We're ready to return to Ephesians chapter 4. Okay, so we have covered through verse 19 in chapter 4 And we're going to be looking at verses 20 to 24 This chapter All right, so Ephesians chapter 4 verses 20 to 24 But ye have not so learned Christ if so be that you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus and that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. So in chapter four, Paul has let these believers in Ephesus and the church there in Ephesus know that their unity not only would bring glory to God, as in the end of chapter three he refers to, but would also bring them to maturity. And you could say that that unity and that maturity, which are sort of dependent on one another, are threatened by what we could call the old way. The way of unbelieving, natural born sinners. And of course, we've noticed that Paul's primary address has been toward Gentiles. And we don't know what the numbers may have been in this church at Ephesus, but if you go back in the book of Acts, we know that there was a number of Jews that were converted there in Ephesus. but there was also just a great number of Gentiles. In fact, so many Gentiles in Ephesus that it was actually affecting the economy of the city, which was heavily relying on the Temple of Diana, the manufacturing of the idols, and the pilgrimage to that temple. So think about that. I mean, there were so many Gentile converse to Christianity, that it was actually affecting the economy of that city. And some of the craftsmen were very upset and trying to do Paul in, and that big mob and everything that happened there. So it just gives you an idea that whatever the makeup of this church was, we know it included Jews and Gentiles, but was predominantly a Gentile populated church or body there in Ephesus. And so he has leaned real heavily toward addressing Gentiles in Ephesus. But remember how that he started the letter. These are faithful saints in Jesus Christ that he's writing to. So we want to keep that in mind, particularly as we are reading these these verses. But that old way and that old walk, that old way of living was certainly a threat to the unity of that body, which again was sort of vulnerable. The Jew-Gentile relations were problematic in many different areas and ways. Now Paul revealed that they naturally walk that way, and this is what we saw in the previous verses, they naturally walk that way because their hearts and minds and reason are corrupted. And it may not sound that profound of a statement to say that unsaved people have corrupted minds and hearts, even though they may be morally upright, many of them, they may live in a respectable way in their communities. So when I'm saying their reason and things is corrupted, I'm not saying that they are the worst that they could possibly be. I'm just saying there is an issue there. Because of indwelling sin, we actually have deception within us. And we'll see that in these verses here. And when I say that we have deception in us, I'm not talking about our ability to deceive others, though we certainly do have that ability, but I'm talking about the fact that we are deceived. We are internally deceived. We do not think right, and that's why we walk the way we walk, particularly as unbelievers, because we don't have We don't have any sort of... anything opposing that within us, really. We don't have that. So this is what Paul has been getting at, and we know that he's been making a lot of emphasis in this letter about their minds, and about their reading and understanding what he's writing to them, about their having comprehension of what the revelation of the mystery means, and all these sort of things. so he's going to continue here and he's going to continue with a contrast with the former life. So remember in verses 17 to 19, we look at last time, Paul was telling them, don't walk this way. You know, he started the chapter saying, you need to walk worthy of the calling with which you're called. And so one thing that that means is not walking that natural way that they had from birth. And of course it echoes a lot from chapter two, verses one to 10. But another thing that we continue to see that Paul is reinforcing here is that thinking and living are inseparable. Now, we've talked about, and I think maybe last time or time before, we talked about how that oftentimes within Christianity, so to speak, there are those that sort of tend to go all toward all doctrine. It's all mental, it's all intellectual, it's all Theoretical and and and all of that sort of thing and then there's others that tend to go the other extreme It's you know, it's it's you know, we don't need doctrine that doctrine just divides. We don't need any of that We we just need to love people and do good works and and and what have you well if you read Ephesians carefully you can see that that Paul does not let that happen. He keeps a hold of both. They are inseparable. We have to have knowledge. We have to have understanding. We have to grow. We have to, for lack of a better term, we have to improve our thinking. And we'll see some of that in this passage tonight. And from that, Then we walk and we work and we do the things that we are called to do, the actions as well. All right, so let's get started here with verse number 20. Starts with a contrast, but ye have not so learned Christ. Now this contrast obviously goes back up into these previous verses where he told them to walk not as other Gentiles walked henceforth. In other words, just as he talks back in chapter two, you naturally walked that way. And that's the way that you were before you were saved. And he's saying, don't walk in those default ruts, so to speak. Don't turn to those ways. And so he gives the contrast now. Again, walk worthy. Don't