The One New Man

By: Don Pirozok

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

The doctrine of the One New Man stands at the very heart of the New Testament revelation of salvation, redemption, and God’s eternal purpose in Christ. It is not a secondary theme, nor merely a theological metaphor, but a foundational truth that explains what God has accomplished through the cross, what the Church truly is, and where history itself is moving. When Scripture speaks of the one new man, it is revealing God’s answer to humanity’s deepest problem—not merely individual sin, but division: division between God and man, between Jew and Gentile, between peoples, nations, and ultimately within the human heart itself. The one new man reveals that God’s redemptive goal is not simply to forgive sinners, but to create a new humanity in Christ.
From the opening chapters of Genesis, Scripture shows that humanity was created for unity—unity with God and unity with one another. Adam and Eve lived in unbroken fellowship with God, and there was no hostility, rivalry, or alienation between human beings. Sin shattered this harmony. When humanity fell, separation entered every level of existence. Adam hid from God, blame replaced trust, and violence soon followed as brother rose against brother. The story of Scripture is therefore not only the story of forgiveness, but the story of restoration—God’s determination to heal what sin has fractured. The one new man is the culmination of that restoration.
As the biblical narrative unfolds, God begins His redemptive work through covenant, choosing Abraham and his descendants to be the channel through which blessing would come to the world. This election of Israel was never intended to end in isolation or superiority, but to serve a universal purpose. God promised Abraham that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. Israel was set apart not to exclude the nations forever, but to prepare the way for their inclusion. Yet under the old covenant, separation remained. The Law distinguished Israel from the nations through commandments, ordinances, and boundary markers that preserved holiness but also reinforced division. Jew and Gentile stood on opposite sides of covenant identity.
This tension—between God’s universal promise and Israel’s particular calling—runs throughout the Old Testament. The prophets foresaw a future day when the nations would come to the God of Israel, when hostility would cease, and when God would gather His people into unity under one King. These promises pointed beyond the old covenant toward something greater that the Law itself could not accomplish. The Law could reveal sin and preserve a people, but it could not create a new humanity. That work awaited the coming of the Messiah.