More literally "and having put on the new" (self is not in the Greek but is added in the NAS).

This verse shifts from the negative (laid aside) to the positive (put on).  With the stripping off of the old nature there has come a new nature, the new man.  We have laid aside the old garment, the "hand me down" rags from Adam and have put on the new garment, the new man in Christ.

Eadie...

As the old man is thrown off the new man is assumed.

Have put on  (1746) (enduo from en = in + dúo = to sink, go in or under, to put on) means literally to clothe or dress someone and to put on as a garment, to cause to get into a garment (eg, Lk 15:22 where the father says "quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him...").

In the middle voice (as here in Col 3:10) it means to clothe oneself with something, in this case the "new man", who is clothed in the robes of Christ's righteousness and now needs to practice what this privileged position entails, i.e., to manifest His righteousness each day toward God and toward men in everyday life.

Aorist tense indicates this putting on is a past completed action and includes the idea that this action was decisive.

When did we put on the new? This "putting on" occurred the moment the old self (old man) died with Christ, at the time of regeneration by grace through faith. In verse 9 above, the "laying aside" is also aorist tense, and one can deduce that the action of both verbs took place at the same time in the past, corresponding to the moment we believed in Christ.

S. Lewis Johnson explains enduo as used in Colossians 3:10 writing that...

The believer, having been severed from his connection with Adam the first, has now been clothed with and joined to Adam the last in all His fragrance and beauty. (Bibliotheca Sacra: Volume 121, Issue 481, 1964).

And so what is true about every believer is that they have put on the new self, which describes their new position as children of God, His new creations. We now are secure in an inseparable union with Christ and are fully identified with His life. Our old self has been laid aside. Because of our new position, we now are in possession of divine, supernatural power which gives every believer the potential to walk in newness of life (Ro 6:4-note).

The NLT says it this way

In...place (of the old, evil nature) you have clothed yourselves (this happens at a moment in time) with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed (this describes the ongoing process known as sanctification) as you learn more and more about Christ, Who created this new nature within you.

Enduo - Is used about 86 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (Ge 3:21; 27:15; 38:19; 41:42; Exod. 28:41; 29:5, 8, 30; 40:13f; Lev. 6:10f; 8:7, 13; 16:4, 23f, 32; 21:10; Num. 20:26, 28; Deut. 22:5, 11; 1 Sam. 17:5, 38; 2 Sam. 6:14; 14:2; 1 Ki. 22:30; 1 Chr. 12:18; 2 Chr. 5:12; 6:41; 18:9, 29; 24:20; 28:15; Est. 4:1, 17; 5:1; Job 8:22; 10:11; 29:14; 39:19; Ps. 35:13, 26; 65:13; 93:1; 104:1; 109:18, 29; 132:9, 16, 18; Prov. 23:21; 31:25; Song. 5:3; Isa. 22:21; 49:18; 50:3; 51:9; 52:1; 59:17; 61:10; Jer. 10:9; 46:4; Ezek. 7:27; 9:2f, 11; 10:2, 6f; 16:10; 23:6, 12; 38:4; 42:14; 44:17, 19; Da 5:7, 16, 29; 6:3; 10:5; 12:6f; Jon. 3:5; Zeph. 1:8; Zech. 3:3f; 13:4)

THE ARMOR OF LIGHT

Romans 13:12 The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside (cast off, drop, fling away, renounce) the deeds of darkness (all the filthy garments of worldliness—that is, everything associated with unrighteousness and evil -- in the context of Col 3:10 this would include lying) and put on the armor of light. (See notes)

CHRIST HIMSELF AS OUR GARMENT

Galatians 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Comment: This putting on refers to salvation, at which time the Spirit replaced our filthy rags of sin with the righteousness of Christ - this is now and forever our new position before God. He sees us in Christ's righteousness - the theologians refer to this as positional truth = past tense salvation = justification.

Romans 13:14 But put on (our practice = present tense salvation = progressive sanctification - put Him on each morning and every moment of the day - aorist imperative [middle voice = you initiate the action and participate in the result = put Him yourself] ) the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (See notes)

THE NEW SELF

Ephesians 4:24 and put on (not a command - aorist tense) the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Comment: As discussed in the notes there is debate between excellent commentators, some favoring this putting on as indicative of positional truth and others favoring it as calling for this to be our practice - progressive sanctification or present tense salvation.

Colossians 3:10 and have put on (past tense salvation = positional sanctification = our position now and forever in Christ - see our practice in Col 3:12) the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One Who created him (See notes)

Colossians 3:12  And so, as those who have been chosen of God (cf notes Eph 1:5), holy and beloved, put on (present tense salvation  = progressive sanctification = our practice - a command be clothed [middle voice = clothe yourself] now = aorist imperative) a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (See notes)

THE BREASTPLATE OF FAITH AND LOVE

1Thessalonians 5:8 (note) But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on (at the time of our new birth = justification = our position = past tense salvation) the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

IMPERISHABLE, IMMORTAL GARMENTS

1Corinthians 15:53 For this perishable must put on (glorification = future tense salvation) the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory.

