Ephesians: Put on the Likeness of God
Ephesians 4:20-24 - Knowing Jesus should transform our lives, not be an addition to a “life as usual”.
“But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Ephesians 4:20-24 NASB1995
The AI image that Steve requested for this passage is intriguing. Here is an excerpt from the AI tool’s description of the scene:
At the center of the scene stands a single adult figure (male, consistent with typical biblical depictions, but not overly stylized), dressed in historically accurate clothing of the period.
The figure is captured in a moment of transformation:
He is in the act of removing a worn, dusty outer cloak—the fabric is rough, slightly torn, and visibly aged, hanging loosely from one arm as it slips away.
Beneath it, he is putting on a clean, simple robe made of natural linen—light-colored (off-white or soft beige), fresh and well-fitted, catching the morning light.
Lighting & Symbolism
The old cloak remains in shadow, with cooler tones and muted detail.
The new robe is illuminated by warm sunlight, subtly brighter but still realistic—no artificial glow.
Light falls across the figure from right to left, reinforcing the sense of moving from darkness into light.
Just like removing a soiled and dirty travel cloak that picked up all of the bad sins and ways in our journey, our lives of transformation with Christ replace that old self (symbolized by the dark cloak) with a clean and bright new self (symbolized by a clean robe). The old self was corrupted with the lusts of deceit and we must be renewed in the spirit of our mind.
Enduring Word has good commentary on this passage:
a. Put off… the old man… put on the new man: This has the same idea of putting off or putting on a set of clothes. The idea is to “change into” a different kind of conduct.
i. Think of a prisoner who is released from prison, but still wears his prison clothes and acts like a prisoner and not as a free man. The first thing to tell that person is that they should put on some new clothes.
ii. Even as putting on different clothes will change the way you think about yourself and see yourself, even so putting on a different conduct will start to change your attitudes. This means that we shouldn’t wait to feel like the new man before we put on the new man.
iii. Fundamentally, Paul says that for the Christian, there must be a break with the past. Jesus isn’t merely added to our old life; the old life dies and He becomes our new life.
b. You have not so learned Christ: The repetition of this idea shows that putting on the new man has a strong aspect of learning and education to it. You have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus… and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
i. Our Christian life must go beyond head knowledge, but it must absolutely include head knowledge and influence our whole manner of thinking. This is not just in the sense of knowing facts, but the ability to set our minds on the right things. This is so fundamental to the Christian life that Christian growth can even be described as the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).
ii. The Ephesians learned Christ, not only learning about Jesus, but also learning Him. This means a living, abiding knowledge of Jesus will keep us from the kind of sinful conduct Paul speaks of. Just knowing about Jesus isn’t enough to keep us pure.
iii. “So, if you want to know the Lord Jesus Christ, you must live with him. First he must himself speak to you, and afterwards you must abide in him. He must be the choice Companion of your morning hours, he must be with you throughout the day, and with him you must also close the night; and as often as you may wake during the night, you must say, ‘When I awake, I am still with thee.’ ” (Spurgeon)
c. Put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness: The new man is the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) created in us at conversion. It is the person created according to the image of Jesus Christ and instinctively righteous and holy. It is in contrast to the old man, who is the person inherited from Adam and who instinctively rebels against God.
There are some really good takeaways from this commentary that I want to emphasize:
We should not wait to feel like a new person before we transform our conduct. Don’t say to ourself “I accepted Jesus today but I’m still going to party with my crazy friends this weekend” or “I believe in Jesus, but I’m going to have one more night with that person I’m having an affair with, then break it off”. It’s like waiting until New Year’s to start resolutions. You can begin your transformation NOW, in this very second, as you learn more and more about your Savior.
Jesus isn’t merely added to our lives; our old lives are intended to die.
Just knowing about Jesus is not enough to keep us on the path to transformation. We must learn Jesus (in essence, imitate the life of Christ).
Jesus should be first in the morning and last in the evening and every moment in-between, as Charles Spurgeon notes in this commentary.
