Bible Strands
Ephesians 4:22
to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Ephesian congregation, positioning this exhortation between what they were taught in Christ (v. 21) and what they are to be renewed in (v. 23). It is the concrete middle: what must be shed before the renewal can take hold.
The words — ἀποθέσθαι (apothesthai), aorist passive infinitive of ἀποτίθημι, literally "to put off," the same verb used for removing a garment. The image is undressing, not merely ceasing a habit.
The thread — The "put off" language recurs in Romans 6:6 (old self crucified), Hebrews 12:1 (throw off every encumbrance), and James 1:21 (put away all moral filth), each pairing the act of shedding with a forward movement into new conduct.
Why it lands — The verse names the thing to be shed as a whole way of life (ἀναστροφή) defined by deceitful desires, not a single sin, and frames it as an action the believer performs rather than a state that simply fades.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Cross-references
- Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
- Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.
- James 1:21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.
- 1 Peter 2:1 Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
- Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
- Colossians 3:7 When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways.
- Titus 3:3 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Ephesians 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
- Ephesians 4:17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
- 1 Peter 4:3 For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.