What does it mean to "be renewed in the spirit of your mind" (Ephesians 4:23)?

The truth that we have learned in Christ has been set forth in Jesus. 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 enmity against God, we have a renewed mind marked by righteousness and holiness, which refuses the evil and chooses the 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.

"But you have not so learned Christ" (v.20). If our ears are opened to hear Him and there is willingness to be taught by Him, our entire character and conduct will be a, contrast to that of the unsaved. The truth "in Jesus" (v.21) is a seldom used expression in scripture. It refers to the truth exemplified in the lowly life of the Lord Jesus on earth. If I think of truth regarding character and conduct, I see it perfectly in Him as the dependent Man. "Christ" is His official title" (v.20), and as we learn more of Him exalted at God's right hand, we more rightly value and understand practical truth as we see it in His entire conduct in Manhood on earth. Learning Christ is learning Him as the Object of my adoration high above me, but "as the truth is in Jesus" is learning Him as my practical Example come down to earth.

Verse 22 is rightly translated "having put off" (JND). The old man with its former manner of life, corrupt and deceitful, has been once and for all time put off. No believer can ever again be what he was before conversion, what he was in Adam. 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: he has put on the new man which is consistent with God's own nature, created in righteousness and holiness of truth. Righteousness is acting rightly in consistency 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.

Verse 23. "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind." It is by his mind that a man is led; while his mind, in its turn, is governed by some ruling object. Self is that object to the natural mind to the renewed mind it is Christ. To live no longer to ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again, is the desire of the inner man. But intuitive desire is aided in its struggle against the contradictory tendencies of the flesh by positive exhortation. The development of the mind of Christ within us is to be effected by obedient watchfulness on our parts. The meekness and gentleness of Christ are habits not to be acquired in a day, though the germ of every practical grace lies hidden in the life we have in Him. Mind and conscience are in a close moral connexion. By the renewal of the one, the other is maintained in purity. "Let every one be fully persuaded in his own mind" (Rom. 14:5) is a maxim of practical conduct, which cannot be too deeply impressed upon us all.

But now begins the positive part. There was, first, the putting off the old man, the moral judgment of it, grounded on God's judgment in the cross of Christ, where it was definitively done with. Then comes the renewing of the spirit of the mind, which we cannot have unless there is the judgment of the old. The renewal is intimated to be a present process going on gradually, as the spirit of the mind is imbued with Christ. The putting off and putting on are not viewed as present, but as the act in itself once for all. "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; that ye put on the new man which, according to God, has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth." They had the new man of course; but it is the putting on the new man practically, the outward manifestation of the new man that was already within 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. Such is the full and real meaning of the expression.

We now come to the ordinary exhortation as to walk. He shews the state they were in - ignorance and sin. "As the truth is in Jesus"; it is not doctrine, though doctrine is contained in it. The truth as it is in Jesus is the having put off the old man and put on the new - this having been done by faith. Then he adds, "and being renewed in the spirit of your mind." The putting off and the putting on are not in the present tense, whereas being renewed in the spirit of your mind is. The truth is, that you have put off the old man, but you do want renewing. In Colossians (chap. 3) this is distinct: "Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new." In the Epistle to the Ephesians he is not saying directly to them what they have done, but saying what the truth is in Jesus. So it is more abstract. The truth in Jesus is having put off and having put on. Being renewed is present; the renewing of the spirit of your mind is a thing that is always going on.

There is an analogy between Ephesians and Colossians. In Ephesians we read, "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness"; and in Colossians, "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." My mind is alive in Christ. "The truth as it is in Jesus" is the having put off the old man, and having put on the new. In Colossians it is not an abstract idea as in Ephesians, but a matter of fact. Ephesians 4:22 is past, and verse 24 also; verse 23 is the present tense. There are two senses in which we use the word 'new' in English: we speak of a 'new fashion,' and of a 'new coat.' "Renewed in knowledge" in Colossians 3:10 is a perfectly 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.

We put off the old man by profession when we turned to Christ for salvation; we were glad to renounce all that is "corrupt" and "deceitful," the two features used to describe the old man in verse 22. We then read that "righteousness and true holiness" characterize the new man. We have already seen that the old man is not Adam, neither is the new man Christ, but Adam fallen gives character to the old man and Christ in sinless perfection gives character to the new man. Hence in turning to Christ we turned from the one to the other. This we learn from such Scriptures as the one before us.

