Colossians 3:10

Col_3:10

And have put on the new man.

In allusion to the white garments with which the primitive converts having first laid aside their heathen vestments, were wont to be arrayed, St. Paul exhorts the Colossians to put off the old man with his deeds, and to put on the new man. Christians should no more dishonour God and disgrace religion by any of the vices and passions of their natural state, than a courtier should insult his prince by appearing before him in squalid and ragged attire. But this is not enough--this is negative merely. The Christian must also actually array himself in the white and becoming dress of his new character and relation; as a courtier would not only abstain from insulting his prince by wearing defiled and mean garments, but would also be studious to attire himself, when approaching his presence, with the suitable and ornamental dress which he knew was required. (Bishop D. Wilson.)

Which is being renewed.--Divine creation is not a mere mechanical work. It is wholly different from all work of ours. The builder builds a house, and when it is built he has done with it, and may never see it again; still the house stands. An artist paints his picture; it passes from the easel, it is hung in the gallery; he has done with it; he does not stand there day by day, with brush and palette, keeping the yellows brilliant, and the purples rich, and the browns mellow. A poet writes his verses, prints them, and he has done with them. The pathos, beauty, music remain; they touch the heart, charm the ear, kindle the imagination of millions in many ages and lands long after his own heart has ceased to throb, and the fire of his own genius is quenched. This is not the kind of relation between God and His creatures. He transcends the universe, but is immanent in it; it only exists as long as He sustains it. If He were to let it go it would pass into chaos--into nothing. Its enduring forces are the witnesses of His eternal power. The universe, this vast temple which God has made for Himself, would not stand if the Builder were to leave it; its foundations would shake, its walls be rent, it would sink in ruins. The glory of the mountain, lake, and river would not remain like the artists picture, if the Divine Artist were to leave it, every outline would lose its firmness and grace, every colour its softness or its strength, and the canvas would forget the beauty which had covered it. The revelation of thought which God has given in all created things would not remain if He, the great Teacher and Poet, ceased to live or ceased to speak; the great poem would perish, it remains only as long as living inspiration is in it. God creates, and, as we are accustomed to say, sustains. But the word is inadequate; it suggests too mechanical and external a relation between God and what He has made. His action might almost be described as a continuous creation. His power is within every created thing, active, persistent, or what He has created would cease to be. His thought is within every created thing, determining, maintaining its form, the characteristic mode of its existence. The sun rises over sea and land, and creates the day; but the sun renews the day from moment to moment, or the day would pass back into night. So were it not for the great power of God ever active, all things would cease to be. The new man was created by Him; day by day the new man is kept new by the fresh and continuous activity of the same power that brought it into being. Every moment, in a true sense, we are born again, just as the stream has the continuous birth from the mountain, and the light from the sun; every moment we are arising anew from the dead, every moment there passes into us afresh the energy of the creative power; we are being renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created us, And, therefore, as we begin to live in answer to our faith, so we continue to live in answer to our faith. We never stand apart and alone. Yesterdays inspiration gives us no light to-day; the power of the Holy Ghost that was active in us yesterday is unavailing for to-days righteousness. And this new life is also a life of continuous prayer. What is the real meaning of indisposition to prayer? It means that the spirit of independence is mastering us, and for us independence means death. We are living only as God lives in us. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

The Image of God restored to men

I. Man was created in the image of God. Righteous as God was righteous he saw God in his own nature; other intelligent creatures saw God in him; and God in His offspring saw Himself.

2. The image of God is now defaced. The substance remains, but its glorious attributes are gone. The form abides but the glorious features are not there.

3. To be right and blessed men must recover this image. Without likeness to God we are unable to appreciate His revelations, and incapable of filial intercourse.

4. By his own power or with the assistance of his fellows, no man can recover it. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, therefore he must be born not of blood, etc., but of God.

I. God has made provision for the renewal of his image in man.

1. This provision consists in--

(1) The atonement which justifies Gods interposition for mans regeneration. If without a sacrifice God had restored man, the idea of misfortune, not guilt, would have been associated with mans fallen state. But now sin appears exceeding sinful.

(2) The living Mediator is the way for man to God--as the source of life and light.

(3) The testimony of Gods Word informs men of the atonement and Mediator. How can they avail themselves of what they have not heard?

(4) The Holy Spirit so acts upon the heart as to produce sympathy with the testimony of the gospel; and under His influence men believe Gods Word and are born again.

2. There is provision: the recovery of Gods image is possible. The aged cannot become young, the diseased healthful, the mutilated whole; but man may be renewed. Nature illustrates this. Trees shed their leaves in autumn, and remain in winter as though dead. In the spring the sap rises and circulates, the branches extend, and the foliage returns. The plumage of the bird loses its vigour and gloss, but moulting recovers strength and restores beauty. The human body is exhausted through the waste of its functional operations, and for its renewal we have provision in feed and sleep. And for the soul there is as real a provision. Let none despair. There is balm in Gilead, etc.

3. This provision is of God. He first thought of making it, not man; and He has carried out this design.

(1) The creative power of God is unlimited. The things which are impossible with men, etc.

(2) Power connected with malevolence is a fearful combination, but how changed the aspect of power when the hand and arm of love. What benevolence is here. Behold what manner of love, etc.

This proves--

(1) That God is faultless concerning the entrance of evil.

(2) That He has no complacency in the evil of men.

(3) That he has no pleasure in the death either of holiness or joy.

(4) That He delights in mercy.

4. There is but one provision. If men could have restored themselves or each other, God would not have made provision. As you cannot respire by the light, nor see by the air, but vice versa, so you cannot be regenerated by intellectual or social education.

II. Men are, through the Divine provision, actually regenerated into the image of God.

1. Its sphere.

(1) Not the body, although regeneration does effect salutary changes here. Where vice has reigned, regeneration arrests disease and restores health. Where passions have been dominant, the countenance is changed. It also affects temporal circumstances by improving habits.

(2) The soul is its true seat, and the change consists in the leading forth Godwards of all its powers, and the awakening of all its susceptibilities.

(a) A renewed man thinks, and his knowledge is of God and Christ.

(b) He feels, and his affections are led away from the unlawful and are fixed on the good.

(c) His conscience is rectified and made sensitive, and His will and actions are brought under its control.

(d) Over the world he is a conqueror.

