Ephesians 4:17-24
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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. 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.
Put off nasty clothes, bathe and put on new clothes—feels wonderful
Not to trivialize the true fact that countless people feel the tug for something different
Only to take off nasty clothes, bathe in the mud, and put the same clothes back on
But the benefit of having Christ, is we can truly put off nasty clothes and put on new daily
(in a certain sense we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness but in this sense here we get to put on the daily righteousness each day of our lives
God uses the left over sin in our lives, to remind us of our old self and the blessedness to shed it off and put on the new self
this is what Paul focuses on here in the imperative land—put off the old way and put on the new way daily
Ephesians 4:17 “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.”
Same as the opening at the beginning of the chapter
Ephesians 4:1 “1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,”
Testify to bare witness…in Christ
He is about to give commands—from the Lord.
His authority, his power.
Ephesians 4:17 “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.”
Also similar to earlier
Ephesians 4:1 “1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,”
Only now it is not a positive command of how to walk in which it lead him to talk about our need to walk in community unified, but instead he uses the contrast to say how not to walk
Ephesians 4:17 “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.”
Gentiles we saw from chapter 2 are people outside of the covenant community of God---therefore alienated from his goodness
Ephesians 2:11 “11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—”
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
Gentiles are unbelievers, separated from the covenant, separated from God
And since we claim Christ now, we are in covenant with God with Christ as our mediator, and so we are no longer to walk, or live a life as if we do not know Christ.
And so notice, before we get to the walk of the unbeliever, how God still uses the unbelief of the world today. We can often times wonder why God deals or puts up with the wickedness we see—notice at least in part, it is for us to have a good display of the contrast for the sake that we would know how to put off and put on.
We should seeds of our own rebellion in their walk and learn better how to put off that walk.
Thus the wickedness of the unbeliever, more than just simply something for us to scoff at, is something we are to learn from to see how not to walk in this life we have been called out of.
What is there walk like in general?
Ephesians 4:17 “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.”
Notice he doesn’t just simply say they walk sinfully. Instead in just a few words he explains their walk that describes their mindset with every step they take in life.
He describes this phrase more in the following words when he says
Ephesians 4:18 “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.”
And then he describes what drives this behavior with
Ephesians 4:18 “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.”
And then the only thing left for them to do is to find enjoyment in their old, nasty, attire after their mudbath:
Ephesians 4:19 “19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”
To make sense of all of this, it will help to get a good handle on that first phrase that explains their walk though, driven by a hard heart:
Ephesians 4:17 “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.”
Futility means useless.
Mind certainly means the thinking center, but it involves our emotions, beliefs and really everything that makes us human in spirit—our command center
Useful verses not useful
Useful is connected with the next verse that says
Ephesians 4:18 “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.”
God made all things, and he made them to reflect who he is, which is a God of life.
That is why the first chapter of Genesis is filled with God creating things that are filled with life that reproduces—they become useful in their display of life.
God is glorified in the way that all creation comes forth from him fighting to live, and to reproduce.
Humanity shares in a similar identity with that, we are tasked to be fruitful and multiply and reveal life, but we are made in God’s image in which our usefulness went further than the creatures, in that we were to image God well to them in righteousness and holiness.
In literally every facet of our lives, we were meant to have one thing dominate our minds: how can I image my Creator in righteousness and holiness in this situation.
This is a mind of the human, deeper than the creatures, that is not in vanity but useful for the life that is God.
But with sin, came an alienation from this life, and a mind fallen into futility. No longer dominated and aimed to what glorifies my God here.
And this is what it means to be driven by a heart harden to God—without feeling to his commands or purpose for us.
Instead darkness:
Ephesians 4:18 “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.”
Notice our understanding is not gone…we still have deeper thought and ability, but it is darkened for a sinister purpose.
And the purpose that takes the place of a soften heart and useful mind is one for sin:
Ephesians 4:19 “19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”
When we are not actively pursuing the things of God, we will actively pursue what feels good to our wayward desires
Now Paul is describing a person with little restraint from God to keep them from full evil.
