Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:22-24, 30; 5:18-21, 26-27; 6:17-18
Before we consider the matter of putting off the old man and putting on the new man, the church (4:22-24), we need to see that the abolishing of the ordinances for the creation of the new man is part of the gospel. Not many Christians realize that this matter must be proclaimed as part of the gospel. Speaking of Christ, Eph. 2:17 says, “He preached the gospel of peace.” This indicates that what is covered by Paul in Eph. 2:12-22 is related to the gospel.
According to verse 12, we once were apart from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, without hope, and without God in the world. But in Christ Jesus we have become near in the blood of Christ (v. 13). The context proves that we have been brought near to one another. The Gentiles were far off from the Jews, and the Jews were far off from the Gentiles. But on the cross Christ broke down the middle wall of partition between them. Therefore, now in the blood of Christ the Jews and the Gentiles are made near to one another. It is true that the blood has brought us to God. But in verse 13 Paul is not saying that we are brought near to God; he is saying that we are brought near to one another. This is part of the gospel.
Verse 14 says that Christ is our peace. The peace here is not that between us and God, but that between us and other believers. In particular, it is the peace between the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers. Christ, our peace, has made the Jews and the Gentiles one, having broken down the middle wall of partition that separated them. In His flesh He abolished the enmity, the law of commandments in ordinances, in order to create the two in Himself into one new man (vv. 14-15). In this way He made peace between the Gentiles and the Jews.
In verse 16 Paul goes on to say, “And might reconcile both in one Body to God through the cross, slaying the enmity by it.” Christ reconciled the Jews and the Gentiles to God in one Body. This indicates that reconciliation is a corporate matter.
Verse 17 continues, “And coming, He preached the gospel of peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near.” The subject of this verse is Christ. On the day we heard the gospel, Christ came as the Spirit to preach to us the good news of the peace which He had accomplished on the cross.
In verses 18 through 22 we see that we now have access unto the Father, that we are fellow-citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, that we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, that the whole building is growing together into a holy temple in the Lord, and that we also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit. All these verses indicate that the abolishing of the ordinances for the producing of the church is part of the gospel.
Many of us can testify that without the church life our human life has no meaning. Although we have been saved and regenerated to become children of God, our daily life is meaningless without the church. Can you be satisfied simply with eating, sleeping, working, spending some time to pray and read the Bible, and then sometimes telling others about Christ? From my experience I can testify that if I do not have the church life, I have no desire to live. This indicates that even though we may be saved, we are lacking something vital if we do not have the church life in a practical way. The whole gospel, the perfect and ultimate gospel, must include the church life. Most Christians, however, do not have a complete gospel because they do not see that the gospel includes the abolishing of the ordinances for the creation of the new man. Today we in the Lord’s recovery must preach not a partial gospel, but one that is complete, a whole gospel.
Many Christians preach only the first aspect of the gospel, redemption by the blood of Christ. Some also preach the second aspect, the matter of being saved by Christ’s life (Rom. 5:10). Another aspect of the gospel is the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. In Ephesians 3:8 Paul said that grace had been given to him “to preach to the nations the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.” The final aspect of the gospel is what we have seen in Ephesians 2 — the abolishing of the ordinances for the creation of the one new man, the church. Redemption, life, and the enjoyment of the riches of Christ are all for the church. Thus, the ultimate goal of the gospel is the church, the new man. We praise the Lord for showing us that, according to the book of Ephesians, the gospel includes the creation of the new man.
We have considered two negative things that damage the church life: ordinances and doctrine. Now we come to a third negative thing — the old man. Some Christians interpret the old man in 4:22 as the old nature. It is true that the old man includes the old nature, but it also includes a great deal more. Ephesians 4:22 indicates that the old man is all- inclusive: “That you have put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit.” Here Paul speaks of putting off, as regards our former manner of life, the old man. The former manner of life includes everything related to us: what we are, what we have, our family life, and our social life. Paul’s meaning here is that we must put off whatever we are, whatever we do, and whatever we have. We are to put off our very way of living.
The old man with all it includes is a damage to the church life. Wherever the old man is, there can be no church. This means that what we are, what we have, and what we do make the church life an impossibility.
Ordinances, doctrine, and the old man are the three main negative things that damage the church life. If we have ordinances, the church life is gone. If we are occupied with doctrine, it will not be possible to have the proper church life. In addition, if we continue to live according to the old man, the church life will be seriously damaged, even terminated. However, if we have no ordinances or doctrines and if we put off the old man with his former manner of life, we shall have a marvelous church life, a church life that will be a miniature of the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth. In such a church life it is impossible to have division.
I wish to say once again that in the Lord’s recovery we are not for ordinances or for doctrine. However, we have deep respect for the Word of God. By the Lord’s mercy, we would never break His Word. But we do not take the Bible as mere doctrine. To keep the Word in a living way is one thing, but to turn the revelations in the Word into doctrine is another. We need to take the Word as nourishment for growth in life. We should not take it as a book of doctrine and ordinances. Although I prefer to kneel down when I pray, I do not make this a formality or an ordinance that others are expected to follow. Rather, when I kneel to pray, I do so in spirit.
