Go with me if you would, back
to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4, our text is going
to be verses 22 through 24, but let's begin reading in verse
21. If so be that you have heard
him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that
you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind and that you put on the new man which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. This is, I believe,
a very important message. We might consider this a Bible
study because we're going to turn to quite a few scriptures.
I want us to see something. The Lord, I believe, has made
something more clear to me. And I want us to see it proven
in the Word. But this is a subject that can
be very misunderstood. And I pray the Lord will make
it clear. This thing of putting off the old man. and his former
conversation and putting on the new man which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness. As soon as believers hear that
there is an immediate conviction that comes. So I pray the Lord
might teach us something about this. Now the Apostle Paul goes
on down beginning in verse 25 through the end of the chapter
exhorting the character that this new man ought to possess. And Lord willing, we're going
to come back and look at it in detail. If the Lord is willing,
the next Bible study or something like that, we'll come back and
look at this in detail. For now, let's just read through
these and see what they say. Verse 25 says, Putting away lying, speak every
man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another."
Don't lie, tell the truth. Let's tell the truth to each
other. Be ye angry, and the Lord will and we'll see what he means
by that when we come to it. Be angry and sin not. Let not
the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more. but rather let him labor, working
with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to
give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good, to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. and grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. Now when God quickens a sinner
to life, when God calls one of his own to himself, God performs
a work in that sinner that produces a brand new creation, a brand
new creature. He creates a new man. When He comes, He creates a new
man. If you look at Ephesians chapter
2 verse 1, we read this this morning. It says, And you hath He quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins. That's where we started.
Verse 13 says, But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far
off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 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, for
to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." He
breaks down this middle wall of partition between the sinner
and God. And in His own body, through
His own death, by His own blood, He makes two one. So making peace, creating one
new man. One brand new man. God said,
in Adam all die. In the garden, man died. So he said, I'm going to create
a brand new man. I'm going to create a brand new creation. It's not that the flesh just
needs to be reformed. It's not that the flesh just
needs a reformation. There has to be a brand new man.
There must be a brand new creature. Look with me at 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 45 says, And so it is written, The first
man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. Howbeit that was not first which
is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that
which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. As is the earthy, such are they
also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Christ is the new man. In Him, as He is, so are His
people. And if you turn back just a couple
of pages to Romans chapter 13. Romans 13 verse 14 says, But put ye on
the Lord Jesus Christ. And make not provision for the
flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. And I want to emphasize the word
and. He said put on the Lord Jesus Christ and don't make provision
for the flesh. Don't help the flesh out. Don't
help the flesh as it just desires to enter into all of its own
lusts. So put on Christ, put on the
new man created in Christ, and as he is, strive to be like him. Strive to be just like him. He
said in those verses following our text, don't lie, don't steal, be and live like
a believer ought to be and live. Be children of God. That's a
vital part of putting on this new man. It has something to do with striving
to put off the nature of this sinful flesh and encourage the
nature that is created in Christ. It has everything to do with
that. Now, I don't want to diminish the exhortation of conduct at
all. I don't want to diminish the
exhortation of good conduct. We will stress good conduct and
good moral character every time we come to it. Every single time. Shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid. God forbid. My little children, these things
write unto you that you sin not. Let's strive. Let's honestly
strive to more and more conduct ourselves in a way that is becoming
a believer. I pray the Lord will help us
to grow in that. Let's strive in our character
to look more and more like Christ. I want that. I believe every
believer wants that. But putting on that moral character
is not necessarily putting on the new man. That is not what
putting on the new man is. Even though that moral character
goes hand in hand with putting on the new man. That is how the
new man ought to be. But if all we have is that moral
character, then we have just an old man or an old woman with
a moral character. And this world is full of them.
This world is full of them. As the world says, fine people,
they love to call themselves fine Christian people. But that moral character, that
is not the evidence of the new man. I googled moral characters
throughout history. Just people who stood for things
and gave their lives to things. And there are plenty of famous
people who you can think of who literally had fine moral character. Character like you and I will
never know. They put away lying. They had
a strong personal conviction. They exhibited an outward peace. at least an outward peace. You
know, they were a peaceful people, controlled their anger, controlled
their wrath. Not only did they not steal,
they practically denied themselves everything this world had to
offer. There are people who have on purpose denied themselves
almost everything. Don't speak things that harm
people. They're kind, they're tenderhearted. There are those
who have given themselves to humanity. Famously though, some of these
people make it known who their God is, and it's not the true
and living God. They don't bow the knee to the
true and living God. So that means they do not possess
a new man. If they are not a servant of
the true God, then God has not created in them a new man. They have this moral character,
But there's no new man. Proof of that is in the example
that the scripture gives us. I've given these men to you before.
