Question

What does it mean to put off the old self and put on Christ?

Studied by claude-opus-5-5 · asked once

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Paul uses the picture of changing clothes. The "old self" is the person you were under sin, part of the humanity that comes from Adam. Putting on Christ, or the "new self," means being joined to him and growing into his likeness. Paul treats this as something that has already happened (Romans 6:6, Colossians 3:9–10) and also as a daily command (Ephesians 4:22–24, Romans 13:14).

What the text says

It is a clothing picture. In the Hebrew Bible, a change of clothes often marks a change of role or standing. Aaron takes off his linen garments after the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:23). Priests change before they go out to the people (Ezekiel 44:19). Tamar puts her widow's garments back on (Genesis 38:19). God has the filthy clothes taken off the high priest Joshua and has him dressed in clean ones (Zechariah 3:3–5). Isaiah rejoices that God "has clothed me with garments of salvation" (Isaiah 61:10). Jewish writings from Paul's era use the same picture: in Joseph and Aseneth 15, a convert is told to put on a new robe and is "renewed and refashioned." Paul takes this familiar image and applies it to the person.

What is taken off. The "old self" (Greek palaios anthrōpos, literally "old human being") is "your former way of life… being corrupted by its deceitful desires" (Ephesians 4:22). Its "practices" include lying, anger and greed (Colossians 3:5–9). Paul says this old self "was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin" (Romans 6:6). The question is who is your master. The old self is life under sin's rule.

What is put on. The "new self" was "created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). It "is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator" (Colossians 3:10), which echoes Genesis 1:26–27. Paul also says it more directly: "all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Galatians 3:27), and "clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh" (Romans 13:14). Putting on the new self and putting on Christ are the same reality. It is described as God's new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), not a costume you make for yourself. In practice it looks like "compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience… and over all these virtues put on love" (Colossians 3:12–14).

Both done and still to do. In Romans 6:6 and Colossians 3:9–10, Paul speaks in past tenses: "you have taken off… and have put on." He uses that as the reason for commands such as "Do not lie to one another." In Ephesians 4:22–24 and Romans 13:14, he tells believers to put off and put on. So the change has a decisive start, tied to faith and baptism, and also has to be lived out every day, "renewed in the spirit of your minds" (Ephesians 4:23; compare Romans 12:2).

Where readers differ

A decisive break already made

The old self died with Christ. It is not a part of the believer that is still alive. Romans 6:6 and Colossians 3:9–10 use past tenses (in Colossians, participles that give the reason for the command). Read this way, the commands in Ephesians 4 and Romans 13 mean "live out who you already are." The believer is a new self, though not yet a sinless one, and keeps fighting sin through the flesh.

Romans 6:6Colossians 3:9Galatians 2:202 Corinthians 5:17Romans 6:11

An ongoing struggle between old and new

Many Christians read the old and new self as two tendencies, or 'natures,' that both stay active in the believer until glory. They point out that Ephesians 4:22–24 is addressed to Christians as instruction for life, that Romans 13:14 commands believers to put on Christ, and that Paul describes a war between flesh and Spirit. On this reading, putting off is a repeated, daily act of repentance.

Ephesians 4:22Romans 13:14Galatians 5:16Romans 7:21Romans 12:2

Old and new humanity (corporate reading)

*Anthrōpos* means 'human being,' and Paul calls the reconciled church 'one new man' (Ephesians 2:15). For that reason, some readers take the old and new self to mean humanity in Adam and humanity in Christ, not a person's inner psychology. Putting on the new self means leaving the old order and belonging to Christ's people, where 'there is no Greek or Jew' (Colossians 3:11). That belonging then shapes personal conduct.

Ephesians 2:15Colossians 3:10Romans 5:12Galatians 3:271 Corinthians 15:22

How baptism relates to putting on Christ

Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and some other traditions read Galatians 3:27 and Romans 6:3–6 as saying that God actually unites a person to Christ in baptism, so the 'putting on' happens there. Early baptisms included changing into white robes. Many Protestant traditions see baptism as the outward sign of a union that comes through faith (Galatians 3:26), with the clothing language describing what faith receives.

Galatians 3:26Romans 6:3Colossians 2:11Titus 3:5

The words it turns on

  • παλαιός palaios (παλαιός)

    Old in the sense of worn out, belonging to a former time or a past order (like old wineskins or an old garment).

    Drift: The King James Version's "old man" can sound like an elderly person or a father. Paul means the former kind of human existence, not age.

  • ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος)

    Human being, person. The word is not specifically male.

    Drift: Modern translations say "old self" and "new self." That is clearer than "old man," but "self" can sound purely inward and individual. Paul's word can also carry a corporate sense, Adam's humanity versus Christ's (compare Ephesians 2:15, "one new man").

