Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his deeds,
The command not to lie comes with an unusual reason: not a rule, but something that has already happened to the reader. That raises the two questions this verse turns on — what is "the old man," and in what sense has he already been put off?
Lying belongs to the nature this verse describes. One commentator traces it back to the first pages of the human story:
The old man is what accounts for lying; the old man is false, full of deceit. There is not, there cannot be, thorough truthfulness in nature as it is now. We see this from the first. Adam was false as soon as he sinned. Cain was false too. Other evils, such as violence, show up at times in some people and not in others. But all are false — lying you do see in everyone.
The ESV calls it "the old self." The writers quoted here keep the older wording, "the old man." Either way the phrase names a nature we inherit, not a person:
The old man and the new man speak of two natures. Both are found together only in someone truly born of God. The old man, palaios (Rom. 6:6; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9) is a term used of that sinful nature which governs the unconverted, and which we all inherit from Adam. It is also called the flesh, and sin… Before his conversion the man walked by the dictates of the old or former man. That is to mark him no longer. For that old man has been crucified with Christ; that is, God dealt with it in judgment at the cross.
"Put off" is the language of taking off a coat. The picture explains why these sins were things other people could see:
It is not now, "put to death," but, "put off." Once we lived wrapped up in these things as in a garment. When men looked at us that is what they saw. But they are to be seen no more. The ugly garment that once characterized us is to be visible no more. Another garment is to be put on as we shall see when we arrive at verse 12.
The reason given is not a threat or a reward. It is what faith has already done:
Put these off, because "you have put off the old man [faith has done it] and put on the new." You are done with the old in its very nature, and you have put on the new. So do not bring out the fruits of the old — the sour crab apples of the old tree.
Another writer names the day it happened, and adds what still needs doing with the old man's practices:
We have put off the old man. When did we do this? We put him off in the day when we trusted Christ as our Saviour. The exhortation in this chapter is to put to death the members of that old man which are listed for us here.
The words "to one another" point the command at the community, not just at private character:
Fellowship is the object here. Lying and deceit are marks of the old man. In verse 9 the Christian has put off the old man with his deeds. So honesty in our dealings with one another makes for brotherly confidence.
Ephesians 4:25 covers the same ground, but turns the instruction around:
We find in Col. 3:9, "Do not lie to one another." There it is a matter of practical life. But in Eph. 4:25 we have, "having put away lying, speak truth" to each other… In Colossians the call is only to refuse the practice of lying. Here the thing itself is looked on as gone, and the call takes the positive side.
The reason given differs too:
In Ephesians the ground for not lying is that we are members of one another. Here it is treated as inconsistent with our having put off the old man and put on the new man.
- Cross — the old man is the sinful nature we inherit from Adam, and God judged it at the cross of Christ.
- Conversion — that nature was put off the day a person trusted Christ; the verse states this as done, not as a goal.
- Clothing — what was once worn like a garment, and seen by everyone, is not to be visible any more.
- Conduct — lying shows up in everyone as a mark of the old nature, so honesty is the first test of the new.
- Community — honesty between believers builds confidence, and fellowship is what the command aims at.
and having put on the new, renewed into full knowledge according to [the] image of him that has created him;
Paul has just told the Colossians to stop lying to one another. He backs that command with something already true of them: they have taken off the old man and put on the new. Verse 10 describes that new man — renewed along the line of knowledge, after the pattern of the One who created him.
Commentators read the putting on of the new man as something already done at conversion. That is why the commands around it carry weight.
Truth, however, is required of us because we have put off the old man and have put on the new. This is what we have done in our conversion, and the calls to put off and put on in verses 8 and 12 rest upon it. Conversion means we have learned to judge, condemn and refuse the old order of man and his character. It means we have put on the new man, who is God's creation and shares His character. We do not say that we understood or realised this at the moment of our conversion. But in the light of this Scripture, this is what our conversion really involved, and it is high time we understand and realise it.
"The new man" is not a name for any one person. It describes a whole class of people.
These expressions do not refer to particular people. They describe different orders of men, each having certain characteristics... Also, "new man" does not mean simply a fresh man, the way we speak of a new man appointed to fill some position. It implies an order of man that is new in the sense of being entirely different from the old man.
Greek has more than one word for "new," and the one chosen here matters.
The Greek word for "new" does not mean repaired, or even renovated, the way you might renew an item that has fallen into disrepair. It means what is absolutely and radically new, something that had not existed before. It is the same word we find in Colossians 3:10, the "new man."
Everyday English uses "new" in two ways, and one writer applies both to Colossians and Ephesians 4.
We use the word 'new' in two senses in English. We speak of a 'new fashion,' and of a 'new coat.' "Renewed in knowledge" in Colossians 3:10 is a completely new thing, like a new fashion. "Renewed in the spirit of your mind," in Ephesians 4:23, is like a new coat, constantly renewed by the grace and Spirit of God.
This renewal runs through knowledge, and knowledge is more than the absence of wrongdoing.
The first man was innocent; he was not righteous but innocent... To be righteous and holy you must have the knowledge of good and evil... Colossians uses another expression of great importance — "renewed in knowledge according to the image of him that created him." There is a positive knowledge of God. It is not just that sin is absent. I have a positive knowledge of God Himself, and what God is gives the new man his character and essence.
