Ephesians 4:17-24
Prison Letters • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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This morning we jump back into our series on Prison Letters. This is a study going through the letters that Paul wrote while he was in prison or under house arrest.
I want to pick back up where we left off in Ephesians 4. I think it is helpful to go ahead and read Ephesians 4 from the beginning of the chapter to help jog our memory of where we left off in this series.
Ephesians 4.
1 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love,
3 diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us.
4 There is one body and one Spirit —just as you were called to one hope at your calling—
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
7 Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of the Messiah’s gift.
8 For it says: When He ascended on high, He took prisoners into captivity; He gave gifts to people.
9 But what does “He ascended” mean except that He descended to the lower parts of the earth?
10 The One who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.
11 And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
12 for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.
14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.
15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head —Christ.
16 From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.
I love that this letter seeks to draw together believers. In this series, we have learned about the Jews who have come to faith and believe Jesus is Lord. We also see those who may have been raised in pagan religions coming to faith in Jesus. You have the Gentiles who are coming to faith in Jesus.
So all these different groups coming to know that Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the Son of God. He is Lord. He is the promised Messiah.
So all these with different backgrounds, beliefs, and ways of life coming together believing and knowing that Jesus is the One true God.
17 Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts.
Imagine with me that your whole being has revolved around being a Gentile. This is who you are and it is how you have been raised. It is stamped on your “drivers license”.
Paul has been all about Inclusitivioty that is he has shared the Good news to the Gentiles and many are coming to the faith.
It is one of the things we appreciate so much about Paul who was born a Jew is that he shares the message of salvation to the Gentiles.
He includes them in the Gospel. Some Jews of this time would have said that it is not possible for a Gentile to even know the Lord, but Paul shares the hope of Jesus with them.
Paul writes and says
I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the GENTILES walk.
I love this so much because he is telling them to be changed. Come to Jesus and let Jesus change you.
Yes come to Jesus as you are but let Jesus change you to who He wants you to be. Don’t just come to Jesus as a Gentile and remain a Gentile meaning the way you think and the way you live.
Come to Jesus as a Gentile but don’t stay there. Be changed.
Think and act like Christ. Think Biblically now. You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk
Then he gives some descriptors of what walking like a Gentile is like.
First he says
Futility of their thoughts
Having a mind that isn’t going anywhere
When I say, think of a movie or tv show that really doesn’t go anywhere then what is the first one that comes to your mind.
For me it is Napoleon Dynamite One of my favorite movies of all time. So fun to watch with people who have never watched it before because they are constantly trying to figure out where the movie is going and the movie really doesn’t go anywhere.
So the futility of their thoughts is that they don’t go anywhere. There is no substantial purpose to their life. They don’t know God and therefore can’t truly understand the world around them or even understand themselves.
18 They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.
Darkened in their Understanding
They can only see what is right in front of them
They believe they are wise because they reject the Bible and believe their own thoughts.
“Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools” Romans 1:22.
They are seeking after their own desires or pleasures or getting more money or whatever it might be.
Excluded from the life of God
They are not living a life that God intended for us to live. To truly know what it means to be fully human.
They have no idea that to be fully human is to bring justice to the world. To help the poor. To stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. To help the sick be healed even if they can’t afford it. To help the uneducated become educated. To seek the good of the city.
All of this comes from a deep seated ignorance and because their hearts are hardened. The mind and the heart going together.
19 They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.
They have lost all moral sensitivity. That is they don’t have any idea of morals. They are giving themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.
It does not satisfy and they keep seeking after more and more. They are greedy for more impurity.
Can you imagine if Paul was to come to our world today?
If he was to scroll tik tok or sit down and watch tv what he would say is…
This looks exactly what it looked like when I wrote Ephesians with more technology added to it.
20 But that is not how you learned about the Messiah,
This is a unique phrase that Paul writes. Typically when Paul writes about Jesus he speaks of his death and resurrection.
He does not write about the life of Jesus but this statement implies that the teachers in and around Ephesus were teaching about the life of Jesus.
The way the Gentiles are living is not what you learned about the Messiah.
21 assuming you heard about Him and were taught by Him, because the truth is in Jesus.
You heard about Him and were taught by Him,
the truth is in Jesus.
Paul is referring both to Jesus’s way of life and his teachings.
Truth is in Jesus
Powerful statement! Truth is in Jesus. The more I study the Word of God the more I know the Son of God and know truth. I can know truth by knowing Jesus. Seeking the Jesus way is to live in truth.
Spiritual Clothing
22 You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires;
23 you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds;
This visual image of clothing here in these verses.
You take off
your former way of life
Old self
corrupted by deceitful desires
You are being renewed in the spirit of your minds
This idea of Vice and Virtue helps me to understand being renewed in the spirit of your minds.
Vice
A vice is a habit or practice of moral failing, sin, or wrongdoing. It is behavior that turns a person away from God and His will
Virtue
A virtue is a good habit or quality that reflects moral excellence and aligns with God's character and teachings. It fosters spiritual growth and communion with God.
You go from vice to virtue. You have to do a new thing. This is learning a new skill.
Learning how to officiate wrestling has been a new skill for me. I had to practice it. I asked other officials a lot of questions. I studied my rule book. I watched videos online. I joined wrestling officials only facebook page and I will read through different comments. I watched other officials and had them watch me. I asked coaches questions and listened to them.
You come to Jesus and you learn an new way of living. You don’t come to Jesus and stay the same. You come to Jesus and learn to live the Jesus way of life.
You train your mind to think like Christ. You must put off the old way of doing things and take on a new way of doing things.
We renew our renewed in the Spirit of our minds.
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Put on the new self
We are created according to God’s likeness in
Righteousness/Justice
God’s putting the world right
God puts us right with God in order that we might join God in the work of putting the world right.
Bryan Stevenson
My work with the poor and the incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is Justice.
Holiness
being set apart, pure, and dedicated to God.
it is coming in to the presence of God to worship him. Being set apart for worship of Him.
We are to join God in the work of putting the world to right and bringing Justice and we are to worship God.
