In this message we shall give a further word concerning how to put on the new man.
The way the New Testament speaks of the new man may sound strange to our natural mind. According to 4:24, the new man is created in righteousness and holiness of the truth, but according to Col. 3:10, the new man is being renewed. How can the new man be both created, which has nothing to do with anything old, and renewed, which is related to something old? The creation of the new man is one thing, but the experience of the new man is another. From Christ’s side, the new man has already been created. But from our side, our experience, the new man is being renewed. According to the new creation, the new man has been completed by the work of Christ. But according to our experience, the new man is in the process of being renewed daily. My burden in this message is to point out how the new man is being renewed. This renewing is actually the putting on of the new man. As we pointed out in the previous message, the new man has been created, but now our need is to put him on in our experience.
The Greek word rendered “put on” is used with respect to clothing. Suppose a brother has a suit of clothes tailor-made for him. We may say that the suit has been completed. Now the brother must put on this suit in a proper way. He cannot put it on all at once; rather, it is a gradual, step-by-step procedure.
The putting on of a suit of clothes, however, is not a fully accurate picture of the putting on of the new man. The putting on of a suit is objective, whereas the putting on of the new man involves an inward renewing. We do not put on the new man in an outward, objective way. On the contrary, the putting on of the new man begins from within; it is related to an inward, subjective renewing.
At the time of our regeneration, the new man was put into, or born into, our spirit. Now this new man must spread into every part of our being. This spreading of the new man is the putting on of the new man. It is also the renewing. By this we see that the putting on of the new man is not an outward, objective matter, but an inward, subjective experience.
We have pointed out that on the cross Christ has slain the ordinances in order to produce the one new man in resurrection. Hence, in the resurrection of Christ, the new man was created and brought forth. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, the life-giving Spirit came into our spirit, bringing with Him the new man as a finished product. In this way the new man was born into our spirit. Therefore, since the time of our regeneration, the new man has been in our spirit. Now the new man must saturate every part of us. This spreading is both the putting on of the new man and the renewing. As Colossians 3:10 says, we need to put on the new man, which is being renewed. How much of the new man we put on depends on how much we are renewed.
Both Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 indicate that in order to put on the new man, we first need to put off the old man. Ephesians 4:22 says, “Put off concerning the former manner of life the old man.” The words “manner of life” imply a great deal. Before you were saved, you had a certain manner of life. Perhaps you worked five days a week and then in the evenings or on the weekends amused yourself with certain worldly entertainments. To some, the manner of life may be gambling. To others, it may be going to certain places or eating certain foods. These are all part of the manner of life. In every country of the world and among every people there is a characteristic manner of life.
If we truly desire to be renewed, we need to put off the former manner of life. By putting off our manner of life, we put off the old man in a practical way. To bury the former manner of life is virtually the same as burying the old man. Therefore, my burden in this message is not simply to encourage you to put off the old man; it is specifically to encourage you to put off your former manner of life.
Many of the saints in the Lord’s recovery still hold on to their old manner of life. Do not say that I am legal, conservative, or old-fashioned in telling you to put off your former manner of life. To have this attitude toward what I am saying here is a sign of being caught in the evil current of today’s satanic system. We should not be swept along by the current of this age; instead, we should bury our former manner of life and even hold a funeral for it. To speak merely of putting off the old man is too doctrinal. The actual putting off of the old man is the putting off of the former manner of life, which always involves ordinances and our way of living.
Speaking of the new man, Colossians 3:11 says, “Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bondman, and freeman; but Christ is all things and in all” (Gk.). In his Word Studies of the New Testament Vincent says that in the Greek language the words rendered “cannot be” are very strong and mean that there is no possibility. In the new man there is no possibility for Greek and Jew, Barbarian and Scythian, bondman and freeman to exist, because the former manner of life found among these peoples has been put away. No doubt, in the church in Colosse there were people from all these backgrounds. Nevertheless, according to Paul’s word in Ephesians 4:22, they all had to put away their former manner of life. By doing this they were renewed.
If we consider today’s church life from the perspective of the putting away of the former manner of life, we shall have to admit that we have not adequately done this. On the contrary, too many of us are still holding on to our manner of life.
When Paul wrote the Epistle to the Colossians, there were Jews in virtually every city in the Mediterranean area. When the Jews and the Greeks in a particular city were saved, they came together as the church in that locality. In many localities there must have been not only Jews and Greeks but also Barbarians (northern Europeans) and Scythians, who, as some Bible teachers believe, were the most uncultured and barbarous of people. Therefore, in some cities it was possible for the church to include cultured Greeks, religious Jews, Barbarians, and uncultured Scythians. Furthermore, there were also bondmen, those who had been sold into slavery, and masters, those who owned slaves. What would happen if all these different peoples came together for the Lord’s table? In order for them to have the church life, they had to put off the old man embodied in their former manner of life. The Greeks had to put off their philosophy; the Jews, their religious observances and dietary regulations; the Scythians, their barbarous living; the masters, their attitude toward slaves; and the slaves, the manner of life peculiar to them. In the church life there is no room for such distinctions. There cannot be Jews and Gentiles, Barbarians and Scythians, bondmen and freemen. In the church life there is room only for Christ.
