing), we need to draw a clear distinction between the Old Man (Old
Self) and what some refer to as the "old nature" or what I have chosen
to refer to as the
flesh.
(not in its physical meaning but its moral/ethical meaning). The
flesh
refers to our sinful human nature which all mankind possesses (whether
believer or non-believer) and which will persist in believers as long as
they live in these physical, mortal bodies. As William Newell reminds
us...
The
flesh,
which is sin entrenched in the body, is unchangeably evil, and will war
against us till Christ comes. Only the Holy Spirit has power over ‘the
flesh’ (Romans 8.1).
As Douglas Moo so wisely reminds us...
What we
were ‘in Adam’ is no more; but, until heaven, the
temptation to live in Adam always remains.
John Piper in A Godward Life offers 13
tactical steps in our daily battle against sin, and the first two
involve the old man, Piper exhorting us to...
1. Take
heart from the truth that the old sinful you is decisively already dead
(Romans 6:6; Colossians 3:3; Galatians 5:24). By faith we are united to
Christ so that His death was our death (Romans 6:5; 2Corinthians 5:14).
This means three things: (a) The mortal blow to our “old man” has
been struck; (b) the old self will not succeed in domination now;
and (c) his final obliteration is certain.
2. Consciously reckon the old man dead; that is, believe the
truth of Scripture about the old man’s death in Christ and seek to live
in that freedom (Romans 6:11- note).
Living out the reality that you are is the proof that you are. One clear
illustration of becoming what you are is found in 1Cor 5:7: “Clean out
the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are
unleavened.” It sounds strange, but salvation is a strange and wonderful
thing:
Clean out the old leaven of sin, because it is really already cleaned
out. If you try to play
logic games with this reality and say, “I don’t need to fight sin
because it is already cleaned out,” you will prove only that you are not
among the number who are cleansed. (Piper, J. A Godward Life : Savoring
the Supremacy of God in All Life. Sisters, Or.: Multnomah Publishers)
C H Spurgeon in
his book According to Promise alludes to the old man
noting that...
Ordinary religion is nature
gilded over with a thin layer of what is thought to be grace. Sinners
have polished themselves up and brushed off the worst of the rust and
the filth, and they think their old nature is as good as new.
This touching–up and repairing of the old man is all very well,
but it falls short of what is needed. You may wash the face and hands of
Ishmael as much as you please, but you cannot make him into Isaac. You
may improve nature, and the more you do so the better for certain
temporary purposes, but you cannot raise it into grace. There is a
distinction at the very fountain–head between the stream which rises in
the bog of fallen humanity and the river which proceeds from the throne
of God.
Spurgeon
wrote that...
All the fire which the devil
can bring from hell could do us little harm if we had not so much fuel
in our nature. It is the powder in the magazine of the old man which is
our perpetual danger.
Grant Richison writes that...
Our old man was our
unregenerate disposition. The divine nature then is a new
orientation to God. A massive change toward God occurred in us when we
became Christians. We do not get the divine nature through reformation
of the old nature. It is not something that grows or develops by a
process. Rather, God imparts this new nature instantaneously and
supernaturally to us the moment we become Christians. Therefore, only
regenerate people possess this nature (Ed: i.e., New Man = In Christ). It is God’s orientation planted
within us (Ed: cp "partakers of the divine nature" in 2Pe 1:4-note). It is far more than inherent morality.
There also remains an old
capacity in every believer after we accept Christ. That old
nature (Ed:
flesh) is what produces sin in our lives. It is a disposition toward sin
and it also has an area of strength that produces human good apart from
God. (2
Peter 1:4f)
John MacArthur
has an interesting note on the difference between the "Old Self"
and the "New Self" writing that...
The Old Man, the Old Self,
is the unregenerate person. He is not part righteous and part sinful,
but totally sinful and without the slightest potential within himself
for becoming righteous and pleasing to God. The New Man (New
Self), on the other hand, is the regenerate person. He is made
pleasing to God through Jesus Christ and his new nature is entirely
godly and righteous. He is not yet perfected or glorified, but he is
already spiritually alive and holiness is at work in him. The new man
will continue to grow in that holiness, no matter how slowly or
falteringly, because, by its very nature, life grows. Dr. Donald Grey
Barnhouse wrote,
“Holiness starts where justification
finishes, and if holiness does not start, we have the right to suspect
that justification never started either” (Romans, vol. 3 [Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961], 2:12).
There is therefore simply no such
thing as justification without sanctification. There is no such thing as
divine life without divine living. The truly saved person lives a new
and godly life in a new and godly realm. He now and forever lives in
God’s realm of grace and righteousness and can never again live in
Satan’s realm of self and sin. As the natural, sinful, unregenerate man
cannot restrain the manifestation of what he is, neither can the
regenerate man." (MacArthur,
J: Romans 1-8. Moody)
F B Meyer
has the following notes on "the Old Man"...
The old man is the aggregate
of habits and methods of life, which marked us before conversion. The
phrase describes the impression which we produced as men and women upon
our fellows. What we were wont to be, and say, and do. That form of
character and life which was ours before the great change operated
through faith in Jesus.
