Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Colossians 3:10

And have put on the new [man,] which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

10. and have put on ] See the last note but one. Cp. Eph 4:24; and Col 3:12 below, with note.

the new man ] Practically, 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 [85] .

[85] In the Ignatian Epistles ( Ep. ad Eph. c. xx.) occurs the phrase, “the dispensation of the New Man, even Christ.” If this was written as early as a.d. 110 it is an important comment here.

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. See further, our note on Eph 4:24.

is renewed ] Lit. and better, is being renewed; a present not aorist participle. In the parallel place in Eph. “the new man” “ was created,” as a definite fact; here he is continuously “ being renewed,” maintained as it were by a continuous creative act. (Cp. for the verb in a kindred context, 2Co 4:16.) 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. As if the Head, for the member, were evermore “made new,” and so always newly reflected and as it were reproduced in the member. Lightfoot compares, in contrast, Eph 4:22; “the old man is being corrupted, is decaying.”

in knowledge ] Lit. and better, 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. On the word epignsis, see on Col 1:9.

after the image of him that created him ] I.e., so as to be like God, who “created,” constituted, the new creation as He did the old. Cp. the close parallel, Gen 1:26-27; a passage no doubt in St Paul’s mind here.

The reference is to the Father, not the Son, as the Creator; cp. the parallel, Eph 4:22, “created after God;” and the place in Genesis. He is the eternal Original; “the new man” realizes his ideal in likeness to Him, generated by communion with Him in Christ.

Even here, we think, may be traced reverently an allusion to Christ as “the Second Man.” He, truly, is not “ created ” as to His Being and Person, which is necessary and eternal; but as Son of Man, and as Head of His Church, in respect of His Work and Office, Scripture represents Him as the willing Result of the Father’s will. In this respect He, as well as His followers in Him (Eph 2:10), “lives because of the Father” (Joh 6:57). But while this reference lies, as we think, in the depths of the passage, its manifest practical import is that the regenerate member of the blessed Head needs and receives daily “renewal by his Holy Spirit,” leading to a fuller knowledge of, and so a truer likeness to, the Father of Jesus Christ.

The suggestion that “the image” is in fact Christ, (so Chrysostom; cp. above Col 1:15; 2Co 4:4) is not likely in view of the parallel, Eph 4:24, with its simple phrase “according to God.” See Lightfoot’s note.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Which is renewed in knowledge – In Eph 4:24, it is said that the new man is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. In this place it is added that to the renewed soul knowledge is imparted, and it is made in that respect as man was when he was first created. This passage, in connection with Eph 4:24, proves that before man fell he was endowed with righteousness, true holiness, and knowledge. The knowledge here referred to, is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of God. Man was acquainted with his Creator. He resembled him in his capacity for knowledge. He was an intelligent being, and he had an acquaintance with the divine existence and perfections; compare the notes at Rom 5:12. But especially had he that knowledge which is the fear of the Lord; that knowledge of God which is the result of love. Piety, in the Scriptures, is often represented as the knowledge of God; see the notes at Joh 17:3; compare the notes at Eph 3:19.

After the image of him that created him – So as to resemble God. In knowledge he was made in the likeness of his Maker.%%

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Col 3:10

And have put on the new man.

In allusion to the white garments with which the primitive converts having first laid aside their heathen vestments, were wont to be arrayed, St. Paul exhorts the Colossians to put off the old man with his deeds, and to put on the new man. Christians should no more dishonour God and disgrace religion by any of the vices and passions of their natural state, than a courtier should insult his prince by appearing before him in squalid and ragged attire. But this is not enough–this is negative merely. The Christian must also actually array himself in the white and becoming dress of his new character and relation; as a courtier would not only abstain from insulting his prince by wearing defiled and mean garments, but would also be studious to attire himself, when approaching his presence, with the suitable and ornamental dress which he knew was required. (Bishop D. Wilson.)

Which is being renewed.–Divine creation is not a mere mechanical work. It is wholly different from all work of ours. The builder builds a house, and when it is built he has done with it, and may never see it again; still the house stands. An artist paints his picture; it passes from the easel, it is hung in the gallery; he has done with it; he does not stand there day by day, with brush and palette, keeping the yellows brilliant, and the purples rich, and the browns mellow. A poet writes his verses, prints them, and he has done with them. The pathos, beauty, music remain; they touch the heart, charm the ear, kindle the imagination of millions in many ages and lands long after his own heart has ceased to throb, and the fire of his own genius is quenched. This is not the kind of relation between God and His creatures. He transcends the universe, but is immanent in it; it only exists as long as He sustains it. If He were to let it go it would pass into chaos–into nothing. Its enduring forces are the witnesses of His eternal power. The universe, this vast temple which God has made for Himself, would not stand if the Builder were to leave it; its foundations would shake, its walls be rent, it would sink in ruins. The glory of the mountain, lake, and river would not remain like the artists picture, if the Divine Artist were to leave it, every outline would lose its firmness and grace, every colour its softness or its strength, and the canvas would forget the beauty which had covered it. The revelation of thought which God has given in all created things would not remain if He, the great Teacher and Poet, ceased to live or ceased to speak; the great poem would perish, it remains only as long as living inspiration is in it. God creates, and, as we are accustomed to say, sustains. But the word is inadequate; it suggests too mechanical and external a relation between God and what He has made. His action might almost be described as a continuous creation. His power is within every created thing, active, persistent, or what He has created would cease to be. His thought is within every created thing, determining, maintaining its form, the characteristic mode of its existence. The sun rises over sea and land, and creates the day; but the sun renews the day from moment to moment, or the day would pass back into night. So were it not for the great power of God ever active, all things would cease to be. The new man was created by Him; day by day the new man is kept new by the fresh and continuous activity of the same power that brought it into being. Every moment, in a true sense, we are born again, just as the stream has the continuous birth from the mountain, and the light from the sun; every moment we are arising anew from the dead, every moment there passes into us afresh the energy of the creative power; we are being renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created us, And, therefore, as we begin to live in answer to our faith, so we continue to live in answer to our faith. We never stand apart and alone. Yesterdays inspiration gives us no light to-day; the power of the Holy Ghost that was active in us yesterday is unavailing for to-days righteousness. And this new life is also a life of continuous prayer. What is the real meaning of indisposition to prayer? It means that the spirit of independence is mastering us, and for us independence means death. We are living only as God lives in us. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

The Image of God restored to men

I. Man was created in the image of God. Righteous as God was righteous he saw God in his own nature; other intelligent creatures saw God in him; and God in His offspring saw Himself.

