Ephesians 4 Verses 17-32 Don’t Let the Old Man In March 2, 2025 Lesson 9

The Immeasurable Love of Christ Class Presentation Notes AAAAA

Background Scriptures:

• 2 Corinthians 5:17, 20-21Corinthians 6 (NASB95)

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Main Idea:

• A born-again Christian may stumble and fall into sin, but it is not his/her desire. It will grieve their heart.

Study Aim:

• To understand we must be willing to replace our old sinful nature with something better-—Jesus.

Create Interest:

• Fellow pilgrims, the way you lived in the past before you were saved should not be in your present! The born-again Christian is a new person in Jesus Christ. If you are surrendered and obedient to the Lord, you are going to make good changes in your life with the help of the Holy Spirit. You will start living the way the Lord wants you to live and continue to grow as a Christian. The way you lived in the past before salvation will fade from the present.

Lesson in Historical Context:

• Up to this point in the epistle there have been only occasional references to the ethical life of the Christian (2:10; 4:1–3, 15). In 4:1 it appeared that the apostle was preparing a lengthy description of the new life in Christ, but this led, instead, into a further exposition of the unifying elements of the church (4:4–16).

• At 4:17, however there is a clear break from the theological aspects of unity to an emphasis upon the ethics of unity and how that unity can be maintained within the church. This large section begins by admonishing the readers not to walk, that is, to live—ethically like the heathen, and continues with a description of the new standards that are to govern their life.

o In contrast to Colossians, there does not appear to be any moral crisis that necessitated these exhortations; rather, they form an integral part of the author’s overall theme of unity.

• The large ethical section of 4:17–5:21 may be broken up into several smaller parts:

o First, 4:17–24 forms a general appeal for the readers to abandon their former way of life, on the principle that their new life in Christ has meant a radical change in their behavior.

o Second, 4:25–32 includes a selected list of vices and virtues essential for maintaining unity within the body. (Lesson 9 for March 2, 2025)

o Third, the ethical life of the old and new life is contrasted by the imagery of light and darkness (5:1–14). (Lesson 10 for March 9, 2025)

o Fourth, there is another appeal to the Christian’s “walk” in 5:15–21 (Lesson 11, March 16, 2025), including some exhortations within the context of Christian worship.

Bible Study:

Ephesians 4:17–19 (NASB95) The Christian’s Walk compromised by life

17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

• Vs. 17: Bruce’s paraphrase reads: “This is what I mean; this is what I urge upon you in the Lord’s name.” In the Lord has been variously construed to mean “by the Lord,” or “on the Lord’s authority,” by which is meant “in communion with the Lord.”4 Apparently the Paul wants to convey the idea that he is identifying himself with the Savior’s teachings, and his exhortation is precisely what Christ would give.

• The injunction takes a negative form: walk not as other Gentiles walk. Conduct yourselves in such a way as to show the real difference that exists between you and your pagan neighbors! The apostle then plunges into a capsule description of the pagan way of life, the life apart from Christ (cf. Rom. 1:21–32).

o Mind (nous) in Hebrew thought includes more than the cognitive faculty; understanding, conscience, and the affections are also comprehended in it. Thus, mind refers to all aspects of man’s being which enable him to recognize moral values and spiritual truth and futility of thinking (cf. Rom. 1:28; 7:23; 1 Tim. 6:5).

o Futility/Vanity (mataiotes) bears the meaning of “purposelessness, uselessness, or emptiness.” In the context, the word takes on the connotation of futility, delusion, and utter moral failure.

 Without the illumination of God’s Spirit, man’s path leads only to that which frustrates, because essentially, he is “given over to things devoid of worth or reality.” Both personal experience and the history of mankind bear out this evaluation of man’s life apart from the Savior.

• VS. 18-19: In this passage Paul picks out what he considers the essential characteristics of heathen life. The heathens are concerned with empty things which do not matter; their minds are darkened because of their ignorance. Then comes the salient word; their hearts are petrified(pōrōsis).

