by Dr. Othello O. Caturan
Text: Ephesians 4:17-32,
“ [17] This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,[18] Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:[19] Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.[20] But ye have not so learned Christ;[21] If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:[22] That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;[23] And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;[24] And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.[25] Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.[26] Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:[27] Neither give place to the devil.[28] Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.[29] Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.[30] And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.[31] Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:[32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
INTRODUCTION
1. Have we experienced the renewed life? This presupposes a past life that is not renewed by the Spirit of God; and a life that is experiencing newness of living in a different level of life and experience. The mind of this un-renewed life is characterized by these things:
a. It is a life that is Gentile in nature. It is ignorant on the true and living God and His law and therefore blasphemes God. The gentile is a heathen life with no respect and reverence for God. God is out of the picture and the big SELF is the god life of the person. Life is full of self , wicked and it is life with an attitude of self-assertiveness and self-focused. It is a life of selfishness and godlessness , and hopeless of the life beyond the grave.
Romans 2:14; 24 “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves.”….For the name of God is blasphemed among the gentiles through you, as it is written.”
Ephesians 2:11-12 “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Un-circumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made with hands; that at that tie ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world….”
b. It is life with self-directed religion but powerless to reveal God personally in the way or manner that living God of the Scriptures would like you to know. God must reveal Himself to us to know Him. God is so high that He has to come down from heaven so that we will be able to understand Him fully. And to understand Him fully is to know Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible. John 17:8 “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.”
c. It is vain and full of vanity. It is empty and the end result is emptiness. There is no spiritual dimension in living. This life is directed to selfish living which is hollow and unsatisfying.
Ecclesiastes 2:9-11 “So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy ; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun..”
d. It is having a darkened understanding of life. Life is a journey in the path of darkness because there is no light of the meaning and fulfillment. It’s joyless and full of doubts, apprehensions and uncertainties of the future.
e. It is a life alienated from the life of God. God is out of the picture in one’s vision of life. His god is himself. Nothing matters than his self-sufficiency and worship of the SELF. PRIDE is his virtue and nothing is significant and meaningful: the end is nothingness and emptiness.
f. It is a life that is living in total ignorance of the knowledge about God. Unless Christ is acknowledged as the way to God, there is no light and understanding on God. John 14:6–“….I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
g. It is blind in the heart. The god of this world is blinding the eyes of the Gentile mind and heart.
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” 2 Corinthians 4:3
h. It is a life full of feelings of characterized by lasciviousness, uncleanness and greediness. It is full of lusts and ignorant of spiritual things.
2. The renewed life is the deepest contrast to the un-renewed life. It is a miracle from above, the work of the Spirit of the living God.
DISCUSSION
THE MARKS OF THE RENEWED LIFE UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS
1. It is life that is learned and controlled by the mind of Christ. V 20
“But ye have not so learned Christ;”
a. The controlling seat of a life that is spiritually renewed is by the mind of Christ. All our living the renewed life is under the controlling power of the mind of Christ. This is in contrast with the Gentile mind which is empty or in vain in its thoughts and preoccupations.
b. The mind of Christ is learned from Christ Himself. One can not learn on Christ unless Christ mind is implanted in the heart and will of that person. The mind of Christ is in itself from and is the mind of the heavenly Father who sent Him into this world for the divine purpose of divine reconciliation of sinful men.
John 8:23– “Ye are from beneath; I am from above; ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”
John 8: 28-29 – “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then ye shall know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone: for I do always those things that please him.”
c. The mind of Christ is the revelation of the mind of the Spirit of the living God to the renewed mind of the believer.
1 Corinthians 2:10-16– “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. for what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God: that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.. For who hath known the mind of the lord, that he may instruct? But we have the mind of Christ.”
e. The mind of Christ is the mind of divine condescension of divine humbling to become a man and humbled Himsef even to be servant and obedient to the shameful death on the Cross of Calvary.
Philippians 2: 5-8-“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
f. The mind of Christ in the true believer is the mind that is determined to every thought life to be obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations,, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
2. It is a life that is negative to the Gentile walk and to the Gentile mind. vv 17-19
“ This I say therefore and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who being in past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”
a. The Gentile walk controlled by the Gentile mind leads to a life full of vanity. This mind with its lifestyle is characterized by following the worldly system and also by worldly lusts fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.
