Lie not one to another: stripping yourselves of the old man with his deeds,

“For it is not one thing which dies and another which is quickened, as neither is it one thing Which is lost and another which is found, but the Lord came seeking for that same sheep which had been lost. What was it, then, which was dead? Undoubtedly it was the substance of the flesh; the same, too, which had lost the breath of life, and had become breathless and dead. This same, therefore, was what the Lord came to quicken, that as in Adam we do all die, as being of an animal nature, in Christ we may all live, as being spiritual, not laying aside God's handiwork, but the lusts of the flesh, and receiving the Holy Spirit; as the apostle says in the Epistle to the Colossians: "Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth." And what these are he himself explains: "Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence; and covetousness, which is idolatry." The laying aside of these is what the apostle preaches; and he declares that those who do such things, as being merely flesh and blood, cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. For their soul, tending towards what is worse, and descending to earthly lusts, has become a partaker in the same designation which belongs to these [lusts, viz., "earthly"], which, when the apostle commands us to lay aside, he says in the same Epistle, "Cast ye off the old man with his deeds." But when he said this, he does not remove away the ancient formation [of man]; for in that case it would be incumbent on us to rid ourselves of its company by committing suicide. But the apostle himself also, being one who had been formed in a womb, and had issued thence, wrote to us, and confessed in his Epistle to the Philippians that "to live in the flesh was the fruit of [his] work;" thus expressing himself. Now the final result of the work of the Spirit is the salvation of the flesh. For what other visible fruit is there of the invisible Spirit, than the rendering of the flesh mature and capable of incorruption? If then [he says], "To live in the flesh, this is the result of labour to me," he did not surely contemn the substance of flesh in that passage where he said, "Put ye off the old man with his works;" but he points out that we should lay aside our former conversation, that which waxes old and becomes corrupt; and for this reason he goes on to say, "And put ye on the new man, that which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of Him who created him." In this, therefore, that he says, "which is renewed in knowledge," he demonstrates that he, the selfsame man who was in ignorance in times past, that is, in ignorance of God, is renewed by that knowledge which has respect to Him. For the knowledge of God renews man. And when he says, "after the image of the Creator," he sets forth the recapitulation of the same man, who was at the beginning made after the likeness of God.”

“Seek nothing with exterior gold and bodily adornment; but consider the garment as one worthy to adorn him who is according to the image of his Creator, as the apostle says: "Stripping off the old man, and putting on the new, one that is being renewed unto perfect knowledge 'according to the image of his Creator.'" And he who has put on "the heart of mercy, kindness, humility, patience and meekness" is clothed within and has adorned the inner man.”

“For we say that those things are alive which spring up and grow, and no one would deny that all things that participate in life and natural motion are animate, yet at the same time one cannot say that such life partakes of a perfect soul,—for though a certain animate operation exists in plants, it does not attain to the motions of sense; and on the other hand, though a certain further animate power exists in the brutes, neither does this attain perfection, since it does not contain in itself the grace of reason and intelligence. And even so we say that the true and perfect soul is the human soul, recognized by every operation; and anything else that shares in life we call animate by a sort of customary misuse of language, because in these cases the soul does not exist in a perfect condition, but only certain parts of the operation of the soul, which in man also (according to Moses' mystical account of man's origin) we learn to have accrued when he made himself like this sensuous world. Thus Paul, advising those who were able to hear him to lay hold on perfection, indicates also the mode in which they may attain that object, telling them that they must "put off the old man," and put on the man "which is renewed after the image of Him that created him." Now may we all return to that Divine grace in which God at the first created man, when He said, "Let us make man in our image and likeness"; to Whom be glory and might for ever and ever. Amen.”

“But since the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are of one Nature, the Father certainly will not be in subjection to Himself. And therefore the Son will not be in subjection in that in which He is one with the Father; lest it should seem that through the unity of the Godhead the Father also is in subjection to the Son. Therefore, as upon that cross it was not the fulness of the Godhead, but our weakness that was brought into subjection, so also will the Son hereafter become subject to the Father in the participation of our nature, in order that when the lusts of the flesh are brought into subjection the heart may have no care for riches, or ambition, or pleasures; but that God may be all to us, if we live after His image and likeness, as far as we can attain to it, through all. The benefit has passed, then, from the individual to the community; for in His flesh He has tamed the nature of all human flesh. Thus, according to the Apostle: "As we have borne the image of the earthly, so also shall we bear the image of the heavenly." This thing certainly cannot come to pass except in the inner man. Therefore, "laying aside all these," that is those things which we read of: "anger, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication;" as he also says below: "Let us, having put off the old man with his deeds, put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him."”

