Jun 20
7
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 31:31–34
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31–34, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Ephesians 4:17-24
“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. 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. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:17–24, ESV)
*****
[Please excuse any and all typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.]
Introduction
Brothers and sisters, I think it is very important that we follow the flow of thought of the Apostle as we journey deeper and deeper into his letter to the Ephesians. If we were reading Paul’s letter all at once it might be easier to follow his reasoning. But given that we are taking his letter piece by piece, Lord’s Day by Lord’s Day, it is easy to loose track of the progression.
In the first half of his letter Paul described to us the awesome richness and beauty and our redemption in Christ. Though once dead in sin, guilty before God and alienated from him, God, by his grace, has made us alive, removed our guilt, and has reconciled us to himself by the blood of Christ, so that we are now his beloved Sons, through faith in him.
And having been called to faith in Christ, and thus reconciled to the Father, we are now to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [we] have been called.” This is the theme of the second half of Paul’s epistle. Here in chapters 4 through 6 Paul urges us to walk worthy, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3, ESV).
Chapters 4, 5 and 6 are filled with commands — this we will soon see. These chapters are packed full of verbs in the imperative mood in the Greek. Verbs in the imperative mood express commands or exhortations. [Please allow me to show this to you. On the screen you will see the text of Ephesians with all of the imperatives highlighted in red. Notice as we scroll through that there is only one imperative found in the first half of Ephesians. In 2:11 the Apostle commands the Gentiles to “remember” their hopeless and helpless condition prior to the arrival of the Christ. But notice as we scroll through all of the imperatives that begin starting in 4:25, which we will come to consider next week. “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:25–28, ESV). In fact, the rest of the epistle is filled with imperatives…]
Granted, in the Greek language there are other ways to express commands or exhortations, but I show this to you so that you might see more clearly the flow of thought of the Apostle. In the first half of his epistle he establishes truth. In the second half he issues commands based upon the truths previously established.
So, what are we to think of this section that we are now in? What are we to make of Ephesians 4:1-24? This section clearly introduces the application portion of Paul’s epistle. The application began in 4:1 with the words, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…” (Ephesians 4:1, ESV). But, as you can see, Paul does not begin to string together his imperatives until 4:25. So what is he doing here in this section? Well, he is still teaching us, isn’t he? And if we pay careful attention to what he says we will notice that he is answering the question, how can a person who once walked in darkness begin to walk in light? Stated differently, how can a person change his or her way of life — ceasing to walk in an unworthy manner, and walking now in manner that is worthy?
Perhaps you have noticed how uncommon it is for a person to change his or her way of life for the better.
Perhaps you have noticed how difficult it is for a person to cease from doing evil and to do good instead.
It is not so difficult to for men and women to move from being good (relatively speaking) to evil. It is not so difficult for a person who is wicked to grow more wicked. Just as falling from some high place requires no physical exertion at all, whereas climbing from a low place to a high place requires great physical exertion, so too it is in the world of morality and sin. Sin has a gravitational-like effect on the human soul. It is always pulling downward. It is always discouraging upward movement. You have undoubtably experienced this yourself, and you can see the effects of it in the world all around you.
So how will it be that the Christian will change?
We know that we have been forgiven, cleansed, redeemed, and adopted by the shed blood of Christ and through faith in him. But notice that these are all positional realities. You were once guilty, but now you have been declared not guilty. You were one filthy with sin, but now you have been washed. You were once enslaved, but now you are free. You were once alienated and at enmity with God, but now you are beloved sons. By the grace of God, your position before him has been changed, and all of that was instantaneous, being brought about the moment you believed. But here the Apostle is addressing, not our position before God, but our walk — our way of life — which is an ongoing and progressive development.
Once again I ask you the question that the Apostle is here addressing: how can we change? How will we be transformed from liars and thieves into people who are honest, generous and kind? How will we be changed from sexually immoral and perverse people into people who live lives that are upright and pure? How will we be changed from people who are hateful and unforgiving into children of love?
I would imagine that many within this world would doubt if transformation such as this is even possible. To them it might seem to be the stuff of fairytales. But within Christ’s church, it is what we expect to see. We expect that those who have been forgiven by Christ, cleaned and adopted will then proceed to walk in manner that is worthy of their calling as beloved children of God.
But how will this transformation take place? That is the question.
What we learn here in the first half of Ephesians 4 is that God uses external and internal means to bring about the transformation of his people.
The Apostle has already addressed the external means in verses 7 through 16. There we learned that God has given gifts to his people. Specifically, he has given his people the gift of his word along with ministers of the word — apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). These are to devote themselves to “the perfecting of the saints… the work of the ministry… the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12, KJV 1900), through the preaching and teaching of the word of God. The word of God — the preaching and teaching of it — will be the external means that God uses to mature his people, and to bring about their transformation.
