But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians

Ephesians 4:20

Paul had been speaking of the pagan unbelievers saying that they were greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But this is not how we learned Christ. The Christian life is not like this.

There is a sort of parenthetical phrase he puts in here saying, “assuming that you heard the truth and were taught in the truth about Christ.” It’s possible for professing Christians to live in a way that does not reflect the gospel and it may be because they have not been taught the truth about Jesus. There are plenty of false gospels out there.

So, what is the truth about the transformation that has and is taking place? First, we are to put off, or lay aside the old man, the old self. Take it off and lay it aside. This is the self which belonged to the old way of life, the pagan, unbelieving way of life. It has been corrupted by deceitful lusts. Some lusts are especially adept at deceiving us. We think we are desiring something good and right, or at least something essential to our being. We are being deceived by such lusts. The old self has been corrupted by these lusts. Therefore lay aside not just the lusts, but the person we used to be.

If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and the new has come (2 Cor 5:17).

Whenever we have to put off something, there needs to be something else that we are to put on. So, in verse 23, we are told to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. Literally to have mind-renewal in the area of our thinking. We need a new way of thinking.

In Romans 12:2, Paul urges us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our minds are renewed by our meditation on the Scriptures. That’s why God told Joshua to meditate in the Word day and night so that his way would be prosperous and successful (Joshua 1:8).

Be renewed in mind and put on the new self. We are to take off the old corrupted self and put on the new self. This is the self that has been created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Even after having done this, we find ourselves drifting back. what we need to do is to reaffirm this step frequently: daily, or hourly or whatever is necessary to win the battle.

It is a putting off, and a putting on. The two go together. Picture it like changing clothes. It’s something we do. God saves us by His grace and changes us, but the residual effects of sin, and even the very presence of sin itself resides in our flesh. Using our renewing minds, we are to take the conscious step of putting off the old and putting on the new.

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They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—

Ephesians

Ephesians 4:19

Verse 19 continues the characteristics of those outside the faith who have a darkened understanding and a hard heart.

They have become calloused. Calloused means hardened with use as in a calloused palm. Being alienated from God and living a life of rebellion and moral ignorance gradually hardens the heart. They have become calloused. It’s important to remember, though, that this callousness is not difficult for God to break through, if He chooses to.

In addition to being calloused, they have given themselves up to sensuality or licentiousness. There is a lack of legal and moral restraint, especially in the area of sexuality.

Notice that they have given themselves over to this. Romans 1 talks about God giving them over to the downward slide. God is under no obligation to stop this rebellious and immoral slide. Everyone of us has proven that we are in rebellion against God. We are all criminals and there is no just reason why God should pardon us. Such pardon comes only by the grace of God according to His sovereign pleasure.

And finally in verse 19, these people are described as greedy to practice every kind of unclean behavior. This is the way the world is. We should not be surprised by it. This is the way the natural man behaves.

Paul reminds us in verse 20, however, that this is not the way you learned Christ. The life in Christ, and the godless impure life that has just been described are mutually exclusive.

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Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

In verse 12, we discussed the purpose for which the saints are equipped. It is for the building up of the body of Christ.

Verse 13 gives us the goal, the target. Until we all attain to the unity of the faith. All is a big word in this sentence. The goal is that all of the Christians in the body would attain and be a part of the unity of the faith. That is a huge goal. Unity of faith cannot mean simply being part of the body, because that is true of all real believers. There’s nothing to try to attain. Unity of the faith is a spirit of oneness as opposed to discord and fractured fellowship.

Second, to attain to unity of the knowledge of the Son of God. Knowledge here refers to an experiential knowledge. The goal is that all of us would have a real, vital, and vibrant relationship with the Son of God.

And third, to a mature manhood, which is defined as the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

I don’t know about you, but these goals make me sort of discouraged. But we need to remember that it is the Spirit of Christ that is at work within each believer as He works throughout the body gifting, and fitting each person and motivating each person as the body grows in love and unity. It is God’s work, not ours. But of course, we must cooperate and do our part.

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To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

Last time we looked at the men whom God has given as gifts to His church. In verse 12 we see the purpose, and then next time in verse 13 we will see the goal.

So, why did God give these gifted men to the church?

