Ephesians 4:21-24

‘If so be that you heard him, and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, which waxes corrupt after the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man which after God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.'

If they had really heard His words as taught through witnesses, and had been taught about Him and His life, for what He brought was the truth, then they have will been shown that they should put away what they previously were, the ‘old man', with all its deceitful desires, and, being renewed in the spirit of their mind, should put on the new man, that man into which they had been changed, created within them by God in righteousness and true holiness. They will be a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

‘If so be that you heard Him and were taught in Him.' We are reminded here of our own great privileges. These men had no Gospels to read so as to learn the truth about Jesus. They were dependent on eyewitnesses and the passing on of tradition. And some may not have had much opportunity to hear such. So Paul makes allowance for the fact that some are in that position.

‘As the truth is in Jesus.' The tradition of His life and teaching was very important. It was ‘the testimony of Jesus' (Revelation 1:2; Revelation 1:9; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 19:10 compare 1 Corinthians 1:6) and amplified and expanded on the Old Testament teachings. It revealed the One Who brought the fullness of truth and indeed Who was the truth (John 14:6).

‘That you put away, as concerning the old manner of life, the old man.' Their old ways must be put away. There was still that within them which had been brought up in the old ways, and which even hankered after the old ways. Some take longer to throw them off than others. This is ‘the old man'. The man that they were. And he must be put aside, taken off like an unwanted suit of clothes. Examples of what must be put aside are given in John 14:25 and in the parallel passage in Colossians 3:5.

‘Which waxes corrupt after the lusts of deceit (deceitful lusts).' The behaviour of this old man engages continually in what is corrupt following deceitful desires (‘the lusts of deceit' is probably a Hebraism for ‘deceitful lusts', lusts springing from deceit - Hebrew regularly uses genitives instead of adjectives). He is to be locked away in the wardrobe! The verb is aorist indicating something that should be done once for all.

‘And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.' Literally ‘to go on being renewed'. They are to daily submit to the working of the Spirit and of the risen Christ, so that the renewing process may go on.

‘And put on the new man.' They are to dress themselves with the new man, again aorist, once for all. This is to be a once for all decision to put off the old and put on the new. They must then seek the daily renewing by the Holy Spirit. This compares very closely with the comparison between following the desires of the flesh of the desires of the Spirit (Romans 8:5; Galatians 5:16). The Christian life is never negative, there must not just be a renunciation of the bad but a positive commitment towards the good.

‘Which after God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.' The new man is patterned on God and has been created in His likeness in ‘righteousness and holiness of truth'. ‘Holiness of truth' is a Hebraism meaning ‘true holiness' similar to and in opposition to ‘the lusts of deceit' (Galatians 5:22). When they received Christ and the Holy Spirit they received righteousness and true holiness as ‘new men'. They are thus seen by God as righteous and holy. But this righteousness and holiness must reveal itself in their lives. Righteousness indicates the behaviour expected towards God and man, holiness the setting apart to God and His will. The word for ‘new' is kainos indicating freshness.