EPHESIANS 4:22

The Bible says in Ephesians 4:22-24, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” In the book of Ephesians we have been told in great detail about all of the wonderful things that we have because of Christ. God is in us. We are in Christ. He views us as being in the heavenly places already. What a wonderful future we have in heaven because of Christ. But heaven has not come yet. We are still in this world, and we must learn some important things about living for Christ in this world. In this part of Ephesians chapter four we are being told some important principles regarding having a new life now that we have come to Christ. We are supposed to be different than the unbelievers around us. What are the principles involved that allow us to be different in the right ways?

Ephesians 4:22-24 gives some of these principles. If you know these principles and put them into effect in your life, then you will be the Christian that you ought to be. If you do not know these principles, you will not even understand what is really happening to you or what the problems really are, or what the choices or the challenges really are. In verse twenty-two the word “conversation” means “manner of life.” It reads, “That you put off concerning the former manner of life the old man…” The “old man” refers to the person that you were before you came to know Christ. It refers to the desires that controlled you and to your manner of life before you came to know Jesus. In contrast to the “old man” verse twenty-four speaks of the “new man.” Once you become saved by faith in Christ, you receive a new nature which is called here the new man. “If any man be in a Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; all things are become new.” The reason that all things are called new is because now you have a new man in addition to the old man. The old man is represented by the deceitful lusts: by the strong selfish desires that every human being has. In contrast to the strong selfish desires of the old man, the new man does away with those desires by being centered on Christ and by being surrendered to Christ. You will either surrender to your selfishness, or you will surrender to Christ.

Romans 6:6 says something interesting about the “old man.” It says, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” The first part of this verse is important to know because it tells us that if you have been saved by Jesus that the “old man” was actually crucified and put to death with Jesus on the cross, at least from the standpoint of its judicial standing before God. Sin has been punished. Your sin, all of your sin, has been punished through Christ on the cross. Your old man, your sinful nature was hanging there symbolically in the person of Christ. O what a great salvation He has given to us.

But in regards to the practical reality of your day-to-day life, a decision must be made by you regarding the old man and the new. One or the other will control your life each day. One or the other will control your response to any particular situation. Notice how these verses in Ephesians declare it: you “put off” the old man and you “put on” the new man. Evidently it is an all or nothing proposition. You cannot say that you are going to serve God in some things but not in others. This all or nothing principle is expressed in several different ways in the New Testament. For example, Jesus said to the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3:16, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot: I will spue thee out of my mouth.” The Apostle Paul spoke of his own life of following Christ and he said, “I die daily.” In what way did he die? He died to his own selfish desires, but notice that it was not something that happened one time forever. This dying to the old man and his desires must take place over and over again because the old man is still there, waiting to take control should you allow him to do so.

Ephesians 4:22 says that the former manner of life that was conducted by the old man “is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.” The word “corrupt” speaks of ruin, destruction, death. That concept goes right along with “deceitful lusts.” These strong lusts are deceitful. They tell a story that is not true. They say: come and do this or that and you will benefit from it. That is a lie. The truth is that the selfish human desires always end up causing destruction in some manner sooner or later. As the old country preacher(Bob Jones Senior) said, “All of Satan’s apples have worms.”

Ephesians 4:23 gives important information concerning how to put on the new man instead of the old man. It says, “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Of course, if you are a true believer then you have already had the new birth. But you still need to be renewed in the mind. This teaching sounds very similar to Romans 12:2 that says, “And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The battle is in the mind. This is not a physical battle. It is a spiritual battle that takes place in the mind. If you think the thoughts that you ought to think about the old man and the new man, then you will put off the old man and put on the new man. Ultimately, you will make a choice in each situation of each day. You will think about the old man and what his life-style offers and the new man and what his life-style offers, and then you will make a choice. If your mind is properly renewed with spiritual thoughts and with spiritual truths, then you will make the right choice.

When we talk about spiritual choices and the renewing of the mind, we are also talking about behaviors that result from those choices and from those thoughts. And so verse 25 starts listing some very practical things that will result if someone has put off the old man. Another way of looking at it is this: you make choices concerning each action that you take in each circumstance. In each one of those circumstances you either choose what the old man would do or you choose what the new man would do.