What a "wardrobe" God has made available for believers! We're the "best dressed" folks in the world and most of us don't even know it! And the best is yet to come for John writes...

GARMENTS OF FINE LINEN, WHITE AND CLEAN...

Revelation 19:14 (note) And the armies (this is us, those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb) which are in heaven, clothed (enduo) in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him (the Lamb = Faithful and True = the Word of God) on white horses. (Comment: This incredible historical event will occur at the end of the 7 year period, Daniel's Seventieth Week, and marks the defeat of the antichrist and his armies and the inception of Messiah's Millennial Reign)

The garments believers are now wearing (figuratively, spiritually) are a picture of every believer's vital mystical spiritual union with Christ which began at the time of regeneration (the new birth). All believers have been irrevocably, intimately united with Christ at the moment of salvation (past tense salvation = positional sanctification = justification = the new birth). Every believer now stands (our position) before God clothed with Christ's righteousness, complete in Christ.

Thus in Romans 13 Paul writes that

The night (of man's depravity, of this present evil age) is almost gone, and the day (of Christ's return and reign) is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside (cast off, drop, fling away, renounce) the deeds of darkness  and put on (enduo) the armor of light (which equates with the protection that practical righteousness and holy living imparts) (Ro 13:12-note)

 Paul adds that they are to

Put on (enduo - aorist imperative - do it now) the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision (forethought, thought in advance) for the flesh in regard to its lusts ("don’t think of ways to indulge your evil desires", NLT)." (Ro 13:14-note)

In short, if we are Christians we have already put on the Lord Jesus Christ as stated in (Gal 3:27) Just as a garment which one puts on envelops the person wearing it and defines his appearance, so the person baptized in Christ is entirely taken up in Christ and in the salvation brought by Him. But this passage in Romans has reference to practical day-to-day, repeated putting on of Christ.

Ray Stedman gives the following illustration:

"When I get up in the morning I put on my clothes, intending them to be part of me all day, to go where I go and do what I do. They cover me and make me presentable to others. That is the purpose of clothes. In the same way, the apostle is saying to us (Ro 13:12, 13; 14-see note Ro 13:12, 13; 14), “Put on Jesus Christ when you get up in the morning. Make Him a part of your life that day. Intend that He go with you everywhere you go, and that He act through you in everything you do. Call upon His resources. Live your life IN CHRIST.” (Stedman, Ray C. From Guilt to Glory. Vol 2. p136. Waco, TX: Word, 1978) (Bolding added)

Kent Hughes interprets the putting on of the new self in Eph 4:24 (see note) as follows...

"The fact is, we have this new self if we are Christians. We received the old man at birth, and we were given the new man in our heavenly birth. The new man is not our work — it is God’s creation and gift. Our task is not to weave it, but to wear it. Paul is commanding a daily appropriation of that which we already possess...We have our part to do in dressing ourselves with the divine wardrobe, for here clothes do make the man — and the woman! We must daily set aside the rotting garments of the old man. We must formally reject sensuality and selfish pride and materialism and bitterness. We must read the Word and ask God to to renew our minds through the Spirit. We must work out our salvation by doing those things that will develop a Biblical mind. We must put on our new, shining garments of light. We must put on what we are!" (Hughes, R. K.: Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ. Crossway Books or Logos)

Because of their privileged position "as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved" Paul calls on the Colossian saints to put this truth into practice and to

put on (enduo - aorist imperative - do it now) a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience... (Col 3:12-note)

In Col 3:10 3:10 (note) Paul explained that believers have put on the new man and here in Col 3:12ff he shows them practically how this new man is to live.

Thayer says that put on here in (Col 3:12 [note]) means

to become so possessed of the mind of Christ as in thought, feeling, and action to resemble Him and, as it were, reproduce the life He lived.

And truly, how else is it possible to live out the "put on's" which reflect the lifestyle of the "new self"?

To review this section, the verbs translated put off and put on  both are aorist tense and indicate a completed past event. When any sinner trusts Christ, at that moment they put off the old self and put on the new. At that moment, the old self has been rendered powerless and the new self is now to be in control (read especially Romans 6 - see notes Romans 6). In Christ the believer has been set free from the dominion and power of "sin". Because of our permanent identification and union with Christ, we now have the power of His Spirit and the responsibility to conduct ourselves as a new man in Christ (this is called sanctification and is alluded to in the next part of this verse). We are not told to feel that these things are true or even to fully understand them. But we are told to live them out by grace through faith. That is what Colossians 3 is all about -- walking the talk. Living out the life that is in us - Christ is us the hope of glory. As we walk in a manner worthy we will grow in the knowledge of God (Col 1:10-note) and in so doing we will come to understand more and more the depth of the truth that we are now in Christ. (see also in Christ)

Guy King...