It is called the old man, as if there were but one, because the
habits and tastes, the thoughts and acts of men, before conversion, have
much in common. There is not much to choose between them. It is one evil
nature; one likeness to fallen Adam; one type of evil, though its forms
are slightly modified in different temperaments and by special
circumstances.
It is under the control of deceitful lusts. In other words, it is
shaped by the passionate desires which have their origin in the strong
natural tendencies of our being (See the
flesh). These (epithumia)
were given us by God to be the motive-forces of our nature, but not to
rule. For when once they are permitted to usurp this position,
corruption ensues, and the nature rots piecemeal before their insidious
action --as the body of the leper beneath the living death that eats
away his flesh. Ah, deceitful lusts! promising liberty, and happiness,
and joy, but resembling the Syren sisters (Ed note: In Classic
Mythology, one of three sea nymphs or, according to some writers, of
two, said to frequent an island near the coast of Italy, and to sing
with such sweetness that they lured mariners to destruction. Something
which is insidious and deceptive. An enticing, dangerous woman), whose
upper form was fair, but whose lower extremities were foul; whilst whose
sweet songs allured the unwary mariner only to ruin.
We must not defer this "putting off." The tense (aorist
tense) indicates
the sudden resolve of the will, inspired and empowered by the Holy
Spirit to be no longer under the dominion of these terrible passions.
Once and for ever let us divest ourselves of them; as the beggar his
rags, or as Lazarus the cerements of death. (Ephesians
4:22 - Old Man, New Man)
John Piper writes that...
Our old self was crucified, in order that our body of sin might
be done away with!” (Ro 6:6) When Christ died, we died in Him if we are united to
Him by faith. And we died with Him so that we might demonstrate this
death by putting to death the sinful deeds of the body (Ro 8:13- note). Because we
already have the victory (Ed: Christ won the Victory over sin,
Satan and death on the Cross) we can succeed in our violence against sin! He
breaks the power of cancelled sin.
We can only kill the sin that has
already been killed when we were killed in Christ. This is Christianity,
not moral self improvement. (Read the full sermon
How to Kill Sin, Part 2)
WHICH IS BEING CORRUPTED IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE LUSTS OF DECEIT: phtheiromenon (PPPMSA) kata tas
epithumias tes apates:
(Proverbs
11:18; Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 1:3; Romans 7:11; Titus 3:3; Hebrews
3:13; James 1:26; 2 Peter 2:13)
Paul is saying
that the whole character which represented the former self was not only
corrupt but was continually growing more and more corrupt (present
tense). The old man
is decaying day by day, like a decomposing corpse. Every trait of the
old self's behavior is putrid, crumbling, or inflated like rotting waste
or cadavers, stinking, ripe for being disposed of and forgotten.
Vincent
writes that the authorized version rendering ("which is corrupt")
misses the force of the participle.
The verb is
passive voice
which is being corrupted (present
tense), and marks
the progressive condition of corruption which characterizes “the old
man.” Rev., correctly, waxeth corrupt.
Being corrupted
(5351)
(phtheiro
[word study]
from phthío or phthíno = waste, decay,
wither, pine away) means to cause harm to in a physical manner or in
outward circumstances. To shrivel, to wither, to spoil. It means to ruin
or destroy something with the implication of causing something to be
corrupt and cease to exist. To destroy by corrupting. To pine or waste
away. To corrupt in the sense of degeneration.
Webster says that
corrupt (from cor- ‘altogether’ + rumpere ‘to break’) implies
loss of soundness, purity, or integrity, while defile implies
befouling of what could or should have been kept clean and pure or held
sacred and commonly suggests violation or desecration. Wither means to
become dry and sapless, to shrivel as if from loss of bodily moisture,
to lose vitality, force or freshness. Phtheiro
is the root word from which we get our word diphtheria, an acute
febrile contagious disease marked by the formation of a false membrane
especially in the throat and caused by a bacterium (Corynebacterium
diphtheriae) that produces a toxin causing inflammation of the heart and
nervous system.
Figuratively phtheiro as used by Paul in this verse it means to ruin, to corrupt or to cause
deterioration of a man's inner life (as by erroneous teaching or
immorality). Phtheiro and related derivatives are often used of moral
corruption (see Ge 6:11 below). The image is powerful. It reeks of
decay, as inner death and ruin gain a grip on individual and society,
promising not progress but a continual rotting away.
Classic Greek used
phtheiro to describe buildings which crumbled with age and a derivative
kataphtheiro to described economic ruin. "Phtheireste" was used as a
curse to mean "be damned" or "go to the devil". Often in contracts it is
laid down that the nurse engaged should not “spoil” her milk. Many
papyri refer to animals that have fallen. The word group can refer to
loss of food, of fruits destroyed by grasshoppers.
NIDNTT
writes that...