2. The image of God is now defaced. The substance remains, but its glorious attributes are gone. The form abides but the glorious features are not there.

3. To be right and blessed men must recover this image. Without likeness to God we are unable to appreciate His revelations, and incapable of filial intercourse.

4. By his own power or with the assistance of his fellows, no man can recover it. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, therefore he must be born not of blood, etc., but of God.

I. God has made provision for the renewal of his image in man.

1. This provision consists in–

(1) The atonement which justifies Gods interposition for mans regeneration. If without a sacrifice God had restored man, the idea of misfortune, not guilt, would have been associated with mans fallen state. But now sin appears exceeding sinful.

(2) The living Mediator is the way for man to God–as the source of life and light.

(3) The testimony of Gods Word informs men of the atonement and Mediator. How can they avail themselves of what they have not heard?

(4) The Holy Spirit so acts upon the heart as to produce sympathy with the testimony of the gospel; and under His influence men believe Gods Word and are born again.

2. There is provision: the recovery of Gods image is possible. The aged cannot become young, the diseased healthful, the mutilated whole; but man may be renewed. Nature illustrates this. Trees shed their leaves in autumn, and remain in winter as though dead. In the spring the sap rises and circulates, the branches extend, and the foliage returns. The plumage of the bird loses its vigour and gloss, but moulting recovers strength and restores beauty. The human body is exhausted through the waste of its functional operations, and for its renewal we have provision in feed and sleep. And for the soul there is as real a provision. Let none despair. There is balm in Gilead, etc.

3. This provision is of God. He first thought of making it, not man; and He has carried out this design.

(1) The creative power of God is unlimited. The things which are impossible with men, etc.

(2) Power connected with malevolence is a fearful combination, but how changed the aspect of power when the hand and arm of love. What benevolence is here. Behold what manner of love, etc.

This proves–

(1) That God is faultless concerning the entrance of evil.

(2) That He has no complacency in the evil of men.

(3) That he has no pleasure in the death either of holiness or joy.

(4) That He delights in mercy.

4. There is but one provision. If men could have restored themselves or each other, God would not have made provision. As you cannot respire by the light, nor see by the air, but vice versa, so you cannot be regenerated by intellectual or social education.

II. Men are, through the Divine provision, actually regenerated into the image of God.

1. Its sphere.

(1) Not the body, although regeneration does effect salutary changes here. Where vice has reigned, regeneration arrests disease and restores health. Where passions have been dominant, the countenance is changed. It also affects temporal circumstances by improving habits.

(2) The soul is its true seat, and the change consists in the leading forth Godwards of all its powers, and the awakening of all its susceptibilities.

(a) A renewed man thinks, and his knowledge is of God and Christ.

(b) He feels, and his affections are led away from the unlawful and are fixed on the good.

(c) His conscience is rectified and made sensitive, and His will and actions are brought under its control.

(d) Over the world he is a conqueror.

(e) He is made like Christ, and through Christ like God.

2. Its nature.

(1) It is radical and general. It penetrates to the core of the soul, and spreads itself over the entire surface. The likeness of a statue to its subject is merely on the face of the marble; as you get below you reach the unlike.

(2) Its perfection is a work of time. A man is born again so soon as he believes in Christ; but into the likeness of God he grows up. Conclusion: Such changes are ejected, and cannot be questioned. Joh 1:13, Jam 1:13, and 1Pe 1:23 hold good to-day everywhere.

1. When the provision of Gods mercy for the regeneration of the race is unknown, no such change is observed to take place.

2. When regeneration does take place, the remedial dispensation of the gospel is acknowledged as the means. (S. Martin.)

Religious affections arise from spiritual enlightenment

In order to have the love of Divine things, in the exercise of which religion consists, the soul must be spiritually enlightened so as to apprehend them.

I. The Scriptures teach that gracious affections arise from spiritual understanding (1Jn 4:7; Php 1:9; Rom 10:2; Psa 93:3-4; Joh 6:45; Luk 11:52).

1. Affections which arise from external impressions on the imagination are not gracious.

2. The same is true of those which are awakened by texts of Scripture which come to the mind without carrying any instruction in them. When Christ makes the Scriptures a means of the heart burning with gracious affections, it is by opening tile Scriptures to mens understandings (Luk 24:32).

3. Affections that have their ground in bodily sensation, freedom of speech in prayer, aptness of thought, and the like, are not derived from spiritual instruction. Hence the affection is not gracious, unless the light in the understanding, which is its origin, be spiritual. There is, therefore, a spiritual, supernatural understanding of Divine things that is peculiar to the saints, and which those who are not saints know nothing of (1Co 2:14; 1Jn 3:6).

II. This spiritual enlightenment consists in a sense of the heart of the supreme beauty and sweetness of the holiness or moral perfection of Divine things, together with all that discerning and knowledge of the things of religion that depends upon and flows from such a sense.

1. There is tans a difference between speculative knowledge and that which is experimental (Rom 2:20; 2Co 2:14).

2. He is led by the Spirit who is first instructed in his duty, and then powerfully inclined to comply with such Divine instruction.

III. some conclusions.

1. This spiritual sense will enable the soul to determine what actions are right and becoming to Christians more readily than the greatest abilities without it.

2. This sense will be distinguished from forms of enthusiasm and supposed discoveries of truth and communications other than those which the Scriptures have always contained.

3. Satan and evil spirits have power to tempt us through the imagination. We need to guard against vain imaginations.

4. We need to distinguish between lively imaginations that spring from strong affections, and strong affections that arise from lively imaginations. What is external and natural in its origin cannot be spiritual and gracious. (L. O. Thompson.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 10. And have put on the new man] See on Ro 12:1-2 (note).

Is renewed in knowledge] 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.

