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21.The New Man in Col.3:10
Col.3:9 Do not alie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his practices

10 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,


Understanding of Colossians 3:10
3:10 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
Br. Lee
the Body the church

What do you mean by to put on the church?		 the church
Higashi
The union of Christ with the “objective we“ the Jews and the gentiles.

same as the one new man in Eph.2:15		 the church
I think this verse is unusual, for the new man to be put on is the same as Eph.2:15, the union of Christ with the “objective we“, the Jews and the gentiles. This new man is a complete and perfect existence.
But the new man which is being renewed is not a perfect and complete existence.
So, the latter new man must be the church under renewing.



Problematic points
Examples from his Col.LSM28

Example 1 My comment

IV. HAVING PUT ON THE NEW MAN

In verse 10 Paul declares, “And having put on the new man, who is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” To put on the new man is like putting on a new garment. The Greek word for new in this verse means young, new in time. This is different from the word used in Ephesians 4:24, which means new in nature, quality, or form.

 Br. Lee's understanding of the new man is not so different from that of Ephesians.

The new man is of Christ. It is His Body, created in Him on the cross (Eph. 2:15-16). It is not individual, but corporate. According to the clear vision in Ephesians 2:15, the new man is a corporate entity. This is proved by the fact that it is created out of two peoples, ④the Jews and the Gentiles. Furthermore,
Ephesians 2:16 indicates that the new man created out of these collective peoples is the Body of Christ. Hence, the new man and the Body are synonymous terms and may be used interchangeably.		 According to br. Lee, the one new man in Eph.2:15 is the body of Christ the church created out of the two peoples that belong to the old creation. He applies his understanding in Ephesians to the new man in Collossians.
The fact that the new man is the Body and that the Body is the new man is a strong indication that the new man is not an individual entity, but a corporate entity. Therefore, it is a serious mistake for some versions of the Bible to speak of putting on the new self. The New American Standard Version makes this very error in Colossians 3:10 by adopting the rendering, “have put on the new self.” This is a very serious error. It goes beyond interpreting the Bible to actually changing it. The Greek word means man, not self. Thus, it is altogether wrong to talk about putting on the new self. According to Colossians 3:10, what we have put on is the new man, not the new self. what we have put on is the new man, not the new self.

This new man is the Body the church. So, to put on the new man means to put on the Body the church.

Then, what do you mean by to put on the church?

Or, on earth, does Paul say such an uttering "to put on the church"?

　　Ridiculous!


Example 2

A. Being Renewed unto Full Knowledge
according to the Image of Him Who Created Him

In Ephesians 2 we are told that the new man was created, but in Colossians 3:10 we are told that the new man is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. Although Ephesians and Colossians are sister books, what they say concerning the new man is not exactly the same. How can we say that, on the one hand, the new man is created and that, on the other hand, the new man is renewed? Because we who belong to the old creation were involved in the creation of the new man, he needs to be renewed. This renewing takes place mainly in our mind, as indicated by the phrase “unto full knowledge.” In our spirit the new man has already been created. Before the new man was created in our spirit in resurrection, we did not have the Spirit of God or the life of God within us. Although we had a spirit, our spirit did not contain the divine life. But at the time the new creation took place in our spirit in resurrection, the Holy Spirit with the divine life was added into our being. This addition of the Spirit and the divine life to our spirit produced a new being, the new man. For this reason we can say that in our spirit the new man has been created.

 1. Br. Lee's understanding of the new man is not so much different from that of Ephesians. The new man is the church and also this new man is in our spirit.

2. The new man is created here (unerlined part), but where are the Jews and the gentiles? No mentioning here.

3. The new man is the church, and the new man is in our spirit is an apparent contradiction!


2018/Jun/21:revised
2018/3/18
東 信男(Higashi Nobuo)
ftmp2009(atmark)gmail.com