Tuesday: Renewed in Knowledge
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 10th of March 2026
Read Colossians 3:6-11. How does Paul continue with this train of thought?
The initial words of Colossians 3:8 signal the dramatic and decisive change from death to life: “But now.” The word “now” in Greek is emphatic. Now, that is, because you are risen with Christ and seek those things that are above, your present life is to show a marked contrast with your former life. Having put to death “what is earthly in you” (Colossians 3:5, ESV), “now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth” (Colossians 3:8).
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Both anger and wrath can describe God’s righteous response to sin (touched on yesterday) as it can for Jesus (Mark 3:5, Revelation 6:16). By contrast, we are urged to “be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20, NKJV). Malice wishes misfortune on another. Slander is designed to defame. Paul also condemns language that is abusive and obscene. Finally, lying to one another is forbidden (compare Leviticus 19:11,18), “since you have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:9, NKJV).
What does Paul mean by the “old man” in contrast with the “new man”? See Romans 6:6 and Ephesians 4:22-24.
The verbs Paul employs for this transformation from the old to the new allude to clothing, as if one took off old filthy garments and was clothed with new white garments (compare Zechariah 3:4). A similar old/new distinction is made in regard to the old and new covenants, which are characterized respectively by the external letter of the law and by the law inscribed by the Spirit in the heart (2 Corinthians 3:4-18).
These metaphors describe conversion and its effects, which Paul calls a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV). We are “renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him [Christ]” (Colossians 3:10, NKJV), who is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Gaining a knowledge of Christ through His Word transforms us “into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). This places us above all ethnic, geographical, and social boundaries (Colossians 3:11), because we are citizens of a higher kingdom.
I hate clothes shopping. Carmel loves it. My old clothes fit so well, even if they look frayed about the edges. So, on Sunday we came to an agreement. I would buy a couple of new T-shirts. We got to the clothes shop and they were having a sale; two T-shirts for the price of one. I know when I have lost the battle. I came home with four new T-shirts. But it did not end there. When we arrived back home, Carmel took my old holey T-shirts out of the drawer and said, “Choose which ones you are going to throw away!” I loved those old T-shirts; they were experienced. But she insisted and so 4 old T-shirts were relegated to car-cleaning cloths and cut up so I could not wear them again. Now, I don’t recognise myself when I look in the mirror, but I am beginning to accept that Carmel was right. I do look a lot better in my new clothes.
Some of our thinking and behaviour before we meet Jesus is a bit like old clothes. They are comfortable because we are used to them and have not noticed that they have holes in them and are frayed around the edges. It is not just a case of getting rid of bad stuff but accepting the new. Paul uses the clothes metaphor so well:
The change in clothes is radical. It is not just throwing off the old but it’s about embracing the new. And sometimes I wonder just a little bit, if we have thrown off the old, and are running around naked because we have not embraced the new.
I will leave that thought as our challenge!
I love my old clothes too, but once they’re gone it’s a relief. You just have to get over it and move on with the new.
Amen
In Colossians 3 Paul deals with our attitudes and behaviors. He compares them with clothing.
We’ve all had clothes we’ve been comfortable with. It’s hard to put them away when they go out of style or when our our sizes change with age. When they’re no longer fitting for us to wear, we shop for a new wardrobe. But it can be tempting to slip the old ones on again.
We also have attitudes and behaviors we’ve worn because of our fallen nature and world’s influence around us. When we put our trust in the work of our Savior we see that some of these old ways aren’t appropriate anymore. God tells us what attitudes and behaviors we should put on to please him. We need to prayerfully and carefully examine our moral outfits, and resist slipping back into the inappropriate ones.
God made us to be active in mind and body as representatives of our Creator’s glory. The problem is that in our fallen condition we often tend to abuse that duty. We’re told to overcome our formerly ungodly selves.
God doesn’t ask us to just put off our
former sinful habits. He calls us to replace them.
No life can be morally naked. It wears something. In the last section of this chapter Paul told us about the old ways we have to take off. In verse 5 he told us to put to death, to become totally separated from immorality, impurity, wrong passions, evil desires, and coveting. In verses 8 and the beginning of 9 he told us to put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene speech, and lies.
He ends the list at the beginning of verse 9 with lying, then he explains what to do when we replace those things.
9. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
10. and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
In one sense, we have already put on the new self, but we always have some new dressing to do. We’re fundamentally changed when we’re regenerated by God’s grace. We have a new relationship with God since our guilt is paid for by the death of Jesus Christ. That new relationship begins to show itself by a gradual change that takes place in our lives. The way we behave, talk, and treat others eventually reveals what’s really inside. Jesus said, “you will recognize them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:20)
Thank you so very much Maurice.
I will like to add that nakedness marks a transition between the old clothes and the new clothes with the following benefits.
1.Nakedness exposes one’s vulnerability, fostering a deeper connections with oneself and the Lord Jesus Christ through an authentic emotional bond.
2.Shedding layers of ego and societal norms invites spiritual liberation and the exploration of true self.
3.Embracing nakedness enhances purity, representing a return to innocence and clarity in desires and intentions.
4.The act of being naked promotes trust and intimacy, creating sacred spaces for genuine relationships with our Lord Jesus Christ.
5.Letting go of past burdens through nakedness opens hearts to new possibilities and authentic connections with Jesus.
