The New Man

Each morning you pick out what you’re going to wear for the day. You’ll dress differently if heading to work then you will if mowing the lawn. You may in fact make multiple wardrobe changes per day depending on activity.

What you wear is usually predicated by what you’re planning to do.

It may also depend on the venue. A formal affair such as a wedding, requires formal attire. Show up in shorts and flip flops and you will not only “stand out,” you may be “put out” as well.

I’m not sure who established these rules of etiquette, but for the most part, we follow them.

We also judge others by them.

Ever hear, “You’re not wearing that are you?” Or maybe, “Who taught you how to dress?”

Did you know the Bible tells us what to put on? But unlike the Pharisees who took great pride in their outward appearance, literally wearing religion on their sleeve, we are called to “dress” the inward, not the outward man.

We know God doesn’t judge on outward appearance, and yet it’s still a priority for many of us. We can spend more time focused on the latest fashion trend than we do with transformation. Jesus called out the Pharisees for cleaning the outside of the cup, while the inside was full of greed and evil. He told them to first clean the inside, and the outside would be clean. (Matt 23:25-26)

Transformation happens on the inside, and its impact will be evident outside.

In Ephesians 4:22-24 we are told “to put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 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.” (emphasis mine)

When you become a follower of Christ, you are literally transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Rescued from the domain of darkness. (Col 1:13)

This is a spiritual transaction.

Once in God’s Kingdom, you have a responsibility to put off the old man, and put on the new man. To lay aside who you used to be, to become who you were created by God to be.

But you can’t put on the new until you put off the old. You can dress up the old, but the world knows the difference. (see “lipstick on a pig” reference)

You’ll be the short wearing flip flopper at the wedding.

What does the new man look like, and how to I put him on? (Read Ephesians 4:17-23)

The world taught you how to dress the outer man, and the Holy Spirit will teach you how to dress the inner man.

You can be a follower of Christ and still put on the old man. If you do, it’s a terrible witness to the non-believer. The hypocrisy of the Pharisees angered Jesus. Can our hypocrisy do no less?

Understanding the new man doesn’t come through the latest “fashion trend” in the church. It doesn’t come through Christian music or church tradition. It comes through the renewing of your mind with the Word of God. (Ro 12:2)

So every morning you now get to decide two things. What you will wear and which man you put on.