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In this chapter we will consider how the Lord created the one new man on the cross and how we should live out this one new man.
Ephesians 2:14-16 says that the Lord Jesus “has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace, and might reconcile both in one Body to God through the cross, having slain the enmity by it.” The Lord created the one new man in Himself and slew the enmity on the cross. According to the context of these verses, the enmity is the law of the commandments in ordinances. The enmity is related to ordinances, which are the different ways of living among people.
For example, according to the Jewish ordinance, every male must be circumcised eight days after birth (Gen. 17:12). This occurs once in a person’s life. The Jews also have to keep the Sabbath every seven days (Exo. 20:8-11). This is observed every week of a person’s life. Furthermore, daily what they can and cannot eat must comply with the ordinances of the law. For example, they cannot eat fish that are without fins and scales (Lev. 11:9-12). They can eat birds that feed on seeds, that is, on life, but not birds that feed on carcasses, death (vv. 13-19; cf. Gen. 8:7 and footnote, Recovery Version). Cattle and animals that chew the cud and have a divided hoof are clean and may be eaten (Lev. 11:3). Consequently, camels, which chew the cud but do not have a divided hoof, and pigs, which have a divided hoof but do not chew the cud, are both unclean and may not be eaten (vv. 4, 7). Oxen and sheep chew the cud and have a divided hoof; hence, they are clean and may be eaten. Because of ordinances concerning circumcision, the Sabbath, and dietary regulations, the Jews do not mix with other people. However, according to Ephesians 2:15-16, the Jewish way of living according to the law of the commandments in ordinances was abolished by the Lord Jesus on the cross.
Most Christians know that the Lord Jesus took away the sin of the world on the cross, because John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” However, concerning the Lord’s accomplishments on the cross, the Bible speaks of five things. First, the Lord Jesus took away the sin of the world. Second, He destroyed the devil, who has the might of death (Heb. 2:14). Third, our old man and the flesh were crucified (Rom. 6:6). Fourth, the world has been crucified (Gal. 6:14). Fifth, the Lord Jesus abolished the ordinances (Eph. 2:15). Because we have seen the Lord’s accomplishments on the cross, we are being led to advance step by step in our knowledge and experience of the Lord.
When I was saved, I knew only that the Lord took away my sin. One day I read that the Lord Jesus destroyed the devil on the cross. This was the gospel to me, and I received it. Thus, I advanced one step in my knowledge of the Lord. Then I read in another book that my old man was put to death on the cross. I was exceedingly joyful to learn this. I read yet another book that quoted Paul’s word in Galatians 6:14: “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” We do not have to make up our mind to not love the world; the world has been crucified. Why would anyone love the world that was hung on the cross and put to death? I saw a vision that day: the world has been nailed on the cross and can no longer attract me. This is the way that my knowledge and experience of the Lord advanced to another level.
I did not see these facts from reading the Bible myself. When new believers read the Bible, they usually ignore the deeper things, because they cannot understand the deeper things. The fallen human mind is not like fine Chinese paper that absorbs ink as soon as it is applied. The fallen human mind is like glass and marble, which cannot absorb ink. Therefore, regardless of how much we read the Bible, we cannot comprehend it fully. For this reason we need to receive help from the light that others have seen. I hope that this chapter will bring all of us to the fifth level so that we would have the further knowledge of the Lord’s abolishing of the ordinances on the cross.
Our different ways of living bring in different ordinances that result in barriers between people. Because of their way of living, the Jews cannot associate with Gentiles. Because of differences in their way of living, even people in one county cannot associate with those in another county. In Shantung Province there are three counties: Teng County, Lai County, and Ching County. The people of Teng County will not marry someone from Ching County, and they refuse to eat pancakes because the people of Ching County eat pancakes. The people of Teng County eat large steamed bread but refuse to touch a small pancake. People refuse to associate with one another even concerning something as insignificant as eating.