(e) He is made like Christ, and through Christ like God.

2. Its nature.

(1) It is radical and general. It penetrates to the core of the soul, and spreads itself over the entire surface. The likeness of a statue to its subject is merely on the face of the marble; as you get below you reach the unlike.

(2) Its perfection is a work of time. A man is born again so soon as he believes in Christ; but into the likeness of God he grows up. Conclusion: Such changes are ejected, and cannot be questioned. Joh_1:13, Jam_1:13, and 1Pe_1:23 hold good to-day everywhere.

1. When the provision of Gods mercy for the regeneration of the race is unknown, no such change is observed to take place.

2. When regeneration does take place, the remedial dispensation of the gospel is acknowledged as the means. (S. Martin.)

Religious affections arise from spiritual enlightenment

In order to have the love of Divine things, in the exercise of which religion consists, the soul must be spiritually enlightened so as to apprehend them.

I. The Scriptures teach that gracious affections arise from spiritual understanding (1Jn_4:7; Php_1:9; Rom_10:2; Psa_93:3-4; Joh_6:45; Luk_11:52).

1. Affections which arise from external impressions on the imagination are not gracious.

2. The same is true of those which are awakened by texts of Scripture which come to the mind without carrying any instruction in them. When Christ makes the Scriptures a means of the heart burning with gracious affections, it is by opening tile Scriptures to mens understandings (Luk_24:32).

3. Affections that have their ground in bodily sensation, freedom of speech in prayer, aptness of thought, and the like, are not derived from spiritual instruction. Hence the affection is not gracious, unless the light in the understanding, which is its origin, be spiritual. There is, therefore, a spiritual, supernatural understanding of Divine things that is peculiar to the saints, and which those who are not saints know nothing of (1Co_2:14; 1Jn_3:6).

II. This spiritual enlightenment consists in a sense of the heart of the supreme beauty and sweetness of the holiness or moral perfection of Divine things, together with all that discerning and knowledge of the things of religion that depends upon and flows from such a sense.

1. There is tans a difference between speculative knowledge and that which is experimental (Rom_2:20; 2Co_2:14).

2. He is led by the Spirit who is first instructed in his duty, and then powerfully inclined to comply with such Divine instruction.

III. some conclusions.

1. This spiritual sense will enable the soul to determine what actions are right and becoming to Christians more readily than the greatest abilities without it.

2. This sense will be distinguished from forms of enthusiasm and supposed discoveries of truth and communications other than those which the Scriptures have always contained.

3. Satan and evil spirits have power to tempt us through the imagination. We need to guard against vain imaginations.

4. We need to distinguish between lively imaginations that spring from strong affections, and strong affections that arise from lively imaginations. What is external and natural in its origin cannot be spiritual and gracious. (L. O. Thompson.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col 3:10. Τὸν νέον τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον, the new man renewed) lb., Col 3:24, note.—εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν, to [or in] knowledge) of the truth (ch. Col 1:6; Col 1:9-10), by which all love of lying is destroyed.—κατʼ εἰκόνα, according to the image) This image consists in perfect truth.—τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτον, of Him that created him [viz. the new man]) i.e. of God, Eph 4:24: compare ib., ch. Col 2:10. Regeneration is indicated by the word ‘creation,’ from which the image results.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col_3:10. The positive aspect of the transformation (regeneration) wrought by God through conversion to Christ; and since ye have put on, etc.

τὸν νέον] The collective new Christian-ethical condition, conceived as personified and set forth objectively, so that it appears as becoming individually appropriated by the putting on. It might, with equal propriety, be designated from the point of view of time as the homo recens in contrast to the decayed and worn-out nature of the pre-Christian moral condition (comp. the νέον φύραμα in 1Co_5:7), as from the point of view of the new, altogether different, and previously non-existent quality as the homo novus. It is the former here,[149] the latter in Eph_4:23 (comp. also Col_2:15), where καινὸς ἄνθρ. is used. See regarding the difference between the two words, Tittmann, Synon. p. 59 ff. The specification of quality is then further added by τὸν ἀνακαινούμ. κ.τ.λ. The notion of not growing old (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Erasmus) is not implied in νέον.

τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον] The homo recens, so far, namely, as the converted person has appropriated it as his moral individuality, is not something ready-made and finished, but (comp. 2Co_4:16) in a state of development (through the Holy Spirit, Rom_7:6; Rom_8:2; Tit_3:5), by means of which there is produced in him a new character and quality specifically different from that of the old man. Comp. Rom_12:2. Hence the present participle, which is neither to be taken as imperfect (B.-Crusius), nor as renewing itself (Bleek); and ἀνα does not refer to the relation of re-establishment,[150] namely, of the justitia originalis (since τοῦ κτίσαντος does not directly mean the first creation), but only to the old constitution, the transformation and new-moulding (renewal) of which forms the process of development of the νέος ἄνθρωπος. Comp. Winer, de verb. c. praepos. compos. p. 10 f. The καινότης of the νέος ἄνθρ. is relative. In Greek authors ἀνακαινόω is not found, but ἀνακαινίζω is (Isocr. Areop. 3, App. 2, p. 13; Plut. Marcell. 6), Heb_6:6; also in the LXX.

εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν] is to be taken along with the following κατʼ εἰκ. τ. κτίσ. αὐτόν, and with this expresses the end aimed at by the ἀνακαινοῦσθαι. Through the latter there is to be produced a knowledge, which accords with the image of God. Comp. Beza. God, as respects His absolute knowledge, i.e. a knowledge absolutely adequate to its objects, is the model, with which the relative knowledge of the regenerate to be attained in the course of their being renewed, i.e. their increasing penetration into divine truth, is to be accordant. And the more it is sothe more fully it has developed itself in accordance with the divine idealthe more is it also the determining power and the living practical agent of the whole conduct, so that all those vices enumerated in Col_3:8 are excluded by it, and even become morally impossible. Hofmann rightly takes κατʼ εἰκ. τοῦ κτίσ. αὐτόν as the more precise description of ἐπίγνωσιν, though defining the sense to this effect, that the new man everywhere looks to, and estimates everything by the consideration, whether he finds the stamp of this image. But, in that case, an object (πάντων) would necessarily stand with ἐπίγνωσιν, and the idea of ἀνακρίνειν or δοκιμάζειν would be substituted for that of ἐπίγνωσις. The κατʼ εἰκόνα κ.τ.λ. is usually connected with ἀνακαινούμ. and εἰς ἐπίγν. taken by itself, in connection with which Steiger, Huther, de Wette, and Bleek (comp. also Ewald) arbitrarily adopt the view, that the prominent mention of the knowledge was occasioned by a polemic opposition to the false teachers and their tendencies to false gnosis. But how abrupt, isolated, and indefinite would the εἰς ἐπίγν. thus stand! No; the subsequent κατʼ εἰκόνα κ.τ.λ. just serves as a more precise characteristic definition for thein theory and practice so extremely importantpoint of Christian knowledge. The expression of this definition in this particular way comes very naturally to Paul, because he is speaking of the homo recens creatus, in connection with which, after the analogy of the creation of Adam, the idea of the image of God naturally floated before his mind,the image which that first-created man had, and which the recens creatus is to attain and present by way of copy in that towards which he is being developed, in the ἐπίγνωσις. This development is only completed in the αἰὼν μέλλων, 1Co_13:12; for its aim before the Parousia, see Eph_4:13 f.

τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν] A description of God, harmonizing with the conception of the νέος ἄνθρωπος, who is Gods creature. Comp. on Eph_4:24. It is erroneous, with Chrysostom, Theophylact, Ewald, and others, to understand Christ[151] as referred to; for creating is invariably represented in Scripture as the work of God (even in Col_1:16), and especially here where a parallel is instituted with the creation of Adam after Gods image. Comp. Eph_2:10; Eph_4:24. Olshausen, indeed, understands τοῦ κτίσ. αὐτ. to mean God, but would have the image of God, in accordance with Col_1:15, taken of Christ, who is the archetype of man. There is no ground for this view in the context, which, on the contrary, reminds us simply of Gen_1:27; comp. κατὰ Θεόν, in Eph_4:24, a simpler expression, which has found here a significant more precise definition out of the riches of the apostles store of ideas (not a fanciful variation, as Holtzmann thinks) in vivid reproduction.

αὐτόν] must refer to the νέος ἄνθρωπος, whom God has created by regeneration, not to τ. ἄνθρωπον alone (which is the substance, on which the old and new qualities appear as accidents, de Wette), as the orthodox explanation is forced to assume contrary to the text; see e.g. Calovius: Per imaginem ejus, qui creavit ipsum, imago Dei, quae in prima creatione nobis concessa vel concreata est, intelligitur, ad quam nos renovamur, quaeque in nobis reparatur per Spiritum sanctum, quae ratione intellectus consistebat in cognitione Dei, ut ratione voluntatis in justitia et sanctitate, Eph_4:24. Per verbum itaque τοῦ κτίσαντος non nova creatio, sed vetus illa et primaeva intelligitur, quia in Adamo conditi omnes sumus ad imaginem Dei in cognitione Dei. Rather, the divine creation of the new man had that primaevam creationem for its sacred-historical type, and is the work of salvation antitypically corresponding with it, which the Creator has done in Christ; hence also Paul has not written κτίζοντος (as Philippi, l.c. p. 376, thinks might have been expected), but κτίσαντος, comp. Col_1:24, Col_2:10; 2Co_5:17; also Jam_1:18.

[149] In the ethical sense Christians are, as it were, the νεολαία (Blomfield, Gloss. Pers. 674) of humanity.

[150] Renovatus autem dicitur novus ille homo, quia novus quondam fuit in prima creatione, Calovius. Comp. Steiger, Huther, de Wette, Philippi, Dogm. II. p. 375 ff., ed. 2, and many others. Thus we should have for the νέος ἄνθρωπος, not the conception of a nova creatura (καινὴ κτίσις, 2Co_5:17; Gal_6:15), but that of a redintegrata creatura. But it is to a new life that the believer is regenerated, raised up, etc. by God. This new creation is not the redintegratio of the first, though it is its antitype, as Christ Himself, so far as in Him the new creation is founded and begun (how, see Rom_5:15; Rom_5:17-19; Rom_6:1 ff.), is the antitype of Adam (Rom_5:14; 1Co_15:45). Consequently this passage is only indirectly probative for the doctrine of the image of God as innate.

[151] So also Julius Müller, v. d. Sünde, II. p. 496, ed. 5; see, on the other hand, Ernesti, Urspr. der Sünde, II. p. 133 ff.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col 3:10 . τὸν νέον . In Eph 4:24 we have καινός , “fresh” (as opposed to “worn out”); νέος is new as opposed to old. The idea contained in κ . is here expressed by ἀνακ . Some (including Sod.) regard “the new man” as Christ, according to which “the old man” will be Adam. But this is negatived by the next verse, for if the new man is Christ, Χριστός would be a strange tautology. κτίς . is also against it, though we have μορφωθῇ Χ ., Gal 4:19 . It is the regenerate self, regenerate, of course, because united with Christ. ἀνακαινούμενον : “being renewed,” the present expressing the continuous process of renewal ( cf. 2Co 4:16 ). There is no reference to a restoration to a former state. εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν : not to be connected (as by Mey. and Hofm.) with κατʼ εἰκόνα , which would give a strange and obscure thought, but to be taken as the object of the renewal. The knowledge is ethical rather than theoretical in this connexion. κατʼ εἰκόνα : to be taken with ἀνακαιν . There is a clear allusion to Gen 1:26-28 , the new self grows to be more and more the image of God. There may perhaps be a side reference to “ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” in εἰς ἐπίγ . τοῦ κτίσαντος : i.e. , God, not (as Chrys. and others) Christ. Some take κατʼ εἰκ . τ . κτ . α . to mean “according to Christ”. It is true that Christ is the image of God, but the parallel κατὰ Θεὸν , in Eph 4:24 , makes this improbable, and we should have expected the article before εἰκ .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He speaketh of an effectual knowledge.

