In Ephesians 4:24, Paul wrote about putting on the new man. Because if you have become a new creation; 新人, by faith and regeneration in Christ, you should also walk as the new man. What does the Bible say about the new man? What does it mean to put on the new man and how do you put on the new man according to the Bible?
Who is the new man?
The new man is created in Jesus Christ. Your fallen position and the peace with God are restored (癒合) 在基督裡. By the blood of Jesus Christ, you have been redeemed, sanctified, and reconciled with the Father. You have been made holy and righteous and therefore you are no longer a sinner (另請閱讀: Do you always remain a sinner?).
Now that you are no longer a sinner, you will no longer walk as a sinner and do the works of a sinner. 這意味著, that you will not habitually walk in sin anymore.
By the hearing of the gospel of Christ, you have found the Truth; Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God and Savior of mankind (另請閱讀: The Author of eternal salvation).
You have repented of your former walk and the way you lived, which was full of sins and iniquities.
Through baptism, you have laid down and buried the old man (the old you), who carried the death, and you are risen in newness of life. 藉著聖靈的力量, your spirit is raised from the dead and has become alive, and through baptism with the Holy Spirit, you received the Holy Spirit and He shall abide in you.
Through the baptism in water and the baptism with the Holy Spirit, 你已經成為一個新的創造物; 新人, who no longer belongs to the darkness but the Kingdom of God, where Jesus Christ is King and reigns. The new creation no longer carries death (through the flesh), but life (through the Spirit).
But does the new man, who is born in the spirit, become visible in the natural realm?
Being born again in the spiritual realm
In the Heavenly Places, a new birth in the spirit has taken place. You have become a new creation; 新人, who is born of water and Spirit.
現在, it’s time that this spiritual transformation, which has taken place in the spiritual realm, will also become visible in the natural realm (另請閱讀: 第八天, 新創造的日子).
The new man is born on this earth,
and not after death
You don’t become the new man after you die, as so many Christians believe. You become the new man during your life on this earth. Only when you become the new man during your life on this earth, you will carry the life of God inside of you and enter the Kingdom of God, and inherit eternal life.
The new man is new and not old. So if you have become the new man, you shall no longer walk as the old man.
You shall no longer do those things, which you did before you repented and before you gave your life to Christ. Because you have laid down your old life, with its sinful habits.
老人, who was ruled and controlled by the sinful nature; the flesh (senses, carnal thoughts, 感情, 情緒, 私慾, 慾望, ETC。) doesn’t exist anymore. You have exchanged the old man for the new man.
A new life has begun; a life after the Spirit and not after the flesh.
但… you will always have a free will. This means that you will always have the ability to return to your old life and pick up your old habits (sins), 並隨從肉體而行 (另請閱讀: Once saved always saved?).
What is the basis of repentance?
The basis of your repentance plays an important role in the way of sanctification; the transformation to spiritually mature as a son of God (這適用於男性和女性) and becoming like Jesus. Because on which basis have you repented and decided to follow Jesus? (另請閱讀: 什麼是悔改?)
Why did you repent? Did you repent,
- Out of fear of going to hell?
- Out of obligation, because your whole family are Christians and go to church
- Because your spouse believes?
- Out of guilt?
- The experience in the church?
- Because you are lonely and by going to church you don’t feel so lonely anymore
- Because you want to get married and seek a spouse?
- Because you need physical healing?
- Because you want to have a prosperous, wealthy, and successful life?
- … (you fill out the blanks)
If you have turned to Christ and have repented based on one of these reasons, then you will never fully become the new man and spiritually mature and walk as the new man on earth. 為什麼不呢? Because you don’t hate your ‘self’ yet; the old man with his sinful nature and sins.
You are not conscious of your sinful state and the necessity of the new birth, to be delivered from the power of darkness and your sinful nature, which reigns in everyone’s life until a person becomes born again in Christ.
You don’t see the necessity to repent of your former life and become born again. You don’t see the necessity to change your lifestyle and lay down your sinful nature and its habits.
But you consider your behaviour and habits as normal and consider yourself a good person. You don’t hate your sins. As a matter of fact, you still love your sins and the world. You love your sins and the world more than you love Jesus, because you persevere in sin.
The Holy Spirit convicts of sin
The right basis of repentance is when the Holy Spirit confronts you with your evil sinful nature and state. When the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sins and your unrighteous state and reveals to you the way God sees you as a sinner, who lives separated from God in darkness.
When you are confronted with your sinful nature and evil walk as a sinner, and you become aware of your sins, and consider the great love of God and of Jesus Christ and His redemptive work, only then will you be able to truly repent, and lay down your life and your habits and follow Jesus (另請閱讀: 跟隨耶穌會讓你付出一切).
Only then, you shall truly repent and change. You shall put off the old man with his evil nature of the devil, and put on the new man, who is created after the image of God and has God’s nature.
How do you put on the new man?
The new creation has come to life through the Word and the Holy Spirit and shall live by the Word and the Spirit. It is therefore important to get to know the Word of God and read the Bible in the Holy Spirit and apply His words in your life.
