Putting on the New Man in Christ? What's Your Next Move?

If you read the New Testament, especially the epistles, you will run upon the phrase ‘putting on the new man in Christ. But what does it mean? How does that work? How does that change our lives? Well, those are all great questions. The well-known evangelist D.L. Moody has this to say along these lines. “A man got up in one of our meetings in New York some years ago, who had been pretty far down, but a wonderful change had occurred, and he said he hardly knew himself. He said the fact was, he was a new man in his old clothes. That was just it. Not a man in new clothes, but a new man in old clothes. I saw an advertisement that read like this: “If you want people to respect you, wear good clothes.” That is the world’s idea of getting the world’s respect. Why! A leper may wear good clothes, but he is still a leper. Mere profession doesn’t transform a man. It is the new nature spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” ¹ Moody said a leper might put on new clothes, but he is still a leper. A sinner can put on church clothes, but he’s still a sinner. But if any man is in Christ, he has a new wardrobe. And, putting on His new clothes makes you a hypocrite no longer. Putting on the New Man in Christ? What’s Your Next Move? That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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#005: Choosing to Be Decisive [Podcast]

[Tweet “What a mess it would be if the members of your physical body lie to one another.”

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This week’s question is simple: based on what you heard, what’s your next move? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Episode Resources

1. We are currently teaching in the book of Ephesians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is their mission’s focus and the hallmark. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

Learning Christ, A Review

Ephesians 4:25–32 (ESV) — 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

In a previous podcast, we saw that the words “learned Christ’’ is unique in the New Testament.
The word learn means to acquire skills or knowledge.
We saw that learning Christ is not just a matter of believing; it’s also a matter of proper conduct.
Learning Christ is not just what you believe — it’s how you live.
This whole piece about learning Christ deals with conduct because the statement sits right smack dab in the middle of admonitions to live clean.

What Is It That We Learned about Christ?

Part of the lesson is that we learned to put off something, and you learned to put on something.
We learned to put off our old self.
We also learned to put on our new self.
So, we are talking about old man and new man.
We are talking about the unregenerate man, and we are talking about the born-again man.
You put off the old, and you put on the new.

How Do You Put Off the Old and Put on the New?

In that previous podcast, we discussed one way to do that — the specific way in Ephesians four.

23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

So, to put off the old and to put on the new requires us to be renewed in the spirit of our mind.
We saw that the word “renewed’’ means to think young.
So, putting on the new man requires new thinking.
It requires you to “think young’’ and not to think in the old ways of your former life.
Your former life, your mind as part of that former life, was programmed from the death inside you.

Romans 8:6 (ESV) — 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

So, the mind follows the state of the heart.
If you are dead to sins and alive to God, your mind is full of life and peace.
If it’s the other way around, you experience death in your earth experience even though you are walking around breathing air.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The old man has passed away.
We have become new men in Christ.
We are thinking young.
We are thinking in the new ways of God.
We are saying no to our urges because we have self-control from God.

2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV) — 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Since We Have Put on Christ, What’s Your Next Move?

Put Away Lying

Here it is.

Ephesians 4:25 (ESV) — 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

What’s your next move? — put away lying.
Something to note here is that the Greek word for “putting away”— putting away falsehood — is, per the Greek grammar, a once and for all deal.
You put off the old man, once and for all.
The Greek implies that a quality decision is made.
There are decisions, and there are decisions of quality.
What I choose to eat for breakfast is a vastly different decision than how I choose to live for Jesus.
There are many other places in the Bible where men were called to a decision.
Joshua made this statement about himself and his family to the children of Israel.

Josh. 24:15 (NLT) 15 But if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”

He makes this bold declaration after giving his people a history lesson about God’s dealings with them.
He speaks to them of how Israel was established in Abraham and Sarah.
Joshua refers to God’s deliverance of Israel from its enemies: from Egypt, from Balak, from the Amorites; from the leaders of Jericho, from the Perizzites, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
After all these miracle rescues, the Lord Most High gave Israel the land of promise.
Because of God’ saving graces and mercies, Joshua issues a challenge to make a quality decision.
You’ve seen what the Lord did; now choose!
As for me and my house, we have already chosen.
Our once and for all decision has been made.
We will serve the Lord.
A quality decision is one you make from which there can be no turning back.
There are decisions of finality.
Quality decisions are until death do you part choices.
Saying yes to Jesus for the salvation of your heart is this type of decision.
A quality decision is one from which there is no turning back.
So, with putting off the old man, with putting on the new man comes this once and for all decision.
I will not lie.

