Ephesians 4:22-24: What “Put Off the Old Man” Means
To “put off the old man” is to take off the old nature you inherited from Adam, the way a man takes off a worn coat, and then put on the new man God created in righteousness and true holiness. In this book’s teaching the old man was crucified with Christ, so what remains is only the shape his habits left in your flesh, which a renewed mind slowly retires.
What does Ephesians 4:22-24 say?
"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."Ephesians 4:22–24 (KJV)
Paul is writing to believers here, and the three verses move together like one motion made of two garments with a renewal in the middle. First he tells them to put off the old man, then he tells them to be renewed in the spirit of their mind, and then he tells them to put on the new man. I find it helpful to read the passage slowly in that order, because the order itself teaches something about how real change happens.
The old man is described by how he lived, the “former conversation,” and by what drove him, “the deceitful lusts,” which promised satisfaction and never delivered it. The new man is described in an entirely different way, as someone “created” after God in righteousness and true holiness. Paul sets two natures side by side in these verses and then tells believers which one they belong to now.
What does “put off the old man” mean?
When I use the words old man in this book, I mean my old spirit, the nature I inherited from Adam, the dead spirit that made me a sinner before I ever committed a single sin. The old man is not my body, and he is not my personality or my history, because he is the nature that was separated from God and could not be righteous. Paul tells us what happened to him in Romans 6:6, where he says, “our old man is crucified with him.”
That changes how I read the words put off. If the old man had only been weakened or put to sleep, then taking him off would be a long wrestling match that I might never win, but he was crucified with Christ, and he did not come up out of that grave, because what came up was a new creation. So I do not put off the old man in order to make him die, since his death is already settled, and putting him off means agreeing with that and no longer wearing him.
If you want the full picture of that verse, I walk through it on the page about Romans 6:6.
Why does Paul describe the old man like a coat?
"Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:"Colossians 3:9–10 (KJV)
Put off and put on are clothing words, and Paul uses them in Ephesians and again in Colossians, where he speaks as though the exchange of garments has already happened. He is describing the old man like a garment you take off and hang up, and the new man like a garment you put on in its place.
Now think about an old work coat that a man wore every day for years. When he finally hangs it on a peg, it does not fall flat, because the elbows are still bent and the shoulders are still rounded, and the whole coat still holds the shape of the man who wore it even though nobody is inside. That is what I believe your old habits are: they are the shape the old man left behind in your flesh, and from across the room that shape can look as though somebody is still standing in it.
I know the shape of that coat well, because I wore it. Some of the first habits I noticed after I was born again were habits of how I saw myself, and I would look in the mirror and look away real fast, because the old man had taught me for years that I was not someone people wanted to look at.
If the old man is dead, why do I still feel his pull?
Your body, which the book calls your flesh, was trained for years by the old nature, and it learned to get its pleasure, relief, and comfort in very specific ways. When you were born again you received a new spirit, but you woke up in the same body and with the same soul you had the day before, so your flesh still remembers what it was taught. That is why it is not two natures fighting inside you, the old man against the new man, but a new nature living in a body that was trained by the old one.
So feeling the pull of an old habit does not mean the old man is alive again. It means your flesh remembers what it was trained to do, which is a very different problem, and it is a problem with a solution. You can retrain a body whose old master is dead, while a man who is alive and in charge cannot be retrained at all.
I explain how the three parts of you fit together, and why only one of them was reborn, on the page about spirit, soul, and body.
What does “be renewed in the spirit of your mind” mean for me?
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."Romans 12:2 (KJV)
Paul places the renewing of the mind between the two garments, and I do not think that is an accident. Your soul, which is your mind, your will, and your emotions, was trained by the old man for years, so it needs a new teacher, and the Word of God made alive by the Holy Spirit is how that retraining happens. The Word is the same incorruptible seed you were born from, and when you read it you are not only collecting information about God but letting that seed reshape the way your soul thinks.
This renewing is something you receive, and it is not something you earn by striving, because a new creation does not grow by effort. I go deeper into how this works on the page about renewing your mind.
How do I put on the new man and leave the old coat on the peg?
The new man, in the way I use the words, is your born-again spirit, which “after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” You do not have to build him or manufacture him, because he was created, and the only question is whether you are living from him or reaching for the old coat out of sheer familiarity.
The next time an old habit pulls at you, I want you to stop and see it for what it is, because it is not you but only the shape of someone who used to live here. You do not have to put that coat back on, and you do not have to keep washing it, wearing it, and washing it again. In this book I give four ways to receive what God has already given you, which are praying in tongues, fasting, worship, and living in the Word, and none of them is a way to earn anything, because they are simply how you take hold, in His presence, of the new man He made.
From the book
This page is drawn from New Creation, Old Habits by Benjamin Riggins. Read more in:
- Chapter 5: The Habits Outlived the Man
- Chapter 12: Soften and Renew
- Conclusion: Take Off the Coat
Questions people ask
What does “put off the old man” mean?
In this book’s teaching, the old man is your old spirit, the nature you inherited from Adam, and Paul pictures him as a garment you take off and hang up. He was crucified with Christ, so putting him off means no longer wearing him and no longer identifying with what he was.
Is the old man dead, or do I have to kill him?
The book teaches that the old man is already dead, because Romans 6:6 says he was crucified with Christ. You do not have to kill him, and what remains is the shape of his habits in your flesh, which gets retrained rather than fought.
What is the difference between the old man and the flesh?
The old man is your old spirit, the dead nature from Adam, and he is gone. Your flesh, meaning your body, was trained on his habits and still remembers them, which is why old patterns can pull at you after the old man himself has died.
What does it mean to put on the new man?
The new man is your born-again spirit, created after God in righteousness and true holiness. Putting him on means living from who God already made you, and not from the shape of someone who used to live here.
Do I have to try harder to put off the old man?
No, because the book teaches that growth comes by receiving and not by striving. You receive through praying in tongues, fasting, worship, and the Word, and the new nature God planted grows until it overshadows the old patterns.