Put On the New Man Ephesians 4:24

Paul the apostle exhorted the Ephesian church members to “put off” their “former” way of living which he called the “old man” and to “be renewed in the spirit” of their “minds”. In chapter four and verse twenty-four of his letter, Paul continued his challenging discourse by telling them to “put on the new man” where we read:

And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

The verse begins, “And that you put on the new man,...” Paul began with the phrase, “And that you” which is a continuation conjunction that means “in addition, adding to, also, even and indeed that the Ephesian Christians” “put on” which means “sink into or clothe one's self with” “the new man” which refers to “the recently made, fresh, unused, unworn, unprecedented, novel, uncommon and unheard human being whether male or female”. After turning aside from the “old” way of living and being renewed in the “spirit of” their “minds”, the Ephesians were to “sink into and clothe themselves with their “unprecedented, fresh and new” behavior.

The verse goes on to say, “...which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Paul continued, “which after God” who is “the Godhead bodily and trinity comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “is created” or “made habitable, founded, shaped, formed and completely changed or transformed” “in righteousness” which means “the condition acceptable to God, integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, and correctness of thinking” “and true” or “what is true in any matter under consideration and candor of mind which is free from affection, pretense, simulation, falsehood and deceit” “holiness” which means “piety towards God, fidelity in observing the obligations of piety and holiness”. The “new man” of which Paul wrote was “made” and established in “righteousness” and “truth” by God Almighty who governs over the way we are to live.

When we meditate upon these words of Paul, we see his exhortation to live in a manner which is pleasing to God. It was God who “created” this “righteous” way of living, and we are to “clothe ourselves” with this new way. God desires us to live “righteously” and according to His “truth”, and when we “put off” our old life, have “the mind of the Spirit” and “put on” this new one, we live in a manner which He not only intends, but also is pleasing to Him.

Next time Paul tells the Ephesians to “put away lying” and “speak every man truth”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.