There are most people God restrains from given in to their full desires of the flesh—but nevertheless are not driven by a desire to image God to all creation around them in righteousness and holiness
And a life not set on this, Paul describes as ultimately vanity
And so where our minds need to go, whether you are an unbeliever who has never experienced the new man, or a believer who is given in to the old man
Is not—well I am not nearly as bad as greedy to practice every form of evil—my neighbor is!
In what areas of my life am I allowing the old man residence—in what areas of my life am I harden to God and not living in a useful, God honoring and life filled manner?
And what’s beautiful, is the answer is not to focus on the sin until we are sick with depression, or take our eyes off it to distract us as we enjoy our vanity
The answer is to put our eyes on Jesus:
Ephesians 4:20 “20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—”
Ephesians 4:21 “21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,”
Those who are taught by Jesus through his Spirit, learn a different way than the vanity of the mind driven by hard hearts.
What he teaches:
Ephesians 4:22 “22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,”
Put off means to put off the old clothes—the vanity of mind, darkened understanding, ignorance, that is alienated from the life of God
And you could say, well why do I need Jesus to put it off, I’ll just do better on my own.
But it is only through Jesus’ work that we can be so taught
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
And with the old self dead on the cross:
Ephesians 4:23 “23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,”
Our minds—in sin and the old system is futile—with Christ and the new man he brings, our minds can be renewed—like what God would always have for it:
Ephesians 4:24 “24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Most religion highlight the don’ts of religion
Most man made philosophy highlight the dos
Christianity highlights both the don’ts and the dos
And enough cannot be said about wayward and true good desires
There have been many responses in history to desire and its ill effects to ignore them: stoics to the buddhists
Or the other side that says just embrace them all for they are just our animal instincts
But Christianity teaches to avoid the wayward desires that have been crucified with Christ
And be renewed with godly desires of righteousness and holiness
And since desires are what drives us, a good question to ask yourself as you are considering the old self and the new self, are, what desires are driving you today?
Are they harden to God? Or are they soften to God?
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ” 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Giving ourselves to the word of God will open our hearts to surgery from God.
Jesus who says
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
And with renew desires, taught my Jesus we will have a mind of usefulness, to serve God in righteousness and holiness and enjoy the life he has for us in Christ.
Not the way you learn Christ!
Matthew 11:29 “29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Purpose of this text is for the people of God to put off the Gentile walk and to put on the new walk of true righteousness and holiness
Gentile walk
Ephesians 4:17 “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.”
Which looks like
Ephesians 4:18 “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.”
Outcome
Ephesians 4:19 “19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”
Christ walk
Ephesians 4:23 “23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,”
Which looks like
Ephesians 4:24 “24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Outcome
Ephesians 4:24 “24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Futile mind
Darkened Understanding
Alienated from the life of God
Ignorance
Due to hard heart
Walk for sensuality
Renewed Mind
God’s likeness
Walk for true righteousness and holiness
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.
Life of God—three different kinds of life in this world: animal (follows instinct only), human (a will and ability to have deeper desires), regeneration. Vanity is when humans only amount to the life of the animal and no further.
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
Callous: “having arrived at a condition of freedom from pain.”
1 Timothy 4:2 “2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,”
Sensuality to its basic definition is indulgence to sinful desires. And since deviant sexual activity fits the bill so well, it usually has its revealing there.
There is another side of the ditch to fall on, the stoics, Buddhists (nirvana being the cessation of all natural desires) where you avoid all desires totally.
There is something to be said about the Roman world at this time which had a very weak moral framework for society. Origen states that when the people of his day committed adultery and whoredom they did not regard themselves as violating good manners.
We live in a post Christian world with certain morals left over. We see what was and what is to come.
