Introduction
Serious Bible students will have noticed that
there are certain terms descriptive of man, some individual and some
corporate, that are only used by the apostle Paul. Thus we have the
old man and the
new man (see Eph. 4: 22,
24), the first man and
the second man (see 1
Cor. 15: 45, 47), the
spiritual man (see 1 Cor. 2: 15) and the
carnal man (see 1 Cor. 3:
3), the inner man (see
Eph. 3: 16) and the outward
man (see 2 Cor. 4: 16). Our subject is the
new man—but to
understand this expression we must take care to distinguish it from
all the others in our list. In particular, we must understand what
is meant by the
old man, for it is
with this term that the new man is so clearly contrasted.
The First Man and the Second Man
Let us begin then with the
first man.
Now to confuse “the first man” (1 Cor.
15: 45) with “our old man” (Rom. 6: 6) has caused much damage to
souls. The first man was an individual made out of dust by God
Himself, and pronounced “very good” (Gen. 1: 31). Adam stood at the
head of the race, and all mankind is connected to him as that first
man, for all bear “the image of the [one] made of dust” (1 Cor. 15:
49). The thought behind the term
the first man is simply
“that which is natural” (1 Cor. 15: 46). Indeed, the “natural
man”—that is, the first man’s descendants—cannot enter into the
things of God, because they are “spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:
14). What they understand is, at most, by “mere nature”, for they
are “natural [men], not having [the] Spirit” (Jude 10, 19). The
expression the old man,
however, takes us beyond what is merely natural, and
distinctly involves
what has come about as a result of the entrance of sin into the
world. The old man thus “corrupts itself” according to its
“deceitful lusts” (Eph. 4: 22). Rather than an individual (as was
Adam, the first man), the term “our
old man” (Rom. 6: 6, my italics) is the sinful condition
personified, and therefore embraces the whole of fallen mankind.
Now that which is natural and that which is
sinful must be kept separate in our minds, for that which sin has
marred is not in itself sin. “Harsh treatment of the body” (Col. 2:
23) is
completely useless
with respect to putting to death those moral features that
characterise the old man (see Col. 3: 5). Certainly what is natural
cannot enter into the things of God, for such things are only
“revealed to us by [his] Spirit” (1 Cor. 2: 10),
but the believer is not
unnatural, and nor is he supposed to be. Natural affection
has its place in the life of the believer, and the absence of it is
a mark of apostasy (see 2 Tim. 3: 3). We also have a “natural body”
(1 Cor. 15: 44) in which we are to glorify God (see 1 Cor. 6: 20).
Nor is the body annulled as some think. What Scripture
does say is that “our
old man has been crucified with [him], that the body
of sin might be
annulled, that we should no longer serve sin” (Rom. 6: 6, my
emphasis). The sense is that the old man being judged at the cross,
sin no longer has the position of domination over our natural bodies
as it did formerly.
Turning to the
second man, we find
that this refers to the Lord as the beginning of a new order, and as
contrasted with Adam, who headed the original order: “the first man
out of [the] earth, made of dust; the second man, out of heaven” (1
Cor. 15: 47). The introduction of this new order means that “as we
have borne the image of the [one] made of dust” so shall we “bear
also the image of the heavenly [one]” (v49). This is future, but we
are to have “put on the new man” (Eph. 4: 24)
now. The first man
(and his progeny) have a natural body, while those of the second
man’s order are looking to be “raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:
44) like His. Again, the second man is the Lord Jesus Christ as an
individual, but those now associated with Him are formed “in himself
into one new man” (Eph. 2: 15). The term
new man therefore refers
not to an individual, but is the personification of Christ and the
Assembly. Unlike old man,
the new man is not simply
a moral term, but also involves the mystery. Ephesians 2: 15
presents the mystery side of the expression (the composition), while
Ephesians 4: 24, presents the moral side (the character).
