The believers put on the new man by putting off the old man with its corrupted living in the lusts of the deceit. Ephesians 4:22 says, “That you have put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit.” The old man is of Adam, created by God but fallen through sin. This old man was crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6) and was buried in baptism (Rom. 6:4a).
In Ephesians 4:22 the article before the word “deceit” is emphatic and indicates that the word deceit is personified. Hence, deceit refers to the deceiver, the Devil, from whom are the lusts of the corrupted old man. The old man is corrupted according to the lusts of the Devil, the deceiving one. Outwardly the manner of life of the old man is a walk in the vanity of the mind (v. 17). Inwardly, the old man is corrupted according to the lusts of the Devil, the lusts of the deceit.
To put off the old man is not merely to put off the old nature; it is to put off the old way of life, the former way of living. Our old way of living was not entirely an individualistic way of life, for it involved our social life, our community life. No human being can be altogether individualistic. Human nature is inherently social. To be a human being is to live in society and to have some kind of community life. Therefore, in particular, to put off the old man is to put off our worldly social relationships. A believer who continues to live in his old social relationships is still living the life of the old man. The living of the old man is mainly in social relationships. Hence, to put off the old man means not only to put off the self of the old man but also his worldly social relationships.
The Lord’s intention today is not simply to gather us together but to cause us to put off the life of the old man. We must put off not only our old nature, but also our former manner of life. Our way of life must become absolutely new in nature, manner, and practice. The church life is the daily living of the new man in the new nature and manner.
The believers put on the new man by the renewing in the spirit of their mind. In Ephesians 4:23 Paul says that we are being renewed in the spirit of our mind. To be renewed is for our transformation to the image of Christ (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). The spirit in verse 23 is the regenerated spirit of the believers mingled with the indwelling Spirit of God. Such a mingled spirit spreads into our mind, thus becoming the spirit of our mind. It is in such a spirit that we are renewed for our transformation. In this way our natural mind is conquered, subdued, and put under the spirit. This, of course, implies a process of metabolic transformation. As this process takes place, the mingled spirit enters our mind, takes over our mind, and becomes the spirit of our mind.
By the spirit of the mind we are renewed to fulfill in experience what was accomplished in the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man through baptism. The putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man are actually accomplished facts. Now we need to experience and realize these facts by being renewed in the spirit of our mind.
The way to put on the new man is for our spirit, which is mingled with the Spirit, to become the spirit of our mind. Our mind dominates and directs our whole being. For the spirit to become the spirit of our mind means that the spirit directs, controls, dominates, and possesses our mind. Instead of our mind being the mind of our spirit, our spirit should be the spirit of our mind. If the mind is the mind of the spirit, it means that our mind dominates, controls, and directs our spirit. But if our spirit is the spirit of our mind, it means that our spirit dominates, controls, and directs our mind. When the spirit directs our mind, it governs our whole being. When this is the case, our being is under the control of the spirit. It is in this spirit of our mind that we are renewed, and by means of this spirit we put on the new man experientially.
We need to see that the new man has already been created and, by regeneration, has been put into our spirit. The need now is for our spirit to become the dominant part of our being. This means that our spirit mingled with the Spirit of God must become the spirit of our mind. If our spirit is the spirit of our mind, then all our living will be by the spirit. Whatever we do will be according to the spirit. This spirit of our mind will then become the renewing spirit. As we are renewed by this spirit, we put on the new man.
How much in experience we put on the new man depends on how much our spirit directs our being. Therefore, experientially speaking, putting on the new man does not take place once for all. On the contrary, it is a life-long matter, a gradual process that goes on throughout our Christian life. When we were regenerated, the new man, created with Christ as the divine essence, was put into our spirit. Now day by day we need to put on this new man by permitting the spirit to control our being and renew our mind. Every time part of our being is renewed, we put on a little more of the new man. Hence, the more we are renewed through the spirit controlling our mind, the more of the new man we put on. Eventually, this process of putting on the new man will be completed.
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