Newness of life consisteth in knowledge, which transformeth man to the image of God his maker, that is to say, to the sincerity and pureness of the whole soul.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the new man--(See on Eph 4:23). Here (neon) the Greek, means "the recently-put-on nature"; that lately received at regeneration (see on Eph 4:23-24).

which is renewed--Greek, "which is being renewed" (anakainottmenou); namely, its development into a perfectly renewed nature is continually progressing to completion.

in knowledge--rather as the Greek, "unto perfect knowledge" (see on Col 1:6; Col 1:9-10). Perfect knowledge of God excludes all sin (Joh 17:3).

after the image of him that created him--namely, of God that created the new man (Eph 2:10; Eph 4:24). The new creation is analogous to the first creation (Co2 4:6). As man was then made in the image of God naturally, so now spiritually. But the image of God formed in us by the Spirit of God, is as much more glorious than that borne by Adam, as the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, is more glorious than the first man. Gen 1:26, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." The "image" is claimed for man, Co1 11:7; the "likeness," Jam 3:9. ORIGEN [On First Principles, 3:6] taught, the image was something in which all were created, and which continued to man after the fall (Gen 9:6). The likeness was something towards which man was created, that he might strive after it and attain it. TRENCH thinks God in the double statement (Gen 1:26), contemplates both man's first creation and his being "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. And have put on the new man] See on Ro 12:1-2 (note).

Is renewed in knowledge] IGNORANCE was the grand characteristic of the heathen state; KNOWLEDGE, of the Christian. The utmost to which heathenism could pretend was a certain knowledge of nature. How far this went, and how much it fell short of the truth, may be seen in the writings of Aristotle and Pliny. Christianity reveals God himself, the author of nature; or, rather, God has revealed himself, in the Christian system with which he has blessed mankind. Christianity teaches a man the true knowledge both of himself and of God; but it is impossible to know one's self but in the light of God; the famous γνωθισεαυτον, know thyself, was practicable only under the Christian religion.

After the image of him that created him] We have already seen that God made man in his own image; and we have seen in what that image consisted. See Clarke on Ge 1:26, and on Eph 4:23; Eph 4:24. Does not the apostle refer here to the case of an artist, who wishes to make a perfect resemblance of some exquisite form or person? God in this case is the artist, man is the copy, and God himself the original from which this copy is to be taken. Thus, then, man is made by his Creator, not according to the image or likeness of any other being, but according to his own; the image τουκτισαντος, of the Creator. And as the Divine nature cannot exist in forms or fashions, moral qualities alone are those which must be produced. Hence the apostle, interpreting the words of Moses, says that the image in which man was made, and in which he must be remade, ανακαινουμενον, made anew, consists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Which is renewed in knowledge. He shews in the first place, that newness of life consists in knowledge — not as though a simple and bare knowledge were sufficient, but he speaks of the illumination of the Holy Spirit, which is lively and effectual, so as not merely to enlighten the mind by kindling it up with the light of truth, but transforming the whole man. And this is what he immediately adds, that we are renewed after the image of God. Now, the image of God resides in the whole of the soul, inasmuch as it is not the reason merely that is rectified, but also the will. Hence, too, we learn, on the one hand, what is the end of our regeneration, that is, that we may be made like God, and that his glory may shine forth in us; and, on the other hand, what is the image of God, of which mention is made by Moses in Genesis 9:6, the rectitude and integrity of the whole soul, so that man reflects, like a mirror, the wisdom, righteousness, and goodness of God. He speaks somewhat differently in the Epistle to the Ephesians, but the meaning is the same. See the passage — Ephesians 4:24. Paul, at the same time, teaches, that there is nothing more excellent at which the Colossians can aspire, inasmuch as this is our highest perfection and blessedness to bear the image of God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(10) The new man, which is (being) renewed.—There are here the same two different words which are found in the parallel passage. (See Notes on Eph_4:22-24). “The new man” is here properly the youthful man “which is renewed,” that is, to which is given a nature really fresh and new.

(10-17) In these verses we have the corresponding positive exhortation, connected with the idea of resurrection with Christ, through which we put on the new man, holding Christ to be our all in all. Of the new nature there are two marks—towards man love in all its various forms, towards God thanksgiving and living to His glory.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. and have put on] See the last note but one. Cp. Eph_4:24; and Col_3:12 below, with note.

the new man] Practically, the new position of acceptance and the new spiritual power of the regenerated self; with a reference in the phrase to the believer’s connexion with “the Second Man,” Christ[85].

[85] In the Ignatian Epistles (Ep. ad Eph. c. xx.) occurs the phrase, “the dispensation of the New Man, even Christ.” If this was written as early as a.d. 110 it is an important comment here.

By union with Him his members become (be it said with reverence and caution) repetitions of Him the glorious Archetype. To come to be “in Him” is thus to “put on (Him as) the New Man,” in sharing His acceptance and His life and power. See further, our note on Eph_4:24.

is renewed] Lit. and better, is being renewed; a present not aorist participle.—In the parallel place in Eph. “the new man” “was created,” as a definite fact; here he is continuously “being renewed,” maintained as it were by a continuous creative act. (Cp. for the verb in a kindred context, 2Co_4:16.)—Practically, the thought is of the believer’s maintained union with His Lord, and his realization in that union of continued peace and spiritual power. As if the Head, for the member, were evermore “made new,” and so always newly reflected and as it were reproduced in the member.—Lightfoot compares, in contrast, Eph_4:22; “the old man is being corrupted, is decaying.”

in knowledge] Lit. and better, unto knowledge. The daily “renewal” is such as to result continually in the regenerate man’s spiritual vision of Christ, intimacy with Him, insight into His will.—On the word epignôsis, see on Col_1:9.

after the image of him that created him] I.e., so as to be like God, who “created,” constituted, the new creation as He did the old. Cp. the close parallel, Gen_1:26-27; a passage no doubt in St Paul’s mind here.

The reference is to the Father, not the Son, as the Creator; cp. the parallel, Eph_4:22, “created after God;” and the place in Genesis. He is the eternal Original; “the new man” realizes his ideal in likeness to Him, generated by communion with Him in Christ.

Even here, we think, may be traced reverently an allusion to Christ as “the Second Man.” He, truly, is not “created” as to His Being and Person, which is necessary and eternal; but as Son of Man, and as Head of His Church, in respect of His Work and Office, Scripture represents Him as the willing Result of the Father’s will. In this respect He, as well as His followers in Him (Eph_2:10), “lives because of the Father” (Joh_6:57). But while this reference lies, as we think, in the depths of the passage, its manifest practical import is that the regenerate member of the blessed Head needs and receives daily “renewal by his Holy Spirit,” leading to a fuller knowledge of, and so a truer likeness to, the Father of Jesus Christ.