That poor deformed savage Cali ban, in Shakespeare's Tempest, spoke better than he knew when he said -

"'Ban, 'Ban, Ca-Caliban
Has a new master; get a new man."

When CHRIST is our Saviour and Master we have to put on the new man. May I remind you that "if any man be in Christ he is a new creature," 2Corinthians 5:17?

Being a Christian, he is to dress the part. "The garment of praise," says Isaiah 61:3; "He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness," Isa 61:10.

Some sightseers, wandering about the grounds of a famous castle on an "open" day, came across an old man, evidently, by his old clothes, one of the gardeners, and they asked him, "Is the Duke in residence?" - it was the Duke! Just then he wasn't dressing the part. So far as the Christian uniform is concerned, the Christian soldier must never be in mufti.

The story is told of the thorough-going conversion of an old disreputable blackguard, whose wife and children had been miserably beaten and bruised in his drunken brawls. Everyone in the town knew of old drunken John, unsavoury character that he was. On his conversion, he knew that everything must now be different - he thought of the way he had treated his family; he decided that he must leave his wretched hovel of a house, and find a decent home for them.

On going to the agents, they made it plain to him that they were not going to entrust one of their respectable dwellings to an old reprobate like him. They knew old John. But his answer was, "I think you're making a mistake. I fancy you're confusing me with somebody else. Old John is dead; I'm new John".

Well done! And now he is going to dress the part. It is so with all new-born people of GOD. Whether they are Greek folk, or Jewish, Barbarian, Scythian, slave or free (verse 11), they all dress alike. "Christ is all, and in all." This spiritual suiting is the height of fashion in the circles of Heaven, and the old clothes look so drab beside them. No wonder that Christians are exhorted, "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance," 1Pe 1:14, when, not knowing any better, you thought yourselves looking very smart. (Guy King. Colossians - Crossing the Border)

The new [self, man] - Regarding this phrase Moule  writes that it refers to

the new position of acceptance and the new spiritual power of the regenerated self; with a reference in the phrase to the believer's connexion with "the Second Man," Christ. By union with Him His members become (be it said with reverence and caution) repetitions of Him the glorious Archetype. To come to be "in Him" is thus to "put on (Him as) the New Man," in sharing His acceptance and His life and power. (Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon)

New (3501) (neos) signifies new in respect to time (contrast kainos = new in respect to quality) and describes that which has recently come into existence but for a relatively short time (eg, "new wine" Mt 9:17).

Neos - 23x in 20v in the NT - Matt 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37ff; 15:12f; 22:26; John 21:18; Acts 5:6; 1 Cor 5:7; Col 3:10; 1 Tim 5:1f, 11, 14; Titus 2:4, 6; Heb 12:24; 1 Pet 5:5

Neos can also refer to one who is in the early stages of life (i.e., young) and this use accounts for many of the NT occurrences.

"New [self]" ("self" is added by translators) describes who believers are by virtue of their union with Christ.

The new self continually being renewed describes the process of sanctification. (Click here to compare the "three tenses of salvation")

Vine says that the use of neos

stresses...the fact of the believer’s new experience, recently begun and still proceeding. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

MacDonald explains that

Just as the old man refers to all that we were as sons of Adam, with an unregenerate nature, so the new man refers to our new position as children of God. There has been a new creation, and we are new creatures. God’s purpose is that this new man should always be growing more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ (Ed note: Practical sanctificaition). We should never be satisfied with our present attainments, but should always press on to the goal of increasing conformity to the Savior. He is our example and the rule of our lives. In a coming day, when we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will be judged not by how much better our lives were than others but rather by how our life measured up to the life of the Lord Jesus Himself. (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

MacDonald goes on to quote the "Daily Notes of the Scripture Union" which records that

The image of God is not seen in the shape of our bodies, but in the beauty of the renewed mind and heart. Holiness, love, humility, meekness, kindness, and forgiveness—these make up the divine character.

Paul Apple (quoting Morgan) writes that...

Morgan: Spiritual clothing is an important figure in the Bible. You must always take off the old dirty clothes before putting on the new clean clothes.

a) Adam and Eve – made for themselves coverings of fig leaves

b) God clothed them with skins (animals were killed to get these skins) – picture of the righteousness of God

c) Ezekiel 16:10 – speaking of the nation of Israel; Zech. 3:3, 4

d) Prodigal Son

e) Parable of the wedding banquet (Mt. 22) – the king can recognize inappropriate clothing

f) Isaiah 64:6; Rev 7:14

g) Clothing for the Christian walk and service: the armor of God – Eph 6) Importance of putting on Christ

Illustration of Weeding – you don’t just cut off the tips of the weeds; you dig them out by their roots so they don’t keep popping up (Colossians)

WHO IS BEING RENEWED: ton anakainoumenon: [PPP]: (Ps 51:10; Ro 12:2; Ep 4:23; Heb 6:6)

When we receive Christ,
God's work isn't over--
It has just begun.