It is also very difficult for people from northern China to marry those from southern China. The men from northern China consider the southerners as barbaric and will not take them as wives; the women from southern China consider the northerners to be boastful and will not marry them. The northerners despise the southerners for being uncivilized. The northerners always wear socks when they wear shoes, but the southerners wear shoes without socks and are therefore considered uncivilized by the northerners. If a young man from the north marries a young lady from the south, his parents will rebuke him for being rebellious and not following filial piety. Therefore, not only is it difficult for Chinese to marry foreigners, but even marriage between northerners and southerners is extremely difficult. From this we can see the barriers that have been created in human communities due to different ways of living.
People in Taiwan do not understand the differences between northern and southern Chinese in their ways of living, because Taiwan is like a melting pot that blends together people from different places of China. Many students from Taiwan who study in the United States have married Caucasians or people of other ethnic groups. This is a great blending. People of different races are all blended together in the United States. On the cross the Lord Jesus abolished the ordinances between peoples, slaying the enmity and creating the new man. God is also arranging the environment for people to be blended together. Such environments are for the practical manifestation of the one new man.
In addition to the ordinances created by different ways of living, there are also religious ordinances. For example, some Christians favor baptizing people by immersion, but others insist on baptizing people by sprinkling. This has become an ordinance that separates Christians. Also, the way Christians practice the Lord’s table can become an ordinance that divides the believers. We must see that on the cross the Lord abolished all the ordinances, including the ordinances of human living, culture, and religion (Eph. 2:15). The Lord’s desire is not only for us to be delivered from sin, the devil, the old man, and the world but also for us to be delivered from ordinances. Being delivered from ordinances does not mean the abolishment of distinctions in position and age. If we did this, there would be confusion and disorder.
The Lord has delivered us from sin, the devil, the old man, and the world. He will eventually deliver us from ordinances for the purpose of manifesting us as the one new man. Hence, Ephesians 2:15 says, “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man.”
We need light when we read the Bible. God’s desire for the one new man was revealed when He created Adam. When God created man, He did not create many people. God created only one man, Adam (Gen. 2:7), but Adam was a corporate man. The Bible says that God created man in His image and according to His likeness (1:26). This means that man is a photograph of God in order to reflect God. God placed this man in a high position. God did not create thousands of men who would reflect him; He created only one man to be His reflection. However, this man was damaged by Satan. Hence, God’s purpose to have man as His reflection was foiled. Because the first man, Adam, was damaged, the Lord Jesus came to the earth to be the second man (1 Cor. 15:47) in order to accomplish God’s original purpose in creating man. When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He was the image, the reflection, of God (Col. 1:15).
Because we have believed in the Lord Jesus, we have been regenerated in Him to become His reproduction (John 1:12; 3:6; 2 Cor. 3:18). Hence, just as the Lord Jesus is a reflection of God, we should also be a reflection of God. From God’s perspective, believers are not individual persons; we are one corporate man. In Christ we are the one new man. Ephesians 4:24 says that the new man “was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.” Therefore, this new man has replaced the old man as the reflection of God. In the old man, Satan not only utilizes sin to damage man and the world to usurp man, but he also utilizes ways of living to create divisions among men. Hence, there is discord not only between countries, but even people within the same country are separated by differences in their ways of living. As a result, God’s purpose in creating man as His reflection has been completely annulled. However, Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4), was incarnated. When we were saved and put into Christ, we became His reproduction. In Christ we have been delivered from sin, the devil, the old man, the flesh, the world, and the ordinances related to different ways of living and have become one new man.
Ephesians 2:15 says that the creation of the new man was accomplished by Christ in Himself, but verse 24 of chapter 4 says that the believers have to put on the new man. Although the creation of the new man has been accomplished, we still need to put on the new man practically. This may be likened to a garment that has been sewn but still must be put on. To put on the new man means to put on the church life. The living that is in human society is the living of the old man; most unsaved people live a befuddled life. Their social life is the old man, but the church life is the new man. When we put on the new man, we put on the church life.