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,
2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Romans 6:6 “6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
Colossians 3:9 “9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices”
The old man is the old system that was judged on the cross with Jesus that is to be put off in this life. The ability to do so is found on the cross. The old man is renewed not converted.
Being renewed, contrast with vanity mind. And it is a present tense continual action.
Put off is a metaphor of a garment.
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
Goes together
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Thus the call is not to avoid desires but to curb them to what pertains to the renewed mind, or new man.
righteousness towards our neighbor
Holiness towards God
Luke 1:75 “75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
1 Thessalonians 2:10 “10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers.”
Titus 1:8 “8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.”
God not only imputes but also imparts righteousness.
created after the likeness of God:
Colossians 3:10 “10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
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.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Galatians 6:15 “15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.”
Titus 3:5 “5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,”
Put off and put on refers to garment:
Good:
Job 29:14 “14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.”
Psalm 132:9 “9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy.”
Isaiah 11:5 “5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.”
Isaiah 61:10 “10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
Evil:
Psalm 73:6 “6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.”
Psalm 35:26 “26 Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me!”
Psalm 109:29 “29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!”
True Christian religion says don’t and do.
This is significant in a world full of false religion that either stresses don’t without the do or do without the don’t.
But Christian stresses don’t with the do, the emphasis by the Holy Spirit.
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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. 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.
Ephesians 4:17–18 “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.”
Futility of their minds = darkened in their understanding = Ignorance
This does not mean that they are victims without tools.
They have the tools but use it for the wrong objective.
Proper objective is what pertains to life= righteousness and holiness
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
But—with hardness of hearts, they forsake proper end for the common denominator that takes its place: passions of the flesh.
Hardness of heart = sensitivity to God’s will and commandments
Minds = understanding = heart
Control center of the human, with will, desire, thinking, inclinations.
Condition: Futility, darkened, ignorance, because they are hardened
But why are they darkened and ignorant is not because they do not know, or are left in the dark and are victim of a lack of information. The grass is greener on the other side and they don’t know it!
Rather, they are these things because they have futility as their pursuit in keeping with their hardened state.
Their pursuit is futile because the one to pursue they are hardened to.
Thus they are left to pursue something and it becomes simply what feels good to their animal instincts—i.e sensuality. They become animals.
But we have learned Christ! Thus we are taught in him to put off the old self with its deceitful desires and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, no longer for futility but the new self pursues the likeness of God, in righteousness and holiness…a renewed mind is a pursuit of the one to be pursued.
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Paul has finished his first stop in the land of the imperatives with the command to bear with another in love, with eagerness to maintain unity in the church.
We saw how Jesus was victorious to enable this endeavor of ours, and enables us to complete it by speaking or doing the truth in love with one another.
In this way we will grow up unified after the image of Christ as a church.
Now this theme of enjoying the commands of Jesus in community is not over, but will continue through the rest of the epistle.
But we do take a break from it with this section here with a most helpful doctrine of how we as individuals are to break off the old walk we had as unbelievers, and to enjoy the walk Jesus has provided for those who are following him.
Paul began chapter 4 with the most general imperative to walk in a manner worthy of the calling—then describes that in light of the community of believers
But now returns to that same exhortation in light of the individual and explains how not to do it, followed by what to do.
Ephesians 4:17 “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.”
Similar to how he introduces anything in which he is going to give imperatives or commands—he highlights himself in light of Jesus, and gives the command
Paul is an apostle of Jesus, a prisoner of Jesus, a faithful testifier or witness of Jesus and his Word.
And as I said when we covered 4:1 so I say now, it is to remind us of where the authority comes from, the Lord, and where the power to accomplish comes from, the Lord.
Ephesians 4:17 “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.”
Again he talks about our walk. A walk in the context means a way of life in general. Those who follow the Lord in salvation are to have a certain walk, or way of life about them.
It is a walk that is in accordance to the call of our Lord and Master.
And here we see it is a walk that is unlike the Gentile, or the unbeliever.
Ephesians 4:17 “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.”
