OLD MAN (ὁ παλαιός ἄνθρωπος). The expression “the old man” appears three times in the NT, and refers to the unregenerate nature and activities which characterized a man prior to his new life “in Christ.” It is frequently tr. “the old self” or “the old nature.” Paul states in Romans 6:6 that “our old self” was crucified with Christ, and exhorts Christians to live conscious of this fact. In Ephesians 4:22 he urges his converts to “put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts,” and in Colossians 3:9 he pleads for honesty on the basis of having “put off the old nature with its practices.” In this period in redemptive history between the finished work of Christ in the past and the consummation of God’s plan in the future, Christians live as citizens of two worlds who are constantly conscious of (1) the crucified nature of “the old man,” and yet (2) the need to deaden the effects of that depravity in their lives which will be eradicated finally when Christ comes again. This tension which is experienced by all believers is the occasion for almost all of the exhortations in the NT.