After the image of him that created him] We have already seen that God made man in his own image; and we have seen in what that image consisted. See Clarke on Ge 1:26, and on Eph 4:23; Eph 4:24. Does not the apostle refer here to the case of an artist, who wishes to make a perfect resemblance of some exquisite form or person? God in this case is the artist, man is the copy, and God himself the original from which this copy is to be taken. Thus, then, man is made by his Creator, not according to the image or likeness of any other being, but according to his own; the image , of the Creator. And as the Divine nature cannot exist in forms or fashions, moral qualities alone are those which must be produced. Hence the apostle, interpreting the words of Moses, says that the image in which man was made, and in which he must be remade, , made anew, consists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

And have put on the new man: (To see number 1: See Poole on “Col 3:9“).

2. Vivification, or renovation; this he connecteth with the former, continuing the metaphor. As in natural generation the expulsion of the old form is attended with the introduction of the new, so in spiritual regeneration, having put off the old Adam they had put on the new, i.e. Christ, not only sacramentally, Col 2:12,13; Ga 3:27, but really, being new creatures in Christ Jesus, 2Co 5:17; Eph 2:10, renewed in the inward man, Rom 7:22; 2Co 4:16; See Poole on “Eph 3:16“, See Poole on “Eph 4:24“; and endowed with a new frame of heart and a new spirit, Eze 11:19; Joh 3:5,6, new qualities and affections.

Which is renewed in knowledge; the understanding being savingly enlightened, and the will powerfully inclined by the victorious working of the Spirit, Eph 1:18-20; See Poole on “Eph 4:23“, with Phi 2:13; 2Th 2:13,14; and brought to more than a speculative, even to a lively and effectual knowledge, 1Jo 2:3.

After the image of him that created him; agreeable to the impress of him that had new framed or created them in Christ Jesus, 1Co 15:49; 1Pe 1:15,16, by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, Tit 3:5; for as the natural image of God consisted in knowledge and righteousness; so it was requsite that the spiritual image restored by grace should consist in the rectifying of the faculties of the soul, the understanding with spiritual knowledge, and the will with a spiritual inclination to embrace the things that please God; in communion with whom sanctified souls do take in hand a new course of life, and move therein, in a spiritually natural way.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

10. the new man(See on Eph4:23). Here (neon) the Greek, means “therecently-put-on nature”; that lately received atregeneration (see on Eph 4:23, 24).

which is renewedGreek,“which is being renewed” (anakainottmenou); namely,its development into a perfectly renewed nature is continuallyprogressing to completion.

in knowledgerather asthe Greek, “unto perfect knowledge” (see on Col1:6; Col 1:9, 10). Perfectknowledge of God excludes all sin (Joh17:3).

after the image of him thatcreated himnamely, of God that created the new man(Eph 2:10; Eph 4:24).The new creation is analogous to the first creation (2Co4:6). As man was then made in the image of God naturally, so nowspiritually. But the image of God formed in us by the Spirit of God,is as much more glorious than that borne by Adam, as the Second Man,the Lord from heaven, is more glorious than the first man. Ge1:26, “Let us make man in our image, after ourlikeness.” The “image” is claimed for man, 1Co11:7; the “likeness,” Jas3:9. ORIGEN [OnFirst Principles, 3:6] taught, the image was something inwhich all were created, and which continued to man after the fall (Ge9:6). The likeness was something towards which manwas created, that he might strive after it and attain it. TRENCHthinks God in the double statement (Ge1:26), contemplates both man’s first creation and his being”renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that createdHim.”

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And have put on the new man,…. Concerning which, and the putting it on, [See comments on Eph 4:24],

which is renewed in knowledge; this man, or principle of grace in the soul, is a new one, which never was there before; and there is a daily renovation of it in the spirit of the mind, by the Spirit of God; for as the outward man decays, the inward man, which is the same with this new man, is renewed day by day, increases in holiness and righteousness, grows in grace, and particularly in “knowledge”; light and knowledge of a man’s self, of his lost state and condition by nature, of his need of Christ, and of his salvation, is what appears at the first formation of this new man; and the daily renovation of him lies in an increase of spiritual, experimental, and saving knowledge of God, and Christ, and divine things; and indeed, until a man becomes a new creature, he neither knows, nor is he capable of knowing, the things of the Spirit of God; so that this new man, or principle of grace, begins with spiritual knowledge, and is formed in order to it, and its increase lies in it:

after the image of him that created him; the new man; for this is a creation work, and so not man’s, but God’s; and is made not after the image of the first man, no not as innocent, and much less as fallen; but after the image of Christ, to which the elect of God are predestinated to he conformed, and which is stamped in regeneration; and more and more appears by every transforming view of Christ, and will be perfected in heaven, when they shall see him as he is, and be perfectly like him, who is not only the pattern, but the Creator of it, even the author and finisher of faith.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

And have put on ( ). First aorist middle participle (in causal sense as before) of , old and common verb (Latin induo, English endue) for putting on a garment. Used of putting on Christ (Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14).

The new man ( ). “The new (young as opposed to old ) man” (though is not here expressed, but understood from the preceding phrase). In Eph 4:24 Paul has (fresh as opposed to worn out) .

Which is being renewed ( ). Present passive articular participle of . Paul apparently coined this word on the analogy of . already existed (Heb 6:6). Paul also uses (Rom 12:2; Titus 3:5) found nowhere before him. By this word Paul adds the meaning of to that of just before. It is a continual refreshment () of the new (, young) man in Christ Jesus.

Unto knowledge ( ). “Unto full (additional) knowledge,” one of the keywords in this Epistle.

After the image (‘ ). An allusion to Gen 1:26; Gen 1:28. The restoration of the image of God in us is gradual and progressive (2Co 3:18), but will be complete in the final result (Rom 8:29; 1John 3:2).

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

New [] . See on Mt 26:29. Compare Eph 5:24. Is renewed [] . Rev., better, giving the force of the present participle, is being renewed : in process of continuous renewal. The word kainov new, which enters into the composition of the verb, gives the idea of quality. Compare 2Co 4:16, and the contrast in Eph 4:22.

In knowledge [ ] . Rev., correctly, unto knowledge, the end to which the renewal tended. Compare Eph 4:13.

