21.
ejiv ge aujto;n...kai; ejn aujtw'/
...]
If at least it was He Whom ye heard
(Eph. 1:13) when He called you,
and it was in
fellowship with
Him ye were
further
taught
, as ye were then enabled to receive further instruction,
that you
as Christians should
put away
....
kaqw;" e[stin... jIhsou'
]
even as there is
essentially
truth in Jesus.
The humanity of Christ (
Jesus
) gives reality to our limited conceptions. Truth is no convention. Just as the Lord said I am the Truth, so His disciples may say, perplexed by the many conflicting appearances and representations of things and duties, There is Truth we can find itin Jesus. The Son of man helps us to find that there is something substantial under all the fleeting forms of earthly phenomena.
jEn tw'/ jI.
refers back to
to;n c.
The Messiah was revealed in Jesus in terms, so to speak, of human experience. As we look to Him we see that Pilate's question (John 18:38)
Tiv ejstin ajlhvqeia
; is answered. Compare the converse declaration John 8:44
ejn th'/ ajlhqeiva/ oujk e[sthken, o{ti oujk e[stin ajlhvqeia ejn aujtw'/
. [v. Add. Note, p. 70.]
For the position of ejstivn see Heb. 11:1 note; and for the anarthrous ajlhvqeia vs. 25; c. Eph. 5:9; 2 Cor. 11:10; Rom. 15:8 [contrast 3:7]; John 18:38.
The whole structure of the passage seems to shew that the clause is parenthetical. It seems to indicate why Christian conduct must correspond to Christian doctrine.
22 ff. The new life is realised by three processes: the putting off the old man, the renewal of spiritual power, the putting on the new man. The first and third are acts done once for all ( ajpoqevsqai, ejnduvsasqai ); and the second and third are connected together ( ajnaneou'sqai dev...kai; ejnduvs .) so that the decisive change is apprehended little by little by growing spiritual discernment. The infinitives depend on ejdidavcqhte in Eph. 4:21.
22.
ajpoqevsqai uJ
....]
that you should put away.
The word, though it is used of
garments (Acts 7:58), appears to be chosen instead of
ejkduvsasqai
(2 Cor. 5:4),
ajpekduvsasqai
(Col. 3:9), the natural correlative to
ejnduvsasqai
(vs. 24) as expressing a more complete separation: Eph. 4:25; Rom. 13:12; Col. 3:8; Heb. 12:1, & c. The
uJma'"
is emphatic, you as Christians (Eph. 4:17, 20).
kata; t. pr. ajn
.]
having regard to
.... Their former conversation was the
measure and rule of their renunciation.
For
ajnastrofhv
see Heb. 13:7. [Comp. Gal. 1:13; Jas. 3:13; 1 Pet. 1:15
ejn pavsh/ ajnastrofh'/
(where see Hort's note), 18
ejk th'" mataiva" uJmw'n ajnastrofh'" patroparadovtou
, 2:12, 3:1, 2, 16. The manner of life and intercourse to be renounced has already been described by St Paul in Eph. 2:2, 3
ejn ai|" pote periepathvsate......: ejn oi|" kai; hJmei'" pavnte" ajnestravfhmevn pote ejn tai'" ejpiqumivai"
th'" sarko;" hJmw'n
.]
to;n pal. a[n
.] the whole character representing the former self. This was not only corrupt, but ever growing more and more corrupt (
fqeirovmenon
, cf. Rom. 8:21
th'" douleiva" th'" fqora'"
) under the influence of lusts, of which deceit was the source and strength (cf. Heb. 3:13). To follow these was the exact opposite to living the truth (Eph. 4:15).
Compare Rom. 6:6; Col. 3:9. Corresponding phrases are oJ kaino;" a[nq . vs. 24 note; oJ e[sw a[nq . Eph. 3:16 note; oJ krupto;" th'" kardiva" a[nq . 1 Pet. 3:4; oJ a[nq. th'" aJmartiva" [al. ajnomiva" ] 2 Thess. 2:3; oJ a[nq. tou' qeou' 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:17.
There is much in the general temper of the worldself-assertion, self- seekingwhich answers to the old man.
23 f. Two things are required for the positive formation of the Christian