And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. (Col 3.10)
“The new man” is a phrase opposite “the old man” in Colossians 3.9–11, one long sentence which begins by exhorting Christians, “Lie not one to another.” For encouragement in this direction, Paul reminds readers of three spiritual realities. First, “Ye [plural] have put off the old man with his deeds” (v. 9). Second, “[Ye] have put on the new man” (v. 10). Third, you all have a new identity and unity as those in Christ (v. 11). How can you behave towards each other as if you were all still unconverted?
The “put off” and “put on” language uses a metaphor of changing clothes. “You have stripped off the old self with its doings, and have clothed yourselves with the new self” (Weymouth). The fact that clothes are external to the person is not relevant to the analogy. Rather, Paul is stressing that the spiritual action in view is very tangible and deliberate.
As “the old man with his deeds” refers to their ungodly character and conduct when they were unconverted, so “the new man [with his deeds, implied]” points to the godly character and conduct which are the fruit of God’s saving grace. This spiritual renewal preceded their Christian conversion and effected it. Regeneration or the new birth is a supernatural change of the sinner into a saint, making him radically new from the inside out, causing him to receive Christ and believe on His name (cf. Jn 1.12, 13). The moralists of this world who preach self-help by human resolve are delusional. All of us are incapable of making ourselves good without God (Job 14.4; Jer 17.9). The moralists identifying as Christians who envision conversion with only a little help from God have not escaped the same basic error.
By writing this way, Paul assumes that all the church members have experienced this lasting change, reinforcing the position of those who insist that only true Christian believers are appropriately added to and retained within the church’s formal membership.
The “putting off” is a turning away from sin; the “putting on” is a turning toward righteousness. Authentic Christian conversion involves both. The idea of this double-sided change is reinforced by Paul’s characterization of all the Thessalonian church members: “Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess 1.9; cf. Luke 13.3; Gal 5.24).
So the passage reasons thus: “You converted church members, I call you to conduct yourselves fittingly as part of a renewed, spiritual society of honesty and candor, devoid of lying and deception. Ever since your conversion, you have the divine enabling you need to heed the call. You broke once-and-for-all with your sins, and you have been radically changed and are being prepared by God for life in the new creation after Christ returns. You have already been made spiritually and morally new by His grace (2 Cor 5.17), but you must now count upon that being true and, with all confidence in Him, you must keep saying no to your sins and yes to His Word and Spirit (Rom 6.11–13). After all, your spiritual change was effected in the first place by the grace of God and is evidence of His love and favor toward you in particular.”
Paul’s encouragement toward interpersonal transparency and integrity receives further encouragement in the phrase, “which is [being] renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” The verb is in a grammatical form which indicates an ongoing process, and also that the Christians are the subjects of another’s activity upon them. Without a doubt, God is in view (cf. Phil 1.6; 2.13). This part of Paul’s statement adopts language from the ancient creation account (cf. Gen 1.26, 27). The imago Dei, marred but not completely effaced by Adam’s apostasy, is in the process of being completely restored to perfection. True Christians are the ones experiencing this trajectory to glorification. God is continually at work in them to transform them more and more into the God-resembling and God-glorifying person they were meant to be. He is making them like Jesus Christ, “the last Adam” (1 Cor 15.45).
It is clear from the exhortation itself that these believing church members had not yet already arrived at their perfection. Though definitive repentance is in their past, ongoing repentance must be their disciplined habit (Col 3.5, 8). The presence of remaining sin in and among them does not disprove God’s gracious work but highlights their abiding need for it.
No one is demoralized more by moral failure than people in Christ. They truly love God and hate sin. They are broken-hearted by each instance of their spiritual infidelity to Christ. The prize of perfect purity in heart and life seems so painfully elusive to them, even if they have walked with God for many decades.
Yet we must not despair, seeing we have put on the new man and are being renewed in the image of God. Our Creator is also our Redeemer with a glorious end in view, purposed from eternity. The evidence of His handiwork is already appearing in His holy congregations of those who have entered upon a whole new way of life in their honest interpersonal relationships and dealings. Christian, take heart! Ω