walk this way. But you have not so learned Christ. And this little phrase right here, learned Christ, is actually very interesting. From one standpoint, is that it is so far, as far as I could find, and a lot of scholars and such were saying the same thing about this. So as far as I know, this is an unprecedented statement in the Greek language. Now, obviously, I can't make the claim that this has never been said because we certainly don't have or have read everything that was ever written in Koine Greek. But as far as can be told, this is an unprecedented statement to say you have not so learned Christ because Christ is a person. You've not so learned person you've not learned a person this way learning is usually the the What is learned is could be truth? It could be you know some teaching it could be philosophy It could be a lot of things could be a language. You know that we learn but to speak of learning a person is very very unusual and so It even seems a bit obscure when you start thinking about it. For instance, does this mean learning about Christ? Does this mean learning from Christ? What exactly is Paul getting at? And I think there are some Similar sort of statements, a couple of things that Paul says. One is in Philippians chapter three. Of course, he uses the word no, so that sounds a little more common to us, a little more appropriate. When he says, Philippians 3.10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. And another similar statement that Paul made in Colossians, which Colossians and Ephesians have a lot of parallels to them, he says to the Colossians in chapter two and verse six and seven, As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. So, and again, those are not exactly the same, but they're sort of similar in context, sort of similar. And so he talked about in Philippians, knowing Christ and in Colossians, he talked about receiving Christ and walking in him. So I think that we don't really pick out one way or the other. I think it's sort of all combined. You've not so learned Christ about him, from him, knowing him, receiving him. And what that tells us is that what he's talking about is definitely relational. It's not just informational. So he's not just saying you've not so learned Christ's teachings. He's not just saying that. You've learned about his person, his example, and this is pretty similar, we could say manner of life. behavior, and also his teaching. So it's really all of those things that he's getting at. You have not so learned Christ. And he's talking about, of course, their receiving of Christ, their believing on Christ, their having been united with him through faith and all of these things. So it is all of those things. And it's also notable here that Paul did not say, you have not so learned law or traditions or anything else. He did not say that. So you've not so learned Christ. So true doctrine cannot be separated from Christ. So, you know, there's kind of an idea. I don't know if it's that popular anymore. It was kind of popular there for a while for people to refer to themselves as red letter Christians. red letter Christians because the red letters, well, those are the words of Jesus and that's what I followed. All the rest of it, all that doctrine and all that stuff, I'm not worried about that. I'm just doing this. Well, you can't separate doctrine, what is taught, what is revealed in the Bible from Christ because he is both the source and the subject. It's just impossible to separate those things. When you think about it, the good news, and Paul's referred to the gospel in earlier, well, what is the good news? It's the good news about what Jesus has done. He can't be separated from it. You think about the apostles' doctrine. Well, the apostles' doctrine is the teaching of Jesus. So you just cannot separate these things. They are all together. So obviously you've not so learned Christ and that's going to be His person and that's going to be His word. It's going to be all of these things together. So we could say then that the Christian life truly is summed up in becoming increasingly conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. Increasingly. And so I don't wanna leave out of this. Because of this, I believe that we can definitely see a relational aspect. And so we can't leave out of this, I'm gonna say affection. So think of 1 Corinthians 16, 22. 1 Corinthians 16 and verse number 22. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. So it's obviously not just and sort of an informational knowledge. It is relational and it necessarily involves the affections. It involves a love for Jesus Christ. So this really is what Paul is saying as the Christian life, the way of life. Now, we proceed in verse 21. If so be that you have heard Him and have been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus. Now, this word right here, if, can be a little tricky in this, if so be that ye have heard him. And the way that this is translated, it sort of sounds like a condition that might or might not be met. And my understanding is that this particular construction and the way it relates to what came before It is a construction that actually grants the condition. So it's not a conditional statement in a sense that this could be true, it might not be true. If it is true, then this, it is more of a conditional sort of statement that's saying, since this is true, then these consequences follow. And I think some of the newer translations have actually tried to wrestle with this. I don't know, I think one or two of them had something like, surely you have heard. One had something like, assuming you hear. Probably the best one I saw was one that said something like, since, and I don't remember which one of these was