• Pōrōsis appears three times in the New Testament, and in each case a metaphoric sense of the word is present. In the Synoptics, only Mark notes that Jesus grieved and was angered at the “hardness of the hearts” of the Pharisees (Mark 3:5; cf. Matthew 12:12ff.; Luke 6:9ff.). Here the idea is not so much that the Pharisees lacked compassion; rather, they stubbornly refused to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Do you remember being that way?

• Paul described the alienation from God of both Jews and Gentiles in terms of their “hardness,” i.e., their “stubbornness.” They were unwilling to give up their ungodly ways or to acknowledge God’s Messiah (cf. Romans 11:25; Ephesians 4:18). In part God has hardened Israel’s heart with His mercy (note the use of the passive in Romans 11:25; cf. the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus); at the same time these people caused this to happen by stubbornly resisting His mercy (cf., e.g., Isaiah 6:9, 10; Acts 28:26ff., especially verse 27).

• Paul uses two other terrible Greek words to describe the heathen way of life. He says that they have abandoned themselves to every kind of unclean conduct in the insatiable lust of their desires; and that they have done so in their shameless wantonness.

• The word for shameless wantonness is aselgeia. It is defined by Plato as “impudence”; and by another writer as “preparedness for every pleasure.” It is defined by Basil as “a disposition of the soul incapable of bearing the pain of discipline.”

o The great characteristic of aselgeia is this—the bad man usually tries to hide his sin; but the man who has aselgeia in his soul does not care how much he shocks public opinion so long as he can gratify his desires. Good place for discussion!

 Sin can get such a grip of a man that he is lost to decency and shame.

 He is like a drug taker who first takes the drug in secret but comes to a stage when he openly pleads for the drug on which he has become dependent.

 A person can become such a slave of liquor that he does not care who sees him drunk.

 A person can let his sexual desires so master him that he does not care who sees him satisfy them.

• Gentiles walked in the futility of their thinking. The word for “futility” (mataiotēti; cf. Rom. 1:21) suggests being void of useful aim or goal. The verb mataioō is used in Rom. 1:21, “their thinking became futile.”)

o Unbelieving Gentiles failed to attain the true purpose of the mind, namely, to receive God’s revelation which would guide them in their conduct.

o Since their minds could not receive God’s revelation, their understanding was darkened (Rom. 1:21; 2 Cor. 4:4), being separated (lit., “alienated”; cf. Eph. 2:12) from the life of (that comes from) God. Their alienation is because of their ignorance of God (cf. 1 Peter 1:14); and this is because of the hardening of their hearts, their being insensitive to God and His ways.

Ephesians 4:20–24 (NASB95) Putting on the new self

20 But you did not learn Christ in this way,

21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit,

23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

• Vs. 20: Paul reinforced his admonition with an argument from the spiritual experience of his readers. Again, the emphasis is on the mind, or the outlook, of the believer. “But you did not learn Christ in this way”.

o He did not say “learned about Christ,” because it is possible to learn about Christ and never be saved. To “learn Christ” means to have a personal relationship to Christ so that you get to know Him better each day. I can learn about Sir Winston Churchill because I own many of his books and can secure books about his life. But I can never learn him because he is dead.

 Jesus Christ is alive! Therefore, I can “learn Christ” through a personal fellowship with Him 24/7/365.

• Vs. 21: This fellowship is based on the Word of God. I can be taught “the truth” as it is in Jesus Christ. The better I understand the Word of God, the better I know the Son of God, for the whole Bible is a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27; John 5:39) who is revealed in every book of the Bible.

o The unsaved man is spiritually ignorant and does not know Christ.

o While the Christian is intelligent in the things of the Word grows in his personal knowledge of Christ day by day.

 We have believed the truth; we have received the life; therefore, we will walk “in the way” and not walk after the example of the unsaved world.

• Vs. 22: But this experience of salvation goes much deeper than this, for it has resulted in a whole new position before God.

o The old man (the former life) has been put away, and we can now walk in newness of life through Christ. Ephesians 4:22–24 is a summary of Romans 5–8, where Paul explained the believer’s identification with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection.

o He also dealt with this in Ephesians 2:4–6, as well as in Colossians 3.