Let’s do one word study from the Blue Letter Bible lexicon on a key phrase in this passage:
Is being corrupted comes from the Greek verb φθείρω or phtheírō (Strong’s G5351), with the following Biblical usages (note, this particular verb is a stronger version of the base verb phthio):
to corrupt, to destroy
in the opinion of the Jews, the temple was corrupted or “destroyed” when anyone defiled or in the slightest degree damaged anything in it, or if its guardians neglected their duties
to lead away a Christian church from that state of knowledge and holiness in which it ought to abide
to be destroyed, to perish
in an ethical sense, to corrupt, deprave
Corruption doesn’t necessarily come from money, but it has done a lot over the course of human history to lure people away from a state of knowledge of Christ and holiness. Corruption is rampant in our modern world (go look at the news on the billions in fraud being committed in several states) and it leads to deceit of self because of our lusts. According to Precept Austin, here are eight New Testament examples of phtheiro:
1 Corinthians 3:17+ If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. (Comment: In the opinion of the Jews the temple was corrupted, or `destroyed’, when anyone defiled or in the slightest degree damaged anything in it, or if its guardians neglected their duties. In the ancient world destroying a temple was a capital offense. The church is holy in that God has set it aside to glorify Himself even though it is not always as holy in its conduct as it is in its calling)
1 Corinthians 15:33+ Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
2 Corinthians 7:2 Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one.
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray (phtheiro = corrupted) from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
Ephesians 4:22+ that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
2 Peter 2:12+ But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,
Jude 1:10+ But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.
Revelation 19:2+ because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting (imperfect tense = corrupting it over and over) the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.
This pithy quote from Precept Austin describes the spiral of sin:
THE SPIRAL OF SIN - Sin first enslaves, then compounds, then deceives, then destroys. Often, by the time a person realizes what his or her sin has done, he is too far off course to turn back. In St. Louis there is a railroad switchyard. One particular switch begins with just the thinnest piece of steel to direct a train away from one main track to another. If you were to follow those two tracks, however, you would find that one ends in San Francisco, the other in New York. “Sin is like that. Just a small deviation from God’s standards can place us far afield from our intended destination.”
Even with our new selves in Christ, we are still sinners and will sin (there are no perfect Christians). But clad our bright new cloaks, we should now recognize those sins for what they are: Corruption and deceit, not “fun and games” that we can still secretly pursue under a veneer or pretense of holiness and transformation.
My next devotional examines Ephesians 4:25 - Laying aside falsehood. The last few verses of Ephesians 4 deal with different sinful concerns that Paul is addressing, so I’m planning on taking them one at a time.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I pray for a continued transformation into a life of righteousness and deeper knowledge of Jesus. Amen.
Citations and Credits:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
“G5351 - phtheirō - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NASB95).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 10 May, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5351/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/>.
Precept Austin was accessed on 05/10/2026 to review commentary for Ephesians 4:20-24.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. Within the Enduring Word commentary are the following references:
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon The New Park Street Pulpit, Volumes 1-6 and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990)
COMPLETE LIFE CHANGE for new Christians is almost impossible without a mentor. Even then, a mentor must be an active participant in the changed life, not just an advisor. They must have a relationship that survives the many, many lapses at first, and a lot of patience on both sides. And a lot of extra time by the mentor- almost a life change in and of itself because of all the time it will take discussing, teaching, praising, exampling, oops-ing, praying.
More and more I am convinced we must explain life-change before their baptism. We are so anxious for them to "get baptized and save their souls," we are afraid they will change their minds if we TELL THEM THE HARD PARTS. The Christian life brings peace, but also demands. Look at Hebrews 10:22-27 - Those who purposely miss worship assemblies are "trampling under foot the blood of Jesus".
How not to miss can be complicated for some: Is someone sick? Take them to the doctor the day before worship; don't wait until Sunday. Are friends used to stopping by on Sunday morning for coffee? Be proactive and do it Saturday morning. Does the boss expect them to show up for work on Sunday mornings? Can they trade with someone and work on Saturday mornings instead? Do the grandparents expect the grandkids to spend Saturday nights and Sundays with them? How about adjusting it to Friday nights and Saturdays? Look ahead. Plan ahead. One step at a time.