To put on the new man is to put on the church life, which is to live the church life. However, merely living the church life is not sufficient; we need to go further and live out the new man. This is my burden in this chapter. The new man has been created, and we know that we need to put on the new man, but much more we need to live out the new man. Verse 24 of chapter 4 speaks of putting on the new man. The section from verse 25 through verse 9 of chapter 6 deals with the details of the practical living out of the new man. Verse 25 of chapter 4 says, “Having put off the lie, speak truth each one with his neighbor.” Verse 1 of chapter 5 says, “Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.” Being imitators of God is not the same as monkeys mimicking people. Monkeys do not have the human life, so they can merely mimic people. We can imitate God, however, because we have His life. God is our Father, and we are His beloved children. It is easy for children to imitate their parents because they have their father’s life and nature. Since we have the life and nature of our Father God, we can imitate Him and live out His life.
Verses 7 and 8 say, “Do not be partakers with them; for you were once darkness but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light.” The word them in verse 7 refers to people in society. We should not be partakers with them, which is to put on the old man. We were once darkness like people in society. However, we are now light in the Lord, so we should walk as children of light. Verse 15 says, “Look therefore carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise.” The subsequent verses describe how to walk as the wise: by redeeming the time (v. 16), by wives being subject to their husbands (v. 22), by husbands loving their wives (v. 25), by children honoring their parents (6:2-3), by parents nurturing their children in the discipline and admonition of the Lord (v. 4), by slaves being obedient to their masters and serving them with good will (vv. 5-8), and by masters treating their slaves well (v. 9). We are foolish if we do not honor our parents. Likewise, parents are foolish if they do not properly nurture their children. Husbands who do not love their wives and wives who are not subject to their husbands are also foolish. This long section concerns how to live out the new man.
When we put on the new man and live the church life, we will have the expression of the new man. This expression is not a matter of being angels or of shouting Hallelujah and Amen daily. The expression of the new man is a real human being. Man was created according to God’s image in order to be God’s reflection. The intrinsic element of the created human nature is close to God’s nature. Confucius said that the way of great learning is to develop the “bright virtue,” the bright and shining moral virtue, which is the conscience in the human spirit. The bright virtue is also the “innate knowledge and ability” taught by Wang Yang-ming, a Chinese philosopher of the Ming Dynasty. Zachariah 12:1 says that when God created the heavens and the earth, He also created a spirit within man. Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, / Searching all the innermost parts of the inner being.” The spirit of man is the lamp of God within man, and it has the function of the conscience, enabling man to reflect God. This function is not found in birds or animals. For this reason people say that a person who does not act according to his conscience is the same as an animal.
It is regrettable that the human spirit has been damaged by Satan. Nonetheless, this organ is still in man. Even if a person is deep in sin, his conscience will still tell him whether his behavior is proper. Honoring one’s parents does not come from teaching. When a person grows up and becomes familiar with human affairs, he spontaneously has the feeling to honor his parents. This feeling comes from his conscience. The Chinese sages taught people to develop the conscience using their innate human ability. However, man’s conscience has been damaged. Therefore, even though it still has a little brightness, it is deficient.
The spirit of man, which is the lamp of Jehovah, was damaged when man fell. This lamp is lit at the time of a person’s regeneration. Regeneration is to have another life enter into us. This life is the life of God. This divine life enters into us with the divine nature to be our life so that our spirit can be regenerated. This is spoken of in Ephesians 4:24. The new man was created according to God, and in the new man there are the righteousness and holiness of the reality. Righteousness is to be according to God’s ways, and holiness is to be according to God’s nature. This means that the new man created by God is the same as God in His ways and in His nature. If we have God’s ways and nature, we will reflect God.