After the image. Construe with renewed. Compare Eph 4:24, and see Gen 1:26, 27.

Where there is [ ] . Where, in the renewed condition; there is, better, as Rev., can be : eni strengthened from ejn in signifies not merely the fact but the impossibility : there is no room for.

Greek, Jew, etc. Compare Gal 3:28. National, ritual, intellectual, and social diversities are specified. The reference is probably shaped by the conditions of the Colossian church, where the form of error was partly Judaistic and ceremonial, insisting on circumcision; where the pretense of superior knowledge affected contempt for the rude barbarian, and where the distinction of master and slave had place as elsewhere.

Circumcision. For the circumcised. So Rom 4:12; Eph 2:11; Phi 3:3.

Barbarian, Scythian. See on 1Co 14:11. The distinction is from the Greek and Roman point of view, where the line is drawn by culture, as between the Jew and the Greek it was drawn by religious privilege. From the former stand – point the Jew ranked as a barbarian. Scythian. “More barbarous than the barbarians” (Bengel). Hippocrates describes them as widely different from the rest of mankind, and like to nothing but themselves, and gives an absurd description of their physical peculiarities. Herodotus describes them as living in wagons, offering human sacrifices, scalping and sometimes flaying slain enemies, drinking their blood, and using their skulls for drinking – cups. When a king dies, one of his concubines is strangled and buried with him, and, at the close of a year, fifty of his attendants are strangled, disemboweled, mounted on dead horses, and left in a circle round his tomb. 203 The Scythians passed through Palestine on their road to Egypt, B. C. 600, and a trace of their invasion is supposed to have existed in the name Scythopolis, by which Beth Shean 204 was known in Christ ‘s time. Ezekiel apparently refers to them (xxxviii., 39.) under the name Gog, which reappears in Revelation. See on Rev 20:8. 2 05 Bowels of mercies [ ] . See on 1Pe 3:8; 2Co 1:3. Rev., a heart of compassion.

Kindness [] . See on Rom 3:12.

Meekness [] . See on Mt 5:5.

Long – suffering [] . See on Jas 5:7.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And have put on the new man” (kai endusamenoi ton neon) and having put on the new man;” in practical testimony, profession, and identity with Jesus Christ and the Church; Jesus is “the truth.” The Church is the support of “the truth” and the church members should be witnesses of the same, Joh 14:6; 1Ti 3:15; Act 1:8.

2) “Which is renewed in knowledge” (ton anakalnoumenon. eis epignosin) “The one already renewed in full knowledge” being renewed, or in a renewed state, continually to be expressed in conduct that is “fresh” “different”, or new in relationship to former behavior, 2Co 4:16.

3) “After the image of him that created him”” (kat’ eikona tou ktisantos auton) “according to the image of the one creating him;” or after the likeness of the living image of Jesus Christ, whose mind, will, disposition, and holy conduct each believer is to pattern and walk his life, Rom 8:29; 2Co 3:18; Php_2:5-11.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

10. Which is renewed in knowledge. He shews in the first place, that newness of life consists in knowledge — not as though a simple and bare knowledge were sufficient, but he speaks of the illumination of the Holy Spirit, which is lively and effectual, so as not merely to enlighten the mind by kindling it up with the light of truth, but transforming the whole man. And this is what he immediately adds, that we are renewed after the image of God. Now, the image of God resides in the whole of the soul, inasmuch as it is not the reason merely that is rectified, but also the will. Hence, too, we learn, on the one hand, what is the end of our regeneration, that is, that we may be made like God, and that his glory may shine forth in us; and, on the other hand, what is the image of God, of which mention is made by Moses in Gen 9:6, (440) the rectitude and integrity of the whole soul, so that man reflects, like a mirror, the wisdom, righteousness, and goodness of God. He speaks somewhat differently in the Epistle to the Ephesians, but the meaning is the same. See the passage — Eph 4:24. Paul, at the same time, teaches, that there is nothing more excellent at which the Colossians can aspire, inasmuch as this is our highest perfection and blessedness to bear the image of God.

(440) “ De laquelle Moyse fait mention au Gen 1:0, chap. c. 26, et 9, b. 6;” — “Of which Moses makes mention in Gen 1:26.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(10) The new man, which is (being) renewed.There are here the same two different words which are found in the parallel passage. (See Notes on Eph. 4:22-24). The new man is here properly the youthful man which is renewed, that is, to which is given a nature really fresh and new.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

(10-17) In these verses we have the corresponding positive exhortation, connected with the idea of resurrection with Christ, through which we put on the new man, holding Christ to be our all in all. Of the new nature there are two markstowards man love in all its various forms, towards God thanksgiving and living to His glory.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

10. And have put on the new man The regenerate nature, attained in the new birth, which is a new creation. Their action was a free submission of themselves to God’s working in them by his renewing power. This state, utterly incompatible at the outset with a life of selfishness and impurity, is one of growth and development. It is a characteristic of the new man that it is continually being renewed more and more after the image of Christ, the creator of this new man, who in himself (Col 1:15) “the image of the invisible God.” His likeness is more or less perfectly created in every regenerate heart.

In knowledge Rather, unto full knowledge, namely, of God. As the new birth gives us our first knowledge of him, growth increases our knowledge. As Olshausen (followed by Alford) points out, the intellectual aspect of the divine image is here put forward, while Eph 4:24 exhibits its ethical character. Perfect knowledge of God is, then, the end of the new creation.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Col 3:10 . The positive aspect of the transformation (regeneration) wrought by God through conversion to Christ; and since ye have put on , etc.

] The collective new Christian-ethical condition, conceived as personified and set forth objectively , so that it appears as becoming individually appropriated by the putting on. It might, with equal propriety, be designated from the point of view of time as the homo recens in contrast to the decayed and worn-out nature of the pre-Christian moral condition (comp. the in 1Co 5:7 ), as from the point of view of the new, altogether different, and previously non-existent quality as the homo novus . It is the former here, [149] the latter in Eph 4:23 (comp. also Col 2:15 ), where . is used. See regarding the difference between the two words, Tittmann, Synon . p. 59 ff. The specification of quality is then further added by . . . . The notion of not growing old (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Erasmus) is not implied in .