The Gentiles in the Old Testament were people who were outside the covenant community of God. Israel enjoyed the statues of being in covenant with God and God told them you must not live like the Gentiles now that I have brought you into the promise land.
Of course, the Israelites failed to not walk like the Gentiles, and culminated when they joined with the Gentiles in killing the Lord.
But God in his beautiful plan used that wickedness, to create to himself one people from Jew and Gentile to be the fulfilled and new covenant people—the true Israel in which those who denied and refused to follow Christ, our covenant head, were the true and fulfilled Gentiles—outside the covenant community.
Galatians 6:16 “16 And as for all who walk by this rule (of new covenant obedience), peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”
Revelation 22:14–15 “14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
We are no longer the Gentile of the Old Testament outside the gate of Israel, but through faith in Jesus, we are rather welcome inside the gate where we are called to not walk like the Gentile unbeliever any longer.
And next we describes how the unbeliever walk is. He provides a contrast for our benefit of understanding our proper walk better.
And I want to take a second to encourage you with how God uses contrasts. He uses it all the time in Scripture and in life to teach us things. And one thing we can often ask ourselves as we live in this broken world with so much sin, is why does God allow it to carry on? There are several reasons, but one reason is that we would learn by contrast of seeing the opposite.
There is much to be learned about the Christian walk by beholding the Gentile walk.
And here Paul uses a contrast to give us an understanding of what proper walking looks like.
And that contrast is summed up well with this one statement in which the following two verses flesh it out more:
Ephesians 4:17 “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.”
Before I explained what that means—you need to see how it colors verses 18 with the result being in 19.
With your pink highlighter highlight: futility, darkened, alienated from the life of God, ignorance, hardness
And with your yellow highlighter, highlight: minds, understanding, heart
The pink highlighter is all similar words.
And the yellow highlighter is all similar words.
So if we understand the first statement, we will get a grasp of the rest.
Futility
means to be useless.
Of their minds
Minds: Not just thought or being rational. But it is one of the words used to describe the whole inner man, spirit, or command center of the body.
Thinking, desires, will, beliefs that determine the actions of the body.
Similar to understanding, and heart.
He doesn’t use it here but it would also be similar to our spirit within us.
So, Paul is saying the unbeliever is useless in their, mind, understanding, heart…or thoughts, desires, will, belief.
What makes it useless, or what makes something useful?
Well I think we get a good answer for that in one of the ways he describes futility later on:
alienated from the life of God
Something is useful when it is connected with the life of God—or the life given to it by God
Look at all creation in the creation account, and we see their usefulness in obeying the order of their creator and being of use to him in their obedience:
the oceans come together, the land comes together
In the oceans are the sea creatures that live, and reproduce after its kind.
On the ocean you have the birds and creeping things that do the same.
You have the sun for light and life
You have the celestial bodies that move for the marks of days and seasons.
There is one word we can describe for all of creation in its each particular manifestation: useful for life.
Man is created for a similar purpose as the other creatures, to have life and multiply, but they are to do it as an image bearer of God. To image the invisible God well to all creation.
And in man’s sin, they have defaced the purpose of life given to us by creator and so we are alienated from the life of God in that our minds are not useless as it does not pursue this purpose God has created man for.
So it is not like with sin man has lost his mind, understanding, heart or spirit, but we lost its usefulness. It is darkened, instead, or ignorant of this high calling.
In fact, Paul says man’s heart is hardened, or not feeling to this life of God.
Thus, it is clear this is the purpose for humanity, yet in sin humanity hardens their heart to such a purpose.
Therefore, they live a life of minds on useless things instead:
Ephesians 4:19 “19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”
With no desire to glorify God and image him with their life, they fall into another desire, and that is to fulfil the desires of sin:
Sensuality
Greedy to practice every kind of impurity
These are things that have an enticement to it, that does not promote the usefulness God has for it. Thus, the desired effect is short lived and only leaves you more bankrupt.