The believer's new self is a progressively growing (spiritually maturing) entity...

who is constantly being renewed, with a resulting advanced and perfect experiential knowledge which is according to the image of the One who created him (Wuest Translation)

Eadie...

This man is new not only in point of time, but of quality or character, for he is (being) renewed....Man must be brought back to his original purity, but the process of renovation is continuous, as the use of the present participle indicates.

Renewed (341) (anakainoo from aná = back or again + kainóō = to make new > from kainos = not recent but qualitatively new and different) is used only here and in (2Co 4:16) and means literally to make new (in quality) again. It is to cause something to become new and better or superior. In the present context Paul uses anakainoo to signify that the believer is to continually be changed into a new quality or kind of life (that heretofore never existed), which is in opposition to the corrupt, depraved state of the unregenerate man or woman, a state which is continually "decaying" (in a spiritual sense).

The present tense indicates that we are "constantly being renewed” to a new quality of life, which describes a process that will continue the rest of our earthly lives and is essentially synonymous with sanctification, growth in holiness, gradual being conformed to the image of God's Son, growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Moule notes that in the parallel passage in Ephesians 4:24...

the new man was created as a definite fact; here he is continuously being renewed, maintained as it were by a continuous creative act....Practically, the thought is of the believer's maintained union with His Lord, and his realization in that union of continued peace and spiritual power.

Paul prays that this sanctification process would occur in the lives of the believers in Thessalonica and gives them the assurance that God would complete this good work in them (cp Php 1:6-note)...

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify (hagiazo) you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. (1Th 5:23, 24-note).

In Hebrews we read that we (1) have been sanctified and (2) are continually being sanctified...

By this will we have been sanctified (perfect tense = past completed action with continuation of this state of sanctification = our permanent position)  through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb 10:10-note)

For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are (being) sanctified (present passive like "renewed" in Col 3:10 = continually being sanctified = our present practice). (Heb 10:14-note)

Vine adds that renewed...

is in the continuous present tense, in contrast to the act done once for all in putting on the new man, which is now maintained continually in vigor and growth. The contrast to the worn out garment, the old man, is vividly set forth. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

The passive voice indicates we are being acted upon by an outside power, the context indicating that it is the supernatural power of God, the Holy Spirit Who sanctifies us. Of course, the Word is that entity by which we are renewed and progressively set apart (cp Jn 17:17). And thus once again we see the vitally important role the pure milk of the Word has in the believer's renewal and overall spiritual growth. In short - no intake of God's Word, no growth spiritually (see 1Pe 2:2-note).

I like the way the ancient sage Charles Simeon (see a fascinating biographical summary of Simeon by Dr John Piper) describes the believer's continual renewal stating that...

our light will be progressive, advancing like that of the sun, from its earliest dawn to its meridian height (cp Pr 4:18). This is the change which the Gospel has wrought on millions of the human race: and that Gospel shall yet be found, by every true Believer, “the power of God to the salvation of his soul.” (Ro 1:16-note and 1Pe 1:9-note) (From page 375 of his sermon found in Horae Homileticae on Ec 7:29)

The new self has a new nature analogous to a growing plant. This growth is the result of being constantly renewed by the Holy Spirit, the result being that the "plant" increases in vigor with a definite goal in mind. The new man is not the end but in a sense the beginning of a life-long process. In other words salvation is a process that calls for progress. Beloved, the question for each of us to ask is "Are we growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?" If not, why not? If yes, than praise God!

Phil Newton writes that...

Notice how the believer is assured that he is being sanctified by the Lord:

and put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

He is not speaking of something that might take place in the Christian. Instead, he refers to the certainty and constancy of being renewed. This is the same term that is used in Ro 12:2-note when were are told to

be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

It implies a newness in quality that keeps growing and changing and improving in the believer.

When you come to faith in Christ, you still have the same body with the same brain. All the patterns of the past are etched in your mind. But as you grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (cp 2Pe 3:18-note), a renewing process takes place. Those old patterns are gradually culled and the newness of life in Christ fills your mind. This is the glory of sanctification: that the Lord will work His grace in us, reproducing us in the image of Jesus Christ.