But the rich young ruler, he asked the Lord, what must I do? The Lord gave him a list of things.
He said, all these things have I kept from my youth up. The
Lord said, yes, but you lack one thing. What was it? A new man. You're like a new
man. That Pharisee in the temple told
the Lord, I've done all these things. Read the list. I've done all these things. The
Lord said, yeah, but you're not justified. He had some very important things
to his credit. It is important to not be an
extortioner. It is so important to obey the
law. I want our children to understand
when we talk about free from the law, we're free from the
law. Obey the law. Whatever the law says, obey the
law. Obey the laws of this land. If
the law says that's illegal, don't do it. Don't do it. Obey the law. This man had some
important things to his credit. It is so important to not be
an adulterer. He said, I'm not an adulterer.
That's important. It's important to not be unjust. It's important to give tithes
of all that we have. He had some important things
to his credit, but he didn't have a new man. Saul of Tarsus,
he was a religious man. He had a fine moral character.
A Hebrew of Hebrews is touching the law. He was a Pharisee. But
after God opened his eyes, he said, I have to count it all
done. Because even though I had all
of that, I didn't have a new man. I did not have a new man. So what is it to truly put off
the old man and put on the new man? If I possess a new man,
How will I know it if I possess a new man? How will I know it
and how do I put him on? Look with me at Ephesians 4 again. Verse 21 says, If so be that you have heard
him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. That you put off concerning the
former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts. In the context of what he's been
saying, we have been in Ephesians 4 all day. And in the context
of what he is saying, in verse 17 he's talking about the vanity
of the unbelieving mind, the dark understanding. He's talking
about the alienation from God, totally separated from God, the
ignorance and the blindness of a dead, unquickened heart. And the Apostle Paul spoke of
this unbelieving, unregenerated, Conversation. The conversation
of an unbeliever in Galatians chapter 1. Look with me over
there at Galatians chapter 1. Verse 13, he said, For you have
heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion. This vain, unbelieving mind,
this dark understanding and this ignorance and this blindness,
that is the religion of the old man. He said, You've heard of my conversation
in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it. and profited in the Jews'
religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more
exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb, He called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among
the heathen." When it pleased God, He created something in
me. He called me by His grace, and
He revealed His Son in me. And He gave me faith to believe
on Him. He called me, revealed Christ,
showed me Christ, and He gave me faith to believe on Him. To the point that I would preach
Him among the heathen. To the point that I would put
my life on the line to go preach this man. He made me believe
on this man. He created in me a man that believes
God. Truly believes God. The old man
does not believe God. does not believe His Word, does
not believe on Christ. The new man believes God, believes
His Word, and believes on Christ. Look with me at John chapter
3. John 3 verse 1 says, There was
a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night
and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again. The margin says born from above,
he cannot see the kingdom of God unless there's a new creation.
a new man, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. Verse 4 says,
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is
old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again. There must be a new man. There must be. Verse 8, The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof.
But canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth?
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered
and said unto him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and
said unto him, art thou a master of Israel? And no, it's not these
things. Nicodemus said, what is this
new man? What do you mean by new man? What is the evidence
of this new man? The Lord said, you don't know
these things. Verse 14, He said, As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. And here is the evidence of this
new man. Verse 15, That whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. And he repeated
it in verse 16. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him, whoever
believes in Him. And he repeated it again in verse
18. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. Because
he's not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. So this new man believes God. He believes God. God said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It is not
by works of righteousness. It is not by works of righteousness,
which we have done. It's not by works of righteousness
which we have done. It is by believing on Christ. Believing on Christ. The old
man, you tell somebody who only possesses an old man, the old
man would not believe that if his life depended on it. He would
not believe it. The new man believes the commandment
and believes on Christ. casts His all on Christ. God
said Christ was made to be the sin of His people that His people
might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The new man says,
I believe that. I believe it. Go with me to 2
Corinthians chapter 5. 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 17 says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. What old things is he talking
about? Because my struggle with performing the things of this
good moral character that has not passed away. I still struggle
with doing the things that I ought to be doing as a child of God.