Through modern means of transportation and communication, the peoples of the world have been brought together more closely today than at any other time in history. The United States in particular has been called a melting pot, a blend of all different races and peoples. People with completely different temperaments, some outwardly expressive and others silent and mysterious, are brought together. This certainly is true of the churches in the Lord’s recovery, where we see so many different peoples: Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Brazilians, Swiss, French, Germans, Swedes, Danes, Indonesians, Malaysians, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Ghanians, and Americans. The difference between peoples is seen even in the way they sing hymns. Some may sing in what they regard as the dignified manner, barely moving their lips, whereas others may be filled with enthusiasm and exercise their whole body. Thus, even in singing and in praising the Lord we may hold on to our manner of life.
After Babel, there began to be the differences among the peoples. But on the cross Christ slew all these differences in order to produce the one new man. Through regeneration, the one new man has been put into us, those who formerly had been under the influence of the differences caused by Babel. Except for the Jewish ordinances, all the various manners of life are the heritage of Babel. What should we do about this heritage? We should bury it. This means that we must put off the former manner of life. Do not justify your manner of life or glory in it. The issue is not which manner of life is right and which is wrong. Every way of life involves ordinances and must be put off. How deplorable it is to see so-called churches formed according to nationality! For example, in San Francisco there is a Chinese Presbyterian church. It seems that every nationality has a so-called church. When we come together for the practice of the genuine church life, we must all put off our national heritage and forget it.
We all need to have a clear vision of the new man. Our former manner of life, our heritage from Babel, and even the Jewish ordinances have been abolished in the flesh of Christ by His death on the cross. Instead of treasuring our heritage, we should disown it. On the positive side, we need to see that the new man has already been created and, by regeneration, has been put into our spirit. The need now is for our spirit to become the dominant part of our being. This means that our spirit mingled with the Spirit of God must become the spirit of our mind (4:23). If our spirit is the spirit of our mind, then all our living will be by the spirit. Whatever we do will be according to the spirit. This spirit of our mind will then become the renewing spirit. As we are renewed by this spirit, we put on the new man.
Ephesians 4:24 indicates that the new man was created according to God directly. But Colossians 3:10 reveals that the new man is being renewed unto full knowledge, which is according to the image of God (Gk.). Because the new man was created according to God, in a very real sense it is the same as God. Nevertheless, in our experience the new man must be renewed unto the full knowledge that is according to the image, the expression, of God who created him. The creation of the new man according to God has already been completed, but in our experience the new man is renewed unto full knowledge little by little. In this way the new man experienced by us becomes the expression of God.
Ephesians 4:24 says that the new man is created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Righteousness here signifies God’s deeds, and holiness signifies His being. Whatever God does is righteous, and whatever God is, is holy. The new man is created according to God in both of these respects. Moreover, both righteousness and holiness are of the truth. Dean Alford says that in this verse truth denotes the very essence of God, for God is truth. This is in contrast with the lust of the deceit mentioned in 4:22. Deceit is the essence of Satan, who is a liar, but truth is the essence of God, who is truth. Thus, the lusts are of Satan, who is the deceit, whereas righteousness and holiness are of God, who is the truth. Vincent points out that in these verses deceit and truth should be personified. The new man is created according to God in righteousness and holiness, two aspects of God’s essence.
In our experience of the new man, the new man is gradually renewed unto a full knowledge according to the image of the Creator. This renewal takes place by the putting away of the former manner of life and by our living according to the spirit. In the past we have spoken a great deal about our spirit. However, we should not separate this from the matter of putting off our former manner of life. If we would have the new man as our living, we must firstly put off our former manner of life. Then we must allow our spirit to become the leading, dominating, directing, and governing element of our whole being. If we live in this way, spontaneously the process of renewing will take place within us. Such a continual renewing is the putting on of the new man. This is the church life, the life and living of the new man.
In this message I have not put forth a philosophical teaching. On the contrary, I have shared with you the vision the Lord has shown me concerning the putting on of the new man. I do not care for teachings according to culture, custom, or ethics. My burden is that we have a heavenly vision of what God is seeking in these days. God desires the one new man. This new man must be the living of the church today. The way to live this new man is to put off the former manner of life and to allow our entire being and daily living to be dominated and directed by the spirit. Then we shall be renewed and experience the new man as our church life.