Ephesians 2:2-3 “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath even as others.”
b. God calls those people who think and walk as Gentiles do as children of wrath and children of disobedience. They do not know God’s law and God’s instructions so they follow their desires and feelings rather than God AND HIS WORD.
c. A true believer whose life is renewed by Christ who is our life can not and will not choose to think and walk as Gentiles do. It is contrary to the divine nature that has been imparted upon him. He has a renewed mind and whose compelling action is to put on the new man which is after God created in righteousness and true holiness.
3. It is a life that is in constant learning process of the truth in Christ. V21
“ If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:”
a. The Lord is inviting sinners to His rest; to come and enjoy His rest, and to learn of Him through His word.
Matthew 11: 28-30–“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
b. We heard of the Lord through the truth of the gospel; thus, we trusted Him because He is the Truth. “ I am the Way , the Truth and the Life , no man cometh unto the Father except through me.” John 14:6
c. Ephesians 1: 12-14– We learn of the Lord when we heard the gospel of our salvation, the truth of the Gospel.
d. John 8:31 tells us that the truth of the Lord which is His words that shall set us free, hence, the liberty in Christ.
4. It is the life that is determined to practice the words or teachings of Christ in our life.Vv 22-26
“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts”
a. The renewed life is committed and determined to put off the former behavior and conduct of life because it is regarded as corrupt and full of lustful feelings that satisfies the self-life. To put off is to discard and put away anything that is unacceptable to God because it is corruption of God’s purity and holiness.
b. This can only be done by learning the words of Jesus as truth and because it is truth it must be the principle of a truthful life in Christ. There is obedience to the truth of the words of the Lord.
d. The decision to put off because first of all there is the realization that the Lord is our master and Lord thus His words are binding to the true believer. And because of this faith and will to His word the believer must trust the grace and power of the Lord to enable him by the power of Christ and His word.
e. It is the responsibility of the follower of Christ to yield to Christ and His word in his will and whole being because apart from Christ we can do nothing.
John 15:4-5 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch can not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
Philippians 4:13– “ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
5. It is a life that is with the constant awareness of the Devil as our enemy in lifevv 27-29
“…neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
a. The devil is our arch enemy. Paul mentioned this in Ephesians 6:10-13“ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For ye wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
a. The Devil’s playground is an idle mind who is slothful and uncaring for work. Thus to avoid the devil to take our mind let us be preoccupied with work that is for good.
b. The Devil we know in the scripture is a liar thus we need to be careful with our tongue because the devil could influence to lie and to say corrupt communication and filthy language that will not edify or strengthened someone.
c. There is the way to deal with the devil. It is by fighting Him on an all out war using the armour of God.
Ephesians 6: 12-19
6. It is a life that is considerate with and loving awareness of the indwelling presence of the person of the Holy Spirit in our life.Vv 30-31
“ And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:”
a. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune God. He is God in Himself and deserves our worship, adoration and honor. He deserves our full attention and consideration in all aspects of our lives. He is our teacher and perfect Guide, Counselor and Comforter in living.
b. The Christian life is nothing but the power of the Holy Spirit working in one’s life for Christ. The Christian life can not exist without the Spirit of God indwelling in us. Romans 8: 9
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
c. If we ignore and do not acknowledge the Holy Spirit in us as a person then we are insulting Him and grieving Him when we sin against Him.
d. The specific sins that grieve the Spirit of God are noted: bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking. unforgiving spirit.
e. It is very important for true believers to walk in His presence in order not to yield to the lusts of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16-“ This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
7.It a renewed life in Christ that is characterized by a forgiving spirit, ready to do so because of the realization that one experiences the forgiveness of Christ in us.V 32
“And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
a. The distinctive character of a renewed life is the forgiving spirit towards others. He can not live with holding something against anybody but eventually to forgive and forget the hurts and pains because Christ has once forgiven his life.
b. The forgiving spirit is the grace given by the Lord ; it is the outworking of Christ in the life of a pardoned sinner. This is the work of the Holy Spirit enabling a poor sinner to do what is impossible to be achieved by the natural man. It is purely the ministry of the Spirit of Christ imparted among true believers.
c. The forgiving spirit of the renewed life leads to kindness, tenderness to anybody as a result of Christ ‘s spirit powerfully changing the heart of a pardoned sinner.
d. Colossians 3:13 – “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another , if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”
CONCLUSION
As Paul challenged and exhorted the church in Ephesus as he prayed for them and in them:
a. That the church be strengthened in the inner man by the Spirit of God.
b. That Christ will dwell in their hearts by faith.
c. That the church will know in all aspects the love of Christ in their lives thus the fullness of God.
d. That the church will know that God is able to do what is needed in the Christian walk by God’s power.
Ephesians 3:14-21 – “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
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