New For Old Replacement
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Ephesians 4:17-24
Ephesians 4:17-24
New For Old Replacement (Eph 4:17–24)
Introduction
Have you heard of the insurance policy called “New for Old Replacement”? Our old Pastor at BBC had a laptop that I am sure that Noah had on the Ark for accounting for the animals. It was slow and was a good patience tester, he was always complaining about it and promising to replace it one day. A little while later our church got broken into and along with some youth group money and a curtain (yes you heard right a curtain) the minister’s laptop was taken. As we had a policy in place, his laptop was replaced with a brand new one. In which we teased him that he broke into the church himself so he could get a new one. That was a pretty good outcome, but the best New for Old replacement surely has to be our old life for our new life in Christ.
Structure of the Passage
The next major section of Ephesians is 4:17–32. In terms of context, what we saw in the first half of chapter 4, there is unity and diversity in the body of Christ. Believers have been united by one faith in one Lord by one Spirit. In the second half of chapter 4, in 17–32, Paul goes into a very practical section, and he says, in effect, “Therefore, you should not act like those who don’t know God.” As Paul is safeguarding the oneness of the church and keeping her on track.
In terms of structure, there are two main parts: verses 17–24, which I call new-for-old replacement, where you replace the old way of living with a new way and the old way of being with a new way of being; and the second part, verses 25–32, where Paul says, [in effect,] “Be a new man; be a new person.”
1. You Are What You Think - Vv.17-18
2. You Are What You Practice – Vv.19-21
3. You Are What You Wear – Vv.22-24
You Are What You Think
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
Contrasting Walks
In the HCSB translation renders Verse 17, “Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk.” Remember that walking is a key expression in Ephesians. We saw, at the beginning of chapter 4, that believers are to walk in a manner that is worthy of the Lord. So here is a contrast. That means “you should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk.” It’s kind of a positive and negative contrast.
Redefining “Gentile”
The question is “What does Paul mean by ‘the Gentiles’ here?” Now that he has established that both Jew and Gentile in Christ are one people of God—one citizenship—now he is using the term “Gentile” to mean, in effect, anyone who is not a believer. In other words, the gospel of Christ has redefined the boundaries.
The people of God now consist of whoever believes in Jesus, and the people who are not of God—that is, the Gentiles—consist of everyone else. So he says, “No longer walk as the Gentiles walk. No longer walk as though you are still an unbeliever in the futility of their thoughts. They are darkened in their understanding. They are excluded from the life of God.”
The Walk of exclusion
They are excluded from God’s promises. Gentiles know no other life, than a life and a walk that leads to a hardened blackened heart. The link between their actions/behaviour and their hardening hearts is their thought ‘life’. This ‘futility’ in V.17 was characteristic of their minds. ‘In losing the living conception of a living God’, and so wandered a aimless, hopeless, reckless’ life.
The word rendered hardness by rsv comes from a verb that means to ‘petrify’ or ‘cause a callus to form’, or ‘marbled’ and so figuratively ‘to become hard’ or ‘insensitive’.
Thinking
…In the futlity of their thinking V.17c
To be made new in the attitude of their minds V.23
Mel has recently being trying to hear back from a business and is not having any success, she has tried a few times. We so happen to run into a staff member of this business and they weren’t very friendly or helpful. We shared that Mel had been trying to book them for December this year . He made excuses and made us feel like we should have known to make an appointment earlier (how are we menat to know if no one got back to us). He said that they are very busy. He eventually rang his boss and I could hear that she wasn’t very friendly and said that she only got the enquiry a few days prior, and that she will get back to us. He passed on the message. As of yet we have not heard back form them.
So should we try and go through the incompentant staff to fix the business’ problems or the boss? Yes, you are right the only real way to change how that business operates is through the boss not the staff member. Likewise if we want to fix wrong living in us or others, it has to be through the mind (thoughts, conscience) and not by treating just the behaviour or morals. Fill your mind with the right way.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
So many legalistic practices turn people away, harden hearts and are proven useless. Parents and Church have spent so much time on Christian kids ‘Do’s’ and ‘Don’ts, with moral teachings on how to behave proper and reduce the bible to a bunch of stories that deal with just how to look like you have ‘right living’. They go off to Universities and Colleges where a leftist lecturer with untruths and fill their minds with deceptive ideals and concepts.
They make them think that way and becasue they use right methods to push a life of darkness and evil faith, that is a counterfeit to the perfect faith. They walk away. Becasue they were never taught how to think in the gospel, and so they knew how to behave in life but did not know the one who gives life.
Genuine Christianity Opens the mind to grasp deeper truths at deeper levels - namley understanding who God is and our relationship to him. That he gives us true hummanity where the world thoughts and ideals de-humanize us.
“It’s a matter of the heart and mind being open to the ever wider range of insight and imagination that comes from learning The King.” - Tom Wright
There must be the complete abandonment of the old way of living, and the working out of the new in personal life, and also in human relationships.
Though the old life has been renounced by the Christian minority, they are living surrounded by those who still live (the verb is lit. ‘walk’ as in 2:2) in the darkness of their godlessness.