In classical Gk. from the time of
Homer onwards, and also in Philo and the Test. XII, phtheiro
means to ruin, corrupt, destroy, kill. The term has various shades of
meaning: to corrupt morally (Aristotle, Eth.Nic., 1103b), to bring down
the state of laws (Plato, Laws 958c), to bribe (Dem., Orationes 18,
247), to seduce a woman (Dem., Orationes, 45, 79), to defile a virgin
(Lucian, Cataplus sive Tyrannus 26). In the passive voice it means to go
to ruin, perish, be corrupted, destroyed; and in the middle voice to
destroy oneself (Thuc., 3, 113, 5).
Derived from the word are phthora,
destruction, corruption (Plato, Timaeus, 23c), and diaphthora,
destruction (Polybius, 1, 48, 3, 8), murder (Euripides, Ion, 617), which
is later used in the sense of corruption, disorder. Later words are
aphtharsia, indestructibility, immortality (not before Epicurus,
according to Diog. Laert., 10, 123), and aphthartos,
incorruptible (Aristotle, De longitudine et brevitate vitae, 4, 466a 1;
cf. also Wis. 12:1; Philo, Sacr., 95).
Diaphtheiro can mean, in
combination with other terms, to frustrate attempts to help (Thuc., 3,
113, 5), to change one’s mind (Aesch., Agamemnon, 932)...It is
interesting that in the NT this group of words occurs nowhere in the
gospels except for Lk. 12:33 (of moths destroying -- diaphtheiro
--clothes). (Brown,
Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986.
Zondervan)
TDNT adds
that...
phtheiro means “to destroy,”
middle and passive “to perish.” It is often used for “to kill” (“to be
killed”), but may also mean “to languish” (e.g., in prison). Economic
ruin may also be in view. In curses the meaning may be “be damned” or
more weakly “be off.” Another sense is “to spoil” (e.g., milk). The loss
of food or of animals may sometimes be denoted. (Kittel,
G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament. Eerdmans)
Paul's point is
this corruption brings about the result that they are being brought into
a worse state. Note also that this corruption is a process that goes on,
a condition that progresses! The unsaved person is thus subject to a
continuous process of corruption which grows worse as time goes on. Be careful beloved! "The person you used to be"
will ruin you through desires that deceive you. That old self
becomes worse and worse because people are fooled by the evil things
they want to do.
Phtheiro is
used 8 times in the NT and 21 times in the
Septuagint (LXX).
Here are a few instructive representative uses in the
Septuagint...
Genesis 6:11 Now the earth was
corrupt (phtheiro is the first word in the sentence emphasizing
the state of the earth because of the effect of sin -- "Corrupt was the
earth") in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Daniel 2:44 "And in the days
of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never
be destroyed, (never be corrupted!!!) and that kingdom will not
be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these
kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
Daniel 7:14 "And to Him was
given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and
men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not
be destroyed, (never be corrupted) .
Here are the 8
NT uses of phtheiro...
1 Corinthians 3:17 If any man
destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple
of God is holy, and that is what you are. (Comment: In the
opinion of the Jews the temple was corrupted, or `destroyed', when
anyone defiled or in the slightest degree damaged anything in it, or if
its guardians neglected their duties. In the ancient world
destroying a temple was a capital offense. The church is holy in that
God has set it aside to glorify Himself even though it is not always as
holy in its conduct as it is in its calling)
1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be
deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
2 Corinthians 7:2 Make room
for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we
took advantage of no one.
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am
afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds
should be led astray (phtheiro = corrupted) from the simplicity
and purity of devotion to Christ.
Ephesians 4:22
that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old
self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of
deceit,
2 Peter 2:12
(note) But these,
like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured
and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the
destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,
Jude 1:10 But these men revile
the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know
by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are
destroyed.
Revelation 19:2 because His
judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who
was corrupting (imperfect
tense
= corrupting it over and over) the
earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His
bond-servants on her."
Ruth Paxson
has the following note regarding "being corrupted" writing
that...
The old man
is utterly defiled and defiling in character, and waxes more and more
degenerate in conduct even unto the point of depravity, as in the case
of "the other Gentiles." "The old man" can do nothing but sin, for all
his desires (Ep 4:22), as well as his deeds (Col 3:9- note),
are sinful. He is unchangeable and incurable because he doesn't want to
be changed. He is also irretrievably incorrigible, for his attitude to
God is one of habitual disobedience (Ep 2:2-note), hardened into fixed enmity (Ro
8:7-note). "The
old man," therefore, is the whole old creation in Adam. It is the sinner
with only a sinful nature which contaminates everything from the centre
to the circumference of his life. (Paxson, Ruth: The Wealth, the Walk
and the Warfare of the Christian. 1939. Revell)
Lusts (1939)
(epithumia
from
epi = at, toward {the
preposition "epi-" in the compound is directive conveying the picture of
"having one’s passion toward" + thumos = passion) (Click
word study on
epithumia) is a neutral term denoting
the presence of strong desires or impulses, longings or passionate
craving (whether good or evil is determined by
context) directed toward an object.
