Ephesians 4:23-24 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to put on the new self, created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.
This is our goal, the reason Jesus came and died on the cross, and the path to experience the reason why we were created. Paul again expresses what it means to be “in Christ.” He wrote the Corinthians, “If anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Verse 23 expresses two key ideas. One is the renewal that takes place as a person puts his or her faith in Jesus Christ. The root for the verb renewed (ananeousthai) means young or fresh. The preposition ana (“again”) at the beginning of the word emphasizes the newness that takes place. This is not a little change but a complete replacement of the old. The old way of thinking does not need to control us anymore. We can have a fresh start. We can have a “do over.”
The second significant thought is where this renewal takes place: in our mind. The mind is a key idea in Paul’s writing. It represents the direction of one’s life and how that direction is determined. The mind is what needs transformed because it is the source of our will and decisions (Romans 12:1-2). In verse 17, the mind of the Gentiles (the peoples of the world) is futile, useless, and empty of meaning and purpose. When the mind is renewed through the Holy Spirit, it has a new source for a different direction. Decisions are made based on love for God and love for others. This will lead a person to living differently. Many problems caused by sin are avoided and many new positive experiences take place because of this change of mindset.
Verse 24 describes more of the result of this renewed mind. Paul continues the imagery of clothing. The old person is removed and replaced by a new self. This new self (literally “man” or “person”) is described in three ways. The first is the primary description: the new person is created according to the likeness of God. The word “likeness” is not found in the Greek but is picked up by many translations from the preposition kata, “according to.” The new creation is according to God’s design and purpose, which Paul highlighted at the beginning of the letter.
This image, purpose, or design of God is further described in the last two prepositional phrases. The word true can modify both righteousness and holiness. This word may set up an intended contrast between the false assumptions and deceit of what unbelieving people think they should be. People are confused about their purpose and reason for existence. At the base of such thinking is self-fulfillment and self-indulgence. The image of God can become so distorted because of sin that people no longer have a clear reason for living. This type of thinking especially characterizes unbelieving Gentiles are are lost in depravity. Another source of wrong thinking, characterized more with Jews, is to think that righteousness and holiness can be gained by obedience to a set of laws, resulting in legalism.
Genuine and orthodox righteousness and holiness are related to what God has done in Christ. Righteousness (dikaisynē) is the result of God’s grace in Christ and is received and experienced as a result of a person’s faith. This righteousness both puts us in a right standing with God and gives us a right heart or disposition. Another word for this, based on the same Greek root, is justification. Justification puts us on the path to holiness. Holiness (hosietēti) is action shown in piety and devotion. This is faith put into action that can be experienced and seen. The new self is not supposed to just sit around passively but be active in the good works for which God created us (2:10). We must do something with our faith. The new self is one of action. Some of those actions Paul will describe in the rest of this letter.
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