The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 170

plunges int-0 all forms of impurity, with the spirit of covetousness, aa if he could never be satisfied with sinning, but sought ever new enormities of lawless desire. This is, in brief, the tremendous picture of hca.thenism given by an inspired apostle.-T. O. , ers. 20-24.-In Christ Oie tro,isitr"on effeded from tAe old man to the netD mar&. The ap,o;;tle repre.."Elnts "beliel"ers" as hanng "learned Christ," not as havin~ learned about h':u. but as hanng reached the true knowledge of him, havin" heard his voico and '., ,,ing b..>en taught by him, as to "the tmth as it is in Ja.ms"~ truth that carried : • e::::i far ap.'lrt from the frightful licence of the heathen. We now understand the < x:i.ct import of this truth. It is to put off the old man and _put on the new man. It is, in a woro, sanct:fiC.'.ltion. I. THE :KECESSITY OF THIS TRANSFOBMATION. The question might naturally arise- Had not the saints at Ephesus already put off the old man and put on the new man? Were they not already true believers? Why should they be asked to do it again ? We must keep in ,iew the distinction that the apostle clearly maintains in this familiar figure between " the old man" and " the new man." Sometimes he refers to our legal condition, sometimes to our moral condition. "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. xiii. 14). In this Epistle the apostle exhorts the Christians to put off the _old man ; but in the Epistle to the Colossians he says the old mal). has been already put off u (Col. iii. 9). In this Epistle the exhortation is given, Put on the new wan " (ver.. 24); but else,;.here that which is new has been already accomplished (2 Cor, v. 17). We are ex!:.orted again to be "transformed" (Rom. xii. 2) and." re_newed" (ver. 23); but we are elsewhere said to be already "transformed" a.nd "renewed" (2 Cor. v. 17). It is necessary to mark this distip.ction, tbat we ma.y not be led a.side or into that mys- ~icism which seems to confound justification with sanctification. It is the moral, not the legal, condition that is here in question. It is worse than a. mistake to sa.y that we onght not to trouble ourseh·es about sin, because the new ma.n cannot sin, and a.ll :in comes from the old man, who has been already crucified and put off. This theory 1-c1akes the work of the Holy Spirit altogether unnecessary. • IL 'Im: :S.!..TGRE OF THIS TB.!..SSFORM.A.TION. This is evident from the contr-ast betr.ren. the old man and the new m=. 1. The old man represents corrupt nature, :::nJ is cilled "old" bec:iuse it is original a.s opposed to what is new. It precedes what is :.ie,,;-. lt.5 character is nridly pictured by the apostle: "waxing corrupt according to the lusts of deceit." There is a progressive moral disintegration, which is inconsistent with the life of God or the ha11piness of man. The moral nature goes to pieces under the action of this corruption. Then it finds its natural development in" lusts of deceit." These lusts are deceitful, for they promise pleasure and bring pain ; they promise liberty and bring bondage; they promise secrecy a.nd bring shame; they promise impunity and bring retribution. • Christians are well taught to put off this old man. 2. The ne,v man represents the new nature, with its renewed intellect, its renewed alTcctions, its renewed will It has been "created after God in .the 1ightcousness and l,oliness of truth ; " that is, in the righteousness and holiness which belong to the truth or which are its essential products. Observe: (1) That the new man is a creation, a, m~ was a creation at the beginning. "We are God's workmanship" (eh. ii. 10). (~) The new man is in God's image, as the first man_ w~ in Go_~'.s image." 'l'he ap_ostle fays, "According to the image of him who. created him,, (Col. 111 •. 10). (,.,) _Tile h~ea- :.. c::its of the image of the new man are "righte-Ousness -that prrnc1ple which guides .. :rr. i::l all his relatiornJiijJS to God, man, and himself; and "holiness "-that principle •.:- t-1e sr,i..ritual life which has primary relation to God himself.. R_ighteousues_s. and ;.ie,y, g,Jnreed and guided by the truth, are _th~ t1~0 great prmc1pl~s of spm~ual rcrfvat;0n. The image of God is thus man.ifost lil its rntdlectual and its moral ~1de. All ttir.cg,;, indte£1, have become new to the believer-a. new name, new rclations,.new i,0nour;, new possessions, new thoughts, new ~!fections, n~w words, new 11ction11- Lecaw;e he now acts from a new principle (Gal. 11. 20), and 1B governed by a new end in life (1 Cor. L 31).-T. C. Ver. 25.- Warn·Zng against falsehood. As the saints had put off lying at their conversion, it was their duty henceforth to speak truth with their neighbours, Consider tho 60Cial duty pre~cribed and the motive to its faithful performance. • CB. IV. 1-32.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 169