An important principle is stated in verse 23, "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind." If, as having put on the new man, we are to come out in the features of Christ, we shall have to guard our minds. What are the objects which engage us? the things which constantly come 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? These are questions which we need to put to ourselves for, as a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he," Proverbs 23:7. If we persist in thinking of these evil things they will mark us in our ways, as will good things, right things which are for the pleasure of God, if we set our minds on them. Let us guard our minds, let us "think on these things," those beautiful features listed by the Holy Spirit in Paul's letter to the Philippians, chapter 4:8.

When we come to Ephesians 4:20-24, we learn how the truth of the new creation is to be brought into our everyday lives. The truth as it is in Jesus is brought out in its three parts: first, "Your having put off according to the former conversation the old man which corrupts itself according to the deceitful lusts;" secondly, "being renewed in the spirit of your mind;" thirdly, "having put on the new man, which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness." As having learnt the Christ, we learned that we were finished with the life in which once we lived according to the flesh, and that the spirit of the mind is renewed in being occupied with Christ and His things. How different are the outlook and thoughts of the Christian as having Christ as his object. Then we have put on the new man; our life now is lived according to the truth of new creation, where all is marked by holiness and righteousness, features that spring from the nature and character of God. What follows shows how very practical the truth is; these great truths are to affect us in every relationship down here, and in every detail of our lives.

Progress in being “transformed by the renewing of the mind” can only be ours when we are at peace with God through the work of Christ, being reconciled to Him through the death of His Son. Where doubts still cloud the mind, how can there be advance in the knowledge of divine things? The exhortation, or rather beseeching, to thus respond follows the teaching which gives us this divine assurance. At the very start, when God began His work in us—the work which He will carry on and complete—a renewing of an eternal character took place with us. That was done once, and done for ever. In we only place it is named in Scripture it is said to have taken place in the spirit of the mind (Eph. 4:23), and a different word is used for renewing, ananeō, for it is new in an abiding sense. In Romans 12:2 it is anakainōsis, to be renewed in a fresh way. In the former scripture three things are stated concerning us: (1) We have “put off the old man”; (2) “Being renewed in the spirit of the mind”; (3) “Having put on the new man” (see New Trans.). These things have taken place; but the renewal according to Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 4:16, and Colossians 3:10 still goes on. This word is used five times, the other two being Titus 3:5 and Hebrew 6:6.

This renewal of the Holy Spirit spoken of in Titus 3:5 is still going on; but if a man professed the faith of Christ and apostatised, we are told in Hebrews 6:6, it is impossible to renew him again to repentance after he has outwardly partaken of the great benefits spoken of in verses 4 and 5. The fact is he was never a true believer at all, and his own course proves it. Those, however, who are true children of God are to make progress in the direction which the Word of God indicates by the renewing of their minds. The Apostle Paul tells us that notwithstanding all the labours and afflictions which were his, he experienced a daily renewal. “Though our outward man perish,” he writes, “yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16); and what he says immediately after gives us the secret of this: “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” The latter engrossed his attention, for Christ is the Centre of them all.

Now we have learned Christ. Not only have we heard Him, and as a result believed in Him, but we have been "taught by Him," or as it may be read, "instructed in Him." He is not only our Teacher but our Lesson Book. He is not only our Lesson Book but our Example. The truth is in Jesus: that is, He Himself when here on earth was the perfect setting forth of all that is enjoined upon us. He perfectly manifested the "righteousness and holiness of truth," of which verse 24 (marginal reading) speaks.

What we have learned, then, concerns three things. First, as to our having put off the old man, which is utterly corrupt. Second, as to a complete renewal in the very spirit of our mind. Third, as to our having put on the new man, which is wholly according to God. The putting off and the putting on are not something which we are to do, as the Authorized translation would infer, but something which the true believer has done. "Your having put off… and having put on" (N. Tr.).

The "old man" is not Adam personally, but rather the Adamic nature and character. So too the "new man" is not Christ personally, but the nature and character which are His. The righteousness and holiness, which spring forth from, and are in entire consonance with truth, were altogether proper to Him, and like a native growth. With us they are not native but foreign, and consequently as regards us the new man is spoken of as created. Nothing short of creation would do, and nothing less than complete renewal in the spirit of our minds.