and being renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Paul places this verse between two settled facts: the old self put off, the new self put on. In the middle stands one verb in the present tense — so what is still going on, and what part do we play?
Verses 22 to 24 form one statement about what we learned in Christ, and this verse is its middle clause.
The truth that we have been taught and learned in Him is that, in the cross, we have put off the old man and have put on the new. In the light of this great truth we are in our daily path, as a present thing, being renewed in the spirit of our minds. Instead of the mind of the flesh, which is hostile to God, we have a renewed mind marked by righteousness and holiness. It refuses evil and chooses good. The new man does not mean the old man changed, but an entirely new man; and the "renewing" refers to the daily life of the new man.
The tenses matter. One verb describes a process going on now; the other two describe an act done once.
Then comes the renewing of the spirit of the mind. We cannot have it unless we judge the old man. The wording hints that the renewal is a present process, going on step by step, as Christ fills the spirit of the mind. The putting off and putting on are not present things, but one act complete in itself, once for all.
One writer explains the word "new" with a picture from clothing.
We use the word "new" in English in two senses. 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 minds," in Ephesians 4:23, is like a new coat, constantly renewed by the grace and Spirit of God.
Commentators differ here. Some read this renewal as once-for-all and lasting, and place the daily renewal in other passages:
At the very start, God began His work in us — the work which He will carry on and complete. Then a renewing of an eternal character took place with us, done once and done for ever. Scripture names it in only one place, and there it happens in the spirit of the mind (Eph. 4:23). It uses a different word for renewing there, ananeō, for it is new in a lasting sense. In Romans 12:2 the word is anakainōsis, to be renewed in a fresh way.
The phrase points to what steers a person.
A man's mind leads him; and some ruling object governs his mind in its turn. Self is that object to the natural mind; to the renewed mind it is Christ. To live no longer to ourselves, but to Him who died for us and rose again, is the desire of the inner man. But direct exhortation helps this desire in its fight against the opposite pulls of the flesh. Obedient watchfulness on our part is to develop the mind of Christ within us.
The change goes deeper than behaviour:
He has been renewed in the spirit of his mind: the attitude of his mind has changed. Though the fleshly nature remains in him, this no longer dominates him. There is a new controlling factor.
Renewal has a practical side: we have to watch what fills our minds.
If we have put on the new man and are to show the features of Christ, we must guard our minds. What objects engage us? What things keep coming into our minds? Do we continue to think of the old path in which we walked before we believed the gospel? Do the interests of this world engage our thoughts, or do the interests of Christ engage them?
Paul describes this renewal in himself, and gives the reason it kept going.
"Though our outer self is wasting away," he writes, "our inner self is being renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16); and what he says right after gives us the secret of this: "We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." Those unseen things took up all his attention, for Christ is the Centre of them all.
There is also a relief in this. Renewal is not performance:
Let us not try to look new, or even to feel new, but let us be renewed in the spirit of our minds.
- Settled — The putting off and the putting on are done once for all. Only the renewing stands in the present tense.
- Steered — The mind is led by whatever object rules it: self for the natural mind, Christ for the renewed one.
- Supplied — This renewal is not self-improvement. It is like a new coat, kept new by the grace and Spirit of God.
- Selective — Guard what engages your thoughts. That is the daily work.
- Sustained — The inner self is renewed day by day as we look at what is unseen and eternal, with Christ at the centre.
and [your] having put on the new man, which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness.
The call in Ephesians 4 is not to improve the old life but to wear a new one, made by God and shaped like Him. Two questions follow. What is this "new man," which the ESV calls the "new self"? And why does the verse describe it in words that never fit Adam?
Everything turns on one word: "created."
Note the word "created"; God has caused to exist in me what was not there once. See Colossians 3:10: the new man is "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him." The word suits Ephesians well, because this letter views man as dead… The new man loves righteousness and holiness of truth. He never wants to wallow in filth. The practical display of these features is the proof of life.
So reform is not what the verse means.
It is not just a change of practice. There is a thorough setting aside of the old corrupt man, a fresh spirit of the mind, and a putting on of the new man, created after God in righteousness and holiness of truth. It is not an improvement or "better ways," as people say, but a new creation; and we have taken this place.
A common assumption is that this verse describes what Adam was before he fell. Commentators reject that reading, and in doing so they define the words themselves.
There was neither holiness nor righteousness before the fall. The original state was something distinct from both. Adam was innocent, but not properly righteous or holy. God is holy. He sees what is bad and hates it. That is what holiness is, at least on its negative side. A righteous man judges what is contrary to justice, and hates it. An innocent man did not know good and evil as things in themselves. Of course, he knew it was his duty to obey God… He lost innocence, and we never get it back. But God renews us after the second Adam.
So the new creation is not a rewind.
There is no return to innocence — to the state in which Satan found man and deceived him. But God makes all things new… The new creation is the knowledge of good and evil, together with the life of God and His indwelling Spirit. As a result, we dwell in the light and love of God's nature.
Writers often quote this phrase as "righteousness and holiness of truth." One writer defines both words, and names what has not gone away.
The fleshly nature remains in him, but it no longer rules him. There is a new controlling factor: he has put on the new man, which is consistent with God's own nature. Righteousness is acting rightly in keeping with whatever relationship we may be in. Holiness is the love of what is good and the hatred of evil. But it is the truth of God that decides what is good and what is evil, not merely people's consciences or opinions.
"After God" is a statement about resemblance. It sets the standard for the new nature.
The new man is after God. That is, it is like God, and is "created in righteousness and true holiness."… The Christian, who has the truth as it is in Jesus, has put off the old man and put on the new man, which is after God. God Himself is the pattern, and it is in Christ that we learn what He is.
If God creates the new man, what is left for the believer to do? Writers answer: show what is already inside.
The putting off and the putting on are not a present process. They are the act in itself, once for all… They had the new man, of course. But this is putting on the new man in practice — the outward showing of the new man that was already inside them. It is well to bear in mind that this is "righteousness and holiness of truth." It is the truth here again that produces it.
That showing belongs in everyday life.
Then we have put on the new man. We now live according to the truth of new creation. There holiness and righteousness mark everything, and these features spring from the nature and character of God. What follows shows how practical the truth is. These great truths are to affect us in every relationship here, and in every detail of our lives.
- Created — God caused the new man to exist. It was not there before. This is not repaired behaviour or "better ways."
- Character — righteousness is acting rightly in every relationship. Holiness is loving good and hating evil. God's truth, not opinion, decides which is which.
- Contrast — Adam was innocent, not righteous or holy. We never get innocence back. The new creation joins the knowledge of good and evil to the life of God.
- Copy — "after God" means the pattern is God Himself, and it is in Christ that we learn what He is.
- Clothing — you already have the new man. The command is to wear it. What is inside then shows in every relationship and every detail of daily life.