Read the passage and its setting
Ephesians 4:17–24, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Ephesians 4:17–24
Put Off the Old Life and Put On the New
The Main Point
Believers must no longer live in alienated, hardened patterns; learning Christ means putting off the corrupt old humanity, being renewed in mind, and putting on the new humanity created after God.
What Is Happening Here?
Paul has described the mature body. He now contrasts that shared life with the patterns from which Gentile believers came.
What Came Before—and What Comes Next?
Christ's gifts equip the whole body to grow in truth and love rather than remain unstable children.
Verses 25–5:2 make the new life concrete in truth, anger, work, speech, forgiveness, imitation of God, and Christlike love.
Follow the Author's Reasoning
See why this section appears here and how the author's argument leads to its meaning.
Why Is This Passage Here?
The contrast explains why Christian growth requires more than adding beliefs to an unchanged way of life: the community has learned Christ and must embody a renewed humanity.
Follow the Reasoning
Paul solemnly rejects the former futile walk.
Darkened understanding, alienation, hardness, and greedy impurity describe that trajectory.
But the readers did not learn Christ that way.
The old humanity and its deceptive desires must be put off.
The mind must be continually renewed.
The new humanity, created after God in righteousness and holiness, must be put on.
What Is the Author Saying?
Why This Interpretation Fits
Walk contrast
The command 'walk not' answers the earlier call to walk worthily.
But you
The sharp turn at verse 20 makes learning Christ incompatible with the trajectory just described.
Clothing movement
Put off, be renewed, and put on organize the change Paul expects.
Understand the Meaning and Its Boundaries
Clarify the words that matter and keep the conclusion no broader than the passage allows.
Words That Matter
old humanity
παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον · palaion anthrōpon
The phrase concerns the former corrupt identity and way of life, with communal as well as personal force.
be renewed
ἀνανεοῦσθαι · ananeousthai
The passive form points to ongoing renewal received, not self-reinvention by willpower alone.
new humanity
καινὸν ἄνθρωπον · kainon anthrōpon
The new person or humanity is created according to God, connecting personal change with the reconciled new humanity of 2:15.
What the Passage Is Not Saying
Reading Ephesians 4:17–24 in its paragraph rules out these interpretations:
The passage does not authorize contempt for Gentiles or any ethnicity.
Putting off the old life does not mean a Christian never struggles, needs correction, or grows gradually.
Renewal of the mind does not reduce discipleship to positive thoughts without changed conduct.
Context check: Learning Christ is a transformed way of life. Paul describes a decisive break with the old humanity and an ongoing renewal that produces God-reflecting righteousness and holiness.
What Remains True Today
Learning Christ requires a real break with corrupt patterns and continuing renewal into a God-reflecting way of life.
Respond and Remember
Let the meaning shape life carefully, then practice explaining the section in context.
How This Should Shape Us
Why these applications follow
Believers must no longer live in alienated, hardened patterns; learning Christ means putting off the corrupt old humanity, being renewed in mind, and putting on the new humanity created after God.
Learning Christ is a transformed way of life. Paul describes a decisive break with the old humanity and an ongoing renewal that produces God-reflecting righteousness and holiness.
Learning Christ requires a real break with corrupt patterns and continuing renewal into a God-reflecting way of life.
How should this shape us?
Identify practices that belong to the old way, seek renewed understanding in Christ, and replace them with concrete habits of righteousness and holiness.
A Concrete Example
A person leaving dishonest business practices should not stop at feeling guilty; truthful records, restitution where possible, and accountable habits help put on a different way of life.
Teach It Back
Explain Ephesians 4:17–24 in your own words. Include what came before, why this section appears here, the main movement, and one interpretation the context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go Deeper
The main explanation above stands on its own. Open these optional sections for fuller language, history, disagreements, and source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Walk contrast
The command 'walk not' answers the earlier call to walk worthily.
But you
The sharp turn at verse 20 makes learning Christ incompatible with the trajectory just described.
Clothing movement
Put off, be renewed, and put on organize the change Paul expects.
Original-language wording and grammarTechnical detail appears only where it helps
old humanity
The phrase concerns the former corrupt identity and way of life, with communal as well as personal force.
How certain? strongbe renewed
The passive form points to ongoing renewal received, not self-reinvention by willpower alone.
How certain? strongnew humanity
The new person or humanity is created according to God, connecting personal change with the reconciled new humanity of 2:15.