The suggestion that “the image” is in fact Christ, (so Chrysostom; cp. above Col_1:15; 2Co_4:4) is not likely in view of the parallel, Eph_4:24, with its simple phrase “according to God.” See Lightfoot’s note.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And have put on the new man,.... Concerning which, and the putting it on; see Gill on Eph 4:24,

which is renewed in knowledge; this man, or principle of grace in the soul, is a new one, which never was there before; and there is a daily renovation of it in the spirit of the mind, by the Spirit of God; for as the outward man decays, the inward man, which is the same with this new man, is renewed day by day, increases in holiness and righteousness, grows in grace, and particularly in "knowledge"; light and knowledge of a man's self, of his lost state and condition by nature, of his need of Christ, and of his salvation, is what appears at the first formation of this new man; and the daily renovation of him lies in an increase of spiritual, experimental, and saving knowledge of God, and Christ, and divine things; and indeed, until a man becomes a new creature, he neither knows, nor is he capable of knowing, the things of the Spirit of God; so that this new man, or principle of grace, begins with spiritual knowledge, and is formed in order to it, and its increase lies in it:

after the image of him that created him; the new man; for this is a creation work, and so not man's, but God's; and is made not after the image of the first man, no not as innocent, and much less as fallen; but after the image of Christ, to which the elect of God are predestinated to he conformed, and which is stamped in regeneration; and more and more appears by every transforming view of Christ, and will be perfected in heaven, when they shall see him as he is, and be perfectly like him, who is not only the pattern, but the Creator of it, even the author and finisher of faith.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Ver. 10. After the image] If moral virtue could be beheld with mortal eyes, saith the philosopher, it would stir up wonderful loves of itself. How much more would the image of God in the hearts of his people! {See Trapp on "Eph 4:24"}

Of him that created him] Adam and Eve were not then created simple and stupid, and without the use of reason; else they would not have been so deceived; as the Rabbis, and, after them, the Socinians have dreamed.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Which is renewed in knowledge - In Eph 4:24, it is said that the new man is “created after God in righteousness and true holiness.” In this place it is added that to the renewed soul knowledge is imparted, and it is made in that respect as man was when he was first created. This passage, in connection with Eph 4:24, proves that before man fell he was endowed with “righteousness, true holiness, and knowledge.” The knowledge here referred to, is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of God. Man was acquainted with his Creator. He resembled him in his capacity for knowledge. He was an intelligent being, and he had an acquaintance with the divine existence and perfections; compare the notes at Rom 5:12. But especially had he that knowledge which is the fear of the Lord; that knowledge of God which is the result of love. Piety, in the Scriptures, is often represented as the “knowledge” of God; see the notes at Joh 17:3; compare the notes at Eph 3:19.

After the image of him that created him - So as to resemble God. In knowledge he was made in the likeness of his Maker.%%

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

According to the image of him who created him. We are created in the image of God, inasmuch as our souls are spiritual and immortal, but here we are put in mind to imitate God by sanctity and justice, as God is holy and the fountain of justice. (Witham) --- The image or resemblance of our Creator was effaced by sin, but is retraced by Jesus Christ, who forms in us this new man. (Bible de Vence)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And have put on the new man: (To see number 1: See Poole on "Col 3:9").

2. Vivification, or renovation; this he connecteth with the former, continuing the metaphor. As in natural generation the expulsion of the old form is attended with the introduction of the new, so in spiritual regeneration, having put off the old Adam they had put on the new, i.e. Christ, not only sacramentally, Col 2:12,13; Ga 3:27, but really, being new creatures in Christ Jesus, 2Co 5:17; Eph 2:10, renewed in the inward man, Rom 7:22; 2Co 4:16; See Poole on "Eph 3:16", See Poole on "Eph 4:24"; and endowed with a new frame of heart and a new spirit, Eze 11:19; Joh 3:5,6, new qualities and affections.

Which is renewed in knowledge; the understanding being savingly enlightened, and the will powerfully inclined by the victorious working of the Spirit, Eph 1:18-20; See Poole on "Eph 4:23", with Phi 2:13; 2Th 2:13,14; and brought to more than a speculative, even to a lively and effectual knowledge, 1Jo 2:3.

After the image of him that created him; agreeable to the impress of him that had new framed or created them in Christ Jesus, 1Co 15:49; 1Pe 1:15,16, by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, Tit 3:5; for as the natural image of God consisted in knowledge and righteousness; so it was requsite that the spiritual image restored by grace should consist in the rectifying of the faculties of the soul, the understanding with spiritual knowledge, and the will with a spiritual inclination to embrace the things that please God; in communion with whom sanctified souls do take in hand a new course of life, and move therein, in a spiritually natural way.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. And have put on the new man—The regenerate nature, attained in the new birth, which is a new creation. Their action was a free submission of themselves to God’s working in them by his renewing power. This state, utterly incompatible at the outset with a life of selfishness and impurity, is one of growth and development. It is a characteristic of the new man that it is continually being renewed more and more after the image of Christ, the creator of this new man, who in himself (Col_1:15) “the image of the invisible God.” His likeness is more or less perfectly created in every regenerate heart.