The phrase can also be read "renewed into full knowledge," and one writer draws a conclusion for the mind.
Our renewing is according to the image of Christ. No lower standard is put before us. He Himself is the image of God. Notice again how this renewing is connected with the mind. The reading should be "renewed into full knowledge." How important it is, then, that our thinking should be in the direction God has indicated.
Older translations read "him that created him" where the ESV has "its creator." One writer names that Creator plainly.
The Creator is Christ; in Colossians all creation owes its existence to Him. The new man is formed after the pattern of Christ.
The verse says "image," not "likeness," and one writer explains the difference.
Likeness is in distinct qualities; "image" is the complete presentation of the person. So in Colossians 3:10 they were renewed in knowledge according to the image — the complete presentation of what He was, and of all that He was. That is a wonderful position and calling.
"Renewed" describes something ongoing, not finished.
This new man is "renewed", a word that implies it is daily gaining new strength. This fresh strength is found in the knowledge of the One who has created the new man. As we grow in the knowledge of Christ, we become like Christ. He is the perfect expression of the new order of man.
- New, not mended. The word means something that never existed before — not the old man repaired, but an entirely different order of man.
- New already. You put him on at conversion; every command in the chapter rests on a change already made, not one you are trying to earn.
- New by knowing. Renewal runs through knowledge — real knowledge of God Himself, which the first man's innocence never had.
- New after a Pattern. The measure is the image of the Creator — the full presentation of who He is, seen in Christ. There is no lower standard.
- New in practice. Grow in the knowledge of Christ and likeness to Him follows; that is how the new man shows day by day.
wherein there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ [is] everything, and in all.
Paul has just told the Colossians they have put off the old man and put on the new. This verse describes the world that new man lives in. It is a sphere where the labels people go by carry no weight. If race, religion, culture and class no longer define anyone there, what does?
The "where" of the verse is not a place but an order of humanity. One writer names the distinctions the verse rules out, then explains both halves of the closing phrase. Where he writes "everything," the ESV reads "all":
In this new order of man there are no national distinctions, such as Greek and Jew. There are no religious distinctions, such as circumcision and uncircumcision. And there are no social distinctions between ignorant and learned, or slaves and free. The old man may indeed include many kinds of men, such as Jews and Gentiles. But all of them are marked by certain evil features. The new man is an order of man in which "Christ is everything, and in all". Christ is everything as the perfect pattern and object; and Christ is in all to form the character of the new man.
Commentators read "all" here as "everything," and see the two halves pointing in two directions at once:
So in this region or circle — that of the new man — all that is of the flesh has disappeared. Only Christ, and what is of Christ, remains. Christ is everything, for that is the force of the expression, and He is also in all. It is Christ as the object before us and Christ within us, and there is nothing besides.
The second half moves the verse into daily behaviour. If Christ is in every Christian, conduct flows from Him and not from law:
Do we desire to know, not merely what Christ will be by and by, but what Christ is now? Then, according to the mind of God, He is not only "all," but "in all," that is, in all Christians. He Himself is the whole spring and character of Christian conduct. He is our life... It is not merely a question of right and wrong, of what we ought to do or be. This was law. But now it is a question of being consistent with Christ who is all and in all. And what then is the standard of our consistency? Christ, and Christ as He is in the presence of God.
One writer contrasts what the old man could hold on to with what fills the new:
While awaiting the glory when God will be all in all, Christ dwells already in His saints. He has formed in them the new man, in whom also He is all and in all. The old man can have ordinances and philosophy, but to the new man Christ is all.
Writers often confuse "God all in all" with the close of this verse. The two belong to different times:
The words "that God may be all in all" in 1 Corinthians 15:28 are often confused with the close of Colossians 3:11. Colossians applies now, the other not until the end of the millennium... Even now Christ is all and in all. His death and resurrection have blotted out, before God and to the eye of faith, all that is merely human and earthly in those who are one with Him.
The end of this same letter shows it among real people:
There may be different nationalities in an assembly, but they are all one "in Christ"... The closing chapter shows this beautifully. Paul writes of Onesimus, the former runaway slave, as "one of you," that is, "a faithful and beloved brother" in the assembly. We then get Luke, "the beloved physician." What a contrast socially between the slave and the doctor!
It also tests what we value in other believers:
As Christ is all and in all, so we have to seek to act on this always, only prizing in one another what is of Him... The Christian is in constant danger of sinking into thoughts of natural qualities — the things that make men attractive. The point of faith is to rise above all this.
The verse does not erase every difference in daily life:
When individual conduct is in question, some of these distinctions are not only recognised but clearly provided for. But when believers are looked at simply as members of the body of Christ, all differences merge. They "are one in Christ Jesus," and Christ becomes "all and in all."
- Where — the verse speaks of one sphere: the new man. Outside it the old labels still function; inside it they have no standing at all.
- Wiped — national, religious and social distinctions all go together. The old man could be Jew or Gentile; the new order has no such categories.
- Whole — "all" carries the force of "everything." Christ is the perfect pattern and object, and nothing of the flesh is left beside Him.
- Within — "in all" means in every Christian. He is the life and spring of conduct, so the standard is not a rule but Christ Himself, as He is in the presence of God.
- Working — in practice, prize in other believers only what is of Christ. At the same time, keep the everyday relationships Scripture itself provides for.