EPHESIANS: ETERNALLY ENCLOSED IN GOD’S PLAN

Part XIV: Shifting From The Old Man To The New Man

(Ephesians 4:17-32)

I. Introduction

A. Paul wrote Ephesians to encourage believers of God’s work to edify the Church regardless what happened to him in his imprisonment (Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1672: “Intro. to the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians”).

B. Ephesians 4:17-32 thus teaches the need for believers to shift from the old man to the new man for blessing:

II. Shifting From The Old Man To The New Man, Ephesians 4:17-32.

A. A believer retains his old sin nature, the “old man” of Ephesians 4:22 that he had before he was saved, and God removes it at physical death or the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-57). However, when a believer trusts in Christ to be saved, God gives him the “new man” of Ephesians 4:24, a new nature that remains in him forever.

B. Paul described the characteristics and works of the “old man,” the old sin nature, in Ephesians 4:17-19:

1. Before salvation, one’s old sin nature functions with futile thinking, darkened in his understanding and separated from the life of God due to ignorance created by his hardened heart, Ephesians 4:17-18 NIV.

2. With a lack of sensitivity to moral uprightness, people living by the sinful nature give themselves over to sensuality to indulge in every kind of impurity, full of selfish greed, Ephesians 4:19 NIV.

C. The believer is responsible to “put off” that “old man” or old sin nature, Ephesians 4:20-22 NIV:

1. The believer is not taught of God to live like he did before salvation in his sinful nature, Eph. 4:20 NIV.

2. Rather, when he learned about Christ upon being saved, he was taught God’s truth in Him, Eph. 4:21 NIV.

3. That teaching included the believer’s need to put off his old sin nature and its way of life, Eph. 4:22 NIV.

D. Instead, the believer is to “put on the new man,” the new nature, Ephesians 4:23-24 NIV:

1. The putting on of the new nature includes the putting on of a new attitude of the mind, Eph. 4:23 NIV.

2. That new nature was created to be like God in true righteousness and separation from sin, Eph. 4:24 NIV.

E. Paul described the characteristics and works of the “new man,” the new nature, in Ephesians 4:25-32:

1. A believer who lives in the realm of his new nature must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his brother in Christ, for believers are all members of one spiritual body in Christ, Ephesians 4:25.

2. A believer who lives in the realm of his new nature must be angry at sin but not let that anger fester to create sin itself. Rather, he must have that anger be expended by God’s grace that it not control the believer lest Satan get a foothold in causing the believer to sin in outbursts of wrath, Eph. 4:26-27 NIV.

3. If a believer had been stealing, he must stop doing so, and work by doing what is useful with his hands to be able to share with others who are in need, the opposite of what he did as a thief, Ephesians 4:28 NIV.

4. A believer who lives in the new nature must not let unwholesome talk come out of his mouth but speak only what is helpful to edify others that his speech might benefit his hearers, Ephesians 4:29 NIV.

5. A believer who lives in the new nature must not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by Whom he was sealed unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30 NIV), but instead, he is to be rid of bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice that grieves the Holy Spirit, and be kind, compassionate to others, forgiving others as God in Christ has forgiven him, Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV.

F. The WAY one “puts off the old man” and “puts on the new man” is taught elsewhere in Scripture as follows:

1. When a believer functions by his “old man,” his old sin nature, he lives in disobedience to God’s Word, cf. 1 John 1:5-6 with 2:3. He is thus said to be “carnal” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3) or “fleshly” as Paul describes it.

2. If a believer confesses his sin to God (1 Jn. 1:9), God forgives him, cleanses him from all unrighteousness and puts him into experiential fellowship with the Lord Himself in the realm of the believer’s “new man.”

3. In this experiential state of restored spiritual fellowship with God, the believer needs to rely by faith on the indwelling Holy Spirit to continue to live in his new nature, his “new man,” Galatians 5:16; 2:20.

4. As he continues to live in his “new man,” relying on the Holy Spirit to obey Scripture, the believer “walks in the light,” that is, he enjoys continued fellowship with God AND with other godly believers, 1 John 1:7.

Lesson: God directs us believers in Christ to cease living by the old sin nature that commits the sins of our pre-salvation days and to start to continue to live by the new nature that He created in us when we believed in Christ, that we live righteously and separate from sin. To achieve this divine directive, we are to “put off” the sin nature and “put on” the new nature by a life of faith that relies on God the Holy Spirit Who indwells us.

Application: May we “put off the old man” and “put on the new man” in our walk by always relying on the Lord.