Leaving Our Old Self Behind

(A New Life)

(A Christian’s Walk)

(From One Life to the Next)

(Leaving our Old Self Behind)

Context

Paul is the author

Writing to the saints in Ephesus

60-62 AD

Purpose was to ...

INTRODUCTION:

When you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and you are buried with Him in baptism, you become a totally different person.

2 Cor 5:17 “17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

In the epistles, Paul tells us we’ve been given a new:

Will… Mind… Heart… Power… Knowledge… Wisdom… Perception… Understanding… Life… Inheritance… Relationship… Righteousness… Love… Desire… and Citizenship

He called it the “newness of life” (Rom 6:4)

“If that’s true and I’m a new creation, How come I still sin?”

You and I continue to sin because our new nature is encased in a dirty old coat known as the flesh.

Rom 7:17-18 “17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”

When I sin, it’s not my new nature that sins, but the “sin that dwells in me”

Ephesians 4:24 tells us to "put on the new man," a new behavior that's appropriate to our new nature. But to do so we have to eliminate the patterns and practices of our old life.

In Colossians 3 the apostle Paul says, "If ye, then, be risen with Christ.... [Kill], therefore, your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil desire, and covetousness" (vv. 1, 5).

Rom 6:13 “13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

“Gentiles”

Refer to non-Jews

Refer to those who “know not God” (1 Thes 4:5)

Paul’s point is that we are not to live like those who know not God

Ephesus

Pagan Culture

Very religious city, but to the goddess Diana (Artemis)

She was a sex goddess

Heraclitus, a greek philosopher who lived in Ephesus before the time of Christ, described worship as “mass sexual relations taking place, to the point where it became hysteria”

Silversmiths would sell thousands of little idols there

People would have put these in their homes… on their necks… on their wrists/ankles… on the front of their chariots

There was actually a revolt of silversmiths in Acts 19 who feared that Pauls preaching would ruin their business!

The Church in Ephesus was like a small island in the midst of a vast and wicked ocean. That’s why Paul urged them to be different.

2 Parallel Passages:

1 Peter 4:3 “3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.”

Some of us may have done these things in the past, but now that we’re Christians we must leave that lifestyle behind because of who we are in Christ.

1 John 2:15, 17 “15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him… 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

This world is fading away and we are to have no attachment to it. Our society is hostile to God because it’s dominated by carnal ambition, pride, selfishness, greed, lust, and a desire for evil things.

This isn’t just my opinion, its what Paul says in Eph 4:17 “So this I say, and testify in the Lord.”

Let’s look at the contrast in verses 17-24 between the old walk and the new walk—our old and new lifestyles. Paul described 4 characteristics of the old walk:

THE OLD WALK (17b-19)

LIFE OF AN UNBELIEVER

Focused on Self (17b)

Eph 4:17 “17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility [or vanity] of their mind,”

What’s important to unbelievers is their mind… their thinking… their desires… their whims. Whatever they think and whatever they want governs their behavior

Paul calls it: "vanity" (Greek., mataios, "that which is empty, futile, useless, or vain").

The walk of an unbeliever is empty, futile, useless, vain.

Example:

Solomon was the wisest and richest man in the world. He had more women and prestige than any others. Yet he summed up life this way, "Vanity of vanities ... all is vanity — Ecc 1:2.

People will exhaust their money… their bodies… and their minds trying to find meaning in life, only they never find it. Why? Because their thinking is empty and useless, accomplishing nothing.

John 15:5 “5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Ignorance (18)

Eph 4:18 “18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;”

Paul clearly says that people who don't know Christ are filled with ignorance. Really? Ignorance?

In an educated society such as ours, people will take that as an insult. No society in history has ever been more educated than ours, but as the apostle Paul said, people are "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 3:7).

Rom 1:21-22 “21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,”

“Darkened” means “to make blind”

When does someone have their understanding darkened? Verse 18 says: “excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart”

In reading about the Exodus of Israel we find that Pharaoh hardened his own heart several times. We also read that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. If a person chooses a certain lifestyle, then he will be excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance in his heart.

The Greek word translated "blindness" (porosis) comes from the root poros, which refers to a stone harder than marble. It was a medical term that referred to the callus that forms around a broken bone and the calcium that can form in a joint and paralyze movement.

An unbeliever's life is like that--hard and without feeling toward God. Every time he takes another step of willful rejection, he pours more concrete on his heart.

1 Peter 1:14 “14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,”

Sin Shamelessly (19a)

Eph 4:19 “19 and they, having become, callous… ”

“being past feeling.”

When unbelievers continue in sin, and turn away from the life of God, they become shameless — past any feeling.

According to an old story, a Spartan youth stole a fox but ran into the man who owned the fox. Not wanting to betray the fact that he'd stolen the fox and that it was hidden under his tunic, the youth remained motionless while the fox tore at his midsection.

Our society stands just as motionless while sin tears it apart. People have become so good at wearing a mask that they don't feel anything. That gives rise to shameless behavior because all standards of morality are ignored.

Live Perversely (19b)

Eph 4:19 “19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”

A perverse person is someone “who’s soul is incapable of bearing the pain of discipline” — (Basil in 4th Century)

They indulge in homosexuality, promiscuity, lying, cheating, and stealing. Without fear of discipline or correction

“Greediness”

They pursue worldly desires without any concern of someones welfare or morality

CONCLUSION:

Paul looked at the evil pagan world and concluded it’s worthless

Self-Centered

Ignorant

Shameless

Preverse

But in Ephesians 4:20 Paul says, "Ye have not so learned [in] Christ." We're not to have any part of that old lifestyle. Instead we're to put off "the former manner of life" (v. 22) and "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (v. 24).

THE NEW WALK (20-24)

A Christ-Centered Life (20-21a)

A Knowledge of the Truth (21b)

A Sensitivity to Sin (22)

A Renewed Mind (23-24)

conformity

Rom 12:2 “2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

1 Peter 1:14 “14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,”

Daniel 3:12 “12 “There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

Holiness is a reflection of Gods character (24)

1 peter 1:15-16 “15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””

Lev 19:2 “2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

Col 3:5-10 “5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—”

Gal 5:24 “24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Newness

Born anew (23-24)

1 Peter 1:3 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

John 3:5 “5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

New creation (23-24)

2 Cor 5:17 “17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Reformation

1 Sam 7:3 “3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.””

James 4:7-10 “7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”