W. E. Vine summarizes
epithumia as follows:
epithumia denotes
"strong desire" of any kind, the various kinds being frequently
specified by some adjective (see below). The word is used of a good
desire only in Lu 22:15; Phil 1:23
[note];
1Thes 2:17
[note].
Everywhere else it has a bad sense. In Ro 6:12
[note] the
injunction against letting sin reign in our mortal body to obey the
"lust" thereof, refers to those evil desires which are ready to
express themselves in bodily activity. They are equally the "lusts" of
the flesh, Ro 13:14
[note];
Gal 5:16 [note],
Gal 5:24
[note];
Eph 2:3
[note];
2Pe 2:18
[note];
1Jn 2:16, a
phrase which describes the emotions of the soul, the natural tendency
towards things evil. Such "lusts" are not necessarily base and
immoral, they may be refined in character, but are evil if
inconsistent with the will of God.
Other descriptions besides
those already mentioned are: "of the mind," Ephesians 2:3
[note]; "evil
(desire)," Colossians 3:5
[note]; "the
passion of," 1Thessalonians 4:5
[note], RV; "foolish and
hurtful," 1Ti 6:9; "youthful," 2Ti 2:22
[note];
"divers," 2Ti 3:6
[note]; Titus 3:3
[note];
"their own," 2Ti 4:3
[note]; 2Pe
3:3
[note];
Jude 1:16;
"worldly,"
Titus 2:12 [note];
"his own," Jas 1:14 [note];
"your former," 1P 1:14
[note],
RV; "fleshly," 1Pe 2:11
[note];
"of men," 1Pe 4:2
[note];
"of defilement," 2Pe 2:10
[note]; "of the
eyes," 1Jn 2:16; of the world ("thereof"), 1Jn 2:17; "their own
ungodly," Jude 1:18. In Re 18:14 [note]
"(the fruits) which thy soul lusted after" is, lit., "of thy soul's
lust." (Vine,
W E: Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament
Words. 1996. Nelson)
Deceit
(539)
(apate from apatao = cheat, delude, deceive, beguile)
describes that which gives a false impression, whether by appearance,
statement or influence. It speaks of ethical enticement. It is spoken of
anything which is seducing (a leading astray by persuasion or
false promises) Apate describes that which causes someone to have
misleading or erroneous views concerning the truth.
Enticement
(Concise Oxford English Dictionary says it derives from Old French
enticier, prob. from a base meaning ‘set on fire’) - is that which to
attracts and leads astray artfully or adroitly or by arousing hope or
desire.
Deception -
is that which deliberately causes (someone) to believe something that is
not true.
It describes that which seduces someone
such as riches (Mt 13:22, Mk 4:19) or sin, which can harden by its
trickery (He 3:13-note).
Apate refers to deception of pleasure that involves one in sin
(deceitful pleasure, evil fun, dissipation) as in (2Pe 2:13-note)
Deceit is
personified here as the source of strength as the lusts are not
deceitful in themselves. This process of corruption is dominated
or controlled by the passionate desires of deceit (personified). The
lusts are excited by deceit, i.e. by deceitful influences seducing one
to commit sins. Lusts are deceitful because they promise joy to
but fails to provide it. These lusts promise passing pleasure (He 11:25)
and joy, but in fact actually steal the believer's Spirit borne joy. As
you have undoubtedly heard, kill sin, lest it be killing you (and it
will kill our joy in the Lord!)
Richards
notes that...
Deception sometimes comes from
within, as our desires impel us to deceive. But more often in the NT,
deceit is error urged by external evil powers or by those locked into
the world's way of thinking. (Richards,
L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)
Paul's point is
that lusts possessed of deceit are seductive and give a false impression
in that they promise joy, satisfaction and fulfillment (cf the "passing
pleasures of sin" Heb 11:24-note) but they fail to produce. Apate
therefore describes the deceitful propensities which seduce to sin
and lead to disappointment. Sure the initial result may be temporary
"satisfaction" but the damage is corruption (defiling, withering,
ultimately destruction) of one's soul. Do not be deceived!
Here are the 7
uses of apate (none in the LXX)...
Matthew 13:22 "And the one on
whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word,
and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke
the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Mark 4:19 and the worries of
the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for
other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Ephesians 4:22 that, in
reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self,
which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
Colossians 2:8 (see note)
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty
deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the
elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with
all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because
they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
Hebrews 3:13 (see note)
But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called
"Today," lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of
sin. (The recipients are warned against being hardened by a trick which
their sin may play upon them. Mark is down that sin is
always a deceitful thing, in that it promises to do that which it
cannot do. Sin is always a lie. Any man who sins, who does the forbidden
thing or who takes the forbidden thing, does so because he thinks that
he will be happier for doing or taking that thing. Sin deceives him into
thinking so. But the plain fact of experience is that an act or a
possession which is the result of sin never brought happiness to any
man. Long ago, Epicurus, with his strictly utilitarian morality, pointed
out that sin can never bring happiness, because, apart from anything
else, it leaves a man with the constant fear of being found out! Good
logic from an unregenerate Gentile!)
