Ephesians 4:24

Be renewed. Sin is an intruder, a destroyer of the primeval purity of man. Despite centuries of degradation man still shows some traces of the original handiwork of God, and by the work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth and in sanctification “the old man” (v. 22) may be created new again. There is a deep rift in the human soul as there is in the human family, a rift that can be healed only by the unifying influence and power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spirit of your mind. The change is not a superficial change of opinion or a new doctrinal concept; it affects the nature of the mind, its governing principles.

New. Gr. kainos, “new [in quality].” The putting on of the new nature, or “man,” is not something we can accomplish of ourselves, nor is it merely a renovated man. God is the active power in the recreation, but the change is not effected without man’s consent and cooperation (see MB 142).

After God. Literally, “according to God.” God Himself is the ideal after which the new man is patterned (Matt. 5:48), and since the “new man” is actually a return to man’s original state, it means the restoration of the image of God in the soul (Gen. 1:27; Ed 125; cf. Col. 3:10).

Created. See on Eph. 2:10; cf. on 2 Cor. 5:17.

Righteousness. Gr. dikaiosune (see on Matt. 5:6).

Holiness. Gr. hosiotes, “piety,” “holiness.” The word occurs elsewhere in the NT only in Luke 1:75. For the adjective hosios, “pious,” “holy,” see on Acts 2:27; 13:34.