The “New Man” And Its Practical Impact

Feature 2 – July/August 2023 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The “New Man” And Its Practical Impact

“Put on the new man, which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24 JND ). Since there is “the new man,” there must be “the old man” (v.22). Scripture also speaks of “our old man” (Rom. 6:6).

“The old man” is man under the headship of Adam, the fallen man. There was nothing good in the “old man,” and he was put to an end at the cross of Christ. The apostle Paul pointed out in his letter to the Ephesians that believers should have “put off according to the former conversation [manner of life] the old man which corrupts itself according to the deceitful lusts” (Eph. 4:22). He told the Romans, “If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Rom. 6:5-6 NKJV). When Christ died, we also died with Him. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live” (Gal. 2:20). The “I” is the old man – the fallen man whose nature can do nothing but sin.

There is now the new man which follows in the character of Christ. The new man is what believers on the Lord Jesus are in Christ. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Since we are in Christ, what is true of Him will be seen in our lives.

Christ is not the new man, because He was never created. He is the Creator. “For by Him all things were created … all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col. 1:16-17).

As believers, having put on the new man, righteousness and holiness will be seen in us. “Righteousness” is what is right before God, and “holiness” is our separated walk with Him and before Him. Zacharias “prophesied, saying: ‘Blessed is the Lord God … Grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life’” (Lk. 1:67-68,74-75).

Having put on the new man, we are to “put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another … above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Col. 3:12-14). All these things were seen in perfection in the Lord Jesus:

• Tender mercies – “In Christ … comfort of love … affection and mercy” (Phil. 2:1).
• Kindness – “The kindness and the love of God our Savior” (Ti. 3:4).
• Humility – “He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8).
• Meekness – “The meekness and gentleness of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:1).
• Longsuffering – “The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation” (2 Pet. 3:15).
• Forgiving – “Even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Col. 3:13).
• Love – “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12).

May it be that we would display Him in our lives. The apostle continued in Galatians 2:20 by saying, “Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

I am reminded of a few verses from a hymn written by Kate B. Wilkinson (1859–1928). She wrote:

May the mind of Christ My Savior Live in me from day to day, By His love and power controlling All I do and say.
May His beauty rest upon me As I seek the lost to win, And may they forget the channel Seeing only Him.

By Paul Palmer