Ephesians 4:17-32: Unified for Change

Introduction

Preachers and Sneakers… What you put on says something about you…

In Ephesians 4-6 Paul teaching us how to grow up spiritually. In Ephesians 4:17-32 - What you put on is a big deal. NOT putting on what impresses the eyes of people, but putting on what impresses the heart of God. What you put off is a big deal as well.

The Christian life is supposed to be a changed life. Christ did not die and rise again so that you would be the same as you were before Christ. He has made you new. (2 Cor. 5:17). You have been born again.

We grow together.

Ephesians 4:1-16 - Unified people… Made one in Christ, gifted for Christ, we attain maturity as we’re equipped.

Being equipped isn’t just learning how to use your spiritual gift. Being equipped is learning how to grow in godliness. (You need to be taught how to grow in humility, gentleness, and patience.)

We want to change the world! See people come to faith in Christ, etc. If we want to see God change the world through us, then we need to long for God to produce change within us.

God far more interested in who you are becoming than what you are doing, because when you are becoming who God wants you to become, you’ll do what God wants you to do.

These words are a challenge to us as individuals, but also as a group of people because we are accountable to each other for spiritual growth.

Two commitments for us to make as a faith family:

We have to commit to thinking the same way about Christ.

4:16 - The whole body fit together… For better or worse, we’re together… The way you and I choose to live out our faith not only affects us as individuals but affects the whole body.

You can have all the talent and ability in the world, all the spiritual giftedness, yet your spiritual immaturity can greatly hinder the work of the body of Christ.

If that’s true, how you grow in Christlikeness and live like Christ before others in the body of Christ is far more important than how you contribute to the local church.

You are not going to contribute well to your church if you are stuck in spiritual immaturity. You will actually HURT the church if you serve the church while you live in unrepentant sin.

You will not serve well if you are not committed to your own spiritual growth, and ultimately your spiritual immaturity will affect the body of Christ. Spiritual immaturity always slows us down.

Paul: “No longer walk as the Gentiles...” Gentiles = someone who doesn’t know God - a pagan. Church at Ephesus knew what it meant to walk like a pagan. That’s who they were. They remembered the old life well. The old life came natural.

You remember the old life. Some of us regularly embrace the sins of the old life because they still comes natural to us. While delivered from the power and penalty of sin, presence of sin remains in this world - constantly lured.

It’s easier to go back to what we came from instead of growing in Jesus, especially when going back takes no effort, while growing takes surrender, faith, obedience, etc.

NOT just unified in our DOING but unified in our THINKING.

Diverse people - not saying UNIFORMED in thinking but UNIFIED in the way we think about the truth.

Unified that the Bible is true and what the Bible says is sin is sin, and what the Bible says is righteous is righteous.

We are far more interested in convincing people to embrace our opinions than embracing the truth.

Think the same way about sin.

It’s futile - it never gives us what we think it will give us. (vs. 17)

It’s short-sighted - it always thinks about the here and now and not the consequences or eternity. (vs. 18 - excluded from the life of God)

It’s ignorant - excluded from the life of God - don’t realize what they’re missing - Romans 1 - exchanging truth for a lie.

It’s consuming - desire = craving. You want more and more - heart grows harder and harder. You’ve bought the lie that sin will give you what it promises.

ALL, not some, sin is futile, short-sighted, ignorant, and consuming. Gossip, adultery, lying, pride, etc.

Problem is we don’t all think the same way about sin. We continue to justify, rationalize, and embrace what we want.

Think the same way about Jesus.

“How you came to know Christ.” (Learn Christ, ESV) - You came to know Him as deliverer from sin.

Know Jesus as a person - NOT a subject you learn but someone who saves you from sin and saves you for Himself - His inheritance - Relationship.

Know Jesus as the transformer - Romans 12:2 - Immersing yourself in Him so that you will KNOW what to take off and what to put on.

We can’t be afraid to have the tough talks about sin. (Galatians 6:1-2 )(Skirt around it because unpopular)

We can’t be afraid to talk about what’s going on in our hearts. (James 5:16) You NEED Gospel community. Don’t let PRIDE keep you from the conversations.

We can’t try to cover up what’s going on our hearts by treating the things of God as a subject to learn. (Church is NOT an academy but an open-heart surgery center.)

We can’t try to cover up what’s going on in our hearts by doing more Christian stuff. (The result is half-hearted service, or service out of religious obligation.)

Ill. Luke wanting to go shopping. I thought we were unified against Tanger… Our united stand is crumbling...

We have to commit to living the same way before Christ.

25-32 = Practical - What you need to put off and what you need to put on.

In a sense, you have already put off. (2 Cor. 5:17) When you repented of your sins and turned to Christ by faith you made a decision to die to self and live for Christ. You have been made new. The challenge is for us to live as who we already are by faith.

NOT put over. Put a little good over the bad - an attempt to hide the blemishes rather than dealing with the sin. Put on some good things… Church attendance, small group, go on a mission trip, but you have no intention of dealing with the things that don’t honor the Lord.

NOT Just put off. We want to kill the bad habits without dealing with the heart. Often, we want to put off just to avoid a negative consequence. As a result, we end up replacing the bad habit or sinful behavior with something else that displeases God. E.g., Stop looking at porn but never deal with the lust, so the lust manifests somewhere else - you fantasize about what you used to look at. Or, you kill the bad habit of gossip, but you don’t actually deal with the bitterness. So while you don’t talk about the person anymore, you still despise that person deep inside.

Remember WHY you’re putting off - to grow to be like the ONE who died and rose again for you. NOT to simply avoid the negative consequence for the sinful behavior.

Put on… Put on behaviors that are consistent with the new life.

God calls us to put off the old and put on the new. Paul gives us practical examples. Notice that they are all relational.

Put on because we want our relationships to honor Christ, and we want to bear fruit together.

Paul tells us what to put off, what to put on, and the reason why.

If you have a problem with lying, replace it with truth. (Quote from Zech. 8:16) No embellishing to make yourself look a little better, no half-truths, no cheating, no deceiving. Instead, imitate the ONE who is the way, the truth and the life.

Be angry and do not sin. Put off the sin that often accompanies anger and put on reconciliation. Before the sun goes down, deal with it. The more you let anger fester, the more you give the enemy an opportunity to lure you into the sin that often accompanies anger.

Do not steal. You’re probably not a thief, are you? Taking credit for something you didn’t do. Stealing ideas and claiming as your own. Borrowing things from work or neighbors that you never return. Instead of taking, work hard so you can give.

No foul language from your mouth — instead use words to build up and encourage.

Don’t grieve the Spirit - these are the changes that God wants to make in us. Your sin brings sorrow to God because He saved you for something else.

Put off bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting and slander, and malice. Put on kindness, compassion, and forgiveness since Christ forgave you. GOSPEL - you’ve been forgiven much through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Have you experienced His forgiveness?

How do we do this together?

You have to think more about the body of Christ and how your sin affects the body. (Church is not an event you attend. It’s a family you belong to.)

You have to be more urgent in your pursuit of the calling of God on your life.

You have to stop condemning the sins of others while accepting your own. (Matt. 7:1)

You have to be in discipling relationships with other believers.

You have to go deeper in the Gospel. Jesus is the reason for our holiness. That’s the reason why Paul took three chapters to expound the Gospel - so you would know how loved you are so that you would live for Him in response to that love.

Not a believer? Know that you are loved - so loved by God that He gave His Son for you who died and rose again for you. So loved by God that He wants far better for you than sin and destruction. He wants to change you. Turn to Him today.