Other Pauline Terms
The
spiritual man
describes the
individual believer
in a right condition. He “discerns all things” (1 Cor. 2: 15), and
is contrasted with the merely “natural man” (that is, an unbeliever)
who “does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
folly to him; and he cannot know [them] because they are spiritually
discerned” (v14). The
carnal man (see 1
Cor. 3: 3), is the believer in a bad state, who instead of walking
according to the Spirit, walks “according to man” (v3)—that is,
according to what is natural, or even sinful.
The
inner man (see Eph.
3: 16) is also personal, being the result of the work of the Holy
Spirit in each individual believer in Christ, and is in contrast to
the
outward man, which is
simply our bodily frame. 2 Cor. 4: 16 makes this plain: “we faint
not; but if indeed our outward man is consumed, yet the inward is
renewed day by day”.
The spiritual man, the carnal man, the inner
man and the outward man are all what is personal to the individual,
but the old man describes instead what is characteristic of the
whole fallen race. There are not multiple ‘old men’ as it were—when
the apostle refers to “our
old man” (Rom. 6: 6, my emphasis) the sense is what is
peculiar to all mankind. We have already seen that there is also but
“one
new man” (Eph. 2: 15, my emphasis), formed in Christ, and in this
new man, all the earthly distinctions common to humanity (such as
bondman and freeman) are erased (see Col. 3: 11).
The New Man—His Creation
The
new man could not
exist without first there being an
old man, and that old
man having been judged at the cross (see Rom. 6: 6), thus proving
the need of a “new man”. The old man came about through the fall,
but the new man was not created until the death, resurrection and
ascension of Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit. The new man
could not exist in the OT because the Lord Jesus was not a man until
the incarnation (see 1 Tim. 3: 16; 2 John 7), and it is
as a man, that the
“one new man”, is formed “in
himself” (Eph. 2: 15, my emphasis). However, the Lord Jesus
Christ did not form the new man in Himself as a man on earth. Not
only did He live and die as a man on earth, but He has been
“received up in glory” (1 Tim. 3: 16)
as a man (see Acts 7:
56; Heb. 2: 6, 7), for “we see
Jesus” (His ordinary
name as a man among men) … “crowned with glory and honour” (v9, my
emphasis). It is in that position that the new man is formed in
Himself. Scripture is explicit that the new man could not exist
before the cross because there the Lord annulled the enmity between
Jew and Gentile “in his flesh” (that is, through His death)
in order “that
he might form the two in himself into one new man” (Eph. 2: 15, my
emphasis). Again, the new man could not exist before the Holy Spirit
was sent from heaven to indwell the Church, because Jew and Gentile
could not be formed “into one new man” (Eph. 2: 15) until “in [the
power of] one Spirit” they had “all been baptised into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks … and had “all been given to drink of one
Spirit” (1 Cor. 12: 13).
The new man is not simply a new nature (for the
OT saints pleased God and yet they lived before the new man was
formed). Nor is the new man simply the body of Christ on earth,
connected to the Head in heaven (although, all blessedly true). We
know this because while the Corinthians were told “ye
are Christ’s body” (1 Cor. 12: 27), they were also told “ye are yet
carnal” (1 Cor. 3: 3), which hardly accords with a new man “created
in truthful righteousness” (Eph. 4: 24). Again, while the Colossian
saints were responsible to hold “fast the head” (Col. 2: 19), the
new man is created “in himself” (Eph. 2: 15) and thus cannot fall
short. The new man is really what is true of Christ finding its
expression by the Spirit in the Assembly. The moral features of
Christ are replicated there, so that the whole can be seen as “one
new man” (Eph. 2: 15), formed for the pleasure of God.
The New Man—His Composition
The corporate aspect of the new man is one that
is not often considered—for if the subject is examined at all, it is
usually only with respect to what is practical and personal.