To equip the saints. Other words that could be use would be to mend, or to make fit, or to perfect. The idea is that these leaders and teachers are helping individual believers in the church, and the church as a whole to be better equipped to live out the Christian life and to serve God.

The next phrase in this verse says, “for the building up the body of Christ.” The question is, is this a second part of the job or is it the result? Does it mean these men are to equip the saints for ministry so that the body can be built up? Or does it mean 1) equip the saints for service, and 2) build up the body of Christ?

I think it’s both. The leaders themselves are not able to build the body. Every part of the body is to be working together, using their own gifts to do their part. The leaders are to equip the body so that the body can be more effective at maturing itself (See Ephesians 4:16).

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And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers.

In verse 11, we find out what the gifts are that were referred to in verse 8. These are men whom Jesus, the head of the church, has given to serve His body.

Apostles – these are limited to the apostles who were alive at the time of Christ. According to Ephesians 2:20, the apostles and prophets make up the foundation of the church with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.

The word “apostle” means “sent one.” These are men, chosen by Christ himself, and who He then sent to announce the good news of the Gospel.

Prophets – These are men who are gifted to proclaim and explain the word of the Lord. It is not just limited to those who foretell the future. It has to do with proclaiming the Word of God in an effective way so that through the Holy Spirit there is conviction and instruction that reaches the heart.

Evangelists – Those who have been particularly gifted and called by God to preach the gospel in such a way that souls are saved and brought into the life of Christ by faith.

Shepherd teachers – Another word for shepherd here would be pastors. There is a different construction in the language here that makes me think that this is one position, not two. Another way to describe it in our language would be teaching pastor.

In the New Testament, pastor and elder and bishop are all the same position. One of the chief qualifications for being a pastor is the ability to teach (1 Timothy 3:2).

These men, and the various gifts that they possess are themselves gifts from God to His church.

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(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

In verse 8, Paul cites Psalm 68:18 which says When he ascended on high….

Verses 9-10 explain parenthetically what that means. In saying “He ascended,” that must bean that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth. Why? Because Christ came from on high and had no where else to ascend to. So, if he ascended, it must mean that he had first descended.

After having descended, the fact that he ascended means that he ascended all the way back up, far above all the heavens, to the dwelling place of God Himself. And then the verse goes on to say “that he might fill all things.” Jesus is God, and God fills all things, even as we saw in Ephesians 1:23.

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Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

Therefore it says…. What says? It’s a quote from the Old Testament, Psalm 68:18.

This verse tells us that Jesus did 2 things when he ascended on high. First, he led a host of captives, and second, he gave gifts to men. The second part is what we are dealing with here in Ephesians, but let’s take a minute to look at the first part.

Colossians 2:15 tells us that Christ disarmed principalities and power and made a public spectacle of them. A conquering king usually led a procession of the captives after a great victory. This is what Jesus did with the principalities and power. The NKJV translates verse 8 to say that He led captivity captive. Even captivity itself became a captive of our great king!

Now the second part – he gave gifts to men. That is going to be the topic of this chapter starting in verse 11. But to summarize what is coming, Paul is going to explain that Jesus, having ascended to glory, distributed gifts to the church. These gifts are people who are equipped to help God’s people grow.

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One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Paul has told us that there is one body and one Spirit. He is stressing the fact that we should be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit.

He continues now in verses 5 and 6 with additional “ones.”
There is one Lord. This, of course, is referring to Jesus Christ. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6, “For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

There is one faith. There are, of course, may faiths, but there is only one true faith. In our day, people believe there can be many contradicting truths. But the Bible claims that is is the true faith, and therefore the only faith.

One baptism. There is debate as to the mode of baptism, i.e. sprinkling, pouring, immersion. And of course, there is the discussion of believers baptism versus infant baptism. But when it comes down to it, there is only one, and that one is Christian baptism. The debate is not are there multiple baptisms. The Bible says there is one.

There is one God and Father of all. I would refer you back to the parallel passage in 1 Corinthians that I quoted earlier.

This one God is over all and through all and in all. He is the one who made everything. We exist because of Him. He is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere and sees everything. He pervades all of time and space. You can’t flee from His presence whether you visit heaven or hell. He is there. Psalm 139:8.

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