Ephesians 4:25 (ESV) — 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

The habit of lying is a habit of the old man.
You put off the old man; you put off lying — it’s a once and for-all decision.
Because you have made this quality decision, there is only one choice left: let every man speak truth with his neighbor.
W What’s the reason for this?
We are connected in one body.
The heart should not lie to the lungs and say I’m going to send you life-giving nutrients – “Ah, April Fools, I’m not sending it after all.
What a mess it would be if the members of your body lie to one another.
So, Paul talks about believers not lying.

Put Away Anger

Ephesians 4:26 (ESV) — 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

The word anger is referred to twice in this passage, but you need to know that they are not the same Greek words to make sense of this verse.
The first word is the same word used in Mark 3:5 of Jesus.

Mark 3:1–5 (ESV)— 1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

Be angry and do not sin; that’s what we are talking about.
This kind of anger is acceptable if you don’t allow it to take you off into sin.
Jesus was angry at the synagogue leadership, intensely angry to a high degree.
We could even say on an epic scale.
He was strongly displeased, and it affected his emotions.
But His fury did not lead to a sinful moment.
His anger instead led to a healing moment.
The second word for anger – do not let the sun go down on your anger is a different Greek word.
It is not the same word as in Mark three.
Again, you have two different words here for anger.
This word means anger to the point of exasperation.
BDAG has this word for anger as a state of being intensely provoked, angry mood²
A state of being quite angry and upset at something—“anger, being provoked³
This kind of anger is forbidden.
Several rabbis in the Talmud weighed in this kind of anger.
One Rabbi put it this way: If you lose your temper, you lose your wisdom.⁴
Another Rabbi said the following:

Anyone who gets angry, at that moment even the Divine Presence is not important to him,

Yet another one declared:

Anyone who gets angry forgets his learning and increases foolishness, as it is stated: “For anger rests in the bosom of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9), and it is written: “But a fool unfolds folly” (Proverbs 13:16).

Do you have time for one more?

With regard to one who gets angry, it is acknowledged that his sins are more numerous than his merits, as it is stated: “And a wrathful man abounds in transgression” (Proverbs 29:22).

There must be one response to this anger or angry mood, repentance.
We’re talking here about being angry really for no righteous reason.
This kind of anger is forbidden — God’s Word states it.
The Rabbis who studied the Old Testament declared it.
We need to get this right in our hearts before sundown.
All of which means that you have less than a twenty-four-hour span to reign yourself in.
So, what we see concerning Jesus here in Mark three, what we see about Jesus when He flipped over the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple, was not this kind of forbidden anger.
He was angry, but He didn’t sin.
That’s the front portion of Ephesians 4:26.
Some things should make you angry.
There are kinds of unrighteousness that should set you off — and you know what? — that’s okay.
The front part of Ephesians 4:26 indicates that this legit display of anger is a sign of spiritual health.
It’s evidence that you do not have a stony heart.
It indicates that you’re not apathetic.
It shows that you are passionate about God’s view of righteousness.
Read Numbers 25 along this line.

Numbers 25:1–5 (ESV) — 1 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.” The Lord was angry about Israel being yoked up with idols.

The Hebrew word “kindled’’ is one you want to know, and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The word kindled means to become angry or hot in the nose.
God was angry through His nose – He was fuming.

Number 25:6–8 (ESV) — 6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.

What was the Lord’s response to Phineas’ hot in the nose’ reaction?
He commended it.
Really? Yes!

Number 25:10–13 (ESV) —10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, “Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.” Now, the Lord had more to say about the Midianites — read the rest of the chapter.

Now, I just want to clarify that the laws of the land today are different than the tribal laws of Israel.
We are talking about Old Testament times, so you are seeing Old Testament reactions — totally righteous and legal for that day.
Today we cannot take this same physical activity and take someone’s life.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t be hot in the nose.
That doesn’t mean you can’t act.
How do we act?
Well, first, be careful how you pray here.
We don’t pray against people; we pray for them.