2. You are What You Practice
Ephesians 4:19-21 “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.”
In Verse 19 They have deadened their conscience and do not feel its stings’
Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
Illustration
The ganglia nerves are the tiny nerve branches which go out from the main nerves. The ganglia nerves so cover our body that we cannot stick a pin in the body without a message flashing to the mind to warn us of an invasion into our body. This is a fantastic warning system that protects our very life. Spiritually, we must have the same sensitivity which warns us of harmful danger to our spiritual life. If the ganglia nerves cease to send any messages, the alarm system of the body is gone. We might think it would be great to have no pain. But it could mean death. Many are like this spiritually. No warning system. Sin with no pain.
Immorality of life has inevitably followed. They have given themselves up, ‘abandoned themselves’ (neb), to a life that is a betrayal of their true selves. They live a life licentiousness or ‘wanton violence’. Paul uses the same language that he does for ‘no more pain and no more sorrow’ but in the negative connotation, that in the same way we will be dead to pain and sorrow in the new life, we will be dead to the sin that will cause our very rejection to the new heavens and the new earth.
Aselgeia (Greek) so sinful they do not try to hide sin. They do not care how much they shock public opinion, how much they defy decency so long as they can gratify their desires. That describes these few (as their are many debaucherous activites becoming normalized.
Only Fans and Netflix and Chill are a way of life. It is a shocking platform that allows Mums, Dads, Grandmothers, Teachers to film lewd sexual acts, some of them are earning over $400,000 which means there is plenty of sick people committing sexual immorality in the comfort of their own home. People say it empowers them and allows them to make money, and society seems to be more accepting of that role than a life lead by a Christian.
It makes people beasts, they desire, crave more and more and more. We also see that Greed is mentioned, we also see this insatiable appetite in the success, wealth driven sector with the top elite having billions (more than they can handle) and are not satisifed and want more and more. always thirsty for it always hungry for it, the sensual, impure and greedy are never satisfied. These are the ones who are excluded from eternal life with God.
Primarily the reason for exclusion to eternal salvation here is that it’s affect on true relationships, meaning that we are making others and ourselves less human by the effect of our selfish, beast like sin. Both greed and sexual sins are at others expense and are dehumanising acts. So Pauls says why do you want to live this way, when you know the truth
Living by Christ’s Teachings Vv. 20 -21
But [in] verse 20, Paul goes on, “That is not how you learned about the Messiah, assuming you heard about Him and were taught by Him because the truth is in Jesus.” Paul’s point is “That is not the way you know now how to live. The truth is in Him; the truth is in Christ. and the truth is in you.
You’ve been taught by Him.” Now, these people did not ever hear Jesus speak or hear Him teach. They never saw Him with their own eyes. He is, of course, referring to the teaching of Jesus carried on to them through the apostles and their teaching Acts 2:42 … being devoted to the Apostle’s teaching, becasue it is Jesus speaking and to, and teaching us by his Holy Spirit.
Paul in the previous verse is explaining those outside of Christ, and their dark dominating thoughts and actions, they are walking a life worthy of their calling – that calling is death and its from the evil one. The contrast is that Christ/God dominates the believers’ thoughts which is light and lead to an ethical walking worthy of their calling, a Good life from the Good one. a life you are no longer alienated from. So, you must finish with all immorality, and the passion for what is impure, and for what outrages the souls and bodies of others.’
3. You Are What You Wear
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
New Creation, New Clothing
Verse 22 says, “You took off the former way of life, the old self that is corrupted.” Here, the “taking off” language uses the imagery of clothing; he’s likening the former way of life to a garment, to a cloak. This was a metaphor that was relatively common in the ancient world, where your clothing would represent who you were; it would define you in a certain way. So, if you take off this clothing, this former way of life, you should no longer be associated with that.
But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
In verse 24, “You are being renewed in the spirit of your minds. You put on the new self.” There’s the clothing language again. There is a new person who has been created in Christ, who has been made alive, who has been raised with Christ. Putting on the new clean clothes represents our new nature, the one that is promised to us when we accept Christ.
This new self is created in God’s likeness, why would you want to put the old stinky clothes back on when you can have these that represent a New Humanity that leads to eternal life.
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,
Conclusion and Solution
The Cure
A. Be filled with knowledge of God’s Word.
Jesus used the Bible against temptation see
Luke 4:3-12 “The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’””
God is the shield of faith to quench all the attacks of the evil one. Also, abstain from the very appearance of evil. So as, not to fall. stay awau from temptation, stop standing so close to the line. If you do find yourself facing temaptation, run like Joseph ran from Potifers wife.
Don’t make others stumble, lay down your rights so as not to allow your brother to go against his weaker conscience.
So fill your mind, heart and conscience with the Word of God so that when sin approaches, a red light flashes in the switchboard of your mind.
B. Conscience (formed by teaching and environment).
Feed it with constant Bible study. Surround yourself with strong Christian friends. Be sold out to Him and his goodness, live with total commitment to God, and that will keep you from falling into the old ways.
Stay tender-hearted so as to hear from The Holy Spirit as he direct us into truth and steer us clear of sin. He is a far better pilot than you.