 As Christians, we have not simply changed our minds. We have totally changed our citizenship.

 We belong to God’s “new creation” in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), and therefore, the ideas and desires of the old creation no longer should control our lives.

• Vs. 23: “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind”. Conversion is a crisis that leads to a process. Through Christ, once and for all, we have been given a new position in His new creation, but day by day, we must by faith appropriate what He has given us. The Word of God renews the mind as we surrender our all to Him (Rom. 12:1–2).

• Vs. 24: “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God”. The new man refers to the renovated nature. This is called, in other places, the “new creature, or the new creation” and refers to the condition after the heart is changed. The change is so great, that there is no impropriety in speaking of one who has experienced it as “a new man.”

o He has new feelings, principles, and desires.

o He has laid aside his old principles and practices, and, in everything that pertains to moral character, he is new.

o His body is indeed the same; the intellectual structure of his mind are the same; but there has been a change in his principles and feelings which make him, in all the great purposes of life, a new being.

• We must learn that regeneration is not a trifling change. It is not a mere change of relations, or of the outward condition. It is not merely being brought from the world into the church, and being baptized, though by the most holy hands; it is much more. None of these things would make proper the declaration, “he is a new man.” The regeneration by the Spirit of God does that.

Thought to Soak On:

• The Word of God renews the mind as we surrender our all to Him (Rom. 12:1–2). “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17).

• As the mind understands the truth of God’s Word, it is gradually transformed by the Spirit, and this renewal leads to a changed life.

• Physically, you are what you eat, but spiritually, you are what you think. “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). This is why it is important for us as Christians to spend time daily meditating on the Word, praying, and fellowshipping with Christ.

Consider the following questions before we go on.

In what way does God want Christians to change? (4:22–24)

How should new Christians begin living? (4:23–24)

Of what aspects of your old nature do you still need to rid yourself?

What evidence do you see that your life is controlled by the Holy Spirit?

Now for a quick review…………………

• Paul reminds his readers, beginning in verse 20, of how different they now are (or ought to be) in Christ Jesus. Those who are in Christ have learned his ways. They have been taught the truth as it is in Jesus (v. 21). Therefore, though some Christians may have lived most of their lives in the same sort of ignorance and immorality as their neighbors, they are now to “lay aside the old self” (v. 22), be renewed in their thinking (v. 23), and “put on the new self” which has been re-created into the image of God (v. 24). In other words, a sinful background is no excuse for continued sinful behavior in the life of a Christian! After all, we have been “made … alive together with Christ” (2:5). We have been created afresh “in the likeness of God” (4:24). We have a “new self”—one that understands and is capable of “righteousness and holiness of the truth.” In is one inhabited by the Holy Spirit.

o What a grievous sin to have been re-created in the likeness of God, but to fail to walk in that new way of life!

o So, Paul urges his readers (including us today!) to “lay aside the old self” (v. 22) and to “put on the new self” (v. 24). Indeed, the remainder of the passage will follow that pattern. Paul is pointing out an old, sinful habit that must be laid aside like a dirty garment, and then urging a new, clean, and Christlike way of behaving that must be put on in its place.

Education and Discipleship Pastor, Davey Gibson submits the following before we move on to the “How to” process in verses 25-32

• So, Paul sets out in vv. 20=24 that the truth lies with Jesus and what the Christians first learned about Christ. Where the pagan world gets it wrong, the Christian world must get it right. What is this new nature we are to put on? One governed by righteousness/justice and holiness. A beautiful picture of this is seen in the Psalms – look at Psalms 94-96. The Psalmist longs for God to come and make the world right and it begins with God’s people. This will be creation as God always intended it to be. And as Wright notes, it has already begun! In these little pockets of people that have been saved and are being sanctified into “small working models of new creation” in ancient SW Turkey. And prayerfully right here too – in modern SW Houston!

