In Ephesians 4:22 Paul says, “You put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit.” In verse 24 Paul goes on to say, “Put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.” It is based upon our having put off the old man and having put on the new man that we can enjoy Christ as the reality and grace for the living of the new man. In our experience, we should cooperate with the Triune God to put off the old man, which He terminated on the cross; we should also cooperate with the Triune God to put on the new man, which He created through Christ’s death and resurrection.
Verse 22 says that we have put off, as regards the former manner of life, the old man. The former manner of life was a walk in the vanity of the mind. Such a manner of life has been terminated and put away. Verse 22 also says that the old man “is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit.” The old man is of Adam, who was created by God but fallen through sin. The article before the word deceit is emphatic and indicates that the deceit is personified. Hence, deceit here 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. Inwardly, the old man is corrupted according to the lusts of the devil, the lusts of the deceit. This old man was crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6) and was buried in baptism (v. 4). We should praise the Lord that we have put off the old man in baptism.
In Ephesians 4:24 Paul says, “Put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.” It was in baptism that we put on the new man (Rom. 6:4b). The new man is the practical church life, which is Christ as the life-giving Spirit mingled with our spirit in a corporate way. To put on the church life as the new man is to put on this entity produced by the mingling of the divine Spirit with the human spirit.
Ephesians 4:24 tells us that the new man was created according to God. The old man was created according to the image of God outwardly, without God’s life and nature (Gen. 1:26-27), but the new man was created according to God Himself inwardly, with God’s life and nature (Col. 3:10).
Furthermore, the new man was created in righteousness and holiness of the reality. Righteousness is to be right with God and with man according to God’s righteous way, and holiness is godliness and devoutness before God. Righteousness refers to the outward acts, whereas holiness refers to the inward nature. Outwardly, everything related to the new man is righteous; inwardly, everything related to the new man is holy. Righteousness is mainly toward men, and holiness is mainly toward God.
The righteousness and holiness of the new man are of the reality. The article before reality in Ephesians 4:24 is emphatic. As the deceit in verse 22, related to the old man, is the personification of Satan, so the reality here, related to the new man, is the personification of God. This reality was exhibited in the life of Jesus, as mentioned in verse 21. In the life of Jesus righteousness and holiness of the reality were continuously manifested. It was in the righteousness and holiness of this reality, which is God realized and expressed, that the new man was created.
The deceit is the devil, and the reality is God. The old man is according to the lusts of the devil, but the new man is in the righteousness and holiness of God. Holiness here is the holiness of the divine person. The new man was created according to God in the righteousness and holiness of God Himself. In order that we might learn Christ, Paul presents a sharp contrast between the old man and the new man, between the devil and God, and between lusts, on the one hand, and righteousness and holiness, on the other. We have been taught that we have already put off the old man and have put on the new man. This means we have put off the lusts and the falsehood of the devil and have put on the righteousness and holiness of God. This God is the reality, and this reality is seen in the living of Jesus on earth. The human living of Jesus was according to the reality, that is, according to God Himself, full of righteousness and holiness. We should praise the Lord that we have learned Christ as the reality is in Jesus. If we learn Christ by putting off the old man and by putting on the new man, we will be in the church life, for the new man actually is the church. If we learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus, then we can have a genuine, proper, and practical church life.
In verses 17 through 24 we have the principle of our renewed daily living for the learning of Christ. This principle is the reality, the living of the Lord Jesus when He was on earth. The Lord’s living was that of always putting off His own life and of putting on the Father’s life. This is the life of Jesus, and this life is the reality that is the principle of a life of learning Christ. According to this principle, we have put off the old man and have put on the new man.
Every aspect of our daily living should be governed by this principle, not by a standard of ethics. For example, our conversation should be governed not by a standard of ethics but by the New Testament principle of having put off the old man and of having put on the new man. Even how much we laugh or cry should be determined by the principle of having put off the old man and of having put on the new man. This principle is much higher than any ethical standard.
In baptism we put off the old man and put on the new man, which is the church life. Now our daily living in the church life is to be according to the principle of the reality, according to the pattern of the life of reality set up by the living of the Lord Jesus. We have been taught according to this principle as the reality is in Jesus.
The new man, a new corporate person, should live a life like that which Jesus lived on earth, that is, a life of reality that expresses God and causes God to be realized by man as the reality. The new man must live as the reality is in Jesus. Since God is the reality, to live as the reality is in Jesus is to live as God is in Jesus. The new man is the expression of God. What the new man lives out must be the expression of God.
In brief, the new man can live and become a living reality by the believers’ enjoyment of Christ in the practical and fine points revealed in Ephesians 4:17-32. The apostle’s exhortation in verses 17 through 32 not only takes grace and reality (vv. 21, 24, 29) as its basic elements but also takes the life of God (v. 18) and the Spirit of God as its basic factors. It is by the life of God in the Spirit of God that we can live a life full of grace and reality, as the Lord Jesus did. The apostle wanted us to live a life full of grace and reality (John 1:14, 17); such a life of Jesus should be our life today in the church. The living of the new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus. The way Jesus lived on earth is the way the new man should live today. Grace is God given to us for our enjoyment, and reality is God revealed to us as our reality. When we live and speak reality (Eph. 4:21, 24), we express God as our reality, and others receive God as grace for their enjoyment (v. 29). May we pursue the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the reality in Jesus and grace in our mouth for the living of the new man.