Ephesians 4:22

“that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit”

“That”: “What you learned was” (Phi). " Learning about Jesus includes learning to remove the sin in your life. Often we hear people arguing, “Just preach Jesus”. This section of Scripture reveals that preaching Jesus includes teaching Christians to put off the old man. This means that preaching Jesus includes sermons that specify what sin is, and in which attitudes and actions the Christian cannot participate (Ephesians 5:11). Preaching Jesus also includes teaching Christians what their new responsibilities are, and what they need to add to their lives. “Put away”: To cast off or remove. “To strip off” (Rhm). “Fling off the dirty clothes of the old way of living” (Phi). “Is to lay down, to lay aside, to put off as. garment, to renounce” (Caldwell p. 200). “Your former manner of life, the old man”: “The old self” (NASV). “The old man is the sum-total of their former practices and attitudes” (Bruce p. 358). This is possible. God does not give us any impossible commands (1 John 5:3). The good news is that we can change, even if such change demands giving up very addictive habits (1 Corinthians 6:9). We are not born inherently depraved, and neither does the problem of sin reside in our genetics. If God commands us to "put off" sinful attitudes and actions, then they are not "inherently" part of our being. “Putting off this old man is not. painless operation, it is violent, painful; Romans 6:6 calls it. crucifixion” (Lenski p. 564).

“That waxeth corrupt”: “Grows corrupt” (TCNT). “Which is going to ruin” (Gspd). “The self that wasted its aim on false dreams” (Knox). “Which were rotted through and through with lust's illusions” (Phi). “ Process of corruption (worse and worse)” (Robertson p. 540). Here we find additional motivation to put off the old self. The attitudes in the old self were causing decay. They were destroying our relationships, emotional, mental and physical health. As long as one remains in sin, one is not going to get any better. We must get rid of the old way of thinking, because those attitudes will destroy us! (Romans 6:21; Galatians 6:8; Titus 3:3; 2 Timothy 3:13). “After the lusts of deceit”: “Following the desires which deceives” (Con). “Deluded by its lusts” (NEB).

People remain in sin, not because they are "really" having such. good time, but rather because they have been "deceived" into thinking that they are really living. Sin is deceitful (Hebrews 3:13). If people would just honestly sit back and compare what. particular sin promised and what it actually delivered in terms of true happiness and fulfillment, they would find that the most blatant false advertising exists when it comes to temptation. Sin always promises much more than it actually delivers, and often the temptation itself is more appealing than the actual sin. Someone said, “Sin will take you farther than you ever thought you'd stray; Sin will keep you longer than you ever thought you'd stay; Sin will cost you more than you'd ever thought you'd pay”. Another person said, “Whether the cost of living goes up or down the cost of sowing ‘wild oats' remains the same”. “It promises so much from our self-centered, passionate desires and delivered only misery, dissipation, degradation, and loss of respect (Romans 13:14; 1 Timothy 6:9)” (Caldwell p. 202). “When Paul admonished Christians to put away the former life and reminded us that in it we are ‘being corrupted' he cuts at the very core of Calvinism. How can one be in the process of ‘being corrupted' if he is already totally depraved? How can one ‘put away' the old man if he is unable to exercise his free will?” (Caldwell p. 202). Notice the contrast between the old man and the new man. “The old was corrupt, in the process of degenerating, on its way to ruin or destruction; the new has been freshly created. The old was dominated by lusts, uncontrolled passions; the new has been created in righteousness and holiness. The lusts of the old were deceitful; the righteousness of the new is true” (Stott p. 181).