“PUT ON THE NEW MAN”

The Bible was written to be obeyed, and not simply studied, and this is why the words "therefore" and "wherefore" are repeated so often in the second half of Ephesians (4:1, 17, 25; 5:1, 7, 14, 17, 24). Paul was saying, "Here is what Christ has done for you. Now, in the light of this, here is what we ought to do for Christ." We are to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22). The fact that we have been called in Christ (Eph. 1:18) ought to motivate us to walk in unity (Eph. 4:1-16). And the fact that we have been raised from the dead (Eph. 2:1-10) should motivate us to walk in purity (Eph. 4:17—5:17), or, as Paul told the Romans, "walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4). We are alive in Christ, not dead in sins; therefore "put off the old man... and put on the new man" (Eph. 4:22, 24). Take off the grave clothes and put on the grace clothes!

COUNSEL - THE ADMONITION (EPH 4:17-19

Ephesians 4:17–19 KJV 1900

17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

There are some negatives in the Christian life, and here is one of them: "Walk not as other Gentiles walk." The Christian is not to imitate the life of the unsaved people around him. They are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1), while he has been raised from the dead and been given eternal life in Christ. Paul explains the differences between the saved and the unsaved.

To begin with, Christians think differently from unsaved people. Note the emphasis here on thinking: mind (Eph. 4:17, 23), understanding (Eph. 4:18), ignorance (Eph. 4:18), "learned Christ" (Eph. 4:20).

Salvation begins with repentance, which is a change of mind. When a person trusts Christ, his whole outlook, including his values, goals, and interpretation of life, changes.

What is wrong with the mind of the unsaved person? For one thing, his thinking is "vain" (futile). It leads to no substantial purpose. Since he does not know God, he cannot truly understand the world around him, nor can he know himself. The sad story is told in Romans 1:21-25. Our world today possesses a great deal of knowledge but very little wisdom. Thoreau put it beautifully when he said we have "improved means to unimproved ends." The unsaved man's thinking is futile because it is darkened. He thinks he is enlightened because he rejects the Bible and believes the latest philosophies, when in reality, he is in the dark. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" (Rom. 1:22). But they think they are wise. Satan has blinded the minds of the unsaved (2 Cor. 4:3-6) because he does not want them to see the truth in Jesus Christ. It is not simply that their eyes are blinded so they cannot see, but that their minds are darkened so they cannot think straight about spiritual matters.

Of course, the unsaved man is dead because of this spiritual ignorance.

The truth and the life go together. If you believe God's truth, then you receive God's life. But you would think that the unbeliever would do his utmost to get out of his terrible spiritual plight. Alas, the hardness of his heart enslaves him. He is "past feeling" because he has so given himself over to sin that sin controls him. Read Romans 1:18-32 for a vivid expansion of these three brief verses.

The Christian cannot pattern himself after the unsaved person, because the Christian has experienced a miracle of being raised from the dead. His life is not futile, but purposeful. His mind is filled with the light of God's Word, and his heart with the fullness of God's life. He gives his body to God as an instrument of righteousness (Rom. 6:13), and not to sin for the satisfaction of his own selfish lusts. In every way, the believer differs from the unbeliever, and therefore the admonition: "Walk not."

CLAIM - THE ARGUMENT (EPH 4:20-24

Ephesians 4:20–24 KJV 1900

20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Paul reinforced his admonition with an argument from the spiritual experience of his readers. Again, the emphasis is on the believer’s mind, or the outlook. "But ye have not so learned Christ" (Eph. 4:20). He did not say "learned about Christ," because it is possible to learn about Christ and never be saved. To "learn Christ" means to have a personal relationship to Christ so that you get to know Him better each day. I can learn about Sir Winston Churchill because I own many of his books and can secure books about his life. But I can never "learn him" because he is dead.

Jesus Christ is alive! Therefore, I can "learn Christ" through fellowship with Him.

This fellowship is based on the Word of God. I can be taught "the truth" as it is in Jesus Christ. The better I understand the Word of God, the better I know the Son of God, for the whole Bible is a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27; John 5:39). The unsaved man is spiritually ignorant, while the Christian is intelligent in the things of the Word. And the unsaved man does not know Christ, while the believer grows in his knowledge of Christ daily. We have believed the truth; we have received the life; therefore, we will walk "in the way" and not walk after the example of the unsaved world.

