Wearing the clothes of a dead man?

that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, - Ephesians 4v22


I am just making a brief entry this morning since I have not formalised my thoughts and Paul deals with this in more depth in Colossians.

It is important that we are instructed in godly living, especially since it has been made abundantly clear that we are no longer bound by the law. Not only is the law no longer in effect, but Romans tells us that the old man was crucified with Christ. If the law has no power over me and my old man is dead, why do I still live such a wicked life?

Paul instructs us here that we have a constant responsibility to be putting something off. He tells us that we are to be putting off the old man. But, we have already been told that the old man is dead. How can we put off something that is dead?

Again, this is a developing thought here. Perhaps the key is in the phrase “concerning your former conduct.” Maybe it is the conduct of the old man that still affects me that I need to be putting off.

Paul is saying that we need to be stripping this away. A brief illustration and I am done for now.

I wonder if we can say that we need to no longer be wearing the clothes that suited the old man: those things such as lust, covetousness, jealousy, and anger. All of those things suited the old man, but they do not suit the new me who is in Christ. When I wear those things, am I wearing a dead man’s cloth?

If so, why do I insist on wearing the clothes of a dead man?