To ‘put on’ is an action and is not passive. This means that you have to do it. You have to put on the new man. There’s no one else, who can do that for you.
Someone may help you and guide you, but you have to open the Word by yourself, study and apply the Word in your life, 並成為聖言的實踐者 (另請閱讀: The hearers vs the doers).
When you apply the words of God in your life, you shall put on the new man.
Only through the Word and by walking after the Spirit, you grow up in the sonship of God and become a mature son of God (這適用於男性和女性) like Jesus. Remember, Jesus is your Example, Jesus showed you how to walk as a Son of God, when He walked on this earth in the flesh after the Spirit.
The Bible is the manual and the mirror of the new man
聖經, which is the Word of God is the manual and also a mirror of the new man. As the new creation, 新人, you reflect the Word. What stops and retains the sanctification process; the transformation of the new man? Your mind (另請閱讀: What is the purpose of the Bible?).
The Holy Spirit lives in you (新人), but is often retained by your mind by your old way of thinking, which is the way the world thinks. That’s why it is necessary to 更新你的想法 with the Word of God. There is no other way. You have to get to know the Word, because only then you will get to know Jesus. Because He is the Word and through the Word, you will get to know the Father and His will.
Imagine, how sour it will be when that day comes, that you stand before the throne of God, and Jesus tells you “I don’t know you, go away your worker of iniquity” (路克 13:27)
Get to know Jesus
Therefore take the Word and get to know Him and have a relationship with Jesus. He is the Image of the new creation and we should become like Him. We are His Body and He is our Head. We can’t function without Jesus. Without Jesus we are dead. Because a body without a head is not able to live.
Take the Word and take His words, so that your mind will be renewed by the Word and will line up with the Word so that you will think the way He thinks. Your mind shall line up with His will and therefore you shall do His commandments (另請閱讀: Are God’s thoughts our thoughts?).
You shall know, why He has given these commandments. Because you have gained knowledge and insights through His Word in the spiritual realm, where you are seated in Christ Jesus.
What does the Bible say about the new man?
- The new man is created in righteousness and true holiness (以弗所書 4:24)
- The new man is seated in Jesus Christ (2 哥林多前書 5:17)
- The new man has access to the Kingdom of God (加拉太書 6:15, 約翰 3:4)
- The new man is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him (歌羅西書 3:10)
What are the works of the new man?
In the letters to the saints in Ephesians and Colossians, Paul wrote about the new creation; 新人, and the works of the new man. By the way, the works of the new man converge with the fruit of the Spirit.
The new man:
- Loves God above all (馬克 12:30)
- Loves his neighbor as himself (馬克 12:31)
- Walks in the truth and speaks the truth (以弗所書 4:25)
- Doesn’t stay angry (以弗所書 4:26)
- Doesn’t give place to the devil (以弗所書 4:27)
- Doesn’t steal, and defraud not, but labors, so that he may also give to him that needed (以弗所書 4:28)
- Speaks properly and doesn’t communicate in a corruptive way (blasphemies, dirty words, perverse sexual remarks/jokes, dissoluteness, ETC。(以弗所書 4:29, 5:4))
- Speaks that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers (以弗所書 4:29)
- Is filled with the Holy Spirit (以弗所書 5:18)
- Doesn’t grieve the Holy Spirit (以弗所書 4:30)
- Is kind to one another (以弗所書 4:32)
- Is tender-hearted (以弗所書 4:32)
- Forgives, like God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you (以弗所書 4:32, 歌羅西書 3:13)
- Forbears one another (歌羅西書 3:13)
- Follows God, 耶穌 (walk in His will and keep His commandments (以弗所書 5:1))
- Walks in love, a self-sacrificial love (God’s righteous love, and not false love (以弗所書 5:2, 歌羅西書 3:14)
- Walks in cleanness (purity), and not in uncleanness, 淫亂, 貪婪, filthiness, foolish talking, or jesting (以弗所書 5:3)
- Walks as a child of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth (以弗所書 5:8)
- Proves what is acceptable unto the Lord (以弗所書 5:8)
- Has no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them (以弗所書 8:11)
- Walks as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil (以弗所書 5:15-16)
- Knows and understands what the will of the Lord is (以弗所書 5:17)
- Is not drunk with wine (或其他酒精飲料), wherein is excess (以弗所書 5:18)
- Is peaceful, because the new man has the peace of God that rules in his heart (歌羅西書 3:15)
- Is grateful and give thanks (歌羅西書 3:15)
The new man, who is holy and beloved, puts on:
- Bowles of mercies (歌羅西書 3:12)
- kindness (歌羅西書 3:12)
- Humbleness of mind (歌羅西書 3:12)
- Meekness (歌羅西書 3:12)
- Long-suffering (歌羅西書 3:12)
- Charity (歌羅西書 3:14)
The works of the new man are the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which the new man bears. Therefore, 穿上新人, be a doer of the Word, and walk after the Spirit in the will of God.
“成為地球之鹽”