But this experience of salvation goes much deeper than this, for it has Conversion is a crisis that leads to a process. Through Christ, once and for all, we have been given a new position in His new creation, but day by day, we must, by faith, appropriate what He has given us. The Word of God renews the mind as we surrender our all to Him (Rom. 12:1-2). "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" John 17:17).

As the mind understands the truth of God's Word, the Spirit gradually transforms it, and this renewal leads to a changed life. Physically, you are what you eat, but spiritually, you are what you think. "As he thinketh in his heart, so bm to spend time daily with Christ.

Recent studies have shown that reading the Bible daily has profound effects on the human mind and overall well-being. A significant study published by Harvard University explored how regular engagement with scripture promotes "human flourishing," especially among those facing mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, and loneliness. This research found that individuals who consistently read and interact with the Bible showed marked improvements in emotional health, resilience, and a sense of purpose, with younger generations primarily benefiting from increased emotional well-being (Christianity Today

American Bible Society News

Moreover, studies suggest that Bible reading activates neural pathways related to goal-setting and reward systems, enhancing one's focus and determination. The mesolimbic dopaminergic system, which governs these processes, is stimulated through scripture engagement, encouraging positive behaviors like community involvement and prayer susanldavis.com

Furthermore, consistent Bible readers (at least four times a week) exhibit greater confidence, spiritual vitality, and an ability to cope with life's challenges (

Lifeway Research

In summary, regular Bible reading not only enhances mental health by reducing stress, anxiety, and feelings of loneliness, but it also cultivates resilience, purpose, and community engagement, making it a key component of well-being and flourishing.

THE COMMISSION - THE APPLICATION (EPH 4:25-32

Ephesians 4:25–32 KJV 1900

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Paul was not content to explain a principle and then leave it. He always applied it to the different areas of life that need to feel its power. Paul even dared to name sins. Five different sins are named in this section, and Paul told us to avoid them and he explained why.

Lying (v. 25). A lie is a statement that is contrary to fact, spoken with the intent to deceive. If I tell you it is noon, and then discover that my watch is wrong, I did not tell a lie. But if I gave you the wrong time so you would be late to a meeting and I would benefit from it, that would be a lie.

Satan is a liar John 8:44), and he wants us to believe that God is a liar.

"Yea, hath God said?" (Gen. 3:1). Whenever we speak truth, the Spirit of God works, but whenever we tell a lie, Satan goes to work. We like to believe that we help people by lying to them, but such is not the case. We may not see the sad consequences immediately, but ultimately they will come. "Ye know ... that no lie is of the truth" (1 John 2:21). Hell is prepared for

"whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Rev. 22:15). This does not mean that anybody who ever told a lie will go to hell, but rather that those whose lives are controlled by lies- they love lies and they make lies are lost forever.

The Christian's life is controlled by truth.

Note the reason Paul gave for telling the truth: We belong to each other in Christ. He urged us to build the body in love (ph. 4: 16) and to build the body in truth.

"Speaking the truth in love" (Eph. 4:5)

The first sin that was judged in the early church was the sin of lying (Acts 5:1-11).

Anger (vv. 26-27).

Anger is an emotional arousal caused by something that displeases us. In itself, anger is not a sin, because even God can be angry (Deut. 9:8, 20; Ps. 2:12). Several times in the Old Testament the phrase appears, "the anger of the Lord" (Num. 25:4; Jer. 4:8; 12:13). The holy anger of God is a part of His judgment against sin, as illustrated in our Lord's anger when He cleansed the temple (Matt. 21:12-13). The Bible often speaks of anger "being kindled" (Gen. 30:2; Deut. 6:15), as though anger can be compared to fire. Sometimes a man's anger smolders, and this we would call malice, but this same anger can suddenly burst forth and destroy, and this we would call wrath.

It is difficult for us to practice a genuinely holy anger or righteous indignation because our emotions are tainted by sin, and we do not have the same knowledge that God has in all matters. God sees everything clearly and knows everything thoroughly, and we do not. The New Testament principle seems to be that the believer should be angry at sin but loving toward people. Compare this with the Old Testament: "Ye that loves the LORD hate evil" (Ps. 97:10).

It is possible to be angry and not sin, but if we do sin, we must settle the matter quickly and not let the sun go down on our wrath. "Agree with thine adversary quickly" (Matt. 5:25). "Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone" (Matt. 18:15). The fire of anger, if not quenched by loving forgiveness, will spread and defile and destroy the work of God.