How certain? strongWhat the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
What the first hearers would have recognized
Paul uses a forceful moral contrast common to exhortation. It should not be turned into ethnic contempt for all Gentile people, especially since the readers themselves are Gentiles welcomed by grace.
How certain? strongWhy translations sometimes differMaterial translation choices
KJV wording and modern clarity
The KJV's 'former conversation' means former conduct or way of life. 'Old man' and 'new man' can be expressed as old and new humanity so readers do not reduce the images to male believers.
How certain? strongEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Scriptural background
Creation 'after God' evokes humanity made in God's image and presents the new life as restored God-reflecting character.
How certain? strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
How this connects with the rest of Scripture
The clothing and renewal images connect with other Pauline descriptions of putting off the old and putting on Christlike life.
How certain? strongTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
No manuscript difference materially changes this section's main contextual interpretation.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
No major interpretive disagreement needs to interrupt the main reader explanation here.
Theology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
Learning Christ requires a real break with corrupt patterns and continuing renewal into a God-reflecting way of life.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
This section contributes to Ephesians' Christ-centered account of God's people: Believers must no longer live in alienated, hardened patterns; learning Christ means putting off the corrupt old humanity, being renewed in mind, and putting on the new humanity created after God.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
The passage does not authorize contempt for Gentiles or any ethnicity.
The mistaken reading can arise when one line is separated from the section's argument or historical setting.
Learning Christ is a transformed way of life. Paul describes a decisive break with the old humanity and an ongoing renewal that produces God-reflecting righteousness and holiness.
Learning Christ requires a real break with corrupt patterns and continuing renewal into a God-reflecting way of life.
Any legitimate application must remain inside the section's stated movement and boundaries.
Putting off the old life does not mean a Christian never struggles, needs correction, or grows gradually.
The mistaken reading can arise when one line is separated from the section's argument or historical setting.
Learning Christ is a transformed way of life. Paul describes a decisive break with the old humanity and an ongoing renewal that produces God-reflecting righteousness and holiness.
Learning Christ requires a real break with corrupt patterns and continuing renewal into a God-reflecting way of life.
Any legitimate application must remain inside the section's stated movement and boundaries.
Renewal of the mind does not reduce discipleship to positive thoughts without changed conduct.
The mistaken reading can arise when one line is separated from the section's argument or historical setting.
Learning Christ is a transformed way of life. Paul describes a decisive break with the old humanity and an ongoing renewal that produces God-reflecting righteousness and holiness.
Learning Christ requires a real break with corrupt patterns and continuing renewal into a God-reflecting way of life.
Any legitimate application must remain inside the section's stated movement and boundaries.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: The exact KJV wording and immediate English context for Ephesians 4:17–24.
eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Ephesians 4; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the library policy.
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording and sentence relationships used to check the passage.
Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Eph.txt, Ephesians 4, verses within Ephesians 4:17–24.
Supports: Material translation choices, syntax notes, and textual variants checked for this passage.
NET Bible, Ephesians 4, translator and textual notes attached to the verses in Ephesians 4:17–24.
Supports: Verse-level Greek, syntax, older interpretive options, and passage boundaries tested against primary evidence and newer research.
T. K. Abbott, Ephesians, pp. 130–142.
Supports: A cross-check of Greek forms and reasonable lexical range for reader-facing word notes.
STEP Bible Data repository, TAGNT and Greek lexical records, Ephesians 4, verses within Ephesians 4:17–24.
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: The exact KJV wording and immediate English context for Ephesians 4:17–24.
Exact location: eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Ephesians 4; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the library policy.
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording and sentence relationships used to check the passage.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Eph.txt, Ephesians 4, verses within Ephesians 4:17–24.
Open the Ephesians Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Ephesians with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Material translation choices, syntax notes, and textual variants checked for this passage.
Exact location: NET Bible, Ephesians 4, translator and textual notes attached to the verses in Ephesians 4:17–24.
Open NET Ephesians 4 ↗public domain critical commentary
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians
T. K. Abbott
T. & T. Clark, 1897
Supports: Verse-level Greek, syntax, older interpretive options, and passage boundaries tested against primary evidence and newer research.
Exact location: T. K. Abbott, Ephesians, pp. 130–142.
Open source ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: A cross-check of Greek forms and reasonable lexical range for reader-facing word notes.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data repository, TAGNT and Greek lexical records, Ephesians 4, verses within Ephesians 4:17–24.
Open source ↗