] The homo recens, so far, namely, as the converted person has appropriated it as his moral individuality , is not something ready-made and finished, but (comp. 2Co 4:16 ) in a state of development (through the Holy Spirit, Rom 7:6 ; Rom 8:2 ; Tit 3:5 ), by means of which there is produced in him a new character and quality specifically different from that of the old man. Comp. Rom 12:2 . Hence the present participle, which is neither to be taken as imperfect (B.-Crusius), nor as renewing itself (Bleek); and does not refer to the relation of re -establishment, [150] namely, of the justitia originalis (since does not directly mean the first creation), but only to the old constitution, the transformation and new-moulding ( renewal ) of which forms the process of development of the . Comp. Winer, de verb. c. praepos. compos . p. 10 f. The of the . is relative . In Greek authors is not found, but is (Isocr. Areop. 3, Rev 2Rev 2 , p. 13; Plut. Marcell . 6), Heb 6:6 ; also in the LXX.

] is to be taken along with the following . . . , and with this expresses the end aimed at by the . Through the latter there is to be produced a knowledge, which accords with the image of God . Comp. Beza. God, as respects His absolute knowledge, i.e . a knowledge absolutely adequate to its objects, is the model, with which the relative knowledge of the regenerate to be attained in the course of their being renewed, i.e . their increasing penetration into divine truth, is to be accordant. And the more it is so the more fully it has developed itself in accordance with the divine ideal the more is it also the determining power and the living practical agent of the whole conduct, so that all those vices enumerated in Col 3:8 are excluded by it, and even become morally impossible. Hofmann rightly takes . . as the more precise description of , though defining the sense to this effect, that the new man “ everywhere looks to, and estimates everything by the consideration, whether he finds the stamp of this image .” But, in that case, an object ( ) would necessarily stand with , and the idea of or would be substituted for that of . The . . . is usually connected with . and . taken by itself, in connection with which Steiger, Huther, de Wette, and Bleek (comp. also Ewald) arbitrarily adopt the view, that the prominent mention of the knowledge was occasioned by a polemic opposition to the false teachers and their tendencies to false gnosis . But how abrupt, isolated, and indefinite would the . thus stand! No; the subsequent . . . just serves as a more precise characteristic definition for the in theory and practice so extremely important point of Christian knowledge. The expression of this definition in this particular way comes very naturally to Paul, because he is speaking of the homo recens creatus , in connection with which, after the analogy of the creation of Adam, the idea of the image of God naturally floated before his mind, the image which that first-created man had , and which the recens creatus is to attain and present by way of copy in that towards which he is being developed, in the . This development is only completed in the , 1Co 13:12 ; for its aim before the Parousia, see Eph 4:13 f.

] A description of God , harmonizing with the conception of the , who is God’s creature . Comp. on Eph 4:24 . It is erroneous, with Chrysostom, Theophylact, Ewald, and others, to understand Christ [151] as referred to; for creating is invariably represented in Scripture as the work of God (even in Col 1:16 ), and especially here where a parallel is instituted with the creation of Adam after God’s image. Comp. Eph 2:10 ; Eph 4:24 . Olshausen, indeed, understands . . to mean God, but would have the image of God, in accordance with Col 1:15 , taken of Christ , who is the archetype of man. There is no ground for this view in the context, which, on the contrary, reminds us simply of Gen 1:27 ; comp. , in Eph 4:24 , a simpler expression, which has found here a significant more precise definition out of the riches of the apostle’s store of ideas (not a fanciful variation, as Holtzmann thinks) in vivid reproduction.

] must refer to the , whom God has created by regeneration, not to . alone (“which is the substance, on which the old and new qualities appear as accidents,” de Wette), as the orthodox explanation is forced to assume contrary to the text; see e.g . Calovius: “Per imaginem ejus, qui creavit ipsum, imago Dei, quae in prima creatione nobis concessa vel concreata est, intelligitur, ad quam nos renovamur , quaeque in nobis reparatur per Spiritum sanctum, quae ratione intellectus consistebat in cognitione Dei, ut ratione voluntatis in justitia et sanctitate, Eph 4:24 . Per verbum itaque non nova creatio, sed vetus illa et primaeva intelligitur, quia in Adamo conditi omnes sumus ad imaginem Dei in cognitione Dei.” Rather, the divine creation of the new man had that primaevam creationem for its sacred-historical type, and is the work of salvation antitypically corresponding with it, which the Creator has done in Christ; hence also Paul has not written (as Philippi, l.c . p. 376, thinks might have been expected), but , comp. Col 1:24 , Col 2:10 ; 2Co 5:17 ; also Jas 1:18 .

[149] In the ethical sense Christians are, as it were, the (Blomfield, Gloss. Pers. 674) of humanity.

[150] “Renovatus autem dicitur novus ille homo, quia novus quondam fuit in prima creatione,” Calovius. Comp. Steiger, Huther, de Wette, Philippi, Dogm. II. p. 375 ff., Exo 2 , and many others. Thus we should have for the , not the conception of a nova creatura ( , 2Co 5:17 ; Gal 6:15 ), but that of a redintegrata creatura. But it is to a new life that the believer is regenerated, raised up, etc. by God. This new creation is not the redintegratio of the first, though it is its antitype, as Christ Himself, so far as in Him the new creation is founded and begun ( how, see Rom 5:15 ; Rom 5:17-19 ; Rom 6:1 ff.), is the antitype of Adam (Rom 5:14 ; 1Co 15:45 ). Consequently this passage is only indirectly probative for the doctrine of the image of God as innate.