“"Seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of Him that created him." It is worth enquiring here, what can be the reason why he calls the corrupt life, "members," and "man," and "body," and again the virtuous life, the same. And if "the man" means "sins," how is it that he saith, "with his doings"? For once he said, "the old man," showing that this is not man, but the other. The moral choice doth rather determine one than the substance, and is rather "man" than the other. For his substance casteth him not into hell, nor leadeth him into the kingdom, but men the themselves: and we neither love nor hate any one so far as he is man, but so far as he is such or such a man. If then the substance be the body, and in either sort cannot be accountable, how doth he say that it is evil? But what is that he saith, "with his doings"? He means the choice, with the acts. And he calleth him "old," on purpose to show his deformity, and hideousness, and imbecility; and "new," as if to say, Do not expect that it will be with this one even as with the other, but the reverse: for ever as he farther advances, he hasteneth not on to old age, but to a youthfulness greater than the preceding. For when he hath received a fuller knowledge, he is both counted worthy of greater things, and is in more perfect maturity, in higher vigor; and this, not from youthfulness alone, but from that "likeness" also, "after" which he is. Lo! the best life is styled a creation, after the image of Christ: for this is the meaning of, "after the image of Him that created him," for Christ too came not finally to old age, but was so beautiful as it is not even possible to tell. One royal form it hath, that, namely, of Christ. They whom he has in view, appear to me rather to be of the Gentiles. For like as earth, being but sand, even though one part be greater, another less, losing its own previous form, doth afterwards become gold; and like as wool, of whatever kind it be, receiveth another aspect, and hides its former one: so truly is it also with the faithful.”

“Elsewhere, too, he has even more plainly called it an image, while enforcing the same thing in other words. "Do you," he says, "putting off the old man with his deeds, put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge of God after the image of Him that created him." Where the one passage reads, "Put ye on the new man, which is created after God," the other has, "Put ye on the new man, which is renewed after the image of Him that created him." In the one place he says, "After God;" in the other, "After the image of Him that created him." But instead of saying, as in the former passages "In righteousness and true holiness," he has put in the latter, "In the knowledge of God." This renewal, then, and forming again of the mind, is wrought either after God, or after the image of God. But it is said to be after God, in order that it may not be supposed to be after another creature; and to be after the image of God, in order that this renewing may be understood to take place in that wherein is the image of God, i.e. in the mind.”