• Paul doesn’t want the Ephesians (or us!) to fake it. Living for Jesus is a call to live authentically and do the hard work – becoming the new humanity that God desires for all people (2 Corinthians 5:17). As our premium commentary notes, old habits die hard. They are comfortable and familiar. We run to them again and again. Paul tells us we must name them and reject them. Take the first vital steps to alter our life in a new way. Wright concludes by highlighting v. 23 - “Be renewed by the Spirit in your mind.” That’s the secret sauce – let the Spirit do His work and renew your heart and mind… the actions and attitudes will follow. Soon, the world will see both individually and corporately what it looks like to be “small working models of new creation!”

• Let’s look at this process as to how execute it in our lives.

Ephesians 4:25–32 (NASB95) The “how to do this” you have wondered about.

25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.

26 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

• In these eight verses, Paul builds on his previous argument concerning the believers’ restored connection to God through the picture of being clothed with Christ. The deliverance from sin and membership in God’s family can be described as having “put off” the old self so as to “put on Christ.” This new self reflects the goal or “telos” of the human, to live in holiness and righteousness, reflecting their maker’s character. Having established the contrast between the old self and the new self, in the remaining verses of Eph 4, Paul explores “truth” as rooted in the person of Jesus and thus a crucial aspect of believers’ participation in Christ’s life. He does so with short, direct sentences that command good behavior and warn against bad ones. He adds reasons for his injunctions, which focus on edifying the church and, by extension, all people.

• Together, believers are members of Christ’s body; they are members of the one who is truth. This passage is deeply theological, as it draws on God’s redemption plan to create a people whose character reflects their Lord.

• Vs. 25: Paul highlights the importance of speaking the truth. He quotes in from an Old Testament passage (Zechariah 8:16) which predicts that God is going to renew his people and restore their fortunes.

o Speaking the truth to each other is one of the ways in which this will be noticed. If we belong to one another in the way the letter has so far indicated, telling lies is a form of corporate self-deceit, and so is self-defeating.

• Vs. 26-27, 31: So, too, anger must be dealt with appropriately. Paul, again quoting the Old Testament (Psalm 4:4), doesn’t say you shouldn’t be angry; anger itself is a natural human emotion, and pretending it isn’t there is a form of lying. But he insists that you mustn’t let it guide you into sin. You must learn to tame it, to deal with it before you lie down to sleep. Otherwise, you are leaving an open door and inviting the satan to come in. The devil’s work is to accuse and divide the family of God, and to sow discord among them. When we harbor anger in our heart, we do the devil’s work for him.

• Everything that follows from anger—the raised voices, the shocking words, the sour taste in the room—all these must be put away (verse 31). It makes sense, doesn’t it; would you rather live day by day with these or without them? But recognizing this and taking steps to bring it about—that’s what really matters.

o People who are enslaved to anger and malice may think they are ‘free’ to ‘be themselves’, but they are in bondage. If we are marked out by the spirit’s personal presence living in us, think how sad it makes that spirit if we behave in ways which don’t reflect the life and love of God

• Vs. 28-29: Paul adds some comments in the more positive direction. They seem almost casual, throw-away remarks, but they are very revealing.

o It isn’t just that stealing is wrong. Rather, people who are used to petty thievery should say to themselves that they have a duty to help those in need, and they should work to make it possible (verse 28).

o Do not steal’ was the eighth commandment of Moses’ law. It had and still has a wide application, not only to the stealing of other people’s money or possessions, but also to tax evasions and customs dodges which rob the government of their dues, to employers who oppress their workers, and to employees who give poor service or work short time.

o In echoing the commandment (let the thief no longer steal), however, the apostle goes beyond the prohibition and draws out its positive implications. It is not enough that the thief stops stealing. Let him start working, doing honest work with his hands, earning his own living. Then he will be able not only to support himself and his family, but also to give to those in need. Instead of sponging on the community, as thieves do, he will start contributing to it. And none but Christ can transform a burglar into a benefactor!

o It isn’t just that bitter or sour speech is to be avoided. Your tongue gives you the opportunity to bring God’s grace to people, by what you say and how you say it, and it’s a shame to pass up this chance (verse 29).

 You can always tell which kingdom a person is from by his speech.

• The language of the kingdom of darkness and death is that of complaining and murmuring, fault-finding and cynicism, cursing and corrupt communication.