The renewing affects the way you think and what you understand about the Lord, his will, and his working in your life. Our translation calls it "a true knowledge." It could be translated as "a thorough knowledge." It is intensive, life-changing knowledge that shapes the way you live your life according to the pattern found in Christ. It is knowledge of him, which is why Paul declares that his whole passion is to proclaim Christ (Col 1:29-note).

How does this renewal take place? We must recall the words of our Lord in his high priestly prayer:

"Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth" (John 17:17).

As we partake of God's Word, hearing it, reading it, thinking upon it, meditating on it, digesting it and applying it, then the gradual work of sanctification occurs. Certainly the Lord uses other things in the sanctification process as in our trials, testing, needs, relationships, etc. But foremost of all is the Word. That is why the renewing that takes place is to a "true knowledge according to the image of the One who created" us.

If you are born of God, a sure evidence of it is the sanctifying work of the Spirit in your life. You have the assurance that the One who began his work in you will complete it (Php 1:6-note).

Conclusion - This is radical living. We must never be satisfied with simply going to church each week but not living radically for Christ in the balance of the week. Your union with Christ demands a different lifestyle. May the Lord do his transforming work in each of us. (Sermons from the Epistle to the Colossians) (Bolding added)

Matthew Henry writes that...

The new man is said to be renewed in knowledge, because an ignorant soul cannot be a good soul. Without knowledge the heart cannot be good, Pr 19:2 (Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And he who makes haste with his feet errs.). The grace of God works upon the will and affections by renewing the understanding. Light is the first thing in the new creation, as it was in the first: after the image of Him who created him. It was the honour of man in innocence that he was made after the image of God; but that image was defaced and lost by sin, and is renewed by sanctifying grace: so that a renewed soul is something like what Adam was in the day he was created.

Moule comments that the KJV "in knowledge" is....

unto knowledge. The daily "renewal" is such as to result continually in the regenerate man's spiritual vision of Christ, intimacy with Him, insight into His will.

Adam Clarke has an interesting perspective on being renewed to a true knowledge observing that...

Ignorance was the grand characteristic of the heathen state; knowledge, of the Christian. The utmost to which heathenism could pretend was a certain knowledge of nature. How far this went, and how much it fell short of the truth, may be seen in the writings of Aristotle and Pliny. Christianity reveals God himself, the author of nature; or, rather, God has revealed himself, in the Christian system with which he has blessed mankind. Christianity teaches a man the true knowledge both of himself and of God; but it is impossible to know one’s self but in the light of God; the famous know thyself, was practicable only under the Christian religion.

As alluded to above, this section clearly describes the process known as sanctification (or present tense salvation > Click here for discussion of the three Tenses of Salvation) Sanctification is a process that results in increasing likeness to Christ. Possession of the new self brings the believer new life, but not instant spiritual maturity.

Just like a baby is born complete but immature, the new man is complete, but has the capacity to grow. Sanctification is a continual growth in Christ-likeness which is not accidental but associated intimately with our intake of and obedience to the Word of Truth. God's way to sanctify His saints is not to take us out of the world, but to progressively take the world out of us. This is a continuous process; the new man has not yet matured and is ever in the state of development. Christians are not sinless, although they should sin less and less!

Paul used anakainoo one other time writing that

we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is (progressively) decaying (diaphtheiro [our English = "diphtheria"]- wasting away like moths destroying clothing Lk 12:33), yet our inner man (the new creation—the eternal part of the believer) is being (continually) renewed (anakainizô - into a new kind of life fit for the new spiritual existence into which we have been ushered in salvation, and constantly being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus) day by day. (2Co 4:16)

Paul was not discouraged for even though physically he was decaying, he knew that the inner self of the believer continues to grow and mature in Christ-likeness. Michelangelo put it this way:

"The more the marble wastes, the more the statue grows.”

Warren Wiersbe (commenting on 2Cor 4:16, 17, 18) cautions that

We must not misunderstand this principle and think that a Christian can live any way he pleases and expect everything to turn into glory in the end. Paul was writing about trials experienced in the will of God as he was doing the work of God. God can and does turn suffering into glory, but He cannot turn sin into glory. Sin must be judged, because there is no glory in sin. (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor or Logos)

The noun form of (anakainoo) is used by Paul in Romans to exhort the believers not to be continually

conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing (anakainosis - qualitatively and so a renewal which makes one's mind different than it was in the past) of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.  (Ro 12:2-note)

Believers must be constantly alert to the ever present danger of their unredeemed fallen flesh which will continually dangle the garments of the old self in front of the new self , alluring and tempting us to put them on (i.e., to commit sins). Do not be deceived! (see Jas 1:14, 15-note; Jas 1:16-note). The battle against the flesh and the Spirit is continuous in this life (see Gal 5:17-note). While new self in regard to our position, is complete in Christ (cp Col 2:10-note) the moment of salvation and regeneration, this new self still maintains (and should manifest) the capacity for spiritual growth. So even as a baby is born a complete human being in one sense, it still manifests the capacity for continual growth, even as newborn believers manifest the innate God given capacity (and need) for spiritual growth (cp 1Pe 2:2-note = the new birth creates a new appetite and requires a new diet to renew our mind!)

