Good Riddance

that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,  Ephesians 4:22 NASB

Old self – You could hardly be serious about your Christian faith without having heard at least one sermon on the transition from the old self.  Conversion is the technical term for this transformation.  At some point, a decision was made to enter into a new way of living.  Old things, old places, even old friends are left behind in order to embrace a new-found existence.  The old self was anathema, something to be crucified and buried.  A new life awaited on the other side.  Paul tells us that the old self was corrupt, ruled by “lusts of deceit.”  We concur.  There’s hardly any argument that the old life, the one we wish to change, needs to be transformed.  But what exactly does that mean, for us and for the citizens of Ephesus in the first century?

The Greek words here are palaion anthrōpon.  You might recognize the second one.  It’s the basis of our English “anthropology.”  The first is simply “earlier, former” or “before.”  Paul uses the word with some theological fortitude, not with the meaning of worn-out or useless (as in the LXX) but rather as the antithesis of a new reality.  In Christianity, we often refer to “the new man.”  Of course, anthrōpon in Semitic culture did not mean just the physical human being.  The Semitic view focused on relationships as the fundamental constituent of human existence.  That harkens back to Genesis 1.  Human beings are created in relationship; to each other and to God.  Anything that diminishes or destroys this fundamental is to be avoided.  The “old self,” whose fundamental constitution is “me first”—the hallmark of the yetzer ha’ra—must be transformed.  Why?  Because it isn’t really life.  It’s borrowed time on the road to extinction.

Paul characterizes the situation of this pitiful existence by noting that it is “being corrupted.”  The verb he chooses is phtheírō.  “phtheírō means ‘to destroy,’ middle and passive ‘to perish.’ It is often used for ‘to kill’ (‘to be killed’), but may also mean ‘to languish’ (e.g., in prison). Economic ruin may also be in view.”^[1]  These strong connotations are hidden behind the apparent continuation of daily living.  “In the LXX phtheírō is the rendering of Heb. šḥt, which carries the various senses of corruption, e.g., decay, destruction, depravity, or disfigurement (Jer. 13:7; 48:18; Ex. 32:7; Is. 52:14).”^[2]  For most, things appear to be livable.  The world continues, some flourish, others fall, God’s invisible hand is just that—invisible.  Society can exile the God of Israel without any immediate consequences, but by doing so the members of the society actually undermine their own existence—and eventually experience that brutal reality.  They are, in truth, the walking dead.  They just don’t know it.  God’s mercy disguises their true condition.

You might consider what your world would be like if divine judgment were instantaneous.  What would happen if God didn’t delay the consequences of our inappropriate acts?  The world might be a far better place because all evil would be instantly removed, but it also might be empty of humans.  Humanity exists precisely because judgment is delayed, but precisely because judgment is delayed, most humans think they can ignore God’s demands.  The “Catch 22” of grace is moral blindness.  Paul wants his readers to open their eyes and realize that their old way of living was the pathway to death.  His letter is 2000 years old but the advice is timeless.

Topical Index: phtheírō, destroy, palaion anthrōpon, old self, new man, Ephesians 4:22

^[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 1259). W.B. Eerdmans.

^[2] Ibid.