Put on the New Man

STUDY: #977-CHURCH IN THE HOUSES FROM: APRIL 24 @ 30, 2018

TOPIC: "Put on the New Man." Ephesians 4:17-25 "Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds." As believers, we have a new life. With the Lord’s authority, the apostle Paul urges (presses) Christians to remove all tracks or traces of their past lives. Like removing a cloak full of dirt and grime and putting on clean clothes; which are the virtues (the moral standards, such as honesty and kindness, etc.) and excellence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I. "... that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do..."

A. This is an order from Paul. It is a rule to comply with, part of our duties as children of the Almighty God.

1. We are no longer wicked (like the gentiles. We are no longer pagans. We are not strangers to God. We are not without covenant nor promise. We are not contrary to God). Now we are Christians!

2. THEN, THERE MUST BE A CORRESPONDING CHANGE IN OUR LIVES!

3. In pagan nations, people are submerged in ignorance and degradation.

4. Let's see how they live according to Ephesians 4:17-19 "... in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

a. AIMLESS, in the vanity of their mind. The wicked have empty, fruitless lives. They are active, but do not progress in life. In that life without God, they chase after "bubbles" and "shadows" (what is not real or substantial) and neglect the great realities of life.

b. IN BLINDNESS, in darkened understanding. They live blindfolded, amidst a world of fiction, with their mind clouded by darkness, wickedness. Firstly, gentiles (the ungodly) have a natural inability to understand spiritual truths. Secondly, since they reject knowledge of the true God, they suffer from blindness because of the Lord’s judgment.

c. WICKED with a hard heart. God excludes them from His life. The wicked are at a great distance from Him. This is due to their willful way, deep ignorance, and hardness of their hearts. In their minds, they consciously reject God by throwing themselves into idolatry. They move farther and farther away from God with every day!

d. LOSE ALL SENSITIVITY. They lose their conscience. How painful, to silence your conscience with a sea of defense! So now, what is left?

e. SEEDY (MISERABLE, DIRTY). They consciously give themselves to lust, that is, to vile forms of behavior. Sexual immorality was and remains the gentiles’ deadly sin. It's losing all decency!

f. IN THEM, SIN IS NEVER SATISFIED!

II. (Vs.20) "But that is not the way you learned Christ ..."

A. It is so different to know Christ!

1. Jesus is the personification of purity.

2. The Lord knew no sin. He did not sin; there was no sin in Him.

3. (Vs.21) "... assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him ..."

4. This was telling the Ephesians that all who have heard Christ and have been taught by Him have come to know Him as the essence of holiness and godliness. Then, we learn THAT from Him!

5. To have heard of Christ is to have heard of Him in faith; we accept him as our Lord and Savior.

6. Taught by Him, the instruction we receive by walking in communion with Him after converting.

7. "... as the truth is in Jesus…" He not only teaches the truth; He is the incarnate truth (John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.").

8. (Ephesians 4:22 "To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires ...") When we accept Jesus in our lives, we are stripped of our old man; we divest ourselves of what we were, of what we were as children of Adam.

9. Deceptive and evil desires are dead in you, and now Christ lives in you.

10. (Ephesians 4:23 "... and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds ...") Jesus teaches us and we are renewed in the spirit of our mind, a total turnaround in our way of thinking, a change from impurity to holiness.

11. (Ephesians 4:24 "... and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.") Clothed with the new man. The new man now being in Christ.

12. This new type of man is "like God", created in the likeness of Him. A believer carries himself this way, in the justice and holiness of the truth. Now we live in justice, righteousness, with the right conduct towards others.

13. Holiness is "piety with God." It is giving the Lord His rightful place.

14. The old man is removed; you have put on the new one because of your union with Christ. Now there's a big change, and you're never going to hurt anyone.

15. (Ephesians 4:25 "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.") Discarding lies and entering into the truth.

16. Let your voice be reliable! Let your yes, be a yes, and your no, be a no!

17. Lies are saddening! It is as if a nerve in the body sends a false message to the brain, or as if the eye deceives the rest of the body if danger looms. This is the conversation woven into lies.

18. Let's get rid of the lie! Let's dress ourselves in the new man! Never again walking like the Gentiles! Amen.