Romans 12:17–21 (ESV)— 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

You can be hot in the nose right along with the Lord.
But, while you are fuming, you are living peaceably — leaving the unrighteousness to God’s wrath— walking in love — feeding your enemy — and sustaining your enemy’s thirst by blessing them with water to drink.
And, when you do that, you are heaping coals of fire on your enemy.
Now get it — walking in love is the response to unrighteousness, and it brings the wrath of God down.
Your action is not a spear in the belly of an idol-worshiping whore-monger under the New Covenant.
Your “hot in the nose” response is a steak dinner and a glass of apple juice.
We don’t pray against people no matter how wicked they are — we pray for them.

Luke 9:51–54 (NKJV) — 51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.

The disciples were against the Samaritans.
They wanted to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the working of miracles specifically, to consume the Samaritan people.
Call fire down from heaven — that’s the working of miracles.
Fire doesn’t usually come from heaven; rain does.
The disciples were suggesting that the Samaritans be wholly consumed with fire.
The Greek word consume means to destroy.
It means to do away with something by completely using it up.
The disciples wanted the Samaritans to be wiped off the planet.
They wanted annihilation; they desired these people to be destroyed and done away with.
I’ll repeat if you’re praying against people; that’s the wrong spirit.

Luke 9:55 (NKJV) — 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.

What was Jesus’ response to this with His disciples?
He rebuked them.
Rebuked, wow! Now, that’s an interesting reaction.
This same Jesus was there when Phineas put his spear in the belly of an idol-worshiping whore-monger.
Don’t forget He was there.

John 8:58 (NKJV) — 58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

So, Jesus rebuked His disciples.
That’s not all Jesus rebuked in His earth walk.
He rebuked demons.
Jesus rebuked sickness.
He rebuked violent winds and seas.
And He rebuked His disciples over a wrong spirit.
Don’t lose cool points with heaven.

Romans 12:14 (NKJV) — 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

The Greek word ‘curse’ means to invoke divine harm or evil upon someone.
The scripture is plain here — don’t do it.
Cursing people, wishing them harm, and praying against people is the wrong spirit.
That means evil; mean-spirited political leaders fall under this umbrella also.
You don’t pray against presidents and kings; you pray for them.
This is common sense, ‘love of God Christianity.’
This is how we should live — this is what we should believe — this is how we should act.
This is what spirit you are of.
Are you putting on the new man in Christ?
What’s your next move?
That’s what we’ve been talking about.

Now Father God, in the precious Name of Jesus, I pray for the people right now. I ask you to help us. I ask that we might receive an enduement of revelation and insight into these truths. Let the eyes of our understanding be opened. Help us to see and know what manner of spirit we are of. Thank you for it. I thank you that all that have come to the Father, have been kept by the power of God unto salvation unto this very hour.

When Is It Right to Fight?

___________

References:

D. L. Moody, Anecdotes, Incidents, and Illustrations (Chicago; New York; Toronto: Fleming H. Revell, 1898), 15. ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 780. ↩
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 760. ↩
Nedarim 22b ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Putting on the New Man in Christ? What’s Your Next Move?

Podcast: Light on Life Season 9 Episode 36

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in iTunes

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

This week’s question is simple: based on what you heard, what’s your next move? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Episode Resources

We are currently teaching in the book of Ephesians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Stitcher Radio Google Play

iTunes

Podcast Notes

Learning Christ, A Review

What Is It That We Learned about Christ?

How Do You Put Off the Old and Put on the New?

Since We Have Put on Christ, What’s Your Next Move?

Put Away Lying

Put Away Anger

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in iTunes

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

This week’s question is simple: based on what you heard, what’s your next move? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Episode Resources

We are currently teaching in the book of Ephesians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Stitcher Radio Google Play

iTunes

Podcast Notes

Learning Christ, A Review

What Is It That We Learned about Christ?

How Do You Put Off the Old and Put on the New?

Since We Have Put on Christ, What’s Your Next Move?

Put Away Lying

Put Away Anger

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