2 Peter 2:13 (see note)
suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to
revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their
deceptions, as they carouse with you,
Spiritual Reupholstering -
When we moved into our home 5 years ago, we discovered that the former
owner had left us six dining room chairs. They were covered with fabric
of beautiful African art—tasteful zebra stripes. We appreciated the
unexpected gifts and used them frequently when entertaining guests.
When we recently moved again, those chairs needed a makeover to match
our new decor. So I called an upholsterer and asked, "Shouldn't we just
put the new material over the existing fabric?" He responded, "No,
you'll ruin the shape of the chair if you just put new material over the
old."
The work of God in our lives is similar. He's not interested in merely
changing our spiritual appearance. Instead, He intends to replace our
character with what is called "the new man," made in the image of Christ
(Ephesians 4:24). The flesh has a tendency to perform religious
activity, but this is not the work of the Holy Spirit. He will
completely transform us on the inside.
But the process is a partnership (Philippians 2:12, 13). As we daily lay
aside our old behaviors and replace them with godly ones, the God of
grace works in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
God wants to reupholster us. — Dennis Fisher
Dear Lord, You've given new life to
me—
A great and full salvation;
And may the life that others see
Display the transformation. —Hess
When you receive Christ, God's work in you has just begun.
Dragon Skin - In the fifth
Chronicle of Narnia, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Edmund, Lucy, and
their spoiled cousin Eustace are summoned to help on a quest in the
Eastern Sea. Along the way, Eustace is tempted by enchanted treasure and
turned into a dragon. The desperate dragon accepts the help of the great
lion Aslan, king of Narnia. But Eustace can only be freed by allowing
Aslan’s claws to painfully tear off the dragon’s flesh. Grateful for his
deliverance, Eustace chooses to become a better boy.
Receiving God’s gift of salvation through Christ is a one-time event,
but to become like Him often requires suffering and struggle. It
involves putting off old sinful habits and replacing them with new godly
ones. Paul wrote, “Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man
which grows corrupt . . . [and] put on the new man which was created
according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22, 23,
24).
What is troubling you today? God may be using the kind rebuke of a
friend or a painful trial to prompt you to get rid of a sinful habit and
to replace it with godly character (Ro 8:29; 1 Peter 4:1, 2).
The process of becoming like Christ is sometimes painful, but it’s
always worth it.— Dennis Fisher
To be like Jesus is our goal,
Though it doesn’t happen fast;
We trust the Spirit as our Guide
Till we’re glorified at last. —Branon
The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment;
the growth of a saint is the work of a lifetime.
|
|
Ephesians 4:20-24
The Changed Life
by Pastor Steven Cole
When it comes to
the subject of changing our lives, we all feel the same as we feel about
going to heaven: We’re all for it, but we’d rather not go through what
you have to go through to get there! The idea of change sounds good, but
when it gets right down to it, we think, “You mean I actually have to
live differently? No way!”
But the Christian life is
fundamentally a changed life. If you claim to believe in Christ, but are
living just as you did before you believed in Him, you need to examine
whether you truly believe in Him. Becoming a Christian requires turning
from your sin to God (repentance; Ed: see
metanoia word study). But repentance is
not a one-time event. It defines the lifestyle of a believer. God
changes us radically at the moment of salvation by imparting new life to
us, but this is followed by a life-time of changing into the image of
Jesus Christ (2Cor. 3:18).
In Ephesians 4:17, 18, 19, Paul paints a grim portrait of how
unbelievers live. While not all unbelievers are as bad as they possibly
could be, they all live
“in the futility of their mind,
being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God
because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of
their heart” (Ep 4:17, 18).
That bleak picture describes each of
us before we met Jesus Christ.
But now (Ep 4:20) Paul draws a sharp contrast: “But you did not learn
Christ in this way.” He gives us a brief sketch of the changed life
that every believer should be experiencing. He’s saying:
The changed life stems from the transformation that God works in us
through the gospel as we put off the old life, are renewed in our minds,
and put on the new life in Christ.
First, Paul shows the changes that God works in us through the gospel
(Ep 4:20,21) and then he shows us how the process of changes works in
our ongoing experience (Ep 4:22, 23, 24).
1. The changed
life begins by coming to know Christ personally
(Ep 4:20, 21).
Paul describes the changed life in four ways:
A. The changed life begins
when you learn Christ.
To “learn Christ” is an unusual phrase that occurs no where else.
Paul does not say, “you did not learn about Christ,” but rather, “you
did not learn Christ in this way.” This way refers to the way of
unbelievers that he has just described.
What does he mean, to “learn Christ”? He is saying that to become
a Christian is a matter of coming to know Christ personally. Yes, you
must know something about who He is, as revealed in Scripture. The
entire Bible testifies to the truth of who Jesus is, that He is the
Christ (Messiah, God’s anointed One), the Son of God. He is the eternal
God in human flesh. You must also know something about the significance
of what He did when He died on the cross as the substitute for sinners.
He satisfied God’s wrath toward our sin, so that we are free from
condemnation when we trust in Christ to save us.