which, but since you have heard. That was probably the best construction that was put on it because again it's the condition is granted in this construction. And so the consequences being drawn, because of the granted condition. So, They have heard him. In other words, that's what Paul is referring to. They have, they have heard. They have learned Christ. They have heard him. In other words, they've heard him in the gospel. They have heard and are taught by him through his word, through the apostles' teaching. So they have heard him and have been taught by him. And notice that what they were taught is the truth. in Jesus. Of course, taught, that's another one of those words that has to do again with learning and thinking and reasoning and comprehension and understanding, knowledge. And what they learned was truth in Jesus. So in the flow of this passage, as you're reading it, Paul previously talked about, let's see if I can find it real quick, previously talked about the vanity futility of the mind, a darkened understanding, ignorance, blindness of heart. That's what he talked about previously. And now he says, when you've learned Christ, you've learned truth in Jesus. So in other words, this contrast is very sharp. It's very, very sharp. And he's explaining why they could not go on walking in a way that is rooted in deception. as the way that they came before, because you have learned truth in Jesus Christ. So sort of the idea that truth and error don't mix, don't really get along. Now, being fallen human beings, we are quite capable of holding holding to, committing to, and believing contradictory things. We are. And people do it. People do it all the time. So we're quite capable of that. But in the realm of real, actual truth, the truth in Jesus Christ, there's no There is no contradiction, there's no incoherence, there's no mixture of anything. wrong or bad or deceptive. So this is this is what you've been taught. This is what you've heard of him. This is what you have been taught. This is what you have seen truth in Jesus. And and so he's saying from this that they that they don't don't continue. Don't don't go on walking or don't go walking in a way rooted in deception. That's where we get to the next verse here in verse 22, that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. Now, you can see Paul refers to putting off here, he refers to putting on there, and that's just imagery that speaks just like it sounds, just like changing clothes. You put off a an old dirty shirt and you put on a new clean shirt sort of thing. So just changing clothes. That's the imagery that he's using just to illustrate this point. And what they were to take off or put off is the old man or the old self. The old man, the old self. So the old self, has remaining sin within, indwelling sin. The old self is what is to be put off. And the old self has been corrupted. Now we talked about that a few verses earlier about the corruption, the darkening of the understanding and that sort of thing. Well the old self has been corrupted by or through deceitful lusts. Now lusts are very strong desires. So these are not These are not just a trifling fancy that I would like if something, if it would just present itself, that would be fine. It's not a trifling fancy. It's a desire that's strong enough that it moves us. It motivates us. It has some impetus to it that we are strongly wanting something. We're driven by it. So that's this word. And of course, it can be positive. Of course, here it is negative. But it can be positive. It can be a good desire. Or it can be a bad desire. And here it's the corrupt desire. And notice, that these come from deceit. They're characterized as deceitful. In other words, our corrupted natural desires are deceitful, are rooted in deceit. In other words, we could say that sin lies. to us. And that is this deception that is within. Now, of course, you know, everyone thinks that, you know, I think correctly and my thinking is crystal clear and I'm not going to be deceived. I'm not going to be led astray. You know, I'm not going to be taken advantage of or whatever. Everyone thinks that, you know, that our thinking is right, but the old self, the thoughts of the old self are corrupted and corrupted through deceitful lusts. So there is deception within. The old self literally lies to us. And this is what he's saying, you have to put off. And of course, there's action here, there's some activity, there's some effort, you have to put off, you have to resist. that of the old self. And obviously, the old self is sort of comfortable. It's easy to just slip back or to fall into that way of thinking. It's very easy. And that's what Paul is telling them. He said, but you have not learned Christ. So if you step in the way of the old self, that's not according to Christ. That's not according to the truth. That's according to the deceitful lusts remaining. And which, you know, unfortunately, we'll just not be rid of entirely until the time of our of our redemption. So the body, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, that's going to go into the grave will be raised in incorruption, an immortal life, indestructible, incorruption. But the old self is corrupt, and it is still an ongoing Again, keep in mind, Paul's writing to faithful saints in Jesus Christ. He's not writing to unbelievers trying to convince them, not that Paul didn't evangelize, but I'm just saying, in this letter, in this instance, what we're reading, he's not writing to unbelievers trying to convince them that, you know, you gotta put off your old self to be saved, and that's not what he's talking about. He is writing to those faithful saints, those faithful believers in Jesus, and he's telling them, you have to put off the old