The Characteristics of the New Man

Jim ButlerEphesians 4:17–24

Ephesians 4:17–24 sets before believers a stark contrast between the darkened, alienated mind of the spiritual Gentile and the renewed mind of the new man in Christ. The sermon argues that verses 22–24 are not imperatives commanding believers to transform themselves, but indicatives declaring what God has already accomplished in regeneration: the old man has been put off, the mind is being renewed, and the new man has been put on. These realities — rooted in the second Adam reversing what the first Adam forfeited — form the doctrinal foundation upon which the ethical commands of Ephesians 4:25–6:24 rest. Believers are therefore called to walk in a manner consistent with what they already are in Christ, using the ordained means of gospel preaching, Scripture, and prayer to pursue sanctification.