Sermon Tone Analysis

*“Put Off, Put On”*

*Eph.

4:20-32*

 

Intro – Change is hard.

Change for the good is hard.

Change is possible.

And change is expected.

A major theme of the book of Ephesians is change.

Let me see if I can demonstrate this to you as we take a step back and look at the big picture.

We’ve been working our way through the details of the text – fighting our way through the jungle sort of speak.

I think that we need to take the time to step out of from the trees and look at the forest.

We need to fly over the text and see things from above.

We recall that the book of Ephesians is broken into two large sections.

The first section (chaps.

1-3) are the theological or doctrinal section of the book.

It is here that the Apostle Paul informs us as who are in Christ – our present state.

This refers to those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and reconciliation with God.

It is here that we are reminded of being given spiritual blessings, chosen before the foundation of the world, predestined for adoption, redeemed, forgiven, obtaining an inheritance.

This causes Paul to break out with thanksgiving and prayer to his God.

And then, lest we become conceited or proud, Paul quickly reminds us of our former state – before Christ in chapter 2.

It is here that we see our hopelessness and inability to save ourselves.

Apart from Christ, we were dead in sin, following the course of this world and Satan.

We lived in the passions of the flesh and were children of wrath.

But God… God made us alive by his grace, saved us, seated us in heavenly places so that he could show what wonderful people we are!! NO!!!

So that GOD would be glorified.

He saved a hopeless people to proclaim his grace and mercy to us.

In the rest of chapter 2 and chapter 3, Paul tells us that the Gentiles are now co-members in the body of Christ, his church.

He has reconciled them into one body.

He likens it to a building, a holy temple, a dwelling place for God.

You will notice that Paul does not end the book with chapter 3. To which you say, “Hey.

This guy is pretty observant!”

But the point I want to make is that he did not stop with doctrine.

He didn’t concern himself with merely filling their heads with new information.

Because the Christian life is not an intellectual pursuit… it is a transformational one!

Paul begins chapter 4 with “therefore” I urge you, beseech you, exhort you to *walk in a manner worthy of this calling”.

*

In chapter 4, Paul says to walk in v.1, to grow into maturity and stature in v. 13, to grow up in every way in v. 15, to no longer walk as the Gentiles in v. 17, to put off the old self, to be renewed, to put on the new self, and to be imitators of God in chapter 5.

He elaborates and says do this, not like this.

This is what it looks like in your relationships.

And in chapter 6, Paul reminds us that change will be difficult because there is an Adversary that doesn’t want you to change.

He wants you to live lives of mediocrity and defeat so that God will not receive glory from your changed life.

But Paul also wants you to know that you have every provision to thwart his attacks – that being the armor of God.

OK.

Let’s prepare for our descent.

Let’s start to zero in on our passage for this morning.

We are going to revisit a couple of verses from last week because it is so rich it deserves more attention.

We are in chapter 4 of Ephesians and we’ve just read that we are new people – adopted children of God.

We have been brought from spiritual death to spiritual life.

We are a new people, the saints, the church set apart to glorify God.

We are recreated.

We are not fairly good people with a bit of tweaking.

We are renovated, not remodeled.

Then Paul commands his readers to no longer walk as the Gentiles in v. 17.

They are darkened in understanding, alienated from God, ignorant, hard-hearted, callous, sensual, greedy… And then he gets to verse 20 and the Greek text says, “*But you*”.

That is* not* how you learned Christ.

Pastor Doug reminded us that this refers to their salvation.

They heard and responded to Christ.

They */learned Him/* – not just about him, or of him.

The point that I want to make here is that when you are recreated in Christ, you now have the *capacity* and the *ability* to change.

You can now claim Philippians 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

That verse is not referring to bench-pressing 400 lbs.

It means to carry out what God has called you to be or to do.

Philippians 1:6 reads, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

And again in 2:13, Paul writes “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

When you are dead in sin apart from Christ, you follow the course of the world and the devil.

You are NOT living to the glory of God.

But you now have the indwelling Holy Spirit who empowers you to live a holy life to the glory of God.

And it is disobedience for the Christian to do otherwise.

The first of two points this morning is *Paul’s Exhortation.

*

Verses 22-24 of chapter 4 elaborate on what it is we are taught in v. 21.

We are called to put off the old self, to be renewed in the spirit of our minds and to put on the new self.

I think those three things are the book of Ephesians in a nutshell.

Changed thinking leads to changed lives.

Paul is going to great lengths teach them to think differently, and then exhorts them to change in response.

What he is saying here is that as that we first need to be renewed in our minds in order for our behavior to change.

And that this is precisely what biblical counseling is! Biblical counseling is applying biblical truth to life.

Most people have problems because they are not living the way God intended them to.

Some people have problems because they are.

So it helps to have someone else look to Scripture and help to discern whether or not someone is living biblically.

In the case of those that are not, some are still alienated from God and do not have the capacity or ability to live God-glorifying lives.

The Word of God has answers for that.

Would you agree?? Does the Bible deal with marital relationships, parenting, finding joy in the Lord??

Is there anything better than helping people finding the joy of living for God by looking in his Word??

Do you want to know another great thing about biblical counseling?

It does not create a dependency on the counselor, medication or a program.

Rather, it cultivates a dependence on the grace of Jesus Christ – which is truly freedom.

There is *hope* in this counseling.

You are not seeking to treat symptoms.

You are being transformed as you allow the Word of God to carve out the sin that is preventing you to live a life of joy and obedience.

And the two go hand-in-hand.

There is great hope for those who want to change!

And the *first* step is to renew our thinking.

We need to stop living and thinking like the world and we need to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:2 tells us “not to 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.”

The major battleground for lasting change is the mind.

It’s worth noting here that the word “mind” is really synonymous with heart in the New Testament and is the center of thought, understanding, belief, motives, and actions.

It is your inner man.

And when Paul talks about being renewed in the “spirit” of the mind in verse 23, he means one’s disposition.

Whereas before you were inclined to carry out the ways of the world, now you need to discipline your mind to be inclined to godliness.

And this is not easy.

It requires work and discipline.

In a previous men’s study, we studied a book called /The Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life.