The story of the Prodigal Son is a story about a young man who lived a worldly life of rebellion that landed him in the pigpen. He finally repented and sought his father’s forgiveness. When he did, he put off his old pig-stained clothes and put on new clean clothes provided by his father.

That story is a good illustration of the verses we are going to study this evening in Ephesians 4:17-24.

Transition

In this section, Paul presents a threefold challenge that calls for change in our lives.

No Longer Walk as the Unsaved, 4:17-19

  1. “Therefore” builds on the previous section
    1. Because God has gifted preachers to perfect the saints, you should want to change your walk.
    2. Because God has gifted church members to minister to each other and to the world, this too should change your walk.
  2. Your walk must change.
    1. “Other Gentiles” refers to the remaining Gentiles who have not yet been saved. We are not to walk as they walk.
    2. They walk in the vanity of their mind. The word vanity speaks of futility. It is that which is useless. Their way of life has no purpose, no future, and no godly restraints.
      1. They have been darkened in understanding. Mentally they are in the dark. They see no true purpose and fulfilment in life, v.18.John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
      2. They have been alienated from the life of God. They have been shut out from God’s fellowship by their ignorance of spiritual things. They are ignorant because their hearts are calloused (blindness), v.18. Repeatedly they have ignored facts about God and they has made their hearts calloused.
      3. They have numbed themselves (past feeling) they gave themselves to unbridled lust, v.19. Because of their spiritual calluses, they no longer sense what is proper nor feel shame. They fulfil their uncontrolled lusts and perform all kinds of impurity with greediness.We must no longer walk as do the unsaved. It is not right!

Now, Look at How You Learned Christ, 4:20-21

  1. You have not so learned Christ
    1. The unbeliever’s learned to walk in futility and emptiness with no hope in the future.
    2. They learned to walk in spiritual darkness, ignoring God and His Word, and numbing their consciences so they can live without restraints.
    3. This is not what a person learns when he comes to Christ for salvation.
  2. You learned the way of righteousness, v.21
    1. You heard Christ when you heard the preaching of the Gospel. “To hear, in this connection, implies intelligence and obedience.” Hodge
    2. [Paul] “then proceeds to describe the fuller and more systematic process of ‘being taught.’” Ellicott You were taught by (in) Christ as God, through His Spirit, worked in your heart.
    3. Jesus is the Christ. He is the truth.John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

      The Gospel itself calls for a change in the believer’s life, and the working of the Holy Spirit in the new believer reinforces and emphasises the need for outward change or transformation.

Apply What You Learned to Your Life, 4:22-24

  1. You are to put off from yourself the old man, v.22
    1. The old man is the former conduct, the old way of life. This is the life that the unbelievers continue to live in darkness, alienated from God, and numb to their unbridled lusts.
    2. The old man is corruptly controlled by deceitful lusts. It is governed by feelings not Bible principles. It is selfish and self-centred. It lacks the fruits of the Spirit and His victory.
    3. You are to put off that old man like you take off dirty clothing by sincere, humble, repentant, surrender to God. It is an action you do to yourself. Middle voice
    4. This is a repeated theme in the Scripture.1 Peter 1:14-16 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

      Colossians 3:8-9 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

      1 Peter 2:1-2 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

  2. You are to allow yourself to be renewed, v.23
    1. “Be renewed” means to be made new or to renovate. It is a passive infinitive. The renewing will happen to you only when you allow it.But the renewal is not a self-renewal. It is accomplished on rather than by believers. They are set in a field of renewal in which they are to let themselves be renewed by Christ (v. 20). TDNT
    2. The renewing takes place in the spirit of the mind. It is not just in the mind as in (Ro 12:2), but in the spirit of it. This is more specific. The spirit is that which guides the mind.Hodge – “That, therefore, which needs to be renewed, is not merely outward habits or modes of life; not merely transient tempers or dispositions, but the interior principle of life which lies back of all that is outward (physical reality), phenomenal (known through the senses), or transient (effects outside the mind).”
    3. The Holy Spirit alone can renew the spirit of your mind. We must allow him to do His cleansing work, by following the instructions James gave us in James 4:7-10.
      1. Submit to God. Let God take charge of your life.
      2. Resist the devil
      3. Draw near to God by quality time in the Bible and prayer. Study to learn. Dig. Meditate. Write down what you learn each day. Put it into practice.
      4. Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts
      5. Be broken hearted over your sin.
      6. Allow yourself to be humbled by God
  3. You are to put on to yourself the new man, v.24
    1. The new man is created after God’s character:
      1. In righteousness – that which is right in God’s sight.
      2. In true holiness (piety) – that which truly respects and obeys God’s standards
    2. Putting on the new man is letting God lead every part of your life. The new man is empowered 100% by God. You may fake it, but you CANNOT live it in your own power. God blesses what you ARE not what you DO.
    3. Putting on the new man is yielding to the Holy Spirit in every attitude, thought, word, and action so that he can fill you (Eph 5:18), walk beside for victory (Gal 5:16), and produce his fruits in your life (Gal 5:22-23).Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
    4. Putting on the new man is not an option. Christians who refuse, disobey and displease the Lord. God does not want this to be a daily repeated process. He wants us to put on the new man and live continually that way. When we struggle, 1 John 1:9 is our lifesaver.

Conclusion

Sadly, many Christians have never put off the old man, others have crawled back into the dirty old man’s clothes. They are defeated, frustrated, unfruitful Christians. No Christian needs to live like that. You can put on the new man if you will obey these verse.

Song: I Am Resolved – 389
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A Call for Change
6 April 2014 PM – Ephesians 4:17-24 – Eph 14 – Scott Childs