Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians

Part 17

By way of reminder, the section of Ephesians we are studying is comprised of verses 17-32 of chapter 4…the NASB95 subtitles it "The Christian’s Walk". Last class we looked at The Admonition (17-19)…Don’t walk as the unbelievers walk. This week, we will look at The Argument (20-24), and next week, The Application (25-32).

In verses 17-19, Paul described the way unbelievers live:

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

In today’s verses (20-24), he puts forth his argument that if a person is truly born again, the old life source is replaced by a new Life Source:

But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

What does it mean to learn Christ in this way? Please choose from these options:

To obtain information about Christ and try to imitate Him?

To have a personal relationship with Christ?

To allow Christ to become your life…let Him live in and through you?

Other?

Will any one of these three work?

I believe they will…our right standing with God does not rest on our behavior or our belief system…it is entirely dependent upon God’s grace. Humans cannot learn Christ except as He is "taught" by the Holy Spirit. The quality of our life here and now will be greatly affected by each of these three choices:

Trying to imitate Christ is a hopeless endeavor…only Christ can live the Christian life.

What does it mean to have a personal relationship with Christ? Friends? Employer/employee? Master/slave? Teacher/student? Savior/sinner?

The only personal relationship that ever offers long-term benefits is that we die and Christ becomes our life. Christ becomes our life by the power of the Holy Spirit…never as the result of human effort.

As we consider what it means to learn Christ, I’d like you to give me your opinion. While visiting our daughter and her family this Christmas, I woke up with some thoughts that seemed to have been in my mind all night and I jotted them down:

At this time of year, Christians often think of "the Reason for the Season" and other such clichés, but generally, the truth of the Bible is not found in the Bible in short simple phrases, but in larger portions of scripture that must be understood in context. That’s not to say that short, simple phrases from the Bible cannot be true, but they can often be misunderstood because they are taken out of context.

Here are some thoughts that have been condensed from my understanding of the Bible…you might want to ask the Holy Spirit to confirm whether or not they are true:

The "things of God" are only revealed by God…often He uses humans to say or write the words, but only God reveals Himself.

God never uses guilt on those who believe Him…He uses conviction. Only God can use conviction…Satan can only use guilt. Guilt condemns and separates…conviction causes a person to see the truth and draws them to God.

Christianity is not lifestyle, it’s Life Source. When the Life Source becomes Jesus, the lifestyle certainly changes, but it’s possible for humans to concentrate on lifestyle apart from Christ, even while trying to imitate Him.

If the idea causes you to focus on yourself, it’s probably not from God. In our relationship with God, the emphasis and focus should always be on Him.

There are basically two types of Christianity…egocentric and Christocentric. Egocentric Christianity stresses belief and behavior, where belief determines your eternal destiny and behavior determines the quality of that existence (rewards or punishment). Christocentric Christianity focuses on God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) and attributes eternal destiny and the quality of that existence entirely to Him (Saving Grace and Living Grace).

Let’s look at these phrases from our verses:

…learn Christ…

…heard Him…

…taught in Him…

…truth is in Jesus…

…renewed in the spirit of your mind…

…new self, which is in the likeness of God…

…created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

How is it possible for someone to read these verses and focus on themselves?

Click Here to Go Back