But it is possible to know all of these facts and more and yet not to
know Jesus Christ personally. In John 17:3, Jesus prayed, “This is
eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom You have sent.” The Christian life begins when you
receive eternal life from God through faith in Jesus Christ. At that
moment, you come to know Him personally. Yes, that initial encounter
with Christ is only the beginning of an eternal relationship with Him.
But, if you have not entered into that personal relationship with
Christ, you are not a Christian in the true sense of the word. You may
be a theologian or a Bible scholar. But you are only like a historian
who knows much about the President, but who has never met him or spent
any time with him personally. The changed life begins when you learn
Christ.
B. The changed life begins
when you hear Christ.
“If indeed” does not express any doubt, but rather affirmation. Paul is
saying, “I know that you have heard Him.” Probably none of the Asian
believers had heard Jesus in Palestine when He was on earth. None of
them had had a personal encounter with the risen Christ, as Paul did on
the Damascus Road. Rather, Paul means that when he and others had
preached the gospel, these people had heard it as God speaking to them.
God opened their deaf ears so that they didn’t just listen to words, but
they heard Jesus Christ calling them to Himself. They heard so as to
obey His call to faith and repentance.
In John 8:43, Jesus asks the Jews that were challenging Him, “Why do you
not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.”
He goes on to identify the root problem, that they were of their father,
the devil. Satan had deafened their ears so that they could not hear
Christ’s words of eternal life in order to believe and be saved. The
changed life begins when God opens your ears to hear Jesus Christ in the
gospel and respond with obedient faith.
C. The changed life begins
when you are taught in Christ.
The proper translation is not, taught by Him (KJV), but rather,
taught in Him. The phrase “in Christ” sums up Paul’s view
of what it means to be a Christian. As we saw in chapter 1, the saints
are “faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ep 1:1). We have received every
spiritual blessing “in Christ” (Ep 1:3). God chose us “in Him” before
the foundation of the world (Ep 1:4). “In Him we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ep 1:7). He made known to
us the mystery of His will, which He purposed “in Him” (Ep 1:9). “In
Him” we have obtained an inheritance (Ep 1:10, 11). “In Him” we have
been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ep 1:13). God’s surpassing
power towards us was revealed “in Christ” when He raised Him from the
dead (Ep 1:20). These are just the references to being “in Christ” in
chapter 1! The blessings that are ours because we are “in Christ” keep
piling up!
So, to be “taught in Him,” means to be taught from the standpoint
of this new relationship with Christ that entails this new position in
Christ. Before, you stood outside, not understanding the things of God.
But now, because of God’s mercy and kindness toward you in Christ, you
are “in Him” for time and eternity. To be taught in Him is a lifelong
process that begins at the moment of salvation, but never ends. Since
Christ is the center of all of Scripture, to be taught in Him is to grow
to know the glory of Christ in His person, His offices, and His work on
our behalf. Someday when we see Him as He is, we will be instantly
changed to be like Him (1John 3:2). Meanwhile, we must engage in the
process of being taught in Him.
D. The changed life begins
when you know the truth that is in Jesus.
The phrase, “just as truth is in Jesus,” qualifies the preceding
comments about learning Christ, hearing Him, and being taught in Him.
The reason that Christ is the focus of instruction is that He is the
embodiment of truth (John 14:6). The truth of salvation is only in Jesus
Christ. In Him, we learn the truth about who we are, the truth about sin
and righteousness, and the truth about God’s purpose for why we are on
this earth. We learn the truth about how to love God and how to love one
another. We learn the truth about the coming judgment, and about heaven
and hell. All of the truth that we need for life and godliness centers
in the person of Jesus Christ.
Note that Paul here makes a deliberate shift in how he refers to Christ.
In Ep 4:20, he talks about learning Christ, but here he says that the
truth is in Jesus. This is the only time in Ephesians that he uses the
name Jesus by itself. Why did Paul not say, “just as the truth is in
Christ”? The change seems to be more than stylistic. The name “Jesus”
focuses on the historical person who was born of the virgin Mary, who
worked as a carpenter, and who walked around Israel teaching and healing
the sick. He was crucified, raised bodily from the dead, seen by many of
His disciples after the resurrection, and ascended bodily into heaven.
All of these historic facts lie behind the name, “Jesus.”
But, why does Paul want us to think of the truth that is in Jesus?
Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Darkness and Light [Baker], p. 100) explains,
the Christian is not saved by a
philosophy of redemption; he is saved by that historic Person, Jesus of
Nazareth, Son of God!
Some of the false cults talk about
“the cosmic Christ,” or the “Christ principle within us all.” But that
is just metaphysical mumbo jumbo!
As Lloyd-Jones points out (ibid.), all of the world’s major religions
are built around teachings and ideas. But, in sharp contrast, the truth
of the gospel is rooted in history. The Christian message is the
proclamation of certain facts that happened in history in the person of
Jesus. If the gospel accounts are fictional stories, then there is no
salvation in Jesus! If the historic person of Jesus did not die on the
cross and rise bodily from the dead, as testified by many reliable
eyewitnesses, then you are still in your sins (1Co 15:17). Everything in
the Christian faith rests on the truth being in the historical person of
Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead!