[151] So also Julius Mller, v. d. Snde, II. p. 496, Exo 5 ; see, on the other hand, Ernesti, Urspr. der Snde, II. p. 133 ff.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

10 And have put on the new man , which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Ver. 10. After the image ] If moral virtue could be beheld with mortal eyes, saith the philosopher, it would stir up wonderful loves of itself. How much more would the image of God in the hearts of his people! See Trapp on “ Eph 4:24 “

Of him that created him ] Adam and Eve were not then created simple and stupid, and without the use of reason; else they would not have been so deceived; as the Rabbis, and, after them, the Socinians have dreamed.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Col 3:10 . . In Eph 4:24 we have , “fresh” (as opposed to “worn out”); is new as opposed to old. The idea contained in . is here expressed by . Some (including Sod.) regard “the new man” as Christ, according to which “the old man” will be Adam. But this is negatived by the next verse, for if the new man is Christ, would be a strange tautology. . is also against it, though we have ., Gal 4:19 . It is the regenerate self, regenerate, of course, because united with Christ. : “being renewed,” the present expressing the continuous process of renewal ( cf. 2Co 4:16 ). There is no reference to a restoration to a former state. : not to be connected (as by Mey. and Hofm.) with , which would give a strange and obscure thought, but to be taken as the object of the renewal. The knowledge is ethical rather than theoretical in this connexion. : to be taken with . There is a clear allusion to Gen 1:26-28 , the new self grows to be more and more the image of God. There may perhaps be a side reference to “ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” in . : i.e. , God, not (as Chrys. and others) Christ. Some take . . . . to mean “according to Christ”. It is true that Christ is the image of God, but the parallel , in Eph 4:24 , makes this improbable, and we should have expected the article before .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

have = having.

put on. See Rom 13:12, Rom 13:14.

new. Greek. neos. See Mat 9:17.

renewed. See 2Co 4:16.

in. App-104.

knowledge. App-132.

after. App-104.

image = pattern. See Col 1:11.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Col 3:10. , the new man renewed) lb., Col 3:24, note.- , to [or in] knowledge) of the truth (ch. Col 1:6; Col 1:9-10), by which all love of lying is destroyed.- , according to the image) This image consists in perfect truth.- , of Him that created him [viz. the new man]) i.e. of God, Eph 4:24 : compare ib., ch. Col 2:10. Regeneration is indicated by the word creation, from which the image results.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Col 3:10

Col 3:10

and have put on the new man,-This is the new life into which they were led by faith in Christ Jesus. Faith in Christ leads man to seek to conform his spirit and life to the life of Christ

that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him:-Jesus Christ created him. By obtaining a knowledge of Christ and his will, our spiritual being is changed into the likeness of Christ. That is, we learn to think, feel, purpose, and act like Christ. So the heart, the inner man, is made into his image or likeness, and through this the body is brought to obey his will. [Knowledge is the aim of the renewal and the creator is its pattern: therefore the knowledge aimed at must be a human counterpart of the creators infinite knowledge. As the renewal makes progress, we shall in greater measure share Gods knowledge of all that he has made and done. In other words, spiritual growth is growth in intelligence of spiritual things.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

created

(See Scofield “Eph 4:24”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

put: Col 3:12, Col 3:14, Job 29:14, Isa 52:1, Isa 59:17, Rom 13:12, Rom 13:14, 1Co 15:53, 1Co 15:54, Gal 3:27, Eph 4:24

the new: Eze 11:19, Eze 18:31, Eze 36:26, 2Co 5:17, Gal 6:15, Eph 2:10, Eph 2:15, Eph 4:24, Rev 21:5

renewed: Psa 51:10, Rom 12:2, Eph 4:23, Heb 6:6

knowledge: Joh 17:3, 2Co 3:18, 2Co 4:6, 1Jo 2:3, 1Jo 2:5

after: Gen 1:26, Gen 1:27, Eph 2:10, Eph 4:23, Eph 4:24, 1Pe 1:14, 1Pe 1:15

Reciprocal: Gen 5:1 – in the likeness Isa 19:25 – Blessed Zec 3:4 – and I will Mat 22:11 – which Rom 6:4 – even Rom 6:6 – that our Rom 7:6 – serve 1Co 1:5 – and in 1Co 15:46 – that which is natural 2Co 4:16 – is Gal 4:19 – Christ Eph 6:11 – Put Phi 1:9 – in knowledge Tit 3:5 – renewing 1Pe 3:4 – the hidden 2Pe 1:4 – ye might 2Pe 3:18 – knowledge

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

(Col 3:10.) , . As the old man is thrown off the new man is assumed. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, the apostle inserts between the off-putting and the on-putting a clause in reference to renewal in the spirit of the mind, and there using a different adjective he calls the new man , but he had previously used the verb . Here, he says [b, but he adds . So that though it be in different forms, both terms are employed in both places. If the verbal term from be followed by the epithet in Ephesians, and if in Colossians the epithet be followed by the verbal term from , it is plain that the same general meaning is intended by the apostle. Though and may be distingu shed, their meaning is thus blended. If be recent, and in this sense be opposed to , then this recency springs from renewal. The one man is old, for he belonged to a past and former state; and the other is new, for his assumption was to them but a novelty, a matter of yesterday in their spiritual experience.

This man is new not only in point of time, but of quality or character, for he is renewed- . It is not the idea of Paul in this expression, that the new man, still renewing, never grows old, -as the Greek expositors imagine. Rather would we say, with Calovius, that he is called re-novatus, because he was once novus at his first creation, and as the preposition would fairly seem to imply. Man must be brought back to his original purity, but the process of renovation is continuous, as the use of the present participle indicates. Bhr quotes Augustine as saying-in ipso animo renati non est perfecta novitas. We cannot take the participle to be simply a predicate of , for the construction points out its connection with . The new man (the present participle being used) is renewing, as the apostle affirms- -in 2Co 4:6; or, as Theophylact says, .

In the phrase , the preposition cannot signify the instrumental cause of the renewal, but it denotes the final purpose. The new man is renewed unto knowledge. The meaning of may be seen under Eph 1:17; and in this epistle, Col 1:9; Col 2:2. And that perfect knowledge has a close connection with God, for it is characterized as being-

-After the image of Him who created him. A large number of expositors connect the clause directly with the participle , the image of God being the pattern after which the believer is renewed. Meyer joins it more closely to , but the meaning is not materially different. The likeness is renewed after the image of God, and the special feature of that image selected by the apostle is knowledge. The knowledge of the renewed man corresponds in certain elements to that of God. Other features of resemblance of a moral nature are referred to in the parallel passage, Eph 4:24. That image is said to belong to God the creator, not Christ, as was supposed in the early church, and as is understood by Mller. A peculiar exegesis is adopted by a-Lapide and Schleiermacher, the former making the object of the knowledge; and the latter thus explaining the image-so erneuet, dass man an ihm das Ebenbild Gottes erkennen kann.