According to Jesus, anger is the first step toward murder (Matt. 5:21-26), because anger gives the Devil a foothold in our lives. Satan is a murderer John 8:44). Satan hates God and God's people, and when he finds a believer with sparks of anger in his heart, he fans those sparks, adds fuel to the fire, and does a great deal of damage to God's people and Gods church. Both lying and anger "give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:27).

what the law calls crimes of passion." Tiro friends get into an argument often while gambling), one of them gets angry, pulls a gun or knife, and kills his friend. Horace was right when he said, "Anger is momentary insaniy." A woman tried to defend her bad temper by saying, "I explode and then it's all over with."

"Yes," replied a friend, "just like a shorgun—but look at the damage left behind."

"Anyone can become angry," wrote Aristotle. "But to be angry wich the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way—this is not easy."

Solomon has a good solution: "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger* (Prov. 15:1).

Stealing (v. 28).

"Thou shalt not steal" is one of the Ten Commandments, and when God gave that commandment, He instituted the right of private ownership of property. A man has the right to turn his strength into gain, keep that gain, and use it as he sees fit. God gave numerous laws to the Jews for the protection of their property, and these principles have become a part of our law today. Stealing was particularly a sin of the slaves in Paul's day. Usually, they were not well cared for and were always in need, and the law gave them almost no protection. When he wrote to Titus, Paul urged him to admonish the slaves not to "purloin" but to be faithful to their masters (Titus 2:10). But it was not only the slaves but citizens in general who were addicted to thievery, for Paul wrote to people in the Eph-sian church who were gainfully employed (Eph. 4:28).

Just as Satan is a liar and a murderer, he is also a thief. "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy John 10:10). He turned Judas into a thief John 12:6), and he would do the same to us if he could. When he tempted Eve, he led her to become a thief, for she took the forbidden fruit. And she, in turn, made Adam a thief.

The first Adam was a thief cast out of Paradise, but the Last Adam, Christ, turned to a thief and said, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).

Paul added motive to the admonition. We should tell the truth because we are "members of one another." We should control our anger lest we give place to the devil." We should work and not steal so that we might be able "to give to him that needeth." You would expect Paul to have said, "Let him work that he might take care of himself and not be tempted to steal." Instead, he lifted human labor to a much higher level. We work that we might be able to help others. If we steal, we hurt others; therefore, we should work that we might be able to help others. Even honest labor could become selfish, which Paul seeks to avoid. Of course, it was a fundamental rule in the early church that "if any would not work, neither should he cat" (2 Thess. 3:10). A lazy Christian robs himself, others, and God. Of course, Paul was not writing to believers who could not work because of handicaps but to those who would not.

Paul was an example of a hard worker, for while establishing local churches, he labored as a tentmaker. Every Jewish rabbi was taught a trade, for, said the rabbis, "If you do not teach your son a trade, you teach him to be a thief." The men God called in the Scriptures were busy working when their call came. Moses was caring for sheep;

Gideon was threshing wheat; David was minding his father's flock; and the first four disciples were either casting or mending nets. Jesus Himself

was a carpenter.

Corrupt speech (v. 29).

The mouth and heart are connected. "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh" (Matt. 12:34). We expect a change in speech when a person becomes a Christian. It is interesting to trace the word mouth through the book of Romans and see how Christ makes a difference in a man's speech. The sinner's mouth is "full of cursing and bitterness" (Rom. 3: 14), but when he trusts Christ, he gladly confesses with his mouth "Jesus Christ is Lord" (Rom. 10:9-10 NIV). As a condemned sinner, his mouth is stopped before the throne of God (Rom. 3:19), bur as a believer, his mouth is opened to praise God (Rom. 15:6). Change the heart and you change the speech. Paul certainly knew the difterence, for when he was an unsaved rabbi, he was "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9:1). But when he trusted Christ, a change rook place: "Behold, he prayeth" (Acts 9: 11). From "prey-ing" to "praying" in one step of faith!

The word corrups, used in Matthew 7:17-18, refers to rotten fruit. It means "that which is worthless, bad, or rotten."

Our words do not have to be "dirty" to be worthless. Sometimes we go along with the crowd and try to impress people because we are not as puritanical as they think.

