Colossians 3.10a-The Colossians Must Continue to Not Lie to One Another Because They Clothed Themselves with the New Man
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday July 3, 2016
Colossians: Colossians 3:10a-The Colossians Must Continue to Not Lie to One Another Because They Have Clothed Themselves with the New Man
Lesson # 78
Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. (NASB95)
“And have put on the new self” presents an additional reason why the Colossians must obey the prohibition in Colossians 3:9 to continue making it their habit of not lying to one another.
“Have put on the new self” is composed of the following: (1) nominative verb enduō (ἐνδύω), “have put on” (3) adjective neos (νέος), “new.”
The verb enduō is used in a figurative of sense and means “clothe oneself, to put on oneself, to dress oneself with” since it pertains to putting on clothes without implying any particular article of clothing.
This clothing oneself with the new man also took place at the moment the Colossians were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Like the stripping off of the old man, it took place at justification through the baptism of the Spirit.
However, stripping off of the old man took place when the Spirit identified the Colossians with Christ in His crucifixion, death and burial whereas the clothing of themselves with the new man took place when the Holy Spirit identified them with Christ in His resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
The masculine plural form of this verb is a reference of course to the Colossians as a corporate unit with a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
The verb enduō functions as a causal participle which indicates that the Colossians were to continue to make it their habit of not lying to one another not only because they have stripped off the old indwelling Adamic sin nature but also “because” they have put on the new man.
The aorist tense of the verb enduō is a consummative aorist which is used to emphasize the Colossians clothing themselves with the new man as having been completed the moment they were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
This verb enduō is in the middle voice and functions specifically as a direct middle which indicates that the Colossians “clothed themselves” with the new man the moment they were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
At this point in the verse, Paul is employing the figure of ellipsis meaning he is omitting the accusative masculine singular form of the noun anthrōpos, “man” though it is implied by the context.
This word means “man” referring to the Colossians’ new Christ nature which they received through regeneration and the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of their justification.
The noun neos means, “new” and together with anthrōpos, they are personifying the new Christ nature.
The nature of Christ is described as “new” because it belongs to the new creation under Jesus Christ.
Colossians 3:9 Each and every one of you continue making it your habit of not lying to one another because each and every one of you for your own benefit have stripped off the old man with its practices. 10 Likewise, each and every one of you have clothed yourselves with the new man which is, as an eternal spiritual truth existing in the state of desiring to be replenished for the purpose of an experiential knowledge in conformity with the image produced by the One who created him. (My translation)
In Colossians 3:9, the apostle Paul commanded the faithful believers in Colossae to continue making it their habit of not lying to one another.
Then, he gives the first of two reasons why they should do this.
The first reason is found attached to this command in Colossians 3:9 and asserts that the Colossians have stripped off the old man with its practices.
This causal clause is figurative language for the Colossian believers taking off or stripping their old Adamic indwelling sin nature at the moment of justification.
It speaks of the Colossians leaving the state or condition of being enslaved to the old indwelling Adamic sin nature at the moment they were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Simultaneously, they were identified with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, and burial through the baptism of the Spirit.
Consequently, this identification freed them from the power of the sin nature.
So this removal of the sin nature took place at their conversion experience.
Therefore, Paul is telling the Colossians with this causal clause that they must not lie to one another because to do so would be inconsistent with the fact that they have been freed from the sin nature since lying is one of the manifestations of the sin nature.
Now, here in Colossians 3:10, Paul presents the second reason why the Colossians must obey the command in verse 9 by asserting that each and every one of them have clothed themselves with the new man.
This new man belongs to the new creation and is the nature of Jesus Christ who reflects the Father’s nature and speaks of the sinner who has been declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son and has consequently been regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
This justified sinner was not only regenerated at the moment of their justification but they were also identified with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
They were also simultaneously indwelt permanently by all three members of the Trinity.
Therefore, the new man belongs to the new creation under the headship of Jesus Christ.
This clothing of themselves with the new man also took place at the moment of the Colossians were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
So like the stripping off of the old man, it took place at justification through the baptism of the Spirit.
However, stripping off of the old man took place when the Spirit identified the Colossians with Christ in His crucifixion, death and burial whereas the clothing of themselves with the new man took place when the Holy Spirit identified them with Christ in His resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
Therefore, a comparison of Colossians 3:9-10 indicates that the stripping off the old man and clothing oneself with the new man are speaking of two events that took place through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of justification.
They are both related to their identification with Christ.
The former is related to their identification with Christ in His crucifixion, death and burial whereas the latter is related to their identification with Christ in His resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
Furthermore, both are speaking of the positional aspect of their sanctification which sets up the potential to experience their sanctification in time and provides the believer the guarantee of being perfected in the image of Jesus Christ in a resurrection body.