Why have I called the ministry of the word of God an external means. Well, simply observe what is happening even now. The word of God is being ministered to you. It is being proclaimed and taught through preaching. And all of that is external to you. There are many in this room, I hope and pray, who, by the grace of God are also receiving the word inwardly and with faith. But there may be some who are closed off to the word, who ignore or reject it. I pray that would change if it is the case. The point is that the preaching and teaching of the word of God only an external thing if the Spirit of God does not apply it to the heart with the gift of faith.
Here in verses 17-24 the Apostle identifies the internal means which brings about true transformation in the life of the believer, namely, the renewal of the inner man by the power and agency of the Holy Spirit.
Notice the title of the sermon: A Worthy Walk Proceeding From A Renewed Spirit.
Friends, you and I must choose to walk worthily. You and I must daily and momentarily choose to put off the old self and to put on the new — this is indeed true! But pay very careful attention to what the Apostle teaches here. This worthy walk — this new way of life — procees from a new creation. This worthy walk that we are to take up is only possible because God has renewed us by the gracious working of his Spirit within our souls.
The implications of this are massive. Stated succinctly, the church is not merely a school where men and women are taught morals, but the assembly of those who have been born anew who are presently being transformed into the likeness of their Savior by the power of word of God and by the agency of the Holy Spirit.
The text that is before us today can be divided into two basic parts. In verses 17-19 the believer is exhorted to turn away from the old life. And in verses 20-24 we are encouraged to walk in the new life which is ours in Christ Jesus.
*****
Turn Away From The Old Life
First, consider the strong exhortation from the Apostle to turn away from our old way of life. In verse 17 we read, “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do…” (Ephesians 4:17, ESV).
I have called this exhortation a “strong exhortation”, for the Greek is unusually strong in its verbiage and construction — “Now this I say and testify in the Lord…”, the Apostle says. There is no imperative here, but the phrase has the force of a command. Paul is concerned to communicate that this is very solemn and important matter — those who are in Christ must “no longer walk as the Gentiles do…” It simply is not an option. It cannot be. The one who has been made alive in Christ must not continue to walk in a worldly way.
[APPLICATION: I wonder, do you agree with the Apostle concerning sin? Do you agree with his solemn testimony, that those in Christ must not continue in sin? Or is sin of little concern to you? I am afraid that some in Christ have a careless and cavalier attitude concerning sin. Perhaps they have been so comforted by the forgivness of sins in Christ that they have failed to see sin as the vile thing that it is before God. The doctrine of free grace, if misunderstood, can have this affect on people. It can lead to us to excuse our sin, or to minimize its severity, saying, well, I am forgiven, aren’t I! But the Apostle is very concerned to protect us from this error.
True, the forgiveness of sins is by God’s grace and received through faith in Christ. And true, we do not earn God’s love, nor keep it, by our obedience. And it is also true that God is always willing to forgive those who are repentant. But here Paul concerned to say that it must not be — it cannot be — that the one who has been reconciled to God and adopted as a son would go on living as if still alienated from God and a child of wrath. No friends, we do not earn God’s love by our obedience to him. But certainly, the one who has been made alive by the love of God will show their love for God through obedient living.]
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do…”, the Apostle says. We should remember that these were Gentiles to whom Paul was writing. They were Gentiles, ethnically speaking, and not Jews. And earlier Paul called them Gentiles, saying, “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh… remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:11–12, ESV). And in another place Paul said, “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—” (Ephesians 3:1, ESV). These Christians in Ephesus were in fact Gentiles. But here Paul exhorts them, saying, “you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do…” This indicates that these Gentile Christians had made a break with their former life. They had a new identity. Whereas before they might have taken pride in the fact that they were Greek or Roman or Ephesians, now they had a new identity. They were children of God and citizens of his kingdom. The distinction between Jew and Gentile no longer mattered, for they had been born from above. And having been born from above, belonging now to a new family, and being citizens of a new kingdom means that they are now to abandon their old customs, and to adopt the new ones in Christ.
[APPLICATION: And this, by the way, is one of the reason the world will despise God’s people. No matter where the church exists, she is to be countercultural. The true Christian will not live the way the world lives, speak the way the world speaks, nor think the way the world thinks. The countercultural dimension of the church will look different from place to place, but the issue will always be the same. To quote Peter, the world will be “surprised when [we] do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they [will] malign [us]…” (1 Peter 4:4, ESV). The world will hate the Christian, in part, because the Christian will not walk the way the world walks.]
