Sermon Tone Analysis
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Ephesians - 6
Ephesians 4:17-32
Introduction
One of the hallmark characteristics of the Apostle Paul’s NT letters is his usage of grammar.
Particularly his usage of indicatives and imperatives.
Let’s do a review of middle school English grammar.
An indicative is a statement of fact.
And imperative is a command.
Paul will open his letters with an abundance of indicatives, statements of fact.
And then, only after establishing the truths of who Jesus is and all Jesus has accomplished in the gospel, Paul will switch to issuing imperatives.
All commands are to be understood as implications and applications of the gospel.
Messing up this order is disastrous to the faith.
If you were to issue indicatives only, then what you end up with it what we call ‘cheerleader’ Christianity.
God loves you.
Jesus died for you.
You’re just amazing.
You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.
Just keep living like you’ve been living, you Queen, you Stud, because God is going to love you anyway.
This is called by theologians, licentiousness.
Living however you please because God places no moral or ethical expectations on you.
The other side is just as bad.
It issues only imperatives.
We call that legalism.
It is highly restrictive, narrow.
It is joyless obedience.
It makes God to be a tyrant.
Do all these things, because I said so.
Indicatives only is a problem.
Imperatives only is a problem.
Even worse is reversing the order.
Putting imperatives before indicatives gets you every single world religion.
Live this way, obey these commands, and then God will love you.
The precise Gospel grammar matters…indicatives before imperatives.
Ephesians is the clearest example of this method by Paul.
The first three chapters are loaded with dozens of indicatives about who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and what that means for you.
And then, only after the turn in 4:1 does he start issuing the imperatives.
With the solid foundation of the gospel in place, now it is time to see the right response.
What are God’s expectations on you?
Who a Christian is ‘in Christ’ dictates what they do for Christ.
In our text for today Paul sets out a stark contrast between the former unbelieving life of the Gentiles with their current status as Christians.
Who they are, whether unbeliever or believer, practically manifests itself in a lifestyle.
And the practical outworking of their status of Union with Christ applies, first and foremost, to their Unity with Christians.
Ephesians 4:17-32 - 17 Therefore this I say, and testify in the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 being darkened in their mind, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.
19 And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
20 But you did not learn Christ in this way—
21 if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus—
22 to lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and to put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.
28 He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.
29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for building up what is needed, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
32 Instead, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven you.
Who you are ‘in Christ’ is contrasted with who you were outside of Christ.
And since who you are determines what you do, how you live now ‘in Christ’ is to be noticeably different from how you used to live outside of Christ.
Let’s walk through this contrast:
THE OLD MAN (V.
17-19)
I say and testify in the Lord…implies some sense of authority and force behind his words.
Do not walk as the Gentiles do…’walk’ is a metaphor for lifestyle, practical daily living.
Now that you are ‘in Christ’ don’t live as if you are outside of Christ.
There are distinct differences between the two.
HIS POSITION (V.
17-18)
Paul describes the position of the Gentile (nations/pagans) outside of Christ in the darkest of terms, showing the emptiness of life without Christ.
Those outside of Christ live in the ‘futility of their mind.’
Futility refers to a purposeless, an inability to meet a goal.
It is used throughout Ecclesiastes to refer to ‘vanity’ or ‘meaningless.’
The pagan mind is incapable of knowing God and, therefore, of knowing His will.
They cannot understand God on their own and cannot live in a way that honors Him.
They are ‘darkened’ in their mind.
Meaning, they have not been ‘enlightened’ like the Christian has (1:17-18).
Truth has not shined into their minds to light up the dark and depraved reality of their thinking.
This dark thinking shows how much they are ‘alienated’ from God and the life found only in Him.
He has already described the Christian’s former reality in 2:1…you were dead in sin.
Now he makes the comprehensive claim for all who are outside Christ…you are dead.
This darkness, this death has a direct cause.
v. 18 - because of the ignorance that is in them.
Ignorance comes into English as agnostic.
They don’t know, they can’t know.
And it is not because they haven’t read some books.
The ignorance is ‘in them.’
It is their choice to remain outside of Christ.
They have rebelled against God.
Romans 1 says they can see the truth but have chosen to ‘suppress’ it by their wickedness.
v. 18 ends with a second cause…because of the hardness of their heart.
Again, this is internal.
Personal choice.
No one’s fault but their own.
The ‘heart’ is the control center of a person’s life.
Their’s is hard, immovable, inflexible, unwilling to change.
TS - the spiritual position of an unbeliever is disastrous.
Separated from God, dead in sin.
Hard, closed off to God and His ways.
And that has very real implications for how they live.
HIS PRACTICE (V.
19)
v. 19 opens with a final description of them, in that they have ‘become callous.’
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