Focusing solely on the moral features of the new man might lead us
to think that the term refers to a new race of men, but it is
actually “one
new man” (Eph. 2: 15, my emphasis)—which the addition of the words
“one body” in the following verse only add emphasis. Indeed, read
on, for it is the corporate idea that is prominent throughout: “the
household of God … a holy temple in the Lord … a habitation of God
in [the] Spirit” (v19, 21, 22). Now it is obvious that what is
characteristic of the old man is not conducive to “the unity of the
Spirit” (Eph. 4: 3), while that which marks the new man necessarily
has that effect. Thus while the Ephesians were directed to “let all
bitterness, and heat of passion, and wrath, and clamour, and
injurious language, be removed from you, with all malice”—that is,
what is characteristic of the old man—they were also exhorted to “be
to one another kind, compassionate, forgiving one another, so as God
also in Christ has forgiven you”—that is, what is characteristic of
the new man—(Eph. 4: 31, 32). Nor is it simply a matter of the
character of the new man, for it is “one
new man” (Eph. 2: 15, my emphasis). Two men might quarrel with each
other, but not one. Thus, in His death, Christ has “annulled the
enmity” (Eph. 2: 15) between Jew and Gentile,
both are reconciled
in
one body (see v16),
both have access by
one Spirit to the Father (see v18), are
fellow–citizens (see
v19),
fitted together (see
v21) and
built together (see
v22). This concept of “one new man” (v15) immediately does away with
the prevalent notions of ecclesiastical independency and all forms
of sectarianism, and is the death knell of those human alliances
that pretend a spiritual unity they do not have. In the one new man,
“there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ [is] everything,
and in all” (Col. 3: 11). Where man sees difference, God sees
Christ, where man
delights in many, God has formed into
one.
The New Man—His Character
Scripture clearly contrasts the character of the new man with that
of the old man, but in both cases it is the state of the mind that
influences the behaviour. Those characterised by the old man are
said to “walk in [the] vanity of their mind, being darkened in
understanding, estranged from the life of God by reason of the
ignorance which is in them, by reason of the hardness of their
hearts, who having cast off all feeling, have given themselves up to
lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greedy unsatisfied
lust” (Eph. 4: 17–19). The Christian, however is not ignorant, but
“instructed” in Christ, and, as a result, has “put off according to
the former conversation the old man which corrupts itself according
to the deceitful lusts” and is instead “being renewed in the spirit
of your mind … having put on the new man, which according to God is
created in truthful righteousness and holiness” (vs. 21–24).
The old man could not be improved. His history
from the fall of Adam to the cross of Christ is proof of this.
Indeed, soon after the formation of the old man, we read that “Cain
rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him”, and before long,
“the earth was full of violence” (Gen. 4: 8; 6: 11). The
introduction of the Law only served to expose the sinfulness of man
even further, and his awful history culminated in the murder of the
Son of God. A
new man was therefore
needed. Interestingly, the Holy Spirit uses a different word for new
in Colossians 3, to that which He uses in Ephesians 2 and 4 (these
being the only three chapters in which the new man is so named). In
Colossians 3: 10, the word is
neos, while in Ephesians 2: 15 and 4: 24, the word is
kainos. The first means
new abidingly, the
second, new altogether.
The first can never grow old: it is ever fresh. The second is what
has never been before. Both words are needed to describe the new
man: it is both
new altogether, and
abidingly new. Thus
the “old man has been crucified” with Christ (Rom. 6:
6)—condemned—while the new man is “created in truthful righteousness
and holiness” (Eph. 4: 24)—a new creation. Again, the old man is
hopelessly corrupt, the new man is incorruptible, being formed in
Christ (see Eph. 2: 15).
A Change of Man
We have just noted that Ephesians 2: 15 tells
us that Christ forms the one new man “in
himself” (my emphasis). However in Ephesians 4: 22 and
Colossians 3: 9,
we are said to have
put off the old man and put on the new. These two thoughts are not
contradictory. The first refers to what
Christ has
accomplished through His work at Calvary, the second refers to what
has been accomplished through the
repentant sinner
believing that work to be on his behalf. At the cross, Christ has
judicially set the old man aside—crucifixion being not just simply
death, but a sentence of condemnation. “Knowing this”—that is,
accepting the testimony of God’s Word that “our old man has been
crucified with [him]” (Rom. 6: 6)—we form the same judgment as God
about that character of man (that is, that he can never please God).