Harry Ironside comments on the New Man  as

the man  in Christ , just as the Old Man  was the man in Adam (1Co 15:22, (Ro 5:12-note, Ro 5:14, 15-note, Ro 5:17-note, Ro 5:21-note). The new man has a new, divinely-imparted nature (2Pe 1:4-note), and it is to this new nature that God, by the Spirit, appeals; only the new nature is capable of receiving divine instruction. As such instruction is imparted and the truths thus received control the life, the believer increasingly displays the image of Him who is the Head of the new creation (1Co 15:49), the image of the One Who Himself is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15-note). Man was created in the image and likeness of God in the beginning, but that image became terribly marred through sin. In the new man this image again becomes visible and the characteristics of Christ are seen in His people. This is true regardless of who or what they were before they received the new life—whether they were cultured Greeks or religious Jews; whether they were within the circle of the Abrahamic covenant (see Abrahamic versus Mosaic or Abrahamic vs Old vs New), marked off from the rest of humanity by the ordinance of circumcision, or outside the circle and strangers to the covenants of promise (Ep 2:12-note vs Ep 2:19-note); whether they were barbarian or Scythian (that is, of the wild tribes outside the boundaries of civilization); whether they were slaves or free citizens. All alike were sinners; all alike were included in the old man.

In an OT passage David alludes to spiritual renewal asking God to

Create (Hebrew verb bara' used of creation in Genesis) in me a clean (pure, "unalloyed") heart (seat of intellect, motives, moral character - trouble begins in our thought life - evil thoughts precede evil deeds), O God, and renew (restore - place in a state or condition identical or nearly the same as a prior state) a steadfast (idea of inwardly determined, persevering in guarding against future outbreaks of sin and unyielding to temptation) spirit within (Hebrew denotes internal, in the midst, the center - David desires not just external but internal renewal) me." (Ps 51:10- Spurgeon's note)

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FOCUS- As it relates to renewing out mind

Missionary pilot Bernie May writes,

One of the most difficult lessons to teach new pilots about landing on short, hazardous airstrips is to keep their eyes on the good part of the strip rather than on the hazard. The natural tendency is to concentrate on the obstacle, the danger, the thing he is trying to avoid. But experience teaches us that a pilot who keeps his eye on the hazard will sooner or later hit it dead center.

This makes me think of a spiritual principle in the Bible. Instead of concentrating on the sins we want to avoid, we are told to focus on the positive actions Christ desires for us. Paul told the Christians at Colosse: "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col 3:2-note). We are to discard old ways of thinking and acting (Col 3:5, 6, 7, 8, 9-note) and "put on" new ways of living (Col 3:10, 11, 12,13, 14, 15,16, 17-note).

Bernie May sums it up by saying that experienced pilots focus their attention solidly on the track they want the plane to follow, keeping the hazards in their peripheral vision only.

When Christ and His interests are the focus of our lives, the lure of the old life remains in the corner of our eye, while we aim to land squarely in the center of God's will. —David C. McCasland

THINKING IT OVER - What "hazards" sometimes divert your attention from Jesus? What positive, God-honoring actions can you concentrate on doing instead?

Those who fix their eyes on heaven
will not be distracted by the things of earth.

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IS MY UNIFORM ON?

Ken Robinson, who is now a pastor, at one time served as a police officer. He said people treated him differently when he was in uniform than when he was off duty and wearing plain clothes. Something about the badge and "blues" gained him instant respect and authority.

He was often addressed as "Sir." When he told people something, they believed him. And when he gave an order, they were quick to obey. Robinson concluded, "I guess the clothes made the difference. And in uniform, I acted with more confidence."

In Colossians 3, the apostle Paul told followers of Christ to put on a new uniform. First he described the clothes we are to "put off" (Col 3:8, 9-note). Then he told us what kind of uniform we are to "put on" (Col 3:12, 13, 14-note). In place of anger, wrath, slander, dirty language, and lies, we are to put on mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love.

Most people respond positively to someone with these virtues. Their respect grows, They talk and act differently toward such a person. They listen to his words, acknowledge his authority, and are drawn to the God he represents.

What you wear makes a big difference. So ask yourself this question: Do I have my spiritual uniform on?

Lord, may I live that all may see
The love of Christ revealed in me,
And help me flee all sin and shame
Lest others scoff at Your dear name. --DJD

Can people tell that Christ is in you before you tell them?

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WHAT SHOULD I WEAR TODAY? -

THE alarm goes off. It's morning already. You lie in bed, thinking. You ask yourself the same question you ask every morning,

"What shall I wear today?"

