The Greek verb apotithēmi means to put away, to lay aside, to take off, or to set down. Like removing a garment, it carries vivid imagery of deliberate and complete separation from something previously worn. In the New Testament it consistently functions as a metaphor for the decisive renunciation of sinful attitudes in the Christian life.
The New Testament's repeated command to 'put off' the old self draws on the clothing metaphor embedded in apotithēmi. Ephesians 4:22 commands believers to 'put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.' This is not passive drift but decisive action — stripping off what no longer belongs to the new identity in Christ.
The vocabulary of putting off and putting on reflects the baptismal theology of the early church. Baptism visually enacted this change: old clothes removed, new clothes given. Paul's ethical appeals call believers to live out what baptism signified — a real break with the old life.