Tonight we continue in the second half of this wonderful book of Ephesians…doctrine in the first half, how to live out that doctrine in the second half

To summarize the doctrinal portion: we learned that the Triune God chose to save a people for His own possession out of lost humanity, solely by His sovereign grace; that this saving act involved bringing the spiritually dead back to life, then taking those from both the Jewish faith and the Gentile nations, and uniting them into a single people, breaking down the dividing wall of hostility between the two groups

Now in the exhortational portion of the book, the last three chapters, we saw last time that we are to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, that the Church has been given gifted leaders, and that we as the body of Christ are to grow up into that One Who is our Head, even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself

Tonight, Paul takes the intensity of his teaching up a notch or two…

Let’s read the word together as you find a copy of the Bible…

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self,[f] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Paul begins with a command with the authority of the Lord Himself

The Central Bible Truth of this passage is clear: Be who you are.

I. The Walking Dead                           4.17-19

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 

Verse 17 starts with great emphasis -- “Now” “say and testify” “in the Lord” -- all contribute to the sense of heightened importance of what the apostle is about to say…with the authority of the Lord Himself

Paul gives the overall instruction first -- bottom line up front, if you will -- when he says with emphasis, “you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do…” 

Which is the point for believers -- one of the key truths of coming to faith in Christ is this: we aren’t the same people we were before. Change is a fundamental part of what happens when Jesus delivers us from sin, when we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, when we have been reconciled to God the Father -- we are no longer who we were. “I’m not who I was.”

And while I will not stay as I was, I do need to remember who I was, so if I start to slip back into those patterns of sinful behavior, I will recognize what I’m doing and turn around, repent

It all starts with the end of verse 18: a hardened heart

You don’t have a hardened heart the first time you disobey God, the first time you’re rebellious against the Holy Spirit, the first time you turn away from Jesus…it takes time and repeated wrong choices, but after a while, the heart becomes hardened

We don’t have to look far in Scripture for examples of a hardened heart -- the Pharaoh of the Exodus is probably the best example…yes, Exodus says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and also that Pharaoh hardened Pharaoh’s heart…but what we know is that our hearts are hardened over time…seeking and finding the things of the world, placing other priorities over the things of God, rebelling against what you know God has said or directed, not submitting yourself to Him, His word, and to the church; presuming on the grace and mercy of God 

I John 2.15 (EHV)      15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

Psalm 95.7b-8        Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness

To harden your heart is to reject God, disbelieve Him, see what He has done and turn aside from it

Proverbs 28.14        an example of opposing parallelism

Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always,

   but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Hebrews 3.12-13        a solemn warning

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 

I think it’s clear that the consistent warning in Scripture is that we must not harden our hearts -- as much as it rests with us, we are to be responsive to God -- to have a heart of flesh, as it were, to live in the truth of our salvation as described by God in the book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel 36.26        26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 

One of the best examples of a hardened heart I ever saw was a man I spoke with when I was pastoring a church in Conrad, Montana…speaking to a woman in a hateful and profane way…and it happened to be in the church, so there were several witnesses…I confronted him…he admitted it, and when I said that he needed to repent and ask her forgiveness, he said: “I just won’t.”

My friends, that is a hardened heart. He didn’t reach that point in that moment -- it was the result of months if not years of choices, small but meaningful choices, to disobey God, reject His Word, to turn aside from the Spirit’s path -- just like it is for us 

Let’s think about a pagan Gentile in the church at Ephesus, who had been deeply involved in idolatry, sexual immorality, and desires for wealth and power, before coming to faith in Jesus…picture this instruction coming to him or her. Paul is saying in clear and compelling terms that these new believers cannot stay the way they were -- they must change

Paul is describing who they were -- and as he defines each point of what it was to be a lost person in Ephesus in the first century, we’ll see some similarity to our own day 

Passage has similarities to Romans 1.18-21

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

Three times in the following verses -- the remainder of chapter one -- Paul says that God “gave them up” “gave them over” to their sinful desires and actions, each time emphasizing the downward descent of people into deeper depths of depravity -- no doubt present in first-century Rome, and first-century Ephesus, and our world of the 21st century 

We’ll see that same language here in Ephesians…

Futile/useless minds -- what were our thought patterns? What are they now? Have they changed since we came to faith in Christ? 