You brush away the mental cobwebs and think through the day. There's nothing really important—just the routine. You lis­ten to the clock radio for the weather report. Then you decide: the comfortable blue outfit with red accents.

What we wear is important. We all want to dress appropriately and look our best. Besides, when we believe that we look good, we go through the day with more energy and confidence.

The Lord Jesus cares about what we wear, too, but His concern is our spiritual apparel. Colossians 3 lists some of the virtues with which we should clothe ourselves every morning: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. When we are wear­ing these, we will deal properly with situations that arise, our friendships will be strengthened, and we will have the satisfac­tion that comes from knowing that we are pleasing the Lord.

When our days are characterized by trouble, anger, hurt, or bad feelings, it's time to invest in a new wardrobe.—D C Egner

TO A TRUE KNOWLEDGE: eis epignôsin: (Jn 17:3; 2 Cor3:18; 4:6; 1 Jn 2:3,5)

in order to cause you to know him completely

Spurgeon rightly says that...

True knowledge (epignosis [word study]) is one of the key words (see note) in Colossians.  The true knowledge in Christ is in contrast to the false knowledge of the heretical teachers, a critical distinction only the former edifies and spiritually nourishes the believer.

The preposition (epi in epignosis) indicates a knowledge directed toward a particular object which can imply a more detailed or fuller knowledge (thorough knowledge). Though epignosis could refer merely to “knowledge about God,” it can also imply an “experiencing of” God or a “coming into more intimate experiential relationship with” God. 

Epignosis - 20x in 20v - Rom 1:28; 3:20; 10:2; Eph 1:17; 4:13; Phil 1:9; Col 1:9f; 2:2; 3:10; 1 Tim 2:4; 2 Tim 2:25; 3:7; Titus 1:1; Philemon 1:6; Heb 10:26; 2 Pet 1:2f, 8; 2:20. NAS = acknowledge*(1), knowledge(14), real knowledge(1), true knowledge(4).

Hendricksen addresses both aspects of the two possible meanings of epignosis commenting that

The new man is being renewed “for full knowledge”... This knowledge excels by far any so-called knowledge in which the false teachers who disturbed the churches of the Lycus Valley were glorying... It pertains to both heart and mind, is experiential, and has God’s holy will as its object (Ro 12:2-note). A true discernment of that will, particularly with reference to its “good pleasure” (Ep 1:5-note), is very rewarding. It is a means toward a fuller, richer measure of salvation’s joy and peace. A contrast will make this clear. While it is true that here on earth a person’s experience with his neighbor will at times cause him to say, “The better I know him and understand his intentions, the less I trust him,” in the kingdom of heaven the very opposite truth prevails, namely, “The more we know him — that is, the triune God or our Savior Jesus Christ —, and his purposes of grace, the more we trust and love him." (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. NT Commentary Set. Baker Book or Logos)

Eadie in his commentary on Eph 1:17 has these thoughts on epignosis...

The preposition epi, in epignosis, contains probably the idea of the “additional” as the image of intensive. Such a preposition sometimes loses its full original force in composition, but it would be wrong to say with Olshausen, that here such a meaning is wholly obliterated. Epignosis is not ascribed to God in the New Testament, neither could it with propriety. His knowledge admits of no improvement either in accuracy or extent...That knowledge of God in which the Spirit of revelation works, and which He thereby imparts, is a fuller and juster comprehension of the Divine Being than they had already enjoyed.

Wuest writes that Paul is describing the new man, the

person they were now in Christ Jesus, this new person being constantly renewed with respect to a complete and perfect knowledge which is according to the image of the One who created him." He quotes Lightfoot as saying "Which is ever being renewed unto perfect knowledge, the true knowledge in Christ, as opposed to the false knowledge of the heretical teachers." (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos)

Vincent says this section is correctly translated

unto knowledge, the end to which the renewal tended. (Word studies in the New Testament. Vol. 3, Page 1-503)

Robertson says they are being renewed

Unto full (additional) knowledge. (Word Pictures)

Eadie agrees, writing that

In the phrase eis epignosin, the preposition cannot signify the instrumental cause of the renewal, but it denotes the final purpose. The new man is renewed unto knowledge.

Pulpit Commentary says that

Full knowledge was one purpose of this renewal, the purpose most necessary to be set before the Colossians.

ACCORDING TO THE IMAGE OF THE ONE WHO CREATED HIM: kat' eikona tou ktisantos (AAPMADG) auton: (Ge 1:26,27; Ep 2:10; 4:23,24; 1Pe 1:14,15)

According to - This prepositional phrase means according to the standard. God's standard is Jesus Christ. God's purpose is to make us like His Son. The new man was created to be like God. God holds up Jesus Christ as the standard to which He wants us to be conformed. The practical question for each of us to ask ourselves "Are my words, actions and deeds daily becoming more like the Lord Jesus Christ?" Am I more like Christ this year than I was at the same time a year ago?