“Above, the Apostle admonished the faithful against carnal vices; here he admonishes them against spiritual vices. And first he sets down a universal admonition; second he distinguishes them part by part. He says therefore: "at one time you walked in these," but now "put off," you also, all things — not only carnal things, but all things. 1 Peter 2:1: "putting away all malice, and all guile, and dissimulations, and envies, and detractions," etc. Now he distinguishes the spiritual vices into two: first into sin of the heart; second, of the mouth, there "blasphemy," etc. And first he sets down wrath. For "the wrath of man does not work the justice of God" (James 1:20), and this is to be put off. Second, indignation, which arises from wrath, which is when someone considers another unworthy of the things he has, or unworthy to be compared to another. Isaiah 27:4: "indignation is not mine." Malice, which follows upon these two, namely when someone contrives to bring evil upon his neighbor. James 1:21: "casting away all uncleanness, and abundance of malice, in meekness," etc. Then he sets down the sins pertaining to the sin of the mouth, and there are three kinds of sins of the mouth. For by this sin the disorder of the mind is designated: first in relation to God, and this is blasphemy. Leviticus 24:14: "bring forth the blasphemer outside the camp, and let all who heard lay their hands upon his head, and let the whole people stone him." And thus any blasphemy whatsoever is a mortal sin. But what if it is sudden? I answer: it must be said that if it is sudden, in such a way that he does not perceive that he is blaspheming, he does not sin mortally. But I believe that, however sudden it may be, if nevertheless he perceives that he is uttering words of blasphemy, he sins mortally. Second, he designates the disorder concerning concupiscence, saying "filthy speech out of your mouth." Ephesians 4:29: "let no evil speech proceed out of your mouth," etc. Third, the disorder against one's neighbor, and this is lying. Proverbs 19:5: "he who speaks a lie shall not escape." Then, when he says "stripping off," etc., he shows the reason why the aforesaid vices are to be avoided — namely, because once the old state has been put off, newness ought to be put on. Matthew 9:16: "no one puts a patch of rough cloth on an old garment," etc. And first he sets down the putting off of the old state; second, the taking on of newness, there "and putting on." He says therefore: "put off" — that is, "stripping off," etc. For this grows old through sin. Hebrews 8:13: "but what grows old and decays is near to destruction." This old state draws near to corruption, because sin is the way to corruption. Likewise, through sin virtue and spiritual beauty are lost — and this old state was indeed introduced through the sin of the first parent. Romans 5:12: "for as through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin death, so also death passed through into all men, in whom all sinned." This, then, is "the old man" — that is, the old state of sin. Romans 6:6: "our old man has been crucified together, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that we may no longer serve sin," etc. "Put off, with its deeds." Ephesians 4:22: "put off, as regards your former way of life, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desires of error," etc. The new man is the mind renewed within, because man, before grace, has his interior mind subject to sin, and when he is restored through grace, he has newness. Psalm 102:5: "your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's." Galatians, last chapter, 15: "in Christ Jesus neither circumcision, nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creature." The new creature is renewing grace, but still the old state remains in the flesh. But if you follow the judgment of the new man, then you put on the new man; but if you desire according to the desires of the flesh, you put on the old state. Ephesians 4:24: "put on the new man, who is created according to God in justice, and holiness of truth." Then, when he says "and putting on," etc., he describes the new man. And first he shows the manner of the renewal; second, where it is renewed; third, according to what it is renewed. He shows therefore that the interior man, old through ignorance of God, is renewed through faith and the knowledge of God. 2 Corinthians 3:18: "we are transformed into the same image from brightness into brightness, as by the Spirit of the Lord." But where is this renewal? There, namely, where the image of God is — which is not in the powers of the sensitive part, but in the mind. Hence he says "according to the image," that is, the very image of God, which is renewed in us — and this "according to the image of him," namely of God, "who created him." Now he is said to be "newly created," because the rational soul is not by transmission, but created by God. Then, when he says "where there is not," etc., he shows that this renewal is common to all — otherwise it would not pertain to man insofar as he is man. And this is because it is made according to something that belongs to all. Now a fivefold distinction among men falls here: one according to bodily sex, and this he excludes, saying "where there is not male and female," because they do not differ in mind, but according to bodily sex. Second, by nations, and this he excludes, there "Gentile and Jew." For these are of the faithful, those of the unfaithful, and yet both are rational in mind. Romans 3:29: "is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles?" Third, according to a fixed and proper rite, because some had the profession of the law, and some did not have this same rite. Romans 10:12: "the same Lord of all," etc. Another, according to language, there "barbarian and Scythian." The Scythian is toward the North, but barbarism denotes strangeness; hence barbarians are as it were strangers. And he is simply a barbarian who is a stranger from man insofar as man, and this is insofar as rational. And therefore those are barbarians who are not ruled by reason and by laws, and therefore barbarians are naturally slaves — and in Christ they do not differ, because even if they do not have civil law, they nevertheless have the law of Christ. Another according to conditions, because some are slaves, some free: but in Christ all are alike. Job 3:19: "small and great are there," etc. Therefore these differences are not in Christ, but "Christ is all, and in all." For there is no circumcision except through Christ, and freedom through Christ; if you are not free, your freedom is Christ. If you are not circumcised, your circumcision is Christ, and so of the others. And "in all," because he gives his benefits to all.”

“Lie not one to another.... Which is another vice of the tongue, and to which mankind are very prone, and ought not to be done to any, and particularly to one another; since the saints are members one of another, and of the same body, which makes the sin the more unnatural; of this vice; see Gill on Eph 4:25, and is another sin that is to be put off, or put away; that is to be abstained from, and not used. The arguments dissuading from this, and the rest, follow, seeing that ye have put off the old man, with his deeds. The Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read this as an exhortation, as they do the next verse also. Who is meant by the old man; see Gill on Rom 6:6, and what by putting him off; see Gill on Eph 4:22, and as for "his deeds", they are the same with the deceitful lusts there mentioned, and the works of the flesh in Gal 5:19 and with the members of the body of sin in the context, Col 3:5. Some, as Beza, think, that here is an allusion to the rite of baptism in the primitive church; which, as he truly observes, was performed not by aspersion, but immersion; and which required a putting off, and a putting on of clothes, and when the baptized persons professed to renounce the sins of the flesh, and their former conversation, and to live a new life.”

“Lie not one to another - Do not deceive each other; speak the truth in all your dealings; do not say, "My goods are so and so," when you know them to be otherwise; do not undervalue the goods of your neighbor, when your conscience tells you that you are not speaking the truth. It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer; but afterwards he boasteth; i.e. he underrates his neighbour's property till he gets him persuaded to part with it for less than its worth; and when he has thus got it, he boasts what a good bargain he has made. Such a knave speaks not truth with his neighbor. Ye have put off the old man - See the notes on Rom 6:6; and particularly on Rom 13:11-14 (note). Ye have received a religion widely different from that ye had before; act according to its principles.”