So Paul’s point (in Ep 4:20, 21) is that the changed life stems from the
transformation that God works in us through the gospel. When we meet
Jesus Christ personally through faith, we are changed people! But, how
does the process continue? Paul goes on (Ep 4:22, 23, 24) to explain
these changes with three infinitives (in Greek): “lay aside”; “be
renewed”; and, “put on.”
There are different opinions about how these infinitives function. In my
opinion, the best view is that the infinitives explain the changes that
took place when we trusted in Christ, but they also have the force of
ongoing commands. At the moment we trusted Christ, we did in fact lay
aside the old life and put on the new life, much as a baptismal
candidate took off his old clothes and put on a new, white robe for his
baptism. We began the process of inner renewal. But, day by day we must
continue to put off the dirty old life and put on the new life in
Christ, as we are renewed in the spirit of our mind. In other words, we
must live daily in light of the truth of what God says we now are. We
are new creatures in Christ (2Co 5:17). Live each day in light of that
truth by decisively putting off the old life, being renewed in your
mind, and putting on the new life. Let’s look at each of these.
2. The
changed life requires putting off the old man
(Ep 4:22).
Paul’s phrase is literally, “the old man.” He identifies this as
being “in reference to your former manner of life.” So the old
man refers to all that we were before we were saved, when we were
ruled by the evil desires and practices (see Ep 4:19; 2:3). Paul uses
the same phrase in Romans 6:6, where he says,
our old self was crucified with Him,
in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would
no longer be slaves to sin.
Romans 6 is really a longer
exposition of what Paul says more succinctly here.
In Romans 6:6 (and in Col. 3:9), Paul refers to the putting off of the
old man as an accomplished fact. When Christ died on the cross, we died
with Him positionally. When He was raised from the dead, we were
raised up with Him. We are to reckon these facts to be true in our daily
practice, so that we will not yield to sin (Ro 6:11). Because in those
passages Paul clearly states this putting off of the old life as a done
deal, some argue that it is not something that we have to go on doing
now. They contend that it was a once and for all matter that happened at
the cross.
But, although we died with Christ, in other places Paul commands us to
put to death our members that are on the earth (Ro 8:13; Col. 3:5,
literal translation). Why do we need to put to death our members if we
already died?
My understanding is that we must daily apply experientially the
facts that are true of us positionally. So, yes, at the moment we
got saved, we put off the dirty clothes of the old life. But, every day
we must reckon that this is so by putting off everything associated with
the old life and putting on the new life in Christ.
Lloyd-Jones (ibid. p. 123) uses a helpful illustration. When Abraham
Lincoln freed the slaves, they were officially free from their many
years of servitude, but some of them went on living as if they were
still slaves. The President’s proclamation gave them legal standing as
free citizens. It was a done deal—they were no longer slaves. But, out
of habit and way of thinking, many of these poor people still lived like
slaves. So, they needed to live in accordance with the new facts. When
they were tempted to think like a slave, they needed to say, “No, the
truth is I am now a free man!” They needed to appropriate that truth
into their daily experience.
Even so, our old life involved a process of being corrupted by the lusts
of deceit. Sin deceives us into thinking that it will give us freedom
and fulfillment, but it’s a lie (He 3:13). Sin only defiles, enslaves
(Jn 8:34, 2Pe 2:19, Pr 5:22), and ultimately destroys the person who is
deceived by it (cp Jas 1:15, Ro 6:23). When Christ saved us, He
liberated us from bondage to sin (Ro 6:7, Ro 6:19, Ro 6:22, Acts 13:39,
2Co 3:17, Ga 2:4, Jas 1:25). We died to sin by virtue of His death on
the cross (Ro 6:2, Ro 6:11). We were raised to new life in Him (Ep 2:6,
Col 2:12, Col 3:1, Ro 6:4, cp Ro 7:4, Ro 8:11). Now, we must daily put
off the dirty clothes of sin and put on the new clothes of righteousness
and holiness in Him (Ep 4:24), because He freed us. There is still in us
a strong tug toward the old life, but we do not have to yield to it (Ro
6:12, 13). The changed life involves putting off the old man.
3. The
changed life requires being renewed in the spirit of your mind
(Ep 4:23).
“Be renewed” is a
present
passive
infinitive, which means that it is an ongoing process that God performs
in us as we cooperate with Him (see Phil. 2:12, 13). The renewing takes
place “in the spirit of your mind.” God does the renewing as we
obey Him by saturating our minds with His transforming Word of truth (cp
Col 3:16, 2Co 3:18). So God’s Spirit performs the work of renewal in us,
but we are responsible to use the means of renewal, namely, His Word,
which renews our hearts and thoughts as we submit to it.
