Because the book of Ephesians is a book on the church, we should view everything in it from the perspective of the church. If we fail to do this, we shall wrongly apply many things in this book. As we read 4:17-32, we should apply these verses corporately, not individualistically. These verses are not written in relation to the lives of individuals, but in relation to the corporate life of the one new man. The new man must become our daily living. In verse 24 Paul speaks of putting on the new man. To put on the new man means to have the church life, which is the new life of the new mankind created by Christ in Himself. The church is a new humanity. Corporately we need to put on another humanity. It is crucial for us to have this view as we consider the second half of Ephesians 4.
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.
In the church we have the best community life. If there were no church meetings, we would feel aimless, and our existence would be meaningless. We enjoy coming together in the meetings. The fact that the saints often linger after the meetings are dismissed indicates that in the church we have a genuine community life. If we would be the one new man, we must put off the community life of the old man and put on the community life of the new man.
Visiting Chinatown is part of Chinese social life in America. It is part of the living of the old man that must be put off if we are to practice the church life as the one new man. Many of those who go to Chinatown may discover that they have a difficult time praying after they come home. The reason for this is that, while they were in Chinatown, they were walking according to the vanity of the mind instead of being renewed in the spirit of the mind.
For the sisters to put off the old man in a practical way, they need to put off their old way of shopping. I believe that most sisters find it difficult to pray when they are in a department store because their way of shopping is according to the living of the old man. It seems that the old man who was buried in baptism is resuscitated in the department store. We need to keep the old man in the tomb in a practical way.
Sometimes in the church life those of a certain nationality may cluster together and converse in their native language instead of English. This practice shows that it is not easy to put off the old man. We automatically prefer our old community life. The reason today’s Christianity is so weak is that it is permeated with the old man and his community life. In the denominations it is very difficult to see anything of the one new man. In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we should no longer live according to the former conduct of the old man. We need to be renewed in the spirit of our mind and put on the one new man.
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. May we all look to the Lord and pray, “Lord, deliver my mind from vanity and fill it with the reality of the Spirit. Cause my mind to be occupied, possessed, and saturated by the reality of Jesus.” If we pray in this way, the Chinese brothers and sisters will find it hard to go to Chinatown, and the sisters will find it hard to shop in the old way. Then we shall have not only the creation of the new man, but the new man growing and functioning with a proper daily living. This is strategic to God’s economy. If the Lord can have this among us, He will gain a great victory. To have personal victories over things such as our temper cannot compare to the corporate victory of putting on the living of the new man in a practical way. The church life is the life of the corporate new man with a new nature and a new manner. Everything related to the living of the one new man is new.
In 4:24 Paul says that the new man is according to God. This means that the new man is according to God Himself, with God’s life and nature. Since the new man is according to God, it must have a life that is divine. Such a life will not be individualistic; it will be corporate. I believe that before long the living of the new man will be realized in the Lord’s recovery. In various localities the Lord will have a people whose daily living is the corporate life of the new man. This is the church life according to God’s plan.
We do not have the church life simply by coming together in the meetings to sing, pray-read, praise the Lord, and give testimonies. The church life is the daily walk of a corporate man, a walk that is absolutely new in nature and in manner. If we walk according to the spirit of our mind, we shall be those who live such a corporate life. We shall have the proper community life in which everything is new. May the Lord hasten the day when concerning this matter our sky is clear and we are fully in the light!