Philippians 4.8-9    

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Darkened in their understanding -- lack of understanding -- the opposite of filled with light -- see through a glass darkly, I Cor 13 -- don’t see clearly -- it’s as if they are blinded 

Alienated from the life of God -- once you come to faith, don’t go back to living as if you didn’t come to faith -- once you’re alive in Christ, don’t go back to things of death -- don’t go back to the death of sin, idolatry, legalism, self-righteousness -- don’t become an alien, stranger to God

Ignorant -- once you’ve been given the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2.16b: But we have been given the mind of Christ), don’t stop learning about who Jesus is and what He is doing in your life, heart, mind, and spirit -- challenge you to watch in Scripture for something specific -- we learn who He is and what He is doing, but sometimes we don’t pay much attention to HOW He does things…what are the characteristics of the way God works in our world…we might well be surprised by what He does, but we should increasingly recognize how He does things…it’s the visual equivalent of “hearing His voice” from John 10

There are some things we can identify even from the first three chapters of Ephesians -- 

He will honor Himself and will not share His glory with another

   You can expect that God’s way will be the opposite of the world’s way

   Look for paradoxes:

      The first will be last

      The greatest among you must be the servant of all

      Man looks on the exterior, but God looks on the heart

      It’s not what goes into a man that defiles him, it’s what comes out

      “Seek first the things of God, and all these things shall be added unto you”

And then the Scripture says that we become callous…we all know how calluses happen…a place on your skin has pressure and friction applied to it over time, and eventually the body responds by putting additional skin cells there, building up a tough hide at that place to protect itself…ask anyone who plays the guitar how much it hurt to start playing…until the tips of your fingers gain the toughness to press the strings, it hurts, but after a while, you don’t notice it anymore…why? The calluses have formed and you’re now much less sensitive to pressure…

Why would the Spirit use that word here? The Gr is ‘apalgeo’ (524), meaning “to not feel pain” -- used metaphorically here, to become insensible to the work of the Spirit; incidentally, it’s the source of the English word “analgesic” or painkiller

Don’t become insensitive to the things of God; don’t let the pressure and friction of the world keep you from God, let those things drive you back to God

“Have given themselves up to sensuality” -- a focus on the things of the flesh and the world -- seeking after those things to the point that you could say you are “given over” to them…similar language to Romans 1 -- “God gave them over” -- has the sense of surrendering the fight -- in the boxing ring, you would say you threw in the towel, when the fighter stops fighting

This is what happens when your desire for the things of the world, particularly the things of the flesh, the things you can feel and sense, overcomes your desire for the things of God -- and then that desire seems to escalate, getting stronger and stronger until it dominates your thoughts, and starts spilling over into actions…

James 1.12-16 

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 

Look at the progression…tempted to lured to enticed, conceiving sin, giving birth to sin, then fully grown and developed sin brings forth death

Similar progression we find in Psalm 1 of a blessed (happy) man who doesn’t pursue sin

Psalm 1.1-2

Blessed is the man

   who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

   nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

First you’re walking by sin -- then you stop to stand and engage with sin -- then you sit down to visit with sin, to spend some time with sin -- now you are completely comfortable and at rest, unlikely to get back up on your feet and start walking again

Proverbs 4.14-17

Do not enter the path of the wicked,

   and do not walk in the way of the evil.

15 Avoid it; do not go on it;

   turn away from it and pass on.

16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;

   they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness

   and drink the wine of violence.

“greedy to practice every kind of impurity.” 

“greedy” -- intense desire for

“practice” -- not a single mistake or error, but a constant participation in

“every kind” -- the gateway sin is just the first step -- that leads to more, and more, and more, until soon there is no pleasure found in the first sins, and the sinner must move on to other, different, often more intensely depraved types of sinful behavior 

“impurity” -- moral uncleanness, lewdness

This is the picture of a person, or even a believer, who has gone from walking with God, to stopping to stand in conversation with temptation, to a comfortable relationship with sin…

This was the accepted lifestyle of the Gentile world -- apart from God, there is no other course in life -- remember what Paul said to the church about their past in chapter 2

Ephesians 2.1-3

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

But thankfully Paul continues from review of our past state in the world, to instruct the church 

II. Old and New                              4.20-24

20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Paul now turns from the old life to the new life

Starting with a reminder, complete with exclamation point! “That is not the way you learned Christ!” -- you can almost hear a father or mother saying to the disobedient and rebellious child, “I taught you better than that!”

