Ephesians 4:20-24 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

But ye Believers at Ephesus; have not so learned Christ Or Christianity; that is, ye cannot act thus, now ye are acquainted with Christ and his gospel, which, you know, allows of no sin. If so be Or rather, seeing that, as ει γε, it seems, should be here rendered; ye have heard him Teaching you inwardly by his Spirit, as well as outwardly by his word; and have been taught by him Have been instructed in his religion; as the truth is in Jesus According to his own gospel, and not in that imperfect and adulterated form, in which some presume to deliver what they call his doctrine: that ye put off Entirely lay aside; concerning Or with respect to; the former conversation That is, those sinful habits and practices to which you were accustomed in your heathen state; the old man Your old nature and character; or the whole body of sin: which old nature is corrupt Depraved in every part, so that its dispositions and actions are directed, not by the rules of right reason, or by the word and will of God, but according to the deceitful lusts Which generally prevail in the unregenerate, and once prevailed in you. Observe, reader, all sinful desires are deceitful, promising the happiness which they cannot give, and deceiving men. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind That is, in all the faculties of your souls, by seeking and obtaining an enlightened understanding, a rectified will, and holy, well-regulated affections. And that ye put on the new man That ye apply to God for, and receive from him, a new nature; which after God That is, after a conformity to his image; is created For it is his workmanship, see Ephesians 2:10; in righteousness Toward your fellow-creatures; and true holiness Toward God. He says true holiness, in opposition to that which is only ceremonial or external, and in appearance. The dispositions of the mind are in Scripture compared to clothes, for two reasons: 1st, Because they render persons beautiful or deformed, according to their nature: 2d, Because they may be put off or on, while we remain in a state of trial, according as we yield to and obey, or resist and reject, the truth and grace of God.