I have a question about ‘the new man.’ I believe that the new man is what we become
at salvation, as opposed to ‘the old man.’
Ephesians 4:24
And that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Colossians 3
10And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after
the image of him that created him:
But I have been looking into it further and I have heard people
say that the new man is ‘the one new man’, a new creature by being in
Christ. I can see this in the verses
that follow Colossians 3:10
11 Where there
is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as
the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness, longsuffering; …
I see this and think of the new man as being the one new man in
Christ, not the new man/regenerated man with the spirit dwelling within. Could you please clarify this for me?
The Apostle Paul talks of
putting on the new man, having put off the old man, in Ephesians and
Colossians.
Ephesians 4:22-24
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.
What does it mean to put on the new man? Ephesians and Colossians are sister epistles
that give light on one another.
Colossians 3:8-11
But now ye also put off all these;
anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 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: Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free:
but Christ is all, and in all.
Paul is the only one who talks about the new man. He is the only one who talks about the church
which is his body – the body of Christ.
Colossians 1:24
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you,
and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for
his body's sake, which is the church:
He is talking about that one new man. Basically he is talking about the fact that
God has taken both Jew and Gentile into the body. Racial distinctions, gender, and social
status don’t matter today in Christ.
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.
That has to do with the one new man, the new creature in
Christ. So yes, your understanding of
that passage is correct. It is the one
new man, the church which is his body.
When we get saved we are changed; we are conformed into the image
of his son.
Romans 8:29
For whom he did foreknow [the
body of Christ collectively], he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The focus is not on us; it is on the one who changes us into
himself.
Ephesians 4:15
But speaking the truth in love, may grow
up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Let’s look at the one new man.
Ephesians 2:14-16
For he is our peace, who hath made both
one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;
Why?
Why did he take away the law and abolish it? Because there was a middle wall of partition
between Jew and Gentile.
for to make in himself [Christ is the issue] of twain [of the two: Jew and Gentile] one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
So when Paul talks about the one new man, he is not focusing on
the individual; he is focusing on the corporate, collective church the body of
Christ.
You wrote, “I believe that the new man is what we are after salvation.” That is true.
Who are we after we are saved? We
are Christ. It isn’t made completely manifest. We are justified unto eternal life so we have
his life now. After that, sanctification
comes by renewing your mind.
Romans 12:2
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.
We have the mind of Christ available to us in the scriptures, in
Paul’s epistles: Romans through Philemon.
It is incumbent upon us to get into the word and get that information
into our inner man and allow it to grow in us.
Ephesians 3:16
That he would grant you, according to the
riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man;
So the focus is not so much on the individual as it is on the
corporate body of Christ. God sees the
body as a corporation and he wants to deal with us corporately. Individually, yes, because individuals make
up the body; but the focus, the big picture, is the new creature, the body of
Christ, the one new man.
Because you are a member of the one new man, the church the body of
Christ, you will become a new man,
Colossians 1:23
If ye continue in the faith grounded and
settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was
preached to every creature which is under heaven;
So does God care about you individually? Yes he does; but the individual is taken care
of by being part of the corporate body of Christ and by what God is doing in
Christ. If you agree by faith, and labor with
the work of faith (i.e., getting the word in you), the labor of love (i.e., allowing
the word to work out through you in patience of hope trusting the Lord through
this present time of suffering), then
you will manifest the life of Jesus
Christ.
Colossians 1:23
If ye continue in the faith grounded and
settled, and be
not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was
preached to every creature which is under heaven;
1 Thessalonians 1:3
Remembering without ceasing your work of
faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
Philemon 1:5
Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou
hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;
That is righteousness. Paul
calls it the breastplate of righteousness.
Ephesians 6:14
Stand therefore, having your loins girt
about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; [also
see Isaiah
59:17. Interesting!]
He calls it the breastplate of faith and love.
1 Thessalonians 5:8
But let us, who are of the day, be sober,
putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the
hope of salvation.
Comparing verse to verse,
what is righteousness? Faith in the Lord
Jesus and love toward all the saints.
You trust the Lord Jesus and his word and you serve him and one another.
Galatians 5:13
For, brethren, ye have been called unto
liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love
serve one another.
So that is the one new man.
Yes, it is the individual; but the main focus is on the
collective body of Christ. The one new man—the body of Christ—and the
regenerated man are actually one and the same.
When we are regenerated by the Spirit of God we are being conformed
into the image of Christ.
Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Christ is the issue!
Hopefully this
helps!
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