Acquiring earthly knowledge is expensive and really time consuming. For instance, one has to go to nursery school, primary school, secondary school and university to obtain a degree. At university, it is gruesome. It is not everybody’s cup of tea. What possibly happens at university? Total commitment to studies. Discipline to attend as many lessons as possible, if not all. In some universities attendance is mandatory. Single mindedness to score first class. Sleepless nights to prepare for exams. Writing several assignments. For instance, and an assignment of 4000 words will demand like 20 references written in Harvard style. It is even more gruesome and torturing when pursuing a research degree. How do we pursue the “Knowledge of the truth” that brings salvation (1 Timothy 2:4)? With what amount of energy, commitment and single minded do we seek the “Knowledge of God / of Christ” which is eternal life?
“This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3 )
The knowledge about Jesus is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). How can we establish a relationship with a strange whom we don’t know? How can we know the glory of God without knowing Him in His Word (2 Corinthians 4:6)? We need to pursue the “Knowledge of God / of Christ” with more purpose, single minded and with more commitment. Paul purposed know Christ and Him crucified as his focal point. “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (Corinthians 2:2). We invest so much in pursuing more “earthliness” at the expense of “heavenliness”. Jesus is encouraging us to pursue Him and He will help us to find Him.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7–8).
To know Jesus and His salvation, must not be casual affair. We must resolve to abide in Him. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32 )
In many moral systems, behavior is the primary starting point, focusing mainly on correcting actions and reforming how people behave. Christianity, however, views behavior as the end product rather than the starting point. While morality concentrates on outward conduct, Christianity goes deeper, emphasizing not merely a reformation of behavior but a transformation of character. This transformation begins in the heart and leads to the renewal of the mind, because the problem is not only what we do but who we are at our core. Therefore, Christianity speaks of regeneration and being born again, where God changes the inner person. This renewal is not a one-time event but an ongoing process through which believers grow in strength, maturity, and newness of life, becoming different from what they were yesterday. As Scripture reminds us, “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6), and believers are called to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
Amen, well said.
For this to happen in our lives, we must “want it.” And “want it” to the point that we “hunger and thirst for it” (righteousness). This will only happen by praying “in the Spirit” Ephesians 6;18. When these christian virtues grow out of us, they would have been planted by the Spirit. Thus, we cannot boast that we have done X or Y. It would be God that gets the glory, 1 Corinthians 10:31.
I love the clothing metaphor that Paul uses. We so often become comfortable in, and attached to our old clothes that despite their ragged condition we do not want to part with them.
No wonder when the prodigal son retuned home one of the first things his father did was to give him a change of clothing. His old clothes represented his past life of sin and now decked in new clothes, a new life was starting.
Renewal is a change of the old for the new and there are reasons for the need to change. In God,the purpose of renewal is the need to change our old life of sin for the new life of God’s righteousness that will reconnect us to Him.
Gen. 1:26 says that man (Adam) was created in God’s image of God outwardly, Eph. 4:24 tells us that the new man was created according to God in holiness and righteousness of the reality to bear the image of God.
When we are being renewed in the governing spirit of our mind, we put on this new man that has been created in Christ Jesus, and we express God. We need to first see a vision of the fact that the one new man was created in Christ with His element and essence to bear His image, and so the new man is Christ.
I am very Blessed By The Quarterlies
Please post Mine personally in My inbox Thanks.
Hi Andre, We don’t post. Our charter is to make resources available on line and provide a forum for discussion. The General Conference Sabbath School site may be able to help you:
https://absg.sspmadventist.org/
I am forced to brief because of present time constraints, The imagery that Paul presents in Ephesians 4:22-24 of putting off “the old self” (NIV) and putting on “the new self” has to be balanced with the imagery that Paul described to the Galatians in Chapter 5:17 (NIV) ” For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” The first image is fixed, in the sense that the “old man” is replaced by the “new man” In the other picture , the imagery is in momentum – there is conflict and struggle between the flesh and the Spirit. My humble understanding at this present moment is that the “old man” and the “new man” represents our attitudes. The second picture represents our reality.
Thank you Steve, for your perceptive comment. You wrote, among other things,
Reading the two descriptions together encourages us to put our trust in Jesus, while recognizing that we still experience conflict in our life. I note that Gal. 5:24-25 also puts the two facets of our experience together.
Rom. 7:9-25 also addresses the conflict. The chapter division (not in Paul’s letter!) blurs his conclusion in Rom 8:1-4 ESV”
Paul acknowledges the reality of our struggle but calls us to “walk in the Spirit,” which I see as a parallel statement to his encouraging us to let the mind of Christ be in us in Phil. 2:5.
Paul says in Romans Christ has set you free, yet he says that does not mean you go out and sin freely. Romans 6:1-2. Bringing in 1 John 2:1-3, and if you do sin don’t despair and give up, you have an advocate before our Father in heaven which is Christ. How do we then keep under the conviction we started with? I believe that it is by faith in Christ that we grow up into Him. Now, consecrate yourself to Him every morning. Make this your very first activity in the morning. As you talk to Him, tell Him that you give yourself to Him. Tell Christ that you are surrendering to Him and that you are available to be used by Him in His service. He will direct your paths and plans every day because you have asked Him every morning for His power, strength, and a sound mind to grow into Christ. 2 Timothy 1:7.
Nailed it John…! How few actually make that our first duty each morning, to kneel in prayer and opening the door and inviting Christ in for a mutual conversation. Fervent prayer also involves listening and not talking as in any conversation with a loved one. If in our prayer life we continually talk and never pause to listen it shows Christ we are not interested in what He has to say.
Again, we need to run to Christ and exchange our garments with His. Nothing in us can be justified as pure.