Ephesians 4:23

Believers can and should participate in the process of putting off the old man and putting on the new man, but ultimately both the process and the outcome belong to God; He is the one who transforms people. Every believer can be assisted in the all-important work of being renewed in his or her mind. (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 4:16) by practicing the spiritual disciplines: Bible study and memorization, prayer and worship, service and ministry, witnessing and missions, giving to God, fasting and church attendance.

Putting on the new man. (Woman)

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

 Put off… the old man… put on the new man: This has the same idea of putting off or putting on a set of clothes. The idea is to “change into” a different kind of conduct.

Think of a prisoner who is released from prison, but still wears his prison clothes and acts like a prisoner and not as a free man. The first thing to tell that person is that they should put on some new clothes.

Even as putting on different clothes will change the way you think about yourself and see yourself, even so putting on a different conduct will start to change your attitudes. This means that we shouldn’t wait to feel like the new man before we put on the new man.

Fundamentally, Paul says that for the Christian, there must be a break with the past. Jesus isn’t merely added to our old life; the old life dies and He becomes our new life.

 You have not so learned Christ: The repetition of this idea shows that putting on the new man has a strong aspect of learning and education to it. You have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus… and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Our Christian life must go beyond head knowledge, but it must absolutely include head knowledge and influence our whole manner of thinking. This is not just in the sense of knowing facts, but the ability to set our minds on the right things. This is so fundamental to the Christian life that Christian growth can even be described as the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

The Ephesians learned Christ, not only learning about Jesus, but also learning Him. This means a living, abiding knowledge of Jesus will keep us from the kind of sinful conduct Paul speaks of. Just knowing about Jesus isn’t enough to keep us pure.

“So, if you want to know the Lord Jesus Christ, you must live with him. First he must himself speak to you, and afterwards you must abide in him. He must be the choice Companion of your morning hours, he must be with you throughout the day, and with him you must also close the night; and as often as you may wake during the night, you must say, ‘When I awake, I am still with thee.’ ” (Spurgeon)

Put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness: The new man is the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) created in us at conversion. It is the person created according to the image of Jesus Christ and instinctively righteous and holy. It is in contrast to the old man, who is the person inherited from Adam and who instinctively rebels against God.

I often found myself struggling with scripture memorization for reasons I couldn't explain until now. It's, in all reality a good thing to struggle with. I know that may sound bit odd but stop for a moment and realize that if your mind is preoccupied with scripture memorization it is not being preoccupied with destructive thoughts. God will find no fault in your efforts.