For the church life, we must have no ordinances, we must not be occupied with doctrine, and we must not have any oldness. If we would be free from oldness, we must lay aside what we are, what we do, and the way we live. Those who are released from oldness in this way are very flexible. When Paul was on the way to Damascus, he was altogether in the old man. He had strongly opposed Stephen and consented to his death. Being strong in the old man, Paul was for the temple, the priests, and for the religion of Judaism. He strongly reacted against those who opposed these things. However, after he came to the Lord and had been dealt with by Him, he became flexible, seemingly without opinion. In 1 Corinthians 9 he said that he could be all things to all men (v. 22). He could be flexible because he had put aside his old man.
During the early years of my ministry, I had much to say to those who came to me for advice. For example, if a brother consulted me about marriage, I had many points to share with him concerning married life. But now when the saints come to me for counsel, I do not have much to say. Mainly, I encourage them to contact the Lord in prayer. My desire is to be like Paul, to be one who has given up the old man and who has become flexible in dealing with people.
If we have truly put off the old man, others will have a difficult time describing us. However, if we can be described easily, we probably have not put off the old man. We should not be proud, and we should not be humble. Actually, we should be nothing. Then we shall be useful in the church life.
For the church life, we must not only put off the old man, but also put on the new man. The new man is the practical church life, which is Christ as the life-giving Spirit mingled with our spirit in a corporate way. To put on the church life as the new man is to put on this entity produced by the mingling of the divine Spirit with the human spirit. In this marvelous entity, the new man, there are no ordinances and there is nothing of the old man. There is only Christ as the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit mingled with our spirit.
In 4:30 Paul charges us not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Not caring for the church life is one of the main ways we grieve the Spirit. For example, if you do not attend the meetings of the church, you may grieve the Spirit. Many grieve the Spirit by refusing to function in the meetings. Often they have the sense in their spirit to speak or to call on the name of the Lord, but they refuse to do so. At such times they grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Furthermore, we may grieve the Spirit in many ways in our daily life. Our daily living should be part of the new man, part of the church life. We are not to pretend that we are humble or well-behaved, but to put on the church life in a practical way. How marvelous it would be if day by day we all experienced Christ as the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit mingling Himself with our spirit in a corporate way!
In 5:18 Paul says, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled in spirit.” In our regenerated spirit we need to be filled with the Triune God unto all the fullness of God. This will cause us to overflow with speaking, singing, praising, and submitting. This will not be the result of our efforts; it will come as the spontaneous overflow of the inner filling. If we are filled in spirit with all that God is, we shall certainly experience such an overflow.
In 5:26 Paul goes on to speak of the cleansing that is by the washing of the water in the Word. Today the Lord Jesus is cleansing, purging, and purifying His church by the water in the Word. The water in the Word is the living Word with the divine life energized by the Spirit. The water in the Word is actually the life-giving Spirit Himself. In our experience the Word of God must not be letters, but spirit and life. In John 6:63 the Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life.” The Word as spirit and life is the water that cleanses us.
This cleansing does not wash away uncleanness; rather, it washes away all the spots and wrinkles. Wrinkles come from oldness, and spots come from wounds. The church needs to be washed both from oldness and from wounds. For this washing what is effective is not the blood of Christ, but the water in the Word. The blood deals with sin and uncleanness, whereas the water in the Word deals with wrinkles and spots, with oldness and hurts.
The way to have the washing of the water in the Word is presented in 6:17 and 18. In these verses Paul tells us to receive “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit.” This indicates that we need to pray-read the Word. We need to take the living Word into the depths of our being by praying in spirit. This is to exercise our spirit to pray the Word into us. If we do this, the Word will not only be food to nourish us, but also water to wash us and to cleanse us from all oldness and wounds.
In the church life it is necessary to have frequent contact with one another. However, the more we contact one another, the more we hurt one another. If a brother would stay with me for several days, no doubt he would be hurt by me, and I would be hurt by him. The only way to remove the spots caused by this mutual wounding is to experience the washing of the water in the Word. If you are not cleansed of your wounds by the water in the Word, you may be offended and discouraged and even consider giving up the church life. However, if you exercise your spirit to pray-read the Word and thereby take the Word into the depths of your being, you will experience the washing of the water in the Word and you will be cleansed of all spots. Furthermore, the washing of water in the Word will cause you to grow, and by this growth you will be built up with others.
The entire book of Ephesians reveals in a consistent way that the church is the mingling of the divine Spirit with the human spirit. Today the divine Spirit is the Triune God in the holy Word. The Triune God is the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit, and this Spirit is within the Word. Therefore, we should not only exercise our mind to study the Word, but also exercise our spirit to pray the Word. By pray-reading, we touch not only the Word, but also the Spirit. Then the Spirit will nourish us, water us, and wash us so that we may be purged of all wrinkles and spots. Eventually, through this washing, we shall be fully sanctified in a practical way. This is what the Lord is doing in the church today.
In the Lord’s recovery, there is no place for ordinances, doctrines, or the old man. If we still hold on to these negative things, we shall be finished with the church life. We are here only for the living Christ with the living Word. Our way to approach the Word is not just to exercise our mind to study it and to gain knowledge of it, but also to exercise our spirit to pray the Word and to take it in as the life-giving Spirit for nourishment and washing. In this way we shall grow in a corporate way and be built up together. It is by this process that the Lord Jesus will fulfill the prophecy He uttered in Matthew 16:18: “I will build My church.” Then we shall have the reality and the enjoyment of the full gospel, the gospel of Christ and the church.
