Ephesians 4:17-24

Order of Service

• Hymn — For the Beauty of the Earth
• Sunday School Lesson

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Sermon Title: Leaving Darkness Behind and Putting On the New Self

Scripture: Ephesians 4:17-24

I. The Condition of the Pagan Mind

A. Paul asserts his authority "in the Lord" and commands the Ephesian Christians to no longer walk as the Gentiles do (Ephesians 4:17)

1. The Ephesians were themselves formerly pagan Gentiles, but are now called to holiness
2. Paul's purpose: to help them grasp theologically the basis for the difference between what they were and what they now are
3. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Christian conduct should be inevitable in view of what we believe — if we are always struggling against it, something is radically wrong

B. The downward spiral of pagan degradation (Ephesians 4:18-19)

1. Obstinacy — hardness of heart (porosis): a stubborn, willful refusal of moral light
2. Darkness — futility of minds, darkened understanding, ignorance
3. Death under judgment — alienation from the life of God
4. Recklessness — callousness, abandonment to sensuality, eagerness to practice every kind of impurity

C. Parallel description in Romans 1:18-32

1. Obstinacy: suppressing the truth (Romans 1:18), not honoring God (Romans 1:21), refusing to acknowledge God (Romans 1:28)
2. Darkness: futile thinking, foolish hearts darkened, becoming fools, debased mind (Romans 1:21-22, 28)
3. Judgment: "God gave them up" — repeated three times (Romans 1:24, 26, 28)
4. Recklessness: impurity, dishonorable passions, shameless acts, all manner of unrighteousness (Romans 1:29-31)

D. Key conclusions from the comparison

1. God has revealed himself in nature so that no one is without excuse, though this is not a saving revelation
2. The ignorance of the pagan is willful and chosen, therefore deserving of blame
3. Augustine: "The punishment of sin is sin" — God's judgment is to give people over to the consequences of what they pursue

II. The Christian Contrast — You Learned Christ

A. Paul pivots in Ephesians 4:20 with "But that is not the way you learned Christ"

B. Three educational verb phrases describing the Christian's relationship to Christ (Ephesians 4:20-21)

1. You learned Christ — not merely learning facts or doctrines, but knowing a person; a unique usage found nowhere else in the Greek Bible; compared to John 17:3: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent"
2. You heard him — not merely "about him"; when believers sit under the preaching and exposition of the Word, they hear the voice of Christ himself speaking through Scripture
3. You were taught in him — Christ is simultaneously the teacher, the message, and the environment or atmosphere in which the teaching occurs; John Stott: "When Jesus Christ is at once the subject, the object, and the environment of the moral instruction being given, we may have confidence that it is truly Christian"

C. Paul shifts from the title "Christ" to the name "Jesus" at the end of verse 21, emphasizing that the historical Jesus himself is the embodiment of truth

III. Putting Off the Old and Putting On the New

A. The old self must be put off (Ephesians 4:22)

1. The old self belongs to the former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires
2. Matthew Henry: the old man is like the old Adam, bred into our bones; sinful inclinations that promise happiness but render men miserable and lead to destruction if not mortified
3. The world's promises of happiness and satisfaction only produce more misery

B. The new self must be put on (Ephesians 4:24)

1. Created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness
2. A new nature actuated by new principles through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit

C. The contrasts Paul draws

1. Old self: corrupt, degenerating, dominated by deceitful lusts
2. New self: freshly created after the likeness of God, characterized by righteousness and holiness

D. The continuous renewal of the mind (Ephesians 4:23)

1. Placed between putting off and putting on — not a one-time event
2. The verb tense indicates an ongoing, daily striving
3. John Stott: just as heathen degradation was due to the futility of their minds, Christian righteousness depends on the constant renewing of our minds

E. The blend of the Divine and the human

1. Divine: being born again, exchanging old humanity for new, recreated in Christ's likeness — God's work
2. Human: putting off the old life, putting on the new life, embracing what God has done — our response by his grace
3. Recreation is what God does; repentance is what we do — inseparable