Life Group Lesson/ Ephesians 4:17-32, Chapter 5

New Life in Christ/Walking in Love

The New Life

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

Verses 17: Why does Paul use the phrase “testify in the Lord?” Paul is resuming his earlier appeal for the Ephesians to walk worthy of our calling, meaning how Christ commands believers to walk. We are to live our lives according to God’s Word, and not how the world wants us to live or put up with. Paul uses “testify in the Lord because he is not speaking from his own authority, but God’s authority. We are not to live as the world lives, agree with godless ideologies and lifestyles that are out there. Our concern is, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:2 “2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

Verses 18-19: We have to look at these verses from this perspective. Paul is depicting the terrible condition of Gentiles apart from Christ, we need to look at our lives before Christ changed our lives. Romans 1:21 “21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” We see that when we embrace the Gospel our hearts are enlightened, but when we reject Christ, our hearts are darkened. What is the result of having a darkened heart? Ephesians 4:19 “19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.” These people have willingly given themselves up to immorality, longing to sin and purposefully indulging in sinful practices and rejecting the Gospel. As Paul says in Romans 1:24-25 “24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

Going back to Romans briefly, My ESV Study Bible says, “Three times Paul says God gave them up 24,26,28. In every instance the giving up to sin is a result of idolatry, the refusal to make God the center or circumference of all existence, so that in practice the creature is exalted over the Creator. Hence, all individual sins are a consequence of the failure to prize and praise God as the Giver of every good thing.

20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Verse 20-21: If we have been taught the true Gospel, we will feel conviction when we sin, we will repent for those sins, we will embrace the message that frees us from sin. If we have heard the true Gospel, and the believe the true Gospel, we would not want to stay in our sins or engage in any of the world’s evil practices! This is John tells us in 1 John 4:1-6 “1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

And Galatians 1:6-9 “6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

Verses 22-24: As followers of Christ, we strive to do this, but it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can accomplish this. Paul reminds the Ephesians (and us) about what our life without Christ consisted of.. corrupt with deceitful desires, desires that do not line up with the Word of God.

Verse 23 tells us to “be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 “2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “14 For the love of Christ controls (compels) us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Verse 24: “put on the new self”… Believers are created anew in Christ. Ephesians 2:10 “10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” As being created in the image in likeness of God, and by way of His Spirit, we reflect His communicable attributes, so we are able to live righteous, and acceptable lives (going back to Romans 12:2 “2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.

Verses 26-27: This is my Achilles heel! I tend to carry anger, unwilling to settle things before I lay my head. This is something that I pray that the Lord helps me to overcome, because I do not want to give the devil an opportunity to interfere or intervene in the calling in which the Lord has put on our lives. We all should feel this way.

28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may 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 wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Verses 28-29: If we are in Christ, there is a change in our perspective of the world, a change in how we act, react, and respond. We are to live Spirit-led lives; we speak different, we walk different (mean we are not quick to run to evil, Proverbs 6:18 “18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil...” We work hard, we love hard (as if unto the Lord, Colossians 3:23-24 “23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” We give with a cheerful heart, always ready to help those who are in need. We don’t engage in gossip, slander, telling lies; we are people of truth who tell the truth.

Verses 30-32: What does it mean to “grieve the Holy Spirit?” By causing Him sorrow by one’s send. When we deliberately or inadvertently behave in a way that negatively affects our spiritual growth or maturity. The same way a parent grieves over the missteps of their child, or when they behave in a self-destructive manner.

Be kind to one another

tender-hearted

forgiving one another

Why? Because Christ gave His life that we may reconciled to the Father and forgiven of our sins. Jesus paid our sin debt.