Hence, what a regenerated person lives out does not originate from the innate knowledge and ability of his natural life but from the divine life and nature that he obtained through regeneration. As regenerated people participating in the new man, we need to live out this most excellent life. God did not say that a believer should separate himself from his community or from his family. Sakyamuni taught people to become buddhas, and Taoism teaches people to become immortals. However, the Lord’s salvation is for us to be real humans reflecting Christ. After man fell, God came to regenerate man and recover man so that man might be uplifted. Confucius taught people to be proper by developing and enhancing the bright virtue within the limits of man’s innate ability. However, the Lord’s salvation is for man to have God’s life and thus be uplifted. For example, all human beings have a God-created desire to honor their parents. Even before we were saved, we had this desire. Confucius’s teachings are principles concerning human relationships that tell people to develop and enhance the bright virtue within man. Such teachings are good. However, the day that we heard the gospel and believed in the Lord Jesus, our being was uplifted, and our respect and love for our parents deepened. This is the result of God’s life entering into us.
We must admit that we sometimes still live out our fallen nature even though we are saved. A sister might feel that her mother is lovable, but when her mother does or says something displeasing, the sister will glare angrily at her mother. However, because the sister is a Christian, she will not have peace in her conscience and will ask the Lord for His forgiveness and the cleansing of His blood. Furthermore, she will confess her mistake to her mother and may even cry. Many of us can testify that after believing in the Lord, our humanity was uplifted. This uplifting did not come from teaching, nor is it the result of our endeavor. Rather, the divine life has entered into us and uplifted our humanity. This is the living out of the new man as described in Ephesians.
The revelation concerning the new man in Ephesians is high, but Paul’s words concerning the practical living of the new man do not seem so high. For example, 4:28 says, “He who steals should steal no more.” Some may think that this word is quite low. However, if we examine ourselves, we will admit that we all have stolen something. Husbands often steal from their wives, and wives frequently steal from their husbands. Elementary-school students steal chalk from schools or pencils from their classmates. Stealing is prevalent in this world. Nearly every person has stolen something. For this reason, after giving a high revelation concerning the new man, Paul had to say, “He who steals should steal no more.”
Because we are regenerated, the feeling of our conscience is uplifted and more sensitive. The conscience of a Christian is higher than that of an ordinary human being because the divine life is in us. If we have the testimony of living out the divine life before our parents, siblings, and relatives, our parents may disagree with our believing in Jesus, but eventually they will realize that we have changed. Our parents will even testify of our living to our relatives. This is a preaching of the gospel, not with words but through our living out of the new man. Such a testimony is powerful.
After I was saved, no one taught me how to behave, but the divine life working in me caused me to love the Lord, to read the Bible, and to pray. At that time I was nineteen years old, four years older than my brother. Formerly, we loved to play and have fun. However, after I was saved, I loved to pray and read the Bible instead of playing. I did not advise or exhort my younger brother to follow me, nor did I preach the gospel and testify to him. However, when he saw that I was praying and reading the Bible every day, he began to read the Bible too. As a result, he was also saved. Because I changed, he also changed. Consequently, my mother believed in the Lord. Formerly, regardless of how she disciplined us, she could not subdue us; we were young, strong, and fun-loving boys. However, she was amazed that we began to love to read the Bible and to pray rather than playing and making trouble. Consequently, my mother was also saved. We need such a living and testimony today. We should not only preach the gospel verbally; we should show forth a change in our living. We must live out the new man in our daily life.
Ephesians reveals a high vision of the Lord creating the new man and of our putting on the new man. Following this vision is the crucial matter of the living out of the new man. On one hand, the new man is universal; on the other hand, the new man is uplifted. The old man is low, but the new man is noble. Because we are the new man, our living must be higher than those who are not part of the new man. The living of the new man is to put off the old man and to continually put on the new man. Because we have put on the new man, we need to live out the new man. In order for the Lord’s testimony to spread out from Taiwan, we need to begin to labor in the schools. Taiwan has many schools. Every school is a fishpond, and the young saints who are students are fishermen. These students should seize the good opportunity to fish and should also have the reality, the living, and the testimony of the new man. If every school has some brothers and sisters who put on the new man and live out the new man, a flourishing and glorious situation will be manifested.
