Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us clearly that a believer in Christ has two men—the old man and the new man. The old man is of Adam through our natural birth, and the new man is of Christ by a new birth, regeneration.
According to my observation, very few believers in Christ and lovers of Christ live a life of continually putting off the old man and putting on the new man. In our daily life we mainly live an ethical life, spontaneously caring for matters of right and wrong. Those who live such an ethical life try their best to do what is right and to avoid doing what is wrong.
What kind of life do you live day by day? Is your daily life a life of the new man? In your daily living do you put off the old man and put on the new man? In your married life is it your practice to love your wife or husband by the new man or by the old man? We should not think that loving in the old man is justified by God. That kind of love is according to the law, according to the old dispensation, not according to God's New Testament economy and not according to the new creation. A brother may love his wife very much, but his love may be of the old creation, not of the new creation.
Among us in the Lord's recovery today, who is living a daily life not ethically according to right and wrong but according to the new man through putting off the old man and putting on the new man? When we say that a particular brother is a good brother, we usually mean that he is an ethical brother, that he is not wrong in any way with his wife and family, with the brothers and sisters in the church, and with the elders. Our basis for saying that he is a good brother is that he seems to be right with others. This evaluation is according to the old creation. On the other hand, we may criticize a certain brother because of his temper or his lack of patience. This criticism is based on the old creation. To evaluate and criticize others in this way indicates that we are living an ethical life according to the old man and that our daily life is not based on the new creation. Where can we find a person who is living according to the new creation?
The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that everything under the sun is vanity. Only the new creation is above the sun and thus is not vanity. No matter how good, how excellent, how marvelous, and how wonderful something may be, as long as it is of the old creation, it is part of the vanity of vanities under the sun.