Living as You Were Created to Live

" . . . and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

-Ephesians 4:24 ESV

Sometimes I marvel at how I've read, studied, meditated on, and preached the Scriptures so many times, but I still find more details that I've not heard before. That happened to me today when I was reading Ephesians 4:24.

First, let's do a quick phrasing outline of this section. (Hang with me for a second while we look at some of the technical parts of the text. Make sure you get to the end where we discuss the implications!)

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A Phrasing Outline on Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV

17 Now this I say

and testify

in the Lord,

that you must no longer walk

as the Gentiles do,

in the futility of their minds.

18 They are darkened in their understanding,

alienated from the life of God

because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

19 They have become callous

and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!--

21 assuming that you have heard about him

and were taught in him,

as the truth is in Jesus,

22 to put off your old self, (middle voice, meaning you are an agent of the action and concerned with it; example = taking off clothes and ceasing to wear them)

which belongs to your former manner of life

and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

23 and to be renewed (passive voice, it happens to you!)

in the spirit of your minds,

24 and to put on the new self, (middle voice, meaning you are an agent of the action and concerned with it; example = putting on clothes and wearing them)

created after the likeness of God

in true righteousness

and holiness.

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From here I would like to zoom in and study verse twenty-four in more detail.

Here is the Greek:

τὸν κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα

(the) (according to) (God) (has been created)

And the English:

• Literal/My translation:

  • according to [the] God has been created

  • (or) has been created according to [the] God

• ESV: created after the likeness of God

• NASB: which in the likeness of God has been created

• NIV: created to be like God

• CSB: the one created according to God's likeness

• NET: who has been created in God's image

• KJV: which after God was created

• NKJV: which was created according to God

Most translators provide an interpretive word or phrase such as "in the likeness" or "image". The study note from the NET Bible demonstrates the reasoning behind it: "The preposition κατὰ used here denotes a measure of similarity or equality (BDAG 513 s.v. B.5.b.a)."[1] In other words, Paul is saying you were created like God. You were created in God's image.

And that probably reminds you of another portion of Scripture. Listen to this note from the ESV Study Bible: "Created after the likeness of God further shows the connection with the original creation in Genesis, where "God created man in his own image" (Gen. 1:27; cf. 1 Cor. 15:49)."[2] It brings our minds back to the beginning of Scripture where we learn that we were made in God's image.

Here is the Hebrew from the first part of Genesis 1:27 (reads from right to left!):

וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ

(and created) (God) (the man) (in his image)

*Note: The word for "man" is singular here, but in plural can mean mankind. It is spelled adam, and it becomes his proper name: "Adam." Also, the rest of the verse explains that both male and female were created in God's image. The NET Bible describes some of the particulars with the definite article (in other words "the" which is before "man"). "The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun . . . [which] does not distinguish man from woman here . . . but rather indicates previous reference (see v. 26, where the noun appears without the article." Thus, many translators have dropped the "the" from their translation.

And here is the English:

• Literally/my translation: and God created the man in his image

• ESV: So God created man in his own image

• NASB: So God created man in His own image

• NIV: So God created mankind in his own image

• CSB: So God created man in his own image

• NET: God created humankind in his own image

• KJV: So God created man in his own image

• NKJV: So God created man in His own image

Now, at this point, you may be thinking: Why does this matter?

Here's why it matters. In the context, Paul is contrasting putting off the old self with putting on the new self. Think of it like wearing clothes. He's saying, if you really heard about Christ and learned Christ, then you would not be wearing your old, Gentile, darkened, and sinful clothes still. Instead, you would be wearing your "image of God clothes" (imago dei). So, put off the old clothes, be renewed by God in your mind, and wear the "image of God clothes". Instead of sin, you will reflect him in truth, righteousness, and holiness.

Now, a couple of theological thoughts; we were originally made in his image and given "image of God clothes". But when we were deceived by Satan and sinned, we began to reflect Satan more than God in many ways. Remember John 8:44? "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44; emphasis mine).

Yes, we still have various God-given capacities that separate us from the animals and plants which show that we were created in God's image. However, in some significant ways, we look more like Satan than God now.

We need to be saved. But how?

Some say, "You are saved by how you live." That's not true. You are saved by grace through faith in Christ. You must believe in the perfect life, death, and resurrection that Jesus performed on your behalf to save you from your sin.

Now, how do saved people live?

Some say, "Once you're saved, it doesn't matter how you live." That is also not true. Paul says that is not how we "learned Christ" (v. 20). We are to put off the old and put on the new.

Jesus came, lived, died, and resurrected for us. For those of us who believe in him, we learned to live in a certain way. That is, we learned to put off the deceitful, sinful, Satanic type of clothes, and put on the holy, righteous, and true "image of God clothes".

That is how you were created to live.

• Are you a Christian? Do you have saving faith? Do you believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus?

• Christian, what type of clothes are you wearing today? Have you put off the old, sinful ways of living and put on the new, Christ-like ways of living?

End Notes:

[1] NET Bible, Full Notes Edition (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2019), 2239.

[2] ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), 2269.

[3] NET Bible, Full Notes Edition, 4.