Ephesians 4:17-32 (ESV)
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. 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. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
How can I become who I am in Christ?
Way #1: “Put off the old self…”
Ephesians 4:22
…to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
What is God’s part?
God puts to death the old self
Ephesians 4:20
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…
Romans 6:6
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.
What is my part?
I choose to put off the old self
Ephesians 4:22
…to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
Ephesians 4:23
…and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
Way #2: “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind…” Ephesians 4:23
What is God’s part?
God gives me the mind of Christ
1 Corinthians 2:16
“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
What is my part?
I choose to cultivate the mind of Christ
2 Corinthians 10:5
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
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. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…
Way #3: “Put on the new self…” Ephesians 4:24
What is God’s part?
God gives me a new self
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
What is my part?
I choose to depend on God moment by moment
Galatians 5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
For this week’s application guide click this URL: https://storage2.snappages.site/QG8D8X/assets/files/sermon-application-guide-Eph-4_17_32-Apr-96.docx
RESOURCES CITED:
Commentaries:
Ephesians by Bryan Chapell. Reformed Expository Commentary. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009.
The Letter to the Ephesians by Peter Thomas O’Brien. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999.
The First Letter to the Corinthians by Roy Ciampa, and Brian Rosner. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010.
Sermons:
Holiness and Sanctification by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. A Sermon on Ephesians 4:22-24. Sermon # 4127. https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-ephesians/holiness-and-sanctification/
Totally Transformed by John Macarthur. A Sermon on Ephesians 4:17-24. March 13, 2022. https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/49-22/totally-transformed
Articles/Blogs:
The Mystery of Original Sin by Margaret Shuster. CT magazine (April, 2013), pp. 39-41.
How to Win the War for Your Mind by Jeff Vanderstelt. Desiring God. May 27, 2017. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-to-win-the-war-for-your-mind