We have been called to grow in our faith. When we became a Christian, our growth in our life in Christ did not become complete when we walked the aisle, when we prayed a prayer of repentance and acceptance of Christ, or even when we were baptized. our growth in christ has only just begun. The writer of Hebrews was scolding his readers by saying:
Hebrews 5:12 (NKJV) For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
We need to be active in our growth as Christians. Just showing up to church and warming a pew each Sunday, if that is all you do, that is not growth.
Let me illustrate. If I decide I wanted to get healthier and physically fit, then the most logical thing for me to do is to join a health club and start eating healthier. But if for the next six months I went to the gym every day and just sat on the equipment reading magazines and books about healthy foods and lifestyles, I may have learned more about getting healthy, but I didn’t grow one ounce healthier; maybe a few pounds heavier, but not healthier. [1]
Being a Christian doesn’t guarantee automatic growth or change. I’ve known Christians who have known the Lord for some time, but haven’t grown much in their faith. Yet, I’ve also known others who have only known Jesus for a short time, and they have surpassed these others in their maturity and knowledge of God. We are living in a fast growing society, but one with very little inward growth. We’re a society that’s struggling with addictions and people who have been hurt and unable to get beyond their past. And all that is within the church, not just in the culture around us. This new Sermon series, we will be considering what it means to grow in Christ, to be what God is calling us to be so to have an impact on the culture, rather than the culture having an impact on us.
Ephesians 4:17–24
Today we are reading about putting on the new man. The Bible uses several terms for this. Jesus said, in terms of one’s conversion:
John 3:7 (NKJV) Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
Once an individual has been born again, and belonging to Christ, Paul goes on to say to the Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Paul, in writing to the Ephesians from his imprisonment in Rome, He is reminding them of things of how they should live as Christians. The term Paul uses here and other places is:
Ephesians 4:22a and 24a (NKJV) "that you put off, … the old man," and "and that you put on the new man"
Talking to believers, Paul is saying that we take off the old man, like we are taking off old ratty and smelly clothes. And put on the new man, like putting on fresh clean cloths. We get that, we understand the analogy. But herein is the problem. We like our old clothes. They’re broken in, they are comfortable and we move around well in them.
When I pick up my son after football practice, on the way home I have to roll down the windows of my truck because I can hardly stand the aroma of two hours of a hard work out in the hot sun. When we get home I tell him the first things he needs to do is hit the showers and put on clean clothes. And he will ask me "Why?" Duh???
There is a commercial for a well know air freshener. The question they ask is “Have you gone nose blind?” Have we gone nose blind to our old man? Maybe we have taken off some of the old man clothes, but we left on some of our favorite parts because we are so use to them we don’t notice that they stink. In this letter to the Ephesians, Paul takes his time explaining the work of Christ in our lives. Paul tells us about our calling in Christ:
Ephesians 1:18 (NKJV) the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
That we have made alive in Christ, from our dead state in sin:
Ephesians 2:1 (NKJV) And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
And that we were created for good works
Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
In Chapter 4, Paul explain how God has given to the church gifted workers to equip the church for the work of ministry, so that
Ephesians 4:14 (NKJV) that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
Because of all these and more, Paul tells us:
Ephesians 4:17 (NKJV) This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
We are not to walk the way the rest of the world is walking. Paul was talking about the Gentile world that had no knowledge of God and certainly nothing of Christ. We were once like the rest of the world, dead in our sins and trespasses (Eph. 2:1ff) “in the futility of their mind” or the emptiness of their minds. The world believes they are “enlighten” but in actuality they are in the dark. They have no useful aim or goal, heavenly speaking, or that in the eyes of God, all that is done is futile.
Ephesians 4:18–19 (NKJV) having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Their “understanding” is dark, from God’s perspective, they are “ignorant” of the things of God. Why? Because of the “blindness of their hearts.” Other translation have the “hardness of their heart.” The things of God is just so much foolishness to them and they want no part of it, They choose to harden their hearts.
“being past feeling” their conscience have quit, or other translations has “callous.” Nothing bothers them, they are shameless. The brag about all their “lewdness” or immorality, the HCSB has “promiscuity,” and “uncleanliness” meaning all the impure things. And all of it done with “greediness” The NIV has “the continued lust for more.” Their wayward and godless ways never satisfies. Paul is describing the works of the flesh. The world are slaves to their fleshly desires:
Galatians 5:19–21 (NKJV) Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The world around us is all about “what’s in it for them.” And here are the key words from verse 4:18: “being alienated from the life of God.”
The are separated from God and they either don’t know it or they don’t care. They are dead people and don’t know or don’t care. But the Christian is different. We live connected to God through Jesus. Jesus said He is life. Not just a life, but He is the Life! (John 14:6). Because we have life that is found only in Jesus, we
Romans 8:1b (NKJV) . . . do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Paul goes on to say to those Christians at Ephesus:
Ephesians 4:20 (NKJV) But you have not so learned Christ,
The word “learned” can also be translated “experienced,” or “learned by experience.” When we experience the fullness of Christ through His Holy Spirit, none of these things of the world is evident. They did not just learn about Jesus, in their conversion, they experienced Him through the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:21 (NKJV) if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
If indeed, or assuming they, in-fact, heard Him and have been taught by Him. When we possess the Holy Spirit, we also experience first-hand the teachings of Jesus, through His word. We have direct access to the truth, and truth is not an abstract object, it is a person, Jesus. Jesus said “I am the Way The Truth and the life.” (John 14:6). When we have Jesus, and we know the truth, then our view of the world should grow different. We do not look at things in the culture the same way. Our desires will change. Our conscience become sensitized against the evils we were once so use to. But the old sinful nature, the old man in our still continues to nag us. We need to make a conscious choice, every day, every hour, to shed the old sinful nature. Paul says:
Ephesians 4:22 (NKJV) that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
Here Paul is saying we have some human responsibility here. We choose to put off the “old, sinful natured man.” We do not act like the rest of the world any longer. Paul tell us in Romans that our old man was crucified with Christ:
Romans 6:6 (NKJV) knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
The old nature, the old man, will continue to grow more corrupt. We must rid ourselves of it. That is easier said than done isn’t it?
Ephesians 4:23 (NKJV) and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
It is on ongoing process. We must continually renew our minds to things of God and STOP feeding our data processor (which is our minds) with the data from the world. Our minds need to be rebooted and reprogrammed with the things of God.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
As our minds are being renewed, we become less and less “nose blind.” We will begin to see more and more how much our old man, our old nature stunk. We begin to want less and less of the old ways and want more and more of the clean and fresh and godly ways.
Ephesians 4:24 (NKJV) and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
We were created in the image of God and that image has been stained, torn and marred. But putting on the new man – we have become a new creation and the image of God is being restored. It was God’s intent form the beginning that we be in fellowship with Him which is done in His righteousness and in His holiness.
Taking off the old man and putting on the new man. This is nothing we can do for ourselves. We must rely and trust Jesus to make the changes. What happened is we are often tempted to put back on these old stinky clothes because we were so use to them. We must choose to turn to Jesus every day, and every hour, and at the time of temptation, every minute. It is on ongoing process. We cannot do it alone. We need Jesus.
Jesus said without Him, we can do nothing. (John 15:5)
[1] www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/gods-growing-grace-dennis-lee-sermon-on-grace-226563?ref=SermonSerps