In knowledge—Rather, unto full knowledge, namely, of God. As the new birth gives us our first knowledge of him, growth increases our knowledge. As Olshausen (followed by Alford) points out, the intellectual aspect of the divine image is here put forward, while Eph_4:24 exhibits its ethical character. Perfect knowledge of God is, then, the end of the new creation.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And having put on the new (man), which is being renewed unto (full) knowledge, after (the) image of him that created him (Eph_4:23, 24 2:15; Rom_6:4 Rom_7:6 Rom_8:1-4 Rom_13:12-14; 2Co_5:17; Gal_6:15; Col_1:9 Col_2:2, Col_2:3; Gen_1:26-28; Mat_5:48; Heb_12:10; Rom_8:29) New (neov) is "young," "of recent date". (compare the "once," "but now" of vers. 7, 8; also Col_1:5-8; 1Pe_2:1, 1Pe_2:2) whose birth was well remembered, and which presented so vivid a contrast to the "old man with his deeds." "Being renewed" (ajnakainoumenon, derived from the adjective kainov) sets forth the other side of this newness, its novelty of quality and condition (compare "newness of life,". (Rom_6:4) And this participle is in the present tense (continuous), while the former is in the aorist (historical). So the notions are combined of a new birth taking place once for all, and a new character in course of formation. In Eph_4:23, 24 these ideas are in the same order (see Trench"s "Synonyms"). "Full knowledge" was one purpose of this renewal, the purpose most necessary to be set before the Colossians. The nature and objects of this knowledge have been already specified. (Col_1:6, Col_1:9, Col_1:27, 28 2:2, 3, 9, 10: comp. Eph_1:18, 19 3:18, 19; Php_3:8-14; gnwsiv, 1Co_1:18-31; and on ejpi see note Col_1:6) "After (the) image" is clearly an allusion to Gen_1:26-28; so in Eph_4:24 ("after God"). It is adverbial to "renewed," not to "knowledge." Man"s renewal in Christ makes him what the Creator at first designed him to be, namely, his own image. (compare note on "reconcile," Col_1:20) Chrysostom and others take "Christ" as "him that created," in view of Col_1:15, Col_1:16; but then it is said that all things "were created in through for Christ," not absolutely that Christ created them. But "the image of God after which" man was created and is now recreated, is seen in Christ (Rom_8:29; 2Co_3:18 2Co_4:4; Joh_1:18)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In knowledge - The knowledge of God, his will, his word.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

created

(See Scofield "Eph 4:24").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. Have put on the new man. Are born again (John 3:5) and become new creatures in Christ. The new man has a new heart, new thoughts, a new life. Is renewed in knowledge. With the new man there is a growth, a renewal. He grows continually in knowledge of Christ and into his image.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

10. καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι, “and putting on.” See note on Col 3:9.

τὸν νέον. As the unconverted state was described not as a congeries of separate sinful acts but as a living organism directed by a will, “the old man,” in which “self” determined all the doings, so the state of the Christian is “the new man.”

τ. νέον τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον, cf. Eph 4:24, τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον, “of the two words νέος and καινός, the former relates solely to time, the other denotes quality also; the one is new as being young, the other new as being fresh: the one is opposed to long duration, the other to effeteness” (Lightfoot); cf. Trench, Synon. § lx.

For the thought of “the new man” cf. Dalman, “Just as Paul, Gal 6:15; 2Co 5:17 speaks of a καινὴ κτίσις, so, too, Jewish literature is able to say that God fashions any one into a new creature (בְּרִיָּה חֲדָשָׁה—בָּרָא), Vay. R. 29, 30; Pes. Rabb. ed. Friedm. 146 b; Midr. Psa 2:9” (Words of Jesus, p. 178).

τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον, “which is being renewed.” In contrast to “putting off” which is done, ideally, once for all, stress is laid on the continuance of the process of renewal. The new man is perpetually maintained in vigour and growth. He is thus the very antithesis to the worn out garment, “the old man.” For the similar antithesis in 2Co 4:16, the only other passage in the Greek Bible where the word occurs, see Col 3:9 note.

For ἀνακαίνωσις see Rom 12:2, Tit 3:5. Compare Trench, Synon, § xviii.

The force of ἀνά in the compound may be (1) restoration, as Trench implies, but not strictly to man’s primal state (Calovius), for “this falls far short of the glorious truth” (Alf.). (2) merely strengthening the idea of καινοῦσθαι, emphasizing the contrast to the state that lately existed. This is perhaps the more probable. Cf. Moulton, op. cit. p. 112. (3) Possibly ἀνά suggests that the renewal takes effect through the series of all the acts that make up the new man.

Plummer (on 2Co 4:16) suggests that the expressions ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος, etc. are of Platonic origin, and points out that “they should be noted as linking Epistles which are sometimes disputed, as Ephesians and Colossians, to Epistles whose genuineness is not open to doubt, as Romans and Corinthians.”

εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν. On ἐπίγνωσις see notes on Col 1:6; Col 1:9.

εἰς marks the final aim of τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον; cf. Col 2:2, and perhaps 2Pe 1:8. Contrast in Col 3:9 the comparatively bald definition “with his doings,” for “the old man” has no future.

Observe that ἐπίγνωσις is here absolute as in Php 1:9 (hardly Rom 1:28; Rom 10:2), but its exact reference is disputed.

(1) The immediate contrast speaks of solely ethical duties, and thus ἐπίγν. may here = practical knowledge in the moral sphere, the thought being that whereas “the old man” led to a wholly false perception of duties the result of “the new man” is a wholly right judgment concerning them.

(2) Yet in view of (a) the fact that St Paul employs ἐπίγνωσις especially of the knowledge of God; (b) the claim of the false teachers to supply knowledge; and (c) the wide suggestion made in κατʼ εἰκόνα κ.τ.λ., it is surely preferable to see this latter meaning here. The aim is knowledge, viz. of God, and this knowledge includes all other, e.g. the knowledge of His will in all the relations of life.

κατʼ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν. On εἰκών see Col 1:15, note, and on κτίζω, Col 1:16.

(1) This difficult phrase is apparently based on Gen 1:27, κατʼ εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν, or, as Aq. and Theod. translate, ἐν εἰκόνι θεοῦ ἔκτισεν αὐτούς.

(2) It probably uses the partial likeness of created man to God as the basis from which to rise to a nobler thought, the final perfect likeness of the new man to Him.

Thus this final image stands for St Paul as the norm (κατά) according to which the development unto knowledge takes place.

(3) Although it is grammatically possible to join κατά κ.τ.λ. solely to ἐπίγνωσιν (see Winer, § XX. 4) (i.e. a knowledge like God’s knowledge; cf. P. Ewald), yet such a limitation of the εἰκών to knowledge is in itself improbable, and Eph 4:24, τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα, points to the connexion being chiefly with τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον.

(4) τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν = God as such, not Christ, least of all as Chrysostom quaintly interprets it when, contrasting τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, he says κατʼ εἰκόνα Χριστοῦ. τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι, “κατʼ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν,” ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς οὐ πρὸς γῆρας ἐτελεύτησεν, ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἦν καλὸς, ὡς μηδὲ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν. This, of course, is quite consistent with the fact that St Paul can elsewhere speak of believers becoming συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ υἱοῦ (Rom 8:29). The aorist refers to the time of the ἀναγέννησις in Christ; cf. κτισθέντα, Eph 4:24.