But what creation is referred to? Is it the first or the second creation? Many incline to the first view, as if the apostle meant that man is brought back to that likeness which God gave him on the day of creation. So Calovius, Heinsius, Estius, Schoettgen, and De Wette. But though this be a truth, it is not that precise form of truth conveyed by the apostle’s language. It is not of man generally, but of the new man that he speaks-the new man renewed unto knowledge after the image of Him who created him, to wit, the new man. The apostle does not say-who created you. The new man is the converted spiritual nature, not the man himself in proper person. It is this creation of the new man, not that of the man himself, which is ascribed to God. Thus, the parallel passage in Eph 4:24 says expressly-the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. This new nature is of God, and not of self-development. All creation is indeed from God, and this new creation is no exception. The new man is not the ethical symbol of a mere reformation which a strong will may achieve; nor is it any change of creed, party, or opinions, which is the result of personal examination and conviction. These are but as statuary, compared with living humanity; for however close the resemblance, there is always, in spite of highest art, the still eye and the motionless lip. Yes, God’s work is a living power, something so compact and richly endowed, so fitted to our nature, and so much a part of us as to be called a man, but at the same time so foreign to all previous powers and enjoyments as to be called the new man.

As the first man was made by God, and in His image, so is this new man. The special point of resemblance stated is knowledge. This may have been selected, as an allusion to the boasted knowledge and proud philosophy of the false teachers in Colosse. Col 2:2. There are, it is true, many points in which our relative knowledge shall never, and can never, resemble the absolute Divine omniscience. But as the Spirit is the source of our knowledge, no one can predict what amount of it, or what forms of it, He may communicate when the mind is freed from every shadow and bias, and is surrounded with an atmosphere of universal truth. Human language is necessarily an imperfect vehicle of thought, and it may then be dispensed with. Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face,-our conceptions shall resemble God’s in fulness and truth; for no dim medium of intellectual vision shall shade or disturb our views. Immediate cognition shall also be our privilege-now we know in part, but then shall we know, even as we are known.

In accordance with that strange theory by which Mller would account for the origin of sin-a theory at once above the domain of consciousness and beyond the limits of Scripture, he denies that there is any biblical warrant for the idea that man, having lost the image of God by the fall, has it restored to him under the gospel by the renovating influence of the Spirit of God. His notion of a pre-temporal state, in which man fell, when, how, or where, he does not say, necessitates him to the conclusion, that when Adam fell, man lost nothing, but that there was only awakened in him the consciousness of a previous want and deficiency, so that sinful principles already within him acquired universal dominion over the human race. A transition, on the part of Adam, from an absolutely pure state into one of sin, is not, he holds, necessarily contained in the inspired record. The narrative of the first sin, as well as the description of that condition which preceded it, does not of necessity lead us to any further idea than that of an initial state in which sin has not yet made its appearance, and does not imply, that Adam through his fall implanted in human nature a principle previously foreign to it. Mller’s inference, of course, is, that it cannot be properly said that the Divine image is restored to man, seeing that on earth, at least, he never possessed it. The passage before us, and the parallel passage in Eph 4:24, certainly affirm that the new man is the reflection of the Divine image in some of its features. They do not indeed affirm, in as many words, that he becomes possessed of the same Divine image which he once enjoyed. But the statement is virtually implied. Had man never this Divine image, and does he enjoy it for the first time through faith in Christ? The new man, Mller says, & ldq uo;is the holy form of human life which results from redemption. Now, not to say that the very idea of redemption, reconciliation, or renewal, implies a restoration to some previous state in which none of them was needed, there being in that state no penalty to be ransomed from, no enmity to be subdued, and no impurity to be cleansed away-let us see what revelation teaches as to man’s primeval condition and his possession of the Divine image.

The idea of non-temporal sinfulness we must discard as a speculation about which Scripture is completely silent, and which, putting the lapse of ideal humanity beyond the period of paradise, only shifts back the difficulty in proportion, but does not explain it. In Gen 1:26-27; Gen 5:1, we are told that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but no formal explanation of the phraseology is attached. Opinions have varied as to the meaning of the peculiar phrase; some, like Pott, Rosenmller, and von Bohlen, placing it almost in physical form, rising scarcely as high as the heathen Ovid; some regarding it as a general expression of the dignity of the race, like Herder, Schumann, Delitzsch, and Knobel; others finding in it the idea of dominion over the lower creatures-like Ephrem, Grotius, and Tuch; and others, as Calvin, and the majority of the Reformers and Theologians, regarding it too exclusively as the symbol of spiritual capacities and powers.

But what do we gather from Scripture? In the edict against murder, Gen 9:6, the atrocity of the crime is taught by the doctrine, that in the image of God made He man. On this express account the life of animals formally delivered into man’s hand for meat, has not the sacredness of human life. Further, the Apostle James (Col 3:9) exposes the rashness and inconsistency of sins of the tongue, blessing God in one breath, and in another cursing man made after the similitude of God. If man did not still retain this image of God, there would be no sin either in killing or cursing him. Therefore this image referred to is something altogether independent of the fact or development of sin in man’s nature, for it is still possessed, and ought to shield him from violence and anathema.

This image, so unaffected by the fall, plainly results from man’s position as a creature. His physical formation is not only noble and supreme, but as a rational and immortal creature, and as God’s representative to the lower creation, he bears the image of God. These endowments yet remain to him. He has not been degraded from the erectness of his mien, nor have reason and immortality been penally wrested from him. And thus through himself he still learns what God is, or rather, is enabled to comprehend lessons on the nature and attributes of God by the analogies of his own mental and spiritual constitution. For, when he is told that God knows or loves, he naturally and necessarily forms his ideas of the Divine knowledge or affection, by feeling what these properties are within himself, and by inferring what they must be when resident in an infinite and unchanging essence. Or if he be informed that God is a person, his own conscious and unmerging individuality leads him at once to attach a correct and definite meaning to the term, and he is in himself a living witness against Pantheistic folly and delusion.