ways. And one of the ways that we know that this is an ongoing battle is just by reading 1 Corinthians. Just read 1 Corinthians. Paul says, such were some of you, and yet the church was just full of strife. Where does strife come from? Well, strife comes from the corrupted desires. That's where strife comes from. I mean, that's why we don't get along as we ought. So you know it's true. And of course, if you need any further evidence, look in the mirror. You'll probably see. I think it was the famous G.K. Chesterton quote that he did not know how anyone could reject the doctrine of original sin because he says, we live daily with infallible proof of it. And something along that line, I probably butchered that quote. Anyway, so this is what Paul's talking about, this ongoing battle and this ongoing struggle that we have against sin. And so you say, well, how are we going to put that off? Well, he goes on to explain in verse 23, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Now, this word for renewed, it means reformed or renovated, you know, made new, repaired, rebuilt, be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Now, what Paul says here is very similar. And actually, when you look at the context of Romans 12 through 15, a lot of things are very similar to what he's saying here. But let's look at Romans 12 verses 1 and 2. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So we get some echoes of this, this renewing of the mind. Our minds need to be renewed. This would be the Holy Spirit as that agent of renewal. Our minds are the renewed objects. In fact, back earlier in Ephesians, when Paul was going through his prayer for the Ephesians, I think it's chapter one and verse number 17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and so on he goes. So this is referring to this renewing of our minds. The mind is It's our mental faculty, so it's our capacity to learn, to remember, to reason, to make choices. This is all these things involved with our mind. And our minds need to be renewed. If we are going to walk as we have learned in Christ, our minds need renewal. And Romans 12 would say that's a daily need, that's a regular need, that's an ongoing need for our minds to be renewed. And of course, we're getting a contrast here What we saw earlier in the chapter in verse 17, the minds of the unsaved are vain. They're futile in their thinking. Again, they're not right in their thinking. and in our mindset, which is where every one of us was before being saved. We have to have that illumination that comes to us through God's spirit in order to be able to think more correctly. So, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, verse 24, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created, in righteousness and true holiness. So before we were putting off and now we are putting on. And this new man, this is our identity in Christ. The new man, our identity. So there is, a daily recognition of who we are in Christ. and living that way. That's what Paul is calling, this is what Paul is referring to as putting on the new man, that identity in Christ. And even though we still have sort of the remnants of sin within us and we still fight against the corruption from within, we fight and we wrestle against that, of course, Now we actually have a weapon, we actually have something to fight with and we have something to fight for. And so this is what Paul is referring to, this identity, this daily recognition of this identity and living that way. And he speaks of the new man is created in righteousness and true holiness in this sort of It goes back to chapter two, chapter two verses one to 10. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened, hath made us alive together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship. And here we are again. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. So this identity, this new man, actually includes the very capacity for good work, something that we just simply did not even possess before, being dead in sins, having no capacity for good works. But this new identity, this new man in Christ is created in righteousness and true holiness and for good works. And so this is what Paul is saying that you need and we need to put on. And again, this indicates that this is just an ongoing part of the Christian life that we are opposing and resisting sin. We're opposing and resisting our old selves. we are putting on Christ and we are walking in his way. So Paul commanded here that we not walk as our old selves. And another way that we can look at this is that Paul is reinforcing the fact here that we have what we need. We have what we need to think in truth and not in vanity. And what is that? Well, you go back in the first part of chapter four and he answers that question, particularly through the church and the church body and how all of the members work together to build up the whole and we have the word and we have you know, the preaching and the teaching and, you know, we have the things that we need to think in truth, to not think in vanity, to have our minds be renewed through the spirit, to put on our new identity in Christ and to walk in that. So we have to recognize, we just have to recognize that our thinking was corrupted by sin from the time we were born. from the time we were born, our thinking was corrupted. It just wasn't right. And again, that doesn't necessarily mean that a person may not live an outwardly moral, ethical sort of life, but there is still no knowledge of Christ and particularly no love. What Paul's been talking about in that relational knowing of Christ, there is no love, there's no affection there and the thoughts are vain. There's no utility there to bring about salvation or to overcome sin.