This falling back into your old life, the old self or old man to which Paul refers here, is not walking or living according to the truth of the Gospel…it’s not consistent with what, in this case, the Ephesians had learned from Paul 

Verse 21 is clear -- this church -- and all of us through the Scriptures themselves, as well as faithful teachers -- have in fact heard about Jesus, and have been taught the truth in Him and in a sense, BY Him; I can recall a few pastor-teachers who have been especially important in my life…there was a brother who we served with in rural Idaho in a tiny church, but he had a special gift for preaching the gospel…the Lord powerfully used him in my life to both introduce new truth to me that I had never seen from the Scriptures, as well as to encourage me to continue to walk with Jesus in the things I already knew -- I hope you have people like him in your life -- if you do, take a minute or two sometime and tell them how the Lord has blessed you through them -- it will really encourage those servants

In verse 22, Paul comes to the real action in the passage

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 

“put off” renders Gr ‘apotithemi’ (659) to renounce; to lay off, down, or aside

“old self” or “old man” -- Gr palaios (3820) old, former, not new or recent; the sinful and unregenerate self; who we were prior to salvation; Gr anthropos (444) man (root of ‘anthropology’)

You’ll recall from our introduction that the closest parallel book to Ephesians is the book of Colossians -- that book speaks to the transcendent Christ much as Ephesians speaks to the transcendent Church -- and so there are occasionally passages that are similar in purpose and vocabulary…and there is a passage in Colossians that parallels this passage in Ephesians, and it’s in the third chapter…

Colossians 3.5-10

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge 

after the image of its creator. 

So it’s clear from these two passages what Paul is saying: you have already “put off the old man” and “put on the new man” -- that happened at the moment of conversion or coming to faith in Christ…so what is Paul talking about?

Very simply, this: you’ve been redeemed -- start living like it.

sanctifying work of the Spirit, to conform us to the image of Christ, is to take these two actions: putting off or putting down the “old self” and putting on or taking up the “new self”

As the passage says, this “old self” is the “you” you used to be…the “you” we all used to be…if there’s a common element to the human condition, it’s sin…apart from Christ, it’s who we were, it was the air we breathed; the Scripture is clear, Romans 3 says

“None is righteous, no, not one;

11    no one understands;

   no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

   no one does good,

   not even one.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

This is the old man…nothing good, nothing righteous…

This is the person we were “in our former manner of life” -- and it might not have seemed so to you, you might not have been that person who was actively and visibly a wretched sinner, but all that means is that you might have been worse, WE might have been worse -- because the sins that are harder to see are harder to leave behind…pride, self-righteousness, arrogance, scheming, gossip, deceit, sexual immorality, in the mind and heart if not the body; unbelief, faithlessness, simmering anger and rage

It’s a terrible picture, yet one we all knew well and one that, for a time, we approved of and walked in -- our old self

And the old self is corrupt through deceitful desires…”corrupt” renders Gr ‘phtheiro’ (5351) to corrupt, spoil, turn to a worse state…

That’s a pretty good definition -- it’s the sinful, fleshly, worldly self we used to be, which was always dedicated to making things worse in our lives

Paul says to put that old self off -- away -- down -- renounce it, leave it behind -- live consistent with the new man, the new life you have already received

The Bible has a great word for that -- repent

Gr Metanoeo (3340) change of place or condition, to exercise the mind, think, comprehend; understood together, it means to change your mind, to turn away from something based on the intent of the mind and heart; to relent

Equivalent to “put off” in this passage -- notable in that the first message of both John the Baptist and Jesus was this: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3.2)

The ASL sign for “repent” is (fingers crossed, hands crossed at the heels of the hands, back of L hand to the front, then turn) -- to turn away from another -- turn around and go the other way

“23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,”   the second key action word: renew

Now Paul turns to the positive -- aren’t we glad? It’s been pretty dark so far…Paul now says that we can be renewed -- Gr ananeoo (365) lit made new again -- “in the Spirit of your minds” is where the renewal happens -- 

The “minds” are the seat of our thoughts, intentions, will, reasoning, cognition; we get a good sense of the Scriptural meaning from these two passages

Romans 8.5-6

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Romans 12.1-2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

There is a clear distinction in the Word -- flesh and spirit. To the degree we set our minds -- focus our thoughts -- align our priorities -- on the things of this world -- the desires of the flesh -- that is a path that leads to death. Conversely, doing those same things: setting our minds, focusing our thoughts, aligning our priorities on the things of the Spirit will lead to an entirely different outcome -- life and peace.

And the renewal that Paul speaks of in Ephesians is the same renewal that he addresses in Romans 12 -- changing how you think, bringing your thoughts under the control of the Holy Spirit, taking “every thought captive to obey Christ” as Paul writes in II Corinthians 10.5b -- it will transform you

Gr metamorphoo (3339) change of place or condition (meta) + form (morph) to transform or transfigure, change one’s form. Used of the Lord’s transfiguration on the Mount -- physically visible there, metaphorically true and not visible for us in Romans 12 

Setting your mind on the things of the Spirit will transform you -- it will change you from the inside out

And you might think “I can’t do that…thoughts just pop into my mind sometimes.”