The young working saints should receive a burden to go to small towns and work as elementary and middle-school teachers by putting on the new man and living out the new man. Then the gospel will be readily and widely accepted by the people in these small towns. If the children in the schools accept the gospel, they will influence their parents. When the parents observe that the saints have extraordinary character, speech, and conduct, they will inwardly acknowledge that the saints are noble. However, if the living of the saints who go to preach the gospel in small towns is a mess and their living, speech, and conduct are worse than that of an average young person, then our testimony will be annulled.
Those who go to the small towns should not be in a hurry to preach the gospel to people. Instead, they should first live out the life of the new man and let people see that they are different from other teachers. Then the people in the town will realize that our difference is because Jesus is in us, and they will be convinced. If we preach Jesus without living out the new man, our preaching will be ineffective, and we might incur others’ antipathy. This will be the result if our living is inferior to the living of those who pursue Buddhism and Taoism. Instead of being anxious to put up signboards concerning Jesus, we must first put on the new man and live out the new man.
Similarly, those of you who are young people should not preach to your parents merely with words. If you rush to the meeting hall every day but still live the life of the old man, you will be unsuccessful at convincing others and will also damage the testimony of the Lord. If you live out the life of the new man, your parents will eventually be convinced and sense that you have changed. When they inquire about the reason for your change, you can testify that your change is the issue of believing in the Lord Jesus. Because of their traditions and customs, they may not be able to immediately accept the Lord Jesus; they may even scold you. There is no need to argue, however, because with time they will have a change of heart. In the end you will win their heart, and they will admit that you are noble because you have more love for them and are more considerate toward them. However, this is not your work; it is the Lord Jesus who has worked this out in you. If you have such a testimony, your parents, siblings, and relatives will accept the gospel one by one. If you have such a testimony, you can lead three or five people to be saved every year and produce clusters of fruit.
Because I have traveled to many places in the world and contacted all kinds of people, I can say that the Chinese people have been kept by the Lord. Not many Chinese are superstitious. Although many people in Taiwan observe festivals, they are not very superstitious. The Chinese are practical. First, they pay attention to making a living so that they may live peacefully, dress comfortably, and dwell securely. Second, they pay attention to education or learning a skill so that they may make a living. Third, they pay attention to relationships and to ethics. These are good Chinese traditions. If someone becomes rich but does not honor his parents or is not generous to his siblings, he will be despised. It is easy for the Chinese to accept the gospel because they are very practical-minded and care about making a living, education, and ethics. As long as we have a good testimony before men and they see that we are studious and have good conduct, they will acknowledge that our humanity is uplifted. The way for us to preach the gospel in Taiwan is to put on the new man and live out the new man. Our parents, siblings, relatives, schoolmates, and neighbors are observing our conduct. If we live out the new man, we will be able to bear clusters of fruit. I believe that every young person can easily lead two or three persons to salvation each semester. This depends on whether the young people have the living of the new man.
God has created the new man, and we can put on the new man in the church, but we need the grace to live out the new man. Our will cannot achieve this, for to will is present with us, but to work out the good is not (Rom. 7:18). Hence, we should not make up our mind to live out the new man. The Lord’s grace is sufficient for us (2 Cor. 12:9). If we fellowship often with the Lord and with the brothers and sisters, we will spontaneously live out Christ’s excellent virtues from our spirit. This is the living of the new man. This is what the Lord is after today.
Four aspects of education are promoted in the schools: moral education, intellectual education, physical education, and social education. Although there is an aspect of social education in schools, many people cannot work in a group. In the church we do not need to teach how to work in a group, because in Christ we have become one group. When the young brothers and sisters take care of one another and love one another, their parents, siblings, schoolmates, and friends will be convinced by observing the excellent virtues that the young people exhibit as a group. These virtues are lived out by the saints putting on the new man and living out the new man. The new man is not many individual persons; it is a corporate man in Christ. This new man is the church, which is different from a social living. Society is dark, but the church is full of light. This is the testimony of the new man. The new man is a lamp shining in darkness. Many of our relatives and friends are in the darkness of society, but they will be drawn near to this brightly shining lamp, and the church will spontaneously have increase.