It is at the end of verse 19 that Paul offers up a brief description of the way the Gentiles walk. There he says that they have “given themselves up to sensuality” and are “greedy to practice every kind of impurity” (Ephesians 4:19, ESV). This is a very generic description of the way the Gentiles walk. Paul is more specific in other places. Take for example 1 Corinthians 6:9ff., where he says, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11, ESV). Here Paul is more specific concerning the way of life of the non-believer. But notice that his point is the same. “Such were some of you”, he said to the Corinthians. In other words, you used to live that way! But having been washed, sanctified and justified in the name of Christ and by the Spirit, your walk is now different. Here in Ephesians Paul describes the walk of the non-believing Gentiles by simply saying, they have “given themselves up to sensuality” and are “greedy to practice every kind of impurity”.
The word “sensuality” refers to a lack of moral restraint, especially as it pertains to sexual licentiousness. Notice that Paul says the Gentiles have “given themselves up to this” way of life. They have given in to this temptation. The word “impurity” can refer to immoral behavior in general, but often refers to sexual sin. And notice the strong language that Paul here uses, saying, that non-believing Gentiles are “greedy to practice every kind of impurity”. This means that they are eager to be immoral — they have a strong desire to do that which is filthy in the eyes of God. And Paul is saying to the one who is in Christ — “you must no longer walk” in this way.
[APPLICATION: Perhaps you have noticed this way of thinking grow ever more prevalent in our culture. Those who have “given themselves up to sensuality” and are “greedy to practice every kind of impurity” reason that if they have a desire to behave in a certain way, they cannot change it, and the behavior cannot be called immoral, therefore. Those who reason in this way will never be consistent in their application of this principle, I’m sure. Even they will continue to call some behaviors “wrong” and will urge the one who has a strong desire to act in such and such a way to “fight against the temptation”. The one who practices homosexuality excuses his or her sin by appealing the attraction that is felt inwardly. And yet at the same time the one who practices homosexuality will condemn the liar, the thief, the adulterer, and the murderer, and will have none of it if these reply saying, “but the desires are just so strong!” Now, granted, these sins that I have just mentioned do involve victims. And if sin is only defined as that which harms another, then I can understand the inconsistency. But not all sin involves a victum. It is possible for two or more consenting adults to engage in sin. Indeed, it is possible for a person to sin all alone. Sin does not always involve a victim. Crime does, but not sin. For sin is any lack of conformity unto or violation of the law of God. Sin, above all, is against God. And here I am saying that even the one who practices homosexuality (or some other sin) will admit that there are some desires that should not be acted upon, and that it is indeed possible to exercise restraint. Having a strong desire for some impure thing does not justify the sin. In fact, the desire itself is sinful and must be resisted. Clearly this is what the scriptures teach, for Paul is here calling the one who is in Christ to no longer walk in the way that the Gentiles do, who have “given themselves up to sensuality” and are “greedy to practice every kind of impurity”. Stated differently, in Christ you must not give yourself up to sensuality, and you must not be “greedy [or driven by strong desires] to practice every kind of impurity”, for you are a new creation.]
As I have said, at end of verse 19 Paul briefly describes the Gentiles walk, but in verses 17 — 19a Paul identifies the source of their impure walk with the words, “in the futility of their minds.” Paul then expands upon this saying, “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. They have become callous and [as a result] have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”
Please understand this: people do what they do from the heart. A heart that is impure will produce a life that is impure. A mind that is twisted will produce a life that is twisted. This is why the Proverb says, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23, ESV). And this is why Christ said, “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:43–45, ESV).
Here Paul teaches that the non-believing Gentiles have “given themselves up to sensuality” and are “greedy to practice every kind of impurity” because of the “futility [of] their minds.” This does not mean that the Gentiles to not have intelligence or mental capacity, but that their way of thinking is empty. There are very brilliant people in this world who’s minds are empty and futile. Indeed, if our minds are not directed towards the glory of God in all things, then our thinking is futile.
Paul elaborates saying, “They are darkened in their understanding”. This means that they do not have the capacity to perceive the truth.
The result is that they are “alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them”. To be “alienated from the life of God” is to be dead spiritually, and without hope in this world. And this, the Apostle says, is due to “their hardness of heart.” Sin hardens the heart. We are born in sin. Our hearts are not naturally soft to God or to the things of God, but hard. And as we sin, our hearts grow harder and harder. Indeed, “they… become callous” as Paul here says.
[APPLICATION: Only God can give life to those who are dead, friends. Only God can break a heart of stone. Only he can soften the one who has grown callous. Teaching morality will do nothing at all to make a guilty man innocent, or a sinful man pure. Men and women might learn to put up a facade. They might learn to alter their behavior so as to benefit themselves somehow. But they will not be moved to give glory to God through moral instruction, for we are by nature futil in our thinking, darkened in our understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in us, due to our hardness of heart. We are by nature, and apart from God’s work of regeneration, callous to God and to the things of God. If God is to reconcile us to himself and truly change us, then he must make us new.]