Ephesians 4:25 says, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of another.” It is important to notice in this verse that when it is translated “putting away,” it is the exact same verb in the original that is translated “put off” in verse 22. The implications seem quite clear. The way to put off the old man is to put off any deed that the old man would have done: put off any selfish desire that the old man would have given in to. The first example is that of lying. Why does anyone lie in the first place? They do it out of self-interest. A person thinks that a lie will benefit them, and so they lie. The truth is that a lie destroys. It destroys the one telling the lie. Remember that the deceitful lusts result in corruption and ruin.

It is interesting that the first of the practical things to do on this list is the telling of the truth. Earlier in this chapter the emphasis was on the fact that believers should be learning truth from Christ and from the teachers whom Christ has gifted. If we claim that we are learning spiritual truth from God and His Christ, then we should certainly say the truth and never say a lie in the things that we say to anyone about anything. Verse 25 says, ”speak every man truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of another.” Notice the reason that is given here that we should speak the truth to our neighbors: “we are members one of another.” If you are going to be united with others in the ways that human beings ought to be united, whether in family or church or community, then you must trust each other and you must trust each other’s words. Always speak the truth and that trust will be reinforced. Fail to speak the truth and you will drive ruinous wedges between those who otherwise could have been united.

Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Anger is a very dangerous emotion for human beings. Remember that one of the chief goals of life is to do the right thing before God and before Christ. Anything that keeps you from accomplishing that goal must be avoided. Anger will definitely keep you from accomplishing it. Anger will cause you to say things and do things that ought not to be done. “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” Some people like to look at the verse in Ephesians 4:26 and point out that it does not say that anger is a sin. That is true, but do not ever say that in order to justify your anger. Most human anger is wrong and cannot be justified. Most human anger comes out of the old man and is tied to selfish human desires. The anger that you usually have is not righteous anger. It is selfish anger. You got angry because things did not work out the way that you wanted or desired. God is angry with the wicked every day, but you are not God. Do not play God. He is Judge. Christ is Judge. Judge yourself instead of others, and you will not get angry near as often. When you do get angry, do not stay angry long. The longer that you are angry, the more that you will be led into committing sins because of your anger.

God tells us in Ephesians 4:27, “Neither give place to the devil.” The word “neither” connects verse 27 to verse 28. The word that is translated “neither” is a word that connects two things that are parts of a whole. What connection is there between human anger and the devil? The connection is the fact that the devil easily uses human anger in order to accomplish his dirty work. Through human anger relationships are broken, people are harmed, and the work of God is reduced. The devil is a creature of anger. He is called the dragon because of his hatred and anger and viciousness. The devil is a very powerful creature, but he can do nothing unless he is given an inroad and an opportunity. One of the blessings of being a follower of Christ is that Jesus has given us the victory over the powers of evil. If you resist the devil, he will flee from you. He is looking for someone who does not resist. That is where his opportunities are.

So far we have been given two basic things that reveal if you are saying yes to the old man or to the new man: lying and anger management. The third has to do with our attitude towards work. Ephesians 4:28 says, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” Perhaps you have noticed that several of the Ten Commandments have been referenced in this passage. In this verse is the principle, “Thou shalt not steal.” In verse 25 was “Thou shalt not lie.” In verse 22 was a reference to the catch-all commandment, “Thou shalt not covet,” when it spoke of the deceitful lusts of the old man.

In reference to stealing, Ephesians 4:28 tells us what the alternative to stealing is: work. Work is ordained by God. When Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, God said to them, “By the sweat of thy brow, thou shalt labor.” Jesus labored as a carpenter. Paul labored as a tent-maker even during his labor as a minister of the gospel of Christ. The point that Ephesians 4:28 is making is that human beings have physical needs in this world, and the God-given means of meeting those needs is to work. The God-given means is not to gamble, the God-given means is not to rely on others when you could do something yourself, the God-given means is not to do something illegal for monetary gain, and the God-given means is not to steal: it is to work.

Notice what verse twenty-eight says that you should do with your income once you have work that meets your needs. It says “that he may have to give to him that needeth.” The believer who is living according to the new man thinks of others. Remember: the old man is selfish. The new man is generous and kind and compassionate. If you have true compassion, then when you see your brother in need; you will not shut up your bowels of compassion from him, but you will actually give of your substance to alleviate his need. That tells you right there for what God wants you to use some of your abundance: to help human beings that have physical needs. You are a spiritual person if you care about the material needs of others. This is God’s plan for the spiritual person: you work, you gain, you use some of your gain for your own needs, and you use some of your gain for the needs of others. That is what God does. He helps us both physically and spiritually. Every good thing that we have comes from God who is the giver of all good things. God gave His Son to die on a cruel cross so that we could be saved from our sins.

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