But is this all that is meant by the Divine image? Mller says, that it simply consists in personal essence, and that man is thereby distinguished from other classes of existences. But we apprehend that the expression reaches deeper than this. There are certain properties or privileges which man has forfeited by the fall, and which are affirmed to have been originally possessed or enjoyed by him. Ignorance and spiritual death now characterize him. But is not spiritual intelligence a portion of the Divine image-the reflection of God’s own light? There is also what the apostle, Eph 4:18, calls the life of God, and from that we are now alienated; but would that mere personal essence on which Mller insists, bear any resemblance to God at all, if such vitality did not fill it? A personal essence with the gloom of ignorance within it, and the eclipse of death upon it, could not be recognized as bearing the Divine image. Therefore a mere personality devoid of such intelligence and life, could scarcely be called the image of God, or regarded as constituting the whole of it. And yet, though they formed a portion of that image, they have been lost by the fall, and are reconferred only in Christ. Besides, can any one bear the moral image of God and not be happy-not be a partaker of His immortal blessedness? But dissatisfaction and misery are the doom of fallen humanity, everywhere, and at all times.

That man was once filled with wisdom, purity, life, and happiness, appears to be the repeated statement of Scripture. The theory of Mller consistently says, man never had these on earth, and therefore could not lose them. But the narrative of Genesis, though it do not treat the subject dogmatically, presents the picture of an innocent creature, tempted by the serpent, and doomed for his apostasy to toil and death. Does Prof. Mller believe that the sin of man in an ideal ante-creational state was followed by no penalty? Or was the penalty of this kind, that the sinner was only subjected to another trial in another sphere, with the sad certainty that the germs of evil would ripen into fatal action? The narrative in Genesis must be interpreted in the light of the other and subsequent Scriptures, and they plainly teach that Adam’s transgression is the primary source of prodigious spiritual loss.

Our belief therefore is, that the Divine image, in which man was made, consists of more than personal essence, or dominion over the inferior creatures. These, indeed, belong to it, and are still retained by man. The gospel, therefore, has no effect upon them save to hallow them. Man did not forfeit manhood by his fall, and of necessity, what is essential to his manhood and his position still belongs to him. For his creational relationship to the God above him and the existences beneath him, could not be impaired, or his annihilation or metamorphosis would have been the result. But while manhood has not been lost, its nobler characteristics, without which the original image would have been imperfect, have been obliterated. What belongs to constitution, fallen man has retained; what belongs to quality and character has gone from him. The latter is a portion of the image as much as the former; the image, not of a Divine essence, but of an intelligent, holy, and blessed Divine person. And those features of the image which have been lost through the fall, are given back to the disciples of Christ.

We do not base any argument on the statement that the fallen Adam begat a son in his own image, whereas the Creator made man in His image. Nor do we imagine that any such notion of a double image of God, one essential and incapable of loss, and another moral and liable to be erased, can be found at all in the use of the two terms , H7512 and , H1952, as they are both separated and interchanged in the sacred record. Nor have we begged the question by arguing back from the verse before us, and assuming from the image of the new man created by God, what the image of the first man created by Him must have been. For the apostle does not say that the new man is renewed in knowledge after Him who originally created humanity, but after the image of Him who creates himself-the new man. Indeed, the image conferred in renovation, though generically the same, cannot be in all points identical with that given in creation. It is fuller and lovelier, a richer intelligence with nobler objects of cognition; a higher form of life, having its type in the normal man-the second Adam; both reaching forward to a development to which neither means nor scope could have been found in Eden, or in simple connection with the first man, who is of the earth, earthy. In fine, we are not sure if Mller’s theory does not contain, by implication, what we have advanced. In illustrating the declaration of Paul, that in God we live, move, and have our being, he says-God has willed man to be like Himself, in order that there might be a being which should be capable of fellowship with Him. But surely mere personality could not of itself constitute such a likeness, or lead inherently to such a communion. It must possess other qualities than simple consciousness to give it this resemblance, and fit it for this enjoyment of Him. Therefore these qualities, as we have contended, did and must belong to thi s first image, and being lost in the fall, are and must be restored to the second image, which characterizes and beautifies the new man.

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians

Col 3:10. When a person puts off one suit of apparel, it is usually for the purpose of putting on another. In like manner, after discarding their old garb of sin, the Colossians had put on the new one that was renewed (modeled) after a divine pattern like Christ who created or designed it.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Col 3:10. And have put on the new man. This is coincident in time with the putting off, but in the workings of grace the initiative is with the new man and in virtue of the Divine power creating him (Braune). New is here, young, fresh; in Eph 4:24 the idea is that of newness. But there the former idea is suggested by the verb, here the latter by the following participle; so that no very marked distinction is implied.

Which, or, who. The latter accords better with the personification.

Being renewed; continually, by the Holy Ghost. The new man which was put on is thus developed

Unto full knowledge; possibly in contrast with the knowledge (gnosis) of the false teachers. This perfect knowledge is the aim of the renewal.

After the image of him that created him. Comp. ?Eph 4:2; Eph 4:24. Here, as there, there is an unmistakable allusion to Gen 1:26-27; hence to God (not Christ) as the creator. The entire phrase qualifies renewed, not full knowledge. That was the aim of the renewal, this is its norm. But the passage implies more than a restoration of the image lost by the fall. The first and the new creations are analogous: the Christian is the genuine man; Christianity is true, God-willed humanity(Braune).

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

“And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

3:10 And have put on the new [man], {8} which is renewed in {e} knowledge after the image of him that created him:

(8) Newness of life consists in knowledge which transforms man to the image of God his maker, that is to say to the sincerity and pureness of the whole soul.

(e) He speaks of an effectual knowledge.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The "new self" is who the Christian is after his or her union with Christ. One writer argued that "the new man" refers to the church, the body of Christ. [Note: Darrell L. Bock, "’The New Man’ as Community in Colossians and Ephesians," in Integrity of Heart, Skillfulness of Hands, pp. 158-60.] But this is a minority view. Col 3:10 describes the process of individual sanctification. "True knowledge" (epignosis) is full knowledge of God and His will. Sanctification results in increasing likeness to Christ. Only by sanctification can people attain to the full image of God and Christ that God created them to bear (Gen 1:26-28).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)