On the improbability of εἰκών here directly referring to Christ (Col 1:15), see Lightfoot. Eph 4:24 has κατὰ θέον.

(5) αὐτόν naturally refers to τὸν νέον (ἄνθρωπον), not to man as such (Gen 1:27).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν νέον. In the parallel, Eph 4:24, it is ἐνδύσασθαι τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρ. νέος, unlike καινός only expresses newness in point of time, but the idea of καινότης is supplied by the participle.

As the result of ἐνδύσασθαι τὸν νέον ἄνθ. is that Christ is τὰ πάντα καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν, and as the apostle speaks elsewhere of Χριστὸν ἐνδύσασθαι, Gal 3:27, Rom 13:14, some commentators infer that the νέος ἄνθρ. here is Christ; and hence, again, that ὁ παλαιὸς ἄνθρ. is Adam, whose image men bear, 1Co 15:49. Ignatius, Eph. 20, has the expression εἰς τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν. If this had been the thought in St. Paul’s mind here, he would probably have expressed it more distinctly. It seems better, then, to rest satisfied with the interpretation of the “new man” as “the regenerate man formed after Christ.” The ultimate meaning is the same.

ἀνακαινούμενον, present participle, because although “created” once for all (κτισθέντα, Eph 4:24), its growth and development are continually going on. Compare 2Co 4:16, ὁ ἔσω ἡμῶν [ἄνθρωπος] ἀνακαινοῦται ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ, and the opposite, τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρ. τὸν φθειρόμενον, Eph 4:22. The ἀνα does not suggest the restoration of the original state, but the contrast to that which has lately existed.

ἀνακαινόω is not used by Greek authors, nor by the Sept., but ἀνακαινίζω. The substantive ἀνακαίνωσις (Rom 12:2; Tit 3:5) is also peculiar to the N.T.

εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν. “Unto thorough knowledge.” Meyer connects this with the following words: “unto a knowledge which accords with the image of God,” i.e. which is in accordance with the Divine knowledge. But the Divine knowledge would hardly be set forth in this general way as an ideal to be attained; we should expect some limitation to moral or spiritual knowledge. It is more natural to connect κατʼ εἰκόνα with ἀνακαιν. and to supply the object of ἐπίγνωσις from the context, viz. the knowledge of God and the mystery of the gospel; Cf. 1:9, ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ, and 2:2, εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ μυστηρίου, κ.τ.λ.

κατʼ εἰκόνα, κ.τ.λ. To be connected with ἀνακαινούμενον as above. An allusion to Gen 1:26, Gen 1:28.

τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν. ὁ κτίσας according to Chrysostom, al. is Christ; but ὁ κτίσας is always God, and so here especially, where the passage in Genesis is alluded to. αὐτόν is the new man, not τὸν ἄνθρωπον generally. Compare κτισθέντα in Eph 4:24, and καινὴ κτίσις, 2Co 5:17. Soden, who interprets the “new man” of Christ, refers αὐτόν to τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον. As Christ is the εἰκών of God, 2Co 4:4, Col 1:15, so Christians, when Christ is formed in them, become renewed after the image of God.

Olshausen presses the designation of Christ as the εἰκών of God, and accordingly interprets, “after the pattern of Him who is the Image of God.” But this does not agree with the allusion to Genesis. It is true the Alexandrian school interpreted the expression in Genesis of the Logos, but only in a sense borrowed from the Platonic doctrine of ideas as τὸ ἀρχέτυπον παράδειγμα, ἰδέα τῶν ἰδέων ὁ Θεοῦ λόγος: and this conception is certainly not in the spirit of St. Paul. Besides, the absence of the definite article before εἰκόνα obliges us to take κατʼ εἰκόνα in its natural sense as “after the likeness of.” Those commentators who understand κατὰ Θεόν, Eph 4:24, as = “after the likeness of,” of course understand the expression here as only a more precise definition.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

New [νεον] . See on Mt 26:29. Compare Eph 5:24. Is renewed [ανακαινουμενον] . Rev., better, giving the force of the present participle, is being renewed : in process of continuous renewal. The word kainov new, which enters into the composition of the verb, gives the idea of quality. Compare 2Co 4:16, and the contrast in Eph 4:22.

In knowledge [εις επιγνωσιν] . Rev., correctly, unto knowledge, the end to which the renewal tended. Compare Eph 4:13.

After the image. Construe with renewed. Compare Eph 4:24, and see Gen 1:26, 27.

Where there is [οπου ενι] . Where, in the renewed condition; there is, better, as Rev., can be : eni strengthened from ejn in signifies not merely the fact but the impossibility : there is no room for.

Greek, Jew, etc. Compare Gal 3:28. National, ritual, intellectual, and social diversities are specified. The reference is probably shaped by the conditions of the Colossian church, where the form of error was partly Judaistic and ceremonial, insisting on circumcision; where the pretense of superior knowledge affected contempt for the rude barbarian, and where the distinction of master and slave had place as elsewhere.

Circumcision. For the circumcised. So Rom 4:12; Eph 2:11; Phi 3:3.

Barbarian, Scythian. See on 1Co 14:11. The distinction is from the Greek and Roman point of view, where the line is drawn by culture, as between the Jew and the Greek it was drawn by religious privilege. From the former stand - point the Jew ranked as a barbarian. Scythian. "More barbarous than the barbarians" (Bengel). Hippocrates describes them as widely different from the rest of mankind, and like to nothing but themselves, and gives an absurd description of their physical peculiarities. Herodotus describes them as living in wagons, offering human sacrifices, scalping and sometimes flaying slain enemies, drinking their blood, and using their skulls for drinking - cups. When a king dies, one of his concubines is strangled and buried with him, and, at the close of a year, fifty of his attendants are strangled, disemboweled, mounted on dead horses, and left in a circle round his tomb. 203 The Scythians passed through Palestine on their road to Egypt, B. C. 600, and a trace of their invasion is supposed to have existed in the name Scythopolis, by which Beth Shean 204 was known in Christ 's time. Ezekiel apparently refers to them (xxxviii., 39.) under the name Gog, which reappears in Revelation. See on Rev 20:8. 2 05 Bowels of mercies [σπλαγχνα οικτιρμου] . See on 1Pe 3:8; 2Co 1:3. Rev., a heart of compassion.