  • ἀποτίθημι apotithēmi (ἀποτίθημι)

    To lay aside or take off, used of clothing (Ephesians 4:22, 25; Colossians 3:8).

  • ἀπεκδύομαι apekduomai (ἀπεκδύομαι)

    To strip off completely, to undress (Colossians 3:9; 2:15).

  • ἐνδύω enduō (ἐνδύω)

    To clothe oneself or put on a garment. It is the verb in "put on Christ" (Romans 13:14; Galatians 3:27) and "put on the new self."

    Drift: The image is of being clothed in something given, and it shows on the outside. It does not mean pretending or wearing a costume.

  • καινός kainos (καινός)

    New in kind or quality, fresh. It is the word in Ephesians 4:24 and in 'new creation' (2 Corinthians 5:17).

  • νέος neos (νέος)

    New or young in time, recently come into being. It is the word in Colossians 3:10.

  • ἀνακαινόω anakainoō (ἀνακαινόω)

    To renew, to make new again. In Colossians 3:10 and 2 Corinthians 4:16 it is in the present tense: an ongoing renewal.

  • συσταυρόομαι systauroō (συσταυρόω)

    To be crucified together with someone (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20).

What the Bible doesn't say

Paul never gives a step-by-step method for putting off the old self. He also never says exactly how the 'old self' relates to the 'flesh' (sarx) that believers still have to resist, and that gap is why traditions disagree about whether there are 'two natures.' Interpreters differ on whether the infinitives in Ephesians 4:22–24 describe what the readers were taught they had already done or are commands to do it now. The text does not settle the question of baptism and faith beyond the verses cited above.

Key verses

  1. Ephesians 4:22

    to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

    The fullest passage: put off the old self, be renewed in mind, put on the new self created like God.

  2. Colossians 3:9

    Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices,

    Speaks of the change as already done and uses that as the reason for honest living. The new self is renewed in the Creator's image.

  3. Romans 6:6

    We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

    The old self was crucified with Christ, so sin's mastery is broken.

  4. Romans 13:14

    Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

    The direct command to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and give the flesh no foothold.

  5. Galatians 3:27

    For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

    Those baptized into Christ have clothed themselves with Christ.

  6. Colossians 3:12

    Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

    Shows what the new clothing looks like: compassion, humility, forgiveness, and above all love.

  7. Galatians 2:20

    I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

    Crucified with Christ; Christ now lives in me.

  8. 2 Corinthians 5:17

    Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

    Anyone in Christ is a new creation; the old has passed away.

  9. Romans 12:2

    Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

    Transformation happens through the renewing of the mind.

  10. Zechariah 3:3

    Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel.

    Old Testament background: God removes filthy garments and clothes his priest in clean ones.

  11. Isaiah 61:10

    I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

    God clothes his people with garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness.

  12. Leviticus 16:23

    Then Aaron is to enter the Tent of Meeting, take off the linen garments he put on before entering the Most Holy Place, and leave them there.

    Changing garments marks a change of role and standing before God.

Common points of confusion
The "old man" means an elderly person, or one's earthly father.
Palaios anthrōpos means the former, sin-ruled way of being human (Ephesians 4:22). It has nothing to do with age or parents.
Putting off the old self is a self-improvement project powered by willpower.
The new self is "created" (Ephesians 4:24) and "being renewed" (Colossians 3:10), and the old self was "crucified with Him" (Romans 6:6). The change starts as God's act in union with Christ. Effort follows from it.
Putting on Christ means only adopting outward Christian behaviour, like a costume.
Paul ties it to being baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:27) and to inward renewal of the mind (Ephesians 4:23). The outward conduct comes from a real change.
The "old self" is the physical body, so the body itself is the problem.
Romans 6:6 says the 'body of sin' is made powerless so that we are no longer slaves to sin. The problem is sin's rule over the body, not the body as such. Paul elsewhere asks believers to offer their bodies to God (Romans 12:1).
Once the old self is put off, a believer no longer sins or struggles.
Paul still has to command believers not to lie, steal or rage (Ephesians 4:25-31; Colossians 3:8-9), and he speaks of ongoing renewal (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Sources: Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th ed. / SBL Greek New Testament · Bauer, Danker, Arndt, Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (BDAG), entries palaios, anthrōpos, enduō, apekduomai · Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (Greek numbering) · John Murray, Principles of Conduct (on the definitive putting off of the old man) · Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT) · Andrew T. Lincoln, Ephesians (Word Biblical Commentary) · F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (NICNT) · James D. G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle · Joseph and Aseneth, trans. E. W. Brooks (1918), ch. 15

Discussion

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