Martin Luther apparently had the same problem -- and he said this: “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head -- but you can stop them from nesting in your hair.” Which is a humorous way of saying that yes, thoughts will enter your mind from time to time, unbidden, but it’s up to you which ones you throw away and which ones you keep, which ones you dismiss and which ones you permit to dwell with you

24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

It’s time to live like you are the new self -- the new man -- created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness 

The comparison, of course, is between old and new, which got me thinking -- what does the Bible says is new in the New Testament?

New wine must be put into new wineskins (Matthew 9.17, Mark 2.22) not the old

Luke 22.20 speaks of the new covenant in the blood of Christ, as does I Corinthians 11.25

Romans 7.6 tells us we walk in the new way of the Spirit, not the old way of the written code 

II Corinthians 5.17          17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 

We’ve already learned in Ephesians 2 that Christ is creating one new man in place of the two groups, the Jews and the Gentiles

Hebrews 10.19-22 tells us that we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain of His flesh

Revelation 2.17 speaks of a new name written on a white stone that will be given to the one who conquers or overcomes          

Revelation 3.12 speaks of Jesus’s own new name      

Revelation 5.9 tells us of a new song of praise to the Lamb

Revelation 21.1-2        Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

And best of all, Revelation 21.5a says this: 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Interestingly, of all the NT books, the word “new” appears most frequently in the book of Revelation

Application: Get Truth Into Life And Act On It

So what is our path forward with this truth? What do we do with this?

Let’s ask ourselves the question: what does it mean to put off the old self and put on the new self?

We at least have a beginning on understanding the doctrine of the first three chapters…we should always be continuing in that pursuit, but we have taken a deep look into it…

As Paul now turns to the exhortational part of the book, we are likewise to turn to the living out of this truth -- to begin to walk more diligently and faithfully in the path laid out for us in the doctrine

I am fully aware of the fact that many of you who are seeing this livestream already know Jesus, and perhaps have known Him for a very long time…I’m also aware that you may well have studied Ephesians, including this passage, once or twice before…then what could I say to you that would be new or different? What could I say that might motivate you to look at your life in a fresh and new way to see if there are areas of your life, any relationships in your life, anything anywhere in which you might not be completely obedient and faithful to your God? 

Listen to this psalm as if you’re hearing it for the first time…let it sink into your spirit

Psalm 139 (NLT)

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart

   and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up.

   You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

3 You see me when I travel

   and when I rest at home.

   You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say

   even before I say it, Lord.

5 You go before me and follow me.

   You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

   too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!

   I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;

   if I go down to the grave, you are there.

9 If I ride the wings of the morning,

   if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

   and your strength will support me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me

   and the light around me to become night—

12    but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

   Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

   and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

   Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

   as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You saw me before I was born.

   Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

   before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

   They cannot be numbered!

18 I can’t even count them;

   they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up,

   you are still with me!

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

   test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 Point out anything in me that offends you,

   and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Our Lord knows everything about each of us…He knows where we’ve been, where we are, where we’re going…He knows what we’ve done, what we’re doing right now, what we’ll do in the future…He knows our innermost attitudes and memories…He hears and knows our words and thoughts before we say or think them…His understanding and knowledge of us is complete and perfect, lacking nothing, across all time and space

There’s nowhere we could go to escape Him, nothing we can do to evade Him, no amount of time we could hide to avoid His all-seeing gaze…

And yet -- His love for us is as complete as His knowledge of us. His mercy toward us is as boundless as His understanding of us. His kindness toward us is as vast as His holiness above us. We cannot for a moment escape Him -- but why would we wish to? Is He not our most treasured possession, our most perfect companion, and our most cherished friend? 

The one thing we can do to honor and exalt our God and King is simply this: to live for Him. In each moment, may we make the choice of attitude, action, or word that brings Him glory. May we never miss an opportunity to bring a smile of approval to His face, to draw from His heart the words, “My beloved child” … 

I believe our problem isn’t a matter of knowing the right thing to do or say to obey God -- our problem is that, in the moment when each of us makes the decision of what to do or say, to believe or value, in that moment, we care more for someone or something else than we do for the heart of God

I’m confident that we know what is right -- we just sometimes don’t do what is right…sometimes we would prefer to slip back into the comfortable old self and not take on the challenge of living in that demanding new self…

It is a bold Christian indeed who will pray with the psalmist, “search me; know me; test me; convict me; lead me”

I think part of the change we need to make -- the consistency we need to show -- is to understand that the old self is already dead -- we’ve died to sin in Jesus

Romans 6.5-8

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 

There is a song that perfectly captures the sense of this passage -- it’s called “I am Redeemed” 

Charlie has recorded it for us (play video)

Friends, if you know Jesus, you’ve been redeemed -- all that remains is to live like it. And that’s what we’ll tackle next week.

Let’s close in prayer.