Ephesians 4:20-24To: Ephesians Main MenuTo: Grace Notes Home Page Ephesians 4:20,21But you have not so learned Christ; If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:Francis Foulkes in "Ephesians", "'But you' the apostle says to his readers, emphasizing the personal pronoun, 'can no longer walk in that way. You have not so learned Christ. The truth of God and of His purpose has come to dominate your minds, and this truth has ethical implications. Your lives are no longer dark, your minds no longer vain. You are no longer alienated but walking step by step in the full light of the Lord, and in fellowship with Him. So you must finish with all immorality, and the passion for what is impure, and for what outrages the souls and bodies of others.'" The ability to stand alone for that which is right is one of the truest signs of maturity in the Christian life. It is the sign that one has openly identified himself with a superior way of life - with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. NOTE VERY CAREFULLY THE SEQUENCE FOLLOWED IN THIS PROCESS OF CHRISTIAN MATURITY!! 1. You learn Bible truth; you grow in Christ; you become more like Him; you are edified. 2. Result: whereas you were once in darkness, you are now "light in the Lord" and you "walk as a child of light". The Christian life is NOT a process by which you turn over multiple new leaves and form yourself into a product that is somehow acceptable to God. The Christian life IS a process by which you submit to His plan of grace, learn and apply the doctrines of the Word of God, and enjoy His work of reconciliation, restoration, and edification in your life, whereby you grow into a place of spiritual productivity. Topic: SEPARATION To put it another way: while separation is definitely a part of God's plan, you do not become more spiritual or more advanced in the Christian life by separating yourself from various evils. Rather, your advancement in the Christian life depends on the Word of God in your soul and your being filled with the Holy Spirit. As the Lord builds our lives, line upon line, precept upon precept, the fruit of the Spirit grows in our lives and our behavior changes, as shown in the verses that follow in chapter 4. Ephesians 4:22That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;Notice in verses 22 to 24 that the Christian life is one of moving from a former state to a future state, from the "old man" to the "new man". And the mechanism is described in verse 23 as being renewal that takes place in the mind. It is like a breathing process in which bad air goes out and good air comes in. "that you put off" is APOTHESTHAI, "to lay aside" as in laying aside a garment. The word "former" refers to us when we were unbelievers. An unbeliever may be religious or irreligious, moral or immoral, self-righteous or sincere - there are all types of unbelievers. And the qualities of an unbeliever are generated by the sin nature in his soul. It is very important to study the doctrine of the Sin Nature at this point, because the Bible describes us to a "T" and helps us to see just what it is that we are laying aside. Topic: SIN NATURE "which is corrupt" is from the Greek PHTHERO, "to be constantly depraved". This is the strongest Greek word for depravity and means "to be marked by corruption or evil." "according to deceitful lusts" Lusts are the activators of the Sin Nature and the motivators of a person who not controlled by the Holy Spirit. There are all sorts of lust patterns, and any person will have one or more of them: power lust; the desire for approbation; sexual lust; lust for worldly possessions; etc. The result of lust, among other things, is slavery to the details of life - seeking happiness and satisfaction in what the world offers, rather than through God's plan. Ephesians 4:23
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