Peter may have had this motive in mind when the girl accused him of being one of Christ's disciples. "Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man" (Matt. 26:74). The appetites of the old life sometimes show up when we permit "Althy communication" out of the mouth (Col. 3:8). Remember, before we were saved, we lived in spiritual death (Eph. 2:1-3), and, like Lazarus, our personal corruption produced an odor that was not pleasing to God. No wonder Paul wrote, "Their throat is an open sepulcher” (Rom. 3:13).

The remedy is to make sure the heart is full of blessings. So fill the heart with the love of Christ so that only truth and purity can come out of the mouth. Never have to say; "Now; take this with a grain of salt." Paul told us to put the salt of God's grace in everything we say: "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt” (Col. 4:6). Remember that your words have power, good or evil. Paul told us to speak in such a way that what we say will build up our hearers, and not tear them down.

The work of Christ. If you need to be reminded of the power of the tongue, read the third chapter of James.

Bitterness (vv. 30-32).

These verses warn us against several sins of the attitude and amplify what Paul wrote about anger. Bitterness refers to a settled hostility that poisons the whole inner man. Somebody does something we do not like, so we harbor ill will against him. "Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them" (Col. 3:19). Bitterness leads to wrath, which is the explosion on the outside of the feelings on the inside. Wrath and anger often lead to brawling (clamor) or blasphemy (evil speaking).

The first is fighting with fists, the second is fighting with words. It isn’t easy to believe that Christians would act this way, but they do, and this is why Paul warned us. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Ps. 133:1).

Then we did a stupid thing and got a divorce. I guess we were both too proud to apologize. Well, we've lived alone all these years, and now we see how foolish we've been. Our bitterness has robbed us of the joys of life, and now we want to remarry and see if the Lord won’t give us a few years of happiness before we die." Bitterness and anger, usually over trivial things, make havoc of homes, churches, and friendships.

Bitterness and anger, usually over trivial things, make havoc of homes, churches, and friendships.

The Lord gives three reasons why we must avoid bitterness.

First, it grieves the Holy Spirit. He lives within the Christian, and the Spirit grieves when the heart is filled with resentment and anger. We parents know just a little of this feeling when our children at home fight with each other. The Holy Spirit is happiest in an atmosphere of love, joy, and peace, for these are the "fruit of the Spirit that He produces in our lives as we obey Him. The Holy Spirit cannot leave us because He has sealed us until that day when Christ returns to take us home. We do not lose our salvation because of our sinful attitudes, but we certainly lose the joy of our salvation and the fullness of the Spirit’s blessing.

Second, our sin grieves God the Son, who died for us. Third, it grieves God the Father, who forgave us when we trusted Christ. Here, Paul put his finger on the fundamental cause of a bitter attitude: We cannot forgive people. An unforgiving spirit is the Devil's playground, and before long it becomes the Christian's battleground. If somebody hurts us, either deliberately or unintentionally, and we do not forgive him, then we begin to develop bitterness within, which hardens the heart. We should be tenderhearted and kind, but instead, we are hardhearted and bitter. We are not hurting the person who hurt us; we are only hurting ourselves. Bitterness in the heart makes us treat others the way Satan treats them when we should treat others the way God has treated us. God has forgiven us in His gracious kindness, and we should forgive others. We do not forgive for our sake (though we do get a blessing from it) or even for their sake, but for Jesu' sake. Learning how to forgive and forget is one of the secrets of a happy Christian life.

Review once again the motives for "walking in purity": We are members one of another; Satan wants to get a foothold in our lives; we ought to share with others; we ought to build one another up; and we ought not to grieve God. And, after all, we have been raised from the dead so why wear the gravelothes: Jesus says of us as He said of Lazarus: Loose him, and let him go!"

One remarkable story of salvation and transformation is that of John Newton, an 18th-century Englishman. Newton was a sailor and slave trader, known for his reckless and immoral life. During a brutal storm at sea in 1748, his ship was nearly destroyed. Facing death, Newton cried out to God for mercy. Miraculously, the storm calmed, and he survived. This moment of salvation led Newton to gradually turn away from his former life and pursue faith.

He later became an Anglican minister and, most famously, wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace"—a song that has inspired millions with its message of redemption. Newton also became a passionate abolitionist, working with figures like William Wilberforce to end the British slave trade. His transformation from slave trader to a leading voice against slavery is a profound example of someone saved in a moment of peril who went on to do great things for humanity.