So what old things is he talking about? The old things of unbelief. The old thoughts of God, the
old thoughts of self, the old thoughts of salvation. Verse
17, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. Now in Matthew chapter 12, let
me just quote this to you. Matthew chapter 12, verse 31,
this is what our Lord said. Wherefore, I say unto you, all
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. And that's
a wonderful thing to hear and enter into. All manner of sin. Am I too great of a sinner? All
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. The blasphemy against the Holy
Ghost is unbelief. He said, it will never be forgiven. The old man can only not believe. That's all he can do. The new
man can only believe. That's all he can do. Therefore, that new man cannot
commit the sin. You know when we hear about us
not committing sin, that new man cannot commit the sin that
will never be forgiven. Unbelief will never be forgiven. The new man that God creates
in his children cannot not believe. He cannot not believe, he has
to believe. Now this is what has been So
eye-opening to me. And I want to show this to you.
It's in 1 John chapter 3. 1 John 3 verse 2 says, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that
hath this hope in him, every soul that has this belief, every
soul that has this confidence in him, purifieth himself even
as he is pure." The confidence of that faith, the confidence
of believing on Christ is what purifies that new man. Verse
4 says, Whosoever commiteth sin, this unforgiving sin of unbelief,
transgresseth also the law, For sin is the transgression of the
law. God said, Believe on My Son. Hear My Son. Verse 5, And you
know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him
is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth
not. Whoever abides in Him has had
all their sins removed in His blood through His death, and
whoever abides in Christ does not commit the sin of unbelief. Does not do it. Unbelief in His
work, unbelief in His blood, unbelief in His righteousness.
Do we believe, honestly, do we believe? Do you forgive each
other like you ought to? No. Do we love like we ought to?
No. Are we done with lying? No. Nope. Do you believe that salvation
is by your choice or God's choice? Are we done with believing that
salvation is in our hands? Are we done with that? Yes. Yes, we are. Do we believe that it is our
work or His blood? Which one is it? It is His blood
alone. We're done with unbelief. We're done with it. I know we
have these moments of doubt. Is the Lord going to provide
for me? That's not what this is talking about. Unbelief. This great sin of unbelief on
what justifies a sinner before God. God has created a brand
new man that does not commit that sin. I mean, they believe. They believe and they all cry
in humility, I believe, help my unbelief. But it says in verse
6, Whoever abideth in him sinneth not. Whoever sinneth, whoever
is in unbelief has not seen Him and does not know Him. Little
children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness
is righteous even as he is righteous. What does it mean to do righteousness? Whoever does righteousness is
righteous even as he is. Don't turn. In Romans 4 verse
3, in Galatians 3 verse 6, and in James 2 verse 23, all those
verses say, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him
for righteousness. Verse 7 says, he that believes
God is righteous even as he is righteous. Verse 8, he that commit
sin. He that does not believe is of
the devil for the devil did not believe from the beginning. He
didn't believe God from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Whosoever is born of God doth not not believe, does not commit
the sin of unbelief. For his seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot not believe. He has to believe because he's
born of God. He's born of God. So go back
to our text and we'll close with this. Do I possess this new man? Well, do I believe God? Do I believe His word? Do I believe
on Christ? Is He my all? Is He my all? Have I cast my all on Him? Has
God revealed to me that the truth is in Christ, completely in Christ? If so, if God has revealed that
to us, then we are new creatures. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to us, God revealed it to us. God gave us that faith to
believe on Him. He created new men. in each one of us. One that does
not walk in the vanity and the ignorance and the blindness of
religion. How thankful we are for that.
A new man that God has taught in His teaching. They'll all
be taught of God. And He said in verse 21, If so
be that you have heard Him and have been taught by Him as the
truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation
the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust,
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put
on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness." My margin says holiness of truth. This new man
is created to believe the truth. May God help us, honestly, to
put off the old man. Come to each one of us, this
old man of unbelief. Put off the old man and put on
that new man of faith. We're carrying both. There is
a war within us. Paul said, there's a war within
me. I'm so sick and tired of this old man of unbelief. Lord,
help me put him off and put on this new man of absolute faith
that you have created. May he help us to do that and
may he also teach us to straighten up and fly right. Both of those
things. All right, let's all stand together.