• A person living in the kingdom of light and life, on the other hand, speaks graciously and kindly, using words of hope and thanksgiving.

• Vs. 30: In particular, you should behave as those on whom God’s holy spirit has placed God’s mark. The word Paul uses could refer to the ‘seal’ or official stamp on a document or package, marking it out for a particular use or occasion. The “seal” indicates who it belongs to and what it’s for.

o The presence of the holy spirit in the community, and in the heart of the individual Christian, declares that we belong to God, and that we are destined for full ‘redemption’, that is, the liberation which will come on the day when God sets the whole world free and gives us our resurrection bodies.

o That is central to the Christian hope, and possessing this hope gives particular shape to our present lives.

• Vs. 31: Man’s natural tendency is to sin, and the natural tendency of sin is to grow into greater sin. And a Christian’s sin will grow just like that of an unbeliever. If not checked, our inner sins of bitterness and wrath and anger will inevitably lead to the outward sins of clamor, slander, and other such manifestations of malice.

• Bitterness (pikria) reflects a smoldering resentment, a brooding grudge-filled attitude (see Acts 8:23; Heb. 12:15). It is the spirit of irritability that keeps a person in perpetual animosity, making him sour and venomous.

• Wrath (thumos) has to do with wild rage, the passion of the moment.

• Anger (orgē) is a more internal smoldering, a subtle and deep feeling.

• Clamor (kraugē) is the shout or outcry of strife and reflects the public outburst that reveals loss of control.

• Slander (blasphēmia, from which we get blasphemy) is the ongoing defamation of someone that rises from a bitter heart.

• Malice (kakia), the general term for evil that is the root of all vices. All of these, he says, must be put away from you.

o These particular sins called out involve conflict between person and person—believer and unbeliever and, worse still, between believer and believer. These are the sins that break fellowship and destroy relationships, that weaken the church and mar its testimony before the world.

• Vs. 32: The final change Paul mentions is from natural vices to supernatural virtues and amounts to a summary of the other changes. The believer is to put on the garments of the new man. Frankly, this verse speaks for itself more forcefully than any commentary ever could.

• In place of those vices listed, we are rather to be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven us. These are graces God has shown to us and they are the gracious virtues we are to show to others. God did not love us, choose us, and redeem us because we were deserving, but purely because He is gracious. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.… While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:8, 10). If God is so gracious to us, how much more, then, should we be kind, … tender-hearted, and forgiving to fellow sinners, especially to one another.

• The word kind means to be gentle, caring, helpful, courteous, good, useful, giving, and showering favors upon people. It is the opposite of being neglectful, harsh, sharp, bitter, and resentful. Lehman Strauss points out that kindness comes from such words as kin and kindred which means that it treats a person as one’s own kin. Believers are brothers in the Lord (Devotional Studies in Galatians and Ephesians, p. 189).

o Romans 12:10–13 (NASB95)

10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;

11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

• Being unconditionally kind characterizes the Lord, as Luke 6:35b shows: “For He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.” Paul speaks of “the riches of His kindness … that leads you to repentance” (Rom. 2:4). We are to be like our heavenly Father, says Christ, and are to “love [our] enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and [our] reward will be great, and [we] will be sons of the Most High” (Luke 6:35a).

• Tender-hearted has the idea of being compassionate, and reflects a feeling deep in the bowels, or stomach, a gnawing psychosomatic pain due to empathy for someone’s need.

• Forgiving each other is so basic to reflecting Christlike character that it needs little comment.

o Paul has this same relationship in mind as he calls for believers to forgive just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Can we who have been forgiven so much not forgive the relatively small things done against us? We, of all people, should always be eager to forgive.

Questions to ponder and soak on:

Do you think there are any warnings here for Christians? If so, what might they be?

Do you think Paul intended these as separate steps? Why or why not?

How does Paul explain the process of personal change? Does it happen by “trying harder” or by becoming a new creation?

How does this passage show the importance of relationships in the Christian life?

How does one “grieve the Holy Spirit”?

What does 4:32 say about forgiveness? Do you need to forgive anyone?

Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 115–116.