Christ, Image of the Creator, and the Renewal of Man

“But now you must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths. Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.”

In Colossians 3:8–10, the apostle Paul uses decisive, direct language, as though setting the believer before a decision that admits no delay, speaking of what must be set aside. Transformation is not completed simply by adding virtues; it also begins by shedding what no longer belongs with the new life.

Paul lists a set of behaviors that belong to the old self: anger, fury, malice, slander, foul language, and lying. These are not merely occasional faults, but expressions of a self-centered logic of life, in which word becomes a tool of harm and relationship becomes a battlefield. That is why the apostle does not ask for these to be “lessened,” but to be cast off entirely. The verb he uses is unambiguous: put away.

But this putting away is not an act of deprivation — it is an act of liberation. Against what is set aside, the text opens a new horizon: you have put on the new self. This new self is not built on denying the body or erasing one’s personality, but on the reshaping of one’s being from within. It is a person on a journey of continual renewal, not turning back, but growing “on the image of its creator.” This image is not an abstract idea, but a living relationship that is restored, healed, and deepened.

And the knowledge to which this renewal leads is not intellectual knowledge or an accumulation of religious information, but existential knowledge — knowledge born of closeness, of walking with Christ and being united to him. It is knowledge that reshapes how one sees oneself, others, and God. Christ is the visible image of the Creator, and in him it becomes clear what it means for a human being to be fully human. The more the new self is formed after his likeness, the more the deep truth of human identity is uncovered.

Renewal, then, is not merely moral reform, but a journey of being conformed to Christ, in which thought is reordered, the heart is purified, and speech is set free. Along this path, the old self recedes gradually — not through suppression, but through the shining of the new life’s light, which grows day by day.

This teaching takes on its full meaning when it is translated into the details of daily life. The new self does not appear only in exceptional moments, but in small reactions: in how one speaks when angry, in choosing silence over insult, in honesty when lying would be easier. The old self is put away every time we refrain from a wounding word or an action that would cause division, and choose instead the path of life.

Renewal in the image of the Creator is likewise revealed in how we relate to others. The knowledge in which the new self grows becomes an inner compass, illuminating the conscience and refining one’s desires, and binding faith to daily action. Thus, at home, at work, and in relationships, Christ is lived not as a slogan, but as a presence that reshapes a person from within, step by step, until the Gospel becomes a visible life. That journey might begin today with a single step: in the first moment of anger we face, replacing a hurtful word with a silent or gentle one.