Our own efforts can never “put off the old man” (Col. 3: 9), but in
believing, we put him where God has put him. Indeed Scripture
never supposes the
case of a Christian where the old man has not been put off, but
always speaks of it as something already done. The old man and the
new man are in no way presented as co–existent: the one has come in
place of the other. Similarly we are not exhorted to put the new man
on, but are told that since it is already done—“[your] having put on
the new man” (Eph. 4: 24)—then certain moral characteristics will
flow from that fact. A very simple example will suffice. Thus if we
have put on “the new man, which according to God is created in
truthful
righteousness” (v24, my emphasis), then we are to “speak
truth every one with
his neighbour” (v25, my emphasis). Thus it can be seen that to view
the “one new man” (Eph. 2: 15) as simply an abstract concept is a
grave mistake. It has serious practical implications.
A Change of Clothing
These practical implications are seen in the
clear link that the apostle makes between the renewing of our minds
and our having put on the new man: “being renewed in the spirit of
your mind … renewed into full knowledge according to [the] image of
him that has created him” (Eph. 4: 23; Col. 3: 10). The Greek word
used in the first Scripture is
ananeoo,
while that used in the second is
anakainoo,
and the connection between
neos and kainos is
easily seen. Ananeoo
refers to a renewal of the spirit of the mind such that the way we
think is permanently changed, while
anakainoo is being
renewed in a way that was entirely unknown until Christ came (a
change of mind that is utterly foreign to the old man).
These things being so, our outlook is changed,
and we now see certain things as being inconsistent with having put
on the new man. “Once”, we “lived in these things” (Col. 3: 7) as
being in accord with “our old man” (Rom. 6: 6), but now we see that
his garments (as it
were) are unsuited to the new man. A change of clothing is in order,
hence we are to “put off, ye also, all [these] things, wrath, anger,
malice, blasphemy, vile language out of your mouth. Do not lie to
one another, having put off the old man with his deeds” (Col. 3:
8–10). We are to put these things off because we have put off the
old man to whom the attire belongs.
Then there is what we are to put on. Not, mark,
that we might
become “[the] elect
of God, holy and beloved” (Col. 3: 12), but because we
are that. Are these
‘clothes’ to be things that we plan to wear in the future, either
when we are ready for it, or when we have matured in the faith?
Not according to Scripture, for the
words “put on” literally mean ‘to be in the state of having done
it’. The problem for so many of us lies in not realising that you
cannot put on until you have put off. The new man must be clothed in
his new garments, not the garments of the old man, hence: “put on
therefore, as [the] elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of
compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, long–suffering;
forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any should
have a complaint against any; even as the Christ has forgiven you,
so also [do] ye” (vs 12, 13). Note how we begin with what is
inside—“bowels of compassion”, and that the completeness of these
seven graces is crowned by forgiving as Christ did. He, as ever, is
the standard—He has to be, for the new man is formed “in himself”
(Eph. 2: 15). Finally, to all these graces, we are to “[add] love,
which is the bond of perfectness” (Col. 3: 14)—put on like an
overcoat over all our other garments, and without which the new man
would not be properly dressed. What will be the effect of adding
love? It will bring God’s people together in the “bond of
perfectness” (v14).
Conclusion
The bond of perfectness is a good point on
which to conclude our study. Though the teaching of Scripture
concerning the one new man has only been briefly sketched out, it is
my prayer that the soul of the reader might be exercised to find out
more about these things. Not just in an intellectual way of course,
but to be “instructed
in him according as
[the] truth is
in Jesus” (Eph. 4:
21, my emphasis).
