Charles Ellicott Commentary Ephesians 4:22

"that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit;" — Ephesians 4:22 (ASV)

Concerning the former way of life.—This relates to the conduct or way of life described above (Ephesians 4:17–19) as the moral condition of heathenism. It is in relation to this, the corruption of the true humanity, and not in relation to the true humanity itself, that the “old man” is put off.

The phrase “the old man” (found also in Romans 6:6 and Colossians 3:9) is illustrated here by the following description: which is being marred in virtue of the lusts of deceit. The word translated “corrupt” expresses not so much pollution as disintegration and decay, much as in 2 Corinthians 4:16, and so develops the idea implied in the term “old.”

The unregenerate nature, subject to “the lusts of deceit”—that is, the lusts of the spirit of delusion, themselves blind and blinding the soul that yields to them—is gradually sinking into the spiritual decay that must become spiritual death, unless by the effort of faith, entering into the communion with Christ, it is, once for all, “put off.”

The various qualities of the nature thus stripped off are variously described: in Romans 13:12, as works of darkness; in Hebrews 12:1, as simply “encumbrance”; in James 1:21, as filthiness and excess of evil; in 1 Peter 2:1, as malice, and craft, and hypocrisies, and envies. All these are the “lusts of deceit.”

On verses 22-24:

These verses explain the substance of the teaching of Ephesians 4:21. The original may be interpreted either as teaching a fact, that you did put off ... and are being renewed, etc., or as teaching a duty, that you put off ... and be renewed. The latter interpretation is, on the whole, more probable, although the former would yield a simpler meaning. It should be noted that the words “put off” and “put on” in the original Greek denote a distinct and complete act, while the words “be renewed” denote a continuous and still incomplete process. The complete act is consummated, and the continuous process is begun, by the practical “learning” of Christ—that is, by growth in spiritual communion with Him.