Kindness [χρηστοτητα] . See on Rom 3:12.

Meekness [πραυτητα] . See on Mt 5:5.

Long - suffering [μακροθυμιαν] . See on Jas 5:7.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

παλαὶον ἄνθρωπον] as Rom. vi. 6, Ephes. iv. 22. With this expression compare ὁ ἔξω, ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος, Rom. vii. 22, 2 Cor. iv. 16, Ephes. iii. 16; ὁ κρυπτὸς τῆς καρδίας ἄνθρωπος, 1 Pet. iii. 4; ὁ μικρός μου ἄνθρωπος, ‘my insignificance’, Polycr. in Euseb. H.E. v. 24.

10. τὸν νέον κ.τ.λ.] In Ephes. iv. 24 it is ἐνδύσασθαι τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον. Of the two words νέος and καινός, the former refers solely to time, the other denotes quality also; the one is new as being young, the other new as being fresh: the one is opposed to long duration, the other to effeteness; see Trench N. T. Syn. § lx. p. 206. Here the idea which is wanting to νέος, and which καινὸς gives in the parallel passage, is more than supplied by the addition τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον κ.τ.λ.

The νέος or καινὸς ἄνθρωπος in these passages is not Christ Himself, as the parallel expression Χριστὸν ἐνδύσασθαι might suggest, and as it is actually used in Ign. Ephes. 20 εἰς τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, but the regenerate man formed after Christ. The idea here is the same as in καινὴ κτίσις, 2 Cor. v. 17, Gal. vi. 15: comp. Rom. vi. 4 καινότης ζωῆς, Barnab. 16 ἐγενόμεθα καινοί, πάλιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς κτιζόμενοι.

τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον] ‘which is ever being renewed’. The force of the present tense is explained by 2 Cor. iv. 16 ὁ ἔσω ἡμῶν [ἄνθρωπος] ἀνακαινοῦται ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ . Compare also the use of the tenses in the parallel passage, Ephes. iv. 22 sq. ἀποθέσθαι, ἀνανεοῦσθαι , ἐνδύσασθαι. For the opposite see Ephes. iv. 22 τὸν παλαὶον ἄνθρωπον τὸν φθειρόμενον κ.τ.λ.

εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν] ‘unto perfect knowledge’, the true knowledge in Christ, as opposed to the false knowledge of the heretical teachers. For the implied contrast see above pp. 44, 99 sq. (see the notes on i. 9, ii. 3), and for the word ἐπίγνωσις the note on i. 9. The words here are to be connected closely with ἀνακαινούμενον: comp. Heb. vi. 6 πάλιν ἀνακαινίζειν εἰς μετάνοιαν.

κατ’ εἰκόνα κ.τ.λ.] The reference is to Gen. i. 26 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός Ποίησωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ’ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν κ.τ.λ.; comp. ver. 28 κατ’ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν. See also Ephes. iv. 24 τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κατὰ Θὲον κτισθέντα. This reference however does not imply an identity of the creation here mentioned with the creation of Genesis, but only an analogy between

the two. The spiritual man in each believer’s heart, like the primal man in the beginning of the world, was created after God’s image. The καινὴ κτίσις in this respect resembles the ἀρχαία κτίσις. The pronoun αὐτὸν cannot be referred to anything else but the νέος ἄνθρωπος, the regenerate man; and the aorist κτίσαντος (compare κτισθέντα in the parallel passage Ephes. iv. 24) refers to the time of this ἀναγέννησις in Christ. See Barnab. 6 ἀνακαινίσας ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἀφέσει τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς ἄλλον τύπον ... ὡσὰν δὴ ἀναπλάσσοντος αὐτοῦ ἡμᾶς, after which Gen. i. 26 is quoted. The new birth was a recreation in God’s image; the subsequent life must be a deepening of this image thus stamped upon the man.

The allusion to Genesis therefore requires us to understand τοῦ κτίσαντος of God, and not of Christ, as it is taken by St Chrysostom and others; and this seems to be demanded also by the common use of ὁ κτίσας. But if Christ is not ὁ κτίσας, may He not be intended by the εἰκῶν τοῦ κτίσαντος? In favour of this interpretation it may be urged (1) That Christ elsewhere is called the εἰκὼν of God, i. 15, 2 Cor. iv. 4; (2) That the Alexandrian school interpreted the term in Gen. i. 26 as denoting the Logos; thus Philo de Mund. Op. 6 (I. p. 5 M) τὸ ἀρχέτυπον παράδειγμα, ἰδέα τῶν ἰδεῶν ὁ Θεοῦ λόγος (comp. ib. §§ 7, 23, 24, 48), Fragm. II. p. 625 M θνητὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἀπεικονισθῆναι πρὸς τὸν ἀνωτάτω καὶ πατέρα τῶν ὅλων ἐδύνατο, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸν δεύτερον Θὲον ὅς ἐστιν ἐκέινου λόγος κ.τ.λ. Leg. Alleg. i. 31, 32 (I. p. 106 sq.). Hence Philo speaks of the first man as εἰκὼν εἰκόνος (de Mund. Op. 6), and as παγκάλου παραδέιγματος πάγκαλον μίμημα (ib. § 48). A pregnant meaning is thus given to κατὰ, and κατ’ εἰκόνα is rendered ‘after the fashion (or pattern) of the Image’. But this interpretation seems very improbable in St Paul; for (1) In the parallel passage Ephes. iv. 24 the expression is simply κατὰ Θεόν, which may be regarded as equivalent to κατ’ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος here; (2) The Alexandrian explanation of Gen. i. 26 just quoted is very closely allied to the Platonic doctrine of ideas (for the εἰκών, so interpreted, is the archetype or ideal pattern of the sensible world), and thus it lies outside the range of those conceptions which specially recommended the Alexandrian terminology of the Logos to the Apostles, as a fit vehicle for communicating the truths of Christianity.

J. B. Lightfoot, St Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon: a revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations (London: Macmillan, 1875) — public domain. Electronic text from Project Gutenberg (ebook #50857). Covers Colossians and Philemon only (the verse-by-verse notes; introductions and dissertations are omitted); Lightfoot's companion Galatians and Philippians volumes are not included, as the available public-domain scans carry garbled Greek that cannot be faithfully reproduced.