Our Responsibilities with Knowledge 4: Put on the New Man

David W Palmer

Today, we look at how true knowledge—along with its application in our minds—is the only way to be free of sin, bad habits, and all forms of un-holiness.

9. Put on the new man

(Colossians 3:10 NKJV) “And have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”

In his New Testament teaching, the Holy Spirit instructs us to “put off … the old man,” and to “put on the new man”:

(Ephesians 4:22–24 NKJV) “That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, {23} and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, {24} and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

This new man is “renewed in knowledge.” This is the key for successfully living the Christian life. What the Holy Spirit calls the “old man” truly is “corrupt” and will never change—no matter how hard we try to improve him. God has created the “New man” to replace him. The new man is already perfect—“created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness”—so we don’t need to improve him, fix him or change him; just put him on (See also: 1 John 5:18).

In Jesus’s victory over the grave, God completely dealt with the sin problem; he crucified our old man—our old sin-addicted nature—with Jesus. Note again: the “old man” is a completely hopeless sinner, born with an unfixable orientation to sin. Not even God could change him; God’s way of dealing with him was to crucify him with Jesus:

(Romans 6:6–7 NKJV) “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. {7} For he who has died has been freed from sin.”

If killing the “old man” was God’s only solution to fixing the problem of the old un-born-again nature, no amount of counselling, resolve, or will-power will ever free him of sin’s addictive power. Our only hope of change is through the new birth as a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). You see, God is such a genius that he completely annihilated our old nature at Jesus’s death, and then raised up a completely new nature for us in Jesus when he rose from the dead. That’s why his resurrection is such a victorious miracle:

(Romans 6:5 NKJV) “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

(Colossians 2:12 NKJV) “Buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”

How do we live in the reality of this amazing miracle? We note that it says we were raised with him “through faith in the working of God.” There it is again, “faith!” Faith that comes by hearing God’s word in our hearts is the only means God has provided for us to be free of the “old” and fully experience the “new nature,” which is holy, sanctified, and filled with life.

The Holy Spirit instructs us through Paul, to “put off … the old man … and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” God did his part for us in Jesus; our part is faith—summarized here as, “be renewed in the … mind.” Feeding God’s true knowledge from his word into our minds changes our perception to line up with God’s reality, and it brings the faith needed to release the Holy Spirit to empower us with his holy power. This is confirmed in Romans 12:

(Romans 12:2 NKJV) “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind …”

The key to stop struggling with sin and the “old man” is to put him off once and for all, and then to allow the “new man” to live through you exclusively. We do this through the process of renewing our minds, and this is dependent on our faith, and hence, our knowledge. We should replace the thinking of the old man with the true knowledge that comes from God through his word; thus we restrain the old man with his “stinking thinking” from resurrecting himself; and we release the “new man” who has the “mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16 KJV).

(Proverbs 23:7 NKJV) “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

(Isaiah 55:7 NKJV) “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

Today, I leave you with the challenge of looking only to God’s new creation to be free of sin: not self-effort, more resolve, or stronger will-power. I also leave you with a couple more snippets of God’s eternal word to meditate on:

(Hosea 4:6 NKJV) “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

(Jeremiah 4:22 NKJV) “For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.”