" But ye have not thus learned the Christ, if ye have heard him and been instructed in him according as [the] truth is in Jesus: [namely) your having put off according to the former conversation the old man which corrupts itself according to the deceitful lusts, and being renewed in the spirit of your mind; and having put on the new man, which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness. Wherefore, having put off falsehood, speak truth every one with his neighbor, because we are members one of another." Eph. 4:20-2520But ye have not so learned Christ; 21If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. (Ephesians 4:20‑25) New Trans.)
What a contrast between the ignorance of a heart that is blind, and a stranger to the life of God, and consequently walking in the vanity of its own understanding, that is, according to the desires of a heart given up to the impulses of the flesh without God-what a contrast between this state, and that of having learned Christ, as the truth is in Jesus (which is the expression of the life of God in man, God Himself manifested in the flesh), the having put off this old man, which corrupts itself according to its deceitful lusts, and put on this new man, Christ! It is not an amelioration of the old man; it is a putting it off, and a putting on of Christ.
Even here the apostle does not lose sight of the oneness of the body: we are to speak the truth, because we are members one of another. " Truth," the expression of simplicity and integrity of heart, is in connection with " as the truth is in Jesus,' whose life is transparent as the light, as falsehood is in connection with deceitful lusts.
Moreover, the old man is without God, alienated from the life of God. The new man is created, it is a new creation, and a creation after the model of that which is the character of God, righteousness and holiness of truth. The first Adam was not in that manner created after the image of God. By the fall the knowledge of good and evil entered into man. He can no longer be innocent. When innocent, he was ignorant of evil in itself. Now; fallen, he is, in his ignorance, a stranger to the life of God: but the knowledge of good and evil which he has acquired, the moral distinction between good and evil in itself, is a divine principle. " The man," said God, " is become as one of us, to know good and evil." But in order to possess this knowledge, and subsist in what is good before God, there must be divine energy, divine life.
Everything has its true nature, its true character, in the eyes of God. That is the truth. It is not that He is the truth. The truth is the right and perfect expression of that which a thing is (and, in an absolute way, of that which all things are), and of the relations in which it stands to other things, or in which all things stand towards each other. Thus God could not be the truth. He is not the expression of some other thing. Everything relates to Him. He is the center of all true relationship, and of all moral obligation. It is God become man, it is Christ, who is the truth, and the measure of all things. But all things have their true character in the eyes of God: and He judges righteously of all, whether morally or in power. He acts according to that judgment. He is just. He also knows evil perfectly, being Himself goodness, that it may be perfectly an abomination to Him, that He may repel it by His own nature. He is holy. Now the new man, created after the divine nature, is so in righteousness and holiness of truth. What a privilege! What a blessing! It is, as another apostle has said, to be "partakers of the divine nature." Adam had nothing, of this.
Adam was perfect as an innocent man. The breath of life in his nostrils was breathed into him by God, and he was responsible for obedience to God in a thing wherein neither good nor evil was to be known, but simply a commandment. The trial was that of obedience only, not the knowledge of good or evil in itself. At present, in Christ, the portion of the believer is a participation in the divine nature itself, in a being who knows good and evil, and who vitally participates in the sovereign good, morally in the nature of God Himself, although always thereby dependent on Him. It is our evil nature which is not so, or at least which refuses to be dependent on Him.
But besides participation in the divine nature, there is the Spirit Himself who has been given to us consequent on believing (see chap. 1:13), and we are enjoined to " grieve not the holy Spirit " who dwells in us. The redemption of the creature has not yet taken place, but we have been sealed into that, day. Let us respect and cherish this mighty and holy. Guest who graciously dwells in us.