Image involves the two ideas of representation and manifestation. An image is the resemblance of something to a prototype from which it is derived and in whose essence it shares. In Greek thought an image shares in reality what it represents. God made man originally in his own image before Adam sinned (Ge 1:27). Man defaced that image by sin (Ge 9:6). However, God renews that image by Christ's work on the cross. The descendants of Adam bear his image, Paul explaining that

just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1Co 15:49)

God's desire for believers now is that they

become conformed to the image of His Son (the One Who created us) (Romans 8:29-note)

Wuest has a picturesque translation of this section

Regarding the reference to “the image of Him that created him,” the (Lightfoot) offers this explanation:

This reference however does not imply an identity of the creation here mentioned with the creation of Genesis, but only an analogy between the two. The spiritual man in each believer’s heart, like the primal man in the beginning of the world, was created after God’s image. The new creation in this respect resembles the first creation. The pronoun ‘him’ cannot refer to anything else than the new man, the regenerate man … The new birth was a recreation in God’s image; the subsequent life must be a deepening of this image thus stamped upon the man.”

This putting off of the Old Man and this putting on of the New Man took place at the moment the Colossian sinner put his faith in Christ. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos)

MacArthur comments that

It is God’s plan that believers become progressively more like Jesus Christ, the One Who made them (MacArthur, J.: The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word or Logos)

Thomas Constable writes that it is

Only by sanctification can people attain to the full image of God and Christ that God created them to bear (Ge 1:26,27). (Tom Constable's Expository Notes on the Bible)

S. Lewis Johnson adds that

The constant renewal of the new man (the participle is present) is according to the image of Christ, and wrought by the God Who created the new man. Christ is the image of God (cf. Col 1:15), and the new man is undergoing a constant renewal in the likeness of Christ. He is the great pattern for all spiritual life, and God engages Himself to recreate us in His likeness. (Bibliotheca Sacra: volume 121, issue 481, 1964)

The renovation or restoration of the image of God in us is gradual and progressive, Paul explaining that

we all (believers), with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2Cor 3:18).

This restoration will be fully completed when we see Christ face to face. John writes

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1Jn 3:2-note, 1Jn 3:3-note)

William Hendriksen writes that

"The standard or yardstick and the aim of the renewal is God’s image, the likeness of the very One who created this new man in the hearts and lives of believers, just as He once created the first Adam as His own image (Ge 1:26, 27). Nevertheless, the new man is not simply the restoration of whatever pertained to the first Adam before the fall. (To mention only one point of difference between the original creation and the new creation: in the state of rectitude Adam had no inkling of knowledge concerning God’s redemptive love.) Rather, “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, so we shall also bear the image of the heavenly One” (1Cor 15:49), in Whom redemptive love is wholly centralized."  (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. NT Commentary Set. Baker Book or Logos)

We were formed in God’s image, and deformed from God’s image by sin. But through Jesus Christ, we are being transformed into His image! We are not being made into "little gods" as some teach but are being made like Him, to act as He acts.

Bratcher and Nida write that

the renewal process has as its goal the complete restoration in the creature of the likeness of the Creator. The Creator is, at the same time, the One Who renews, and this process restores the divine image which had been effaced by sin. (The United Bible Societies' New Testament Handbook Series or Logos)

Christ "is the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15-note), and the new man is undergoing a constant renewal in the likeness of Christ. He is the great pattern for all spiritual life, and God engages Himself to recreate us in His likeness

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren. (Ro 8:29-note)

Vine, commenting on this verse, explains that Paul is not referring

to the creation of man as such, the creation of Adam, but to the new and spiritual creation. The “him” is the “new man,” who is created by God at the new birth. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature” and “all things are of God” (2Cor 5:17, 18-note). God, again, is the Creator (other commentators say this refers to Jesus), and He creates the new man according to His own image (cp. Ep 4:24-note]), yet that image as it is revealed in Christ Jesus (Col 1:5-note; 2 Cor 4:4). Thus the knowledge is not mere acquaintance with doctrine nor with facts about Christ, but a knowledge which produces a character and manner of life in conformity to the One who is Himself the personal expression and representation of God. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

Octavius Winslow's devotional on Col 3:10...

One important witness which the eternal Spirit bears for Christ is, when He impresses upon the believer the image of Christ. It is the peculiar work of the Spirit to glorify Christ; and this He does in various blessed ways, but none more strikingly than in drawing out the likeness of Christ upon the soul. He glorifies Christ in the believer. He witnesses to the power of the grace of Christ in its influence upon the principles, the temper, the daily walk, the whole life of a man of God.