BI: Change comes as put off the old self and put on the new self by being renewed in the truth.
We are in our series in Ephesians, Brought to Life; Brought Together. Ephesians chapter one through three describes what God has done in us while chapter four through six calls us to live out what God has done in us, what Paul calls Walking Worthy. We have seen in chapter four so far, verses 1-16 look at walking in unity as a church while 17-32 looks at walking in holiness as the church. Breaking verses 17-32 down further, verses 17-24 give us the foundation for a life of holiness while verses 25-32 applies that truth to specific sins. Last week we looked at Paul’s appeal to no longer live as unbelievers (17-19). In contrast Christ teaches us to no longer live our old life before Christ and to put on the new self which God created (20-24). We have been freed from this old life so flee this old life! The crucial question is how do you do that? That is what we want to look at today, sermon called Making Changes. The text has two points, the School of Discipleship (20-21) and the Curriculum of Discipleship (22-24).
1. School of Discipleship (20-21)
Paul uses the imagery of a school of discipleship, following Christ, described as learned Christ, heard him, and were taught in him. Learning Christ means being shaped by his teaching by following him. Heard him is hearing Christ’s voice in the gospel. God opened your ears to hear the truthfulness of the gospel so you came to him in faith for salvation. Taught in him refers to the ongoing learning from Christ as you submit yourself to his teaching (Mat 28:19). Now Paul goes on to explain the curriculum of discipleship in verses 22-24, what he taught about no longer living the way you did before coming to Christ.
2. The Curriculum of Discipleship (22-24)
Paul describes change in the Christian life with the metaphor of changing clothing. We are taught in Christ, to put off our old self and to put on the new self. We see what he means by the old self from verse 25, therefore, having put away falsehood (old self), let each one of you speak the truth (new self). The old self are those sinful behaviors that characterized your life before Christ (Col 3:7-9). The old self is the thought patterns, attitudes, desires, and behaviors that characterized life before we came to Christ.
In contrast the new self (Col 3:10, 12-14) is made up of those new thought patterns, attitudes, desires, and behaviors that Jesus calls us to have. Disciples are expected to have new thought patterns, new attitudes, new desires, and new behaviors that are different than they had prior to coming to Christ. But he is not talking about self-help teaching or working harder to be a better person. So, let’s look at how Paul contrasts the old self and the new self (22, 24):
Old Self (v. 22) New Self (v.24)
• Corresponds to former life • Corresponds to God
• Corrupted through desires • Created in righteousness and holiness
• Based upon deceit • Based upon truth
Notice the language, put off your old self that belongs to your former life; put on the new self created after God in true righteousness and holiness. The new self is created by God. Salvation or the new birth is God creating a new person with a new nature with new thought patterns, attitudes, desires, and behaviors in righteousness and holiness (2 Cor 5:17-18). So, we are commanded to change yet it is God who creates the change (2:10). So how does God create this new self we are commanded to be? How do we live the Christian life? How do you put on the new self when your thoughts and desires are dominated by your old self? How do you think in such a way that God is the creator of your thoughts? How do you have attitudes such that God is the creator of your attitudes? How do you desire in such a way that God is the creator of your desires? How do you act in such a way that God is the creator of your behavior? How do you put on the new self that is created by God and not us? How you put on the new self is the most critical question for knowing how to follow Christ, live the Christian life.
The answer is verse 23, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind,” your mind being renewed by the Spirit. Being renewed in the spirit of our mind is the bridge that fills the gap between putting off and putting on. Your ability to put off the old self and put on the new self does not just happen mysteriously or mystically. God’s work of creating the new self is by our work of placing ourselves in the place where God renews the spirit of our mind. God creates the new self in true righteousness and holiness or God creates the new self by the truth of God’s word (Rom 12:2). New thought patterns, new attitudes, new desires, and new behaviors come from a renewed mind that God creates as we put ourselves before the truth. So, you and I become renewed in the spirit of our mind by engaging with this book, filling our mind with this book, and other good saturated books (2 Cor 4:16-18; Col 3:2-3; 3:18-19). You renew your mind by putting yourself in front of truth and God does the work of creating the new self. We will flesh this out more in the next few weeks as it applies to specific areas of our lives.
Life Group Questions:
1. What does walking worthy mean (Eph 4:1-3)?
2. How does Paul describe the old self versus the new self?
3. What does Paul says is the way we are able to put off the old self and put on the new self?
4. How does God create the new self?
5. What are your present habits for renewing your mind?
6. What others ways can you seek to renew your mind?
7. Is it possible to lose that renewal? Can it ebb and flow?
8. How is God speaking to me in this message?
9. How does this passage relate to my own discipleship?
10. How does this message help me in making disciples?