Why does Paul here refer to the spirit of your mind? Why not
just, be renewed in your mind (as in Ro 12:2)? Some interpret “spirit”
as the Holy Spirit, but the phrase, “of your mind” doesn’t fit
with this. The Spirit isn’t a part of our minds. Others take it as the
human spirit, but Paul does not use “spirit” in that way anywhere else
in Ephesians. Some think that “spirit” is in apposition to “mind,” so
that it means, “the spirit, which is your mind.” But, why would he say
it that way? Others take it to mean, “the attitude or disposition of
your mind.” Some say that it simply refers to your inner being.
Perhaps the best view is that it refers to the principle that regulates
or controls the mind. In this sense, “the spirit of the world”
(1Co 2:12) is the principle that controls the world, or makes it what it
is (Charles
Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians).
Thus, the spirit of the mind is not just mental ability, “but the power
that controls and directs the abilities” (Lloyd-Jones, p. 156). Paul
means that our entire way of thinking and what controls our thinking
needs renewal. We need to think in line with God’s thoughts, as revealed
in His Word.
This means that true biblical change must not bypass the mind.
Sometimes, evangelists use emotional stories or music or a dramatic
setting and then appeal to people to make a decision for Jesus. But they
have bypassed the mind. Such decisions, made on the basis of emotions,
will not last. God reasons with us through the truths of His Word. The
doctrines of Scripture make sense, because they are God’s truth. When
the Spirit of God opens a person’s mind to the truths revealed in the
Word, the truth will result in changed emotions and changed wills. Any
change that bypasses the spirit of the mind will not last.
So, the changed life begins by coming to know Christ personally. It
requires putting off the old life of corruption and deceit, and being
renewed in the spirit of our minds. Finally,
4. The
changed life requires putting on the new man
(Eph 4:24).
Again, I believe that the sense is that we did put on this new man once
and for all at the point of conversion, but we must continue putting on
this new man every day by making true in our experience what is actually
true of us positionally. In other words, we must live by applying
the truth of the new man in every situation that we face. Paul will make
this very specific in Ep 4:25-6:9. When you face the temptation to lie
(the old man’s way of acting), instead you speak the truth (Ep 4:25),
because you are a new person in Christ. Instead of stealing, you work
and give (Ep 4:28). Etc.
Note several things about this new man.
First, while Paul is applying
it individually here, it also has a corporate aspect. He used the
phrase, “new man,” in Ep 2:15 to describe the church as the new
creation of Jew and Gentile in Christ. Whereas the old man lived for
self, the new man considers others ahead of self. Whereas the old man
was full of racial prejudice and pride, the new man erases those
distinctions and views others in the body equally as brothers in Christ.
This corporate aspect of the new man implies that if you are not
involved with a local church, where you are being built together with
other believers, then you do not understand a major part of the new way
in which you are supposed to live.
Second, God is the Creator of this new man. As we saw in
Ephesians 2:10,
we are His workmanship (poiema
- word study),
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so
that we would walk in them.
This shows that the changed life of
the believer is not something that we must conjure up by our own will
power. God created us anew in Him. But, at the same time, we must walk
in the good works that He has prepared for us.
Third, God is the pattern of this new man. It has been created
(literally) “according to God,” or, as the NASB interprets it (in
line with Col 3:10), “in the likeness of God.” Specifically, Paul
mentions righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Righteousness and holiness are aspects of God’s character in Psalm
144:17 and Deut 32:4. See, also, Luke 1:75; 1Th 2:10; Titus 1:8.) These
qualities are essentially synonymous, but righteousness refers to
living according to God’s standards, whereas holiness has the
nuance of essential purity. Both qualities are the result of the
truth, namely, the truth as it is in Jesus. In other words, the
truth of sound doctrine results in holy living.
Conclusion
We don’t all have dramatic conversion, as the apostle Paul did. Many of
us that were raised in Christian homes may not know exactly when we came
to faith in Christ. But no matter what our experience of conversion, we
ought to know that God has changed our hearts. Formerly, we did not know
Christ, but now we do, however imperfectly. Formerly, even if we
maintained an outward veneer of virtue, we lived for self. Now, we live
for Christ, to know Him and serve Him. Formerly, we were being corrupted
by the evil desires of sin that deceived us into thinking that they
would bring fulfillment. Now, we are new creatures in Christ, living for
righteousness and holiness, which come from the truth that is in Jesus.
While it is a lifelong process of renewal, you should be able to see the
distinct difference between the old person that you were and the new
person that you now are in Christ. You should be able to relate to the
old Black preacher who said,
“I ain’t what I want to be and I
ain’t what I’m gonna be, but praise God, I ain’t what I used to be!”
Application
Questions
If a person did not have a dramatic conversion, how can he know that he
was truly born again? Cite biblical support.
If the “old man” is dead and removed at salvation, why do we still have
such an intense struggle against sin?
What are some practical ways to be renewed in the spirit of your mind?
Be specific.
How do lusts deceive us? How can we avoid this deception?
(From Pastor Steven Cole - His sermon
transcripts and audios are excellent verse by verse exposition and are
therefore highly recommended - click for a complete list of sermons
-- The Messages of Pastor Steven J. Cole)
(Bolding and references added) |
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