*****
Walk In The New Life Which Is Yours In Christ Jesus
And this is what Paul tells us that God has done for us. If we are in Christ it is because God has given us new life. In Christ we have been re-created. And it is in this new life which is ours in Christ Jesus that we are to now walk. That is the second point of the sermon today: walk in the new life which is yours in Christ Jesus.
In verse 20 Paul contrasts the walk of the Gentiles with the wall of the Christian, saying, “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:20–21, ESV). I actually think the NIV provides a little better translation of these two verses when it says, “You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:20–21, NIV84). To “learn Christ” is not to learn about him factually, but to come to know him truly. And Paul is not here doubting whether the Ephesians know Christ — he is sure of it! Here is reminding the Ephesians of their conversion and of the teaching they received before and after baptism. He is reminding them of their faith and repentance, of the instruction they received from the start, and how they buried the old man in the waters of baptism and we raised from the watery grave to walk then in newness of life.
In verse 22 Paul reminds the Ephesians of how from the beginning they were taught “to put off [their] old self, which belongs to [their] former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of [their] minds…” (Ephesians 4:22–23, ESV).
The phrase “and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds” might also be translated, “being renewed in the Spirit of your minds”. The verb “renewed” is in the passive voice in the Greek which indicates that the subject of the sentence is not doing the action, but is being acted upon. In other words, this is not a command to be renewed, but a description of what has and is being done to the Christian, namely, “renewal in the spirit of [their] minds”. And the verb is in present tense, indicating that the action is in process. Friends, in Christ, you have been renewed and you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds.
In verse 24 we read, “and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24, ESV).
Here we find another passive verb which is translated, “created after the likeness of God”. Again, this is not a command, for this is not something that we can do to ourselves, but it is something that has been done to the Christian. If you are in Christ, God has created you anew. And here the verb (which is in fact a participle), is in the aorist tense, indicating that the action logically precedes the main verb.
If we pay careful attention to these two verbs in the passive voice the meaning becomes clear.
Given that we have been “renewed [by God] in the spirit of [our] minds” we are to daily “put off [the] old self, which belongs to [our] former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.”
And given that we have been “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” we are to daily “put on the new self”.
Stated differently, what has God done for us?
He has “renewed the spirit of our minds”. At one time we were “given… up to sensuality” and “greedy to practice every kind of impurity” because our minds were futile, and our understanding darkened. We were alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that was in us. Our hearts were hard and callous. But we have been renewed by God. The old man is dead and gone, therefore. Where there was once futility , there is substance. Where there was once darkness, there is light. Where there was once death, there is life. Where there was once a hard and calloused heart, there is now a heart that is tender with love for God and neighbor. The old man is gone, friends. Put that old way of life off. Cast it away, for you are no longer that old sinful creature, but have been renewed.
Indeed God has created you anew in his likeness in true righteousness and holiness. It is hard to read Ephesians 4:24 and to not think of Genesis 1:27, which says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, ESV). Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. And they were created upright, with true righteous and holiness. This was lost when man fell into sin. By nature we are not right with God, and we do not live right, nor are we holy. But this is what God has done for us in Christ — in Christ, through faith in him, we have been created anew. As Paul says elsewhere, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…” (2 Corinthians 5:17–18, ESV). It is this new man — the man that has been created anew in Christ Jesus — that we are to daily put on or cloth ourselves with, so that we might walk in a manner that is worthy, to the glory of the God who has redeemed and renewed us.
*****
Conclusion
How does God change his people?
Well, he changes us through the external means of the preaching and teaching of the word of God.
But here we learn that God also changes his people inwardly through the transformation of the mind and heart by the power of his Holy Spirit.
Friends, if any one is truly in Christ, they will keep his commandments. I am not saying that they will always obey Christ. I am not saying they will never sin. Corruptions remain. Sometimes we fail to put off the old man, and to put on the new. Sometimes we walk in a way that is inconsistent with our new creation self. But if we are truly in Christ — if we are truly born again — we will not remain in sin. Living in sin is a tortuous affair for the believer, for the life of sin is a contradiction to the new life that has been wrought in us. The light that is in us will hate the darkness. The life that it is in us will hate the stench of death. But here the Apostle is solemnly warning us to walk worthy — to walk in a way that is fitting, given our calling. We must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, but, having been renewed and retreated in Christ Jesus, we must daily put lay the old down, and be clothed with the “new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24, ESV).
