TEACHING NOTES Introduction As we have learned, Ephesians begins with an explanation of the Gospel story and then transitions to instructions about how to live it out. Last time we began chapter four where Paul describes the church as the unified body of Christ. Today, Paul is going to teach us about the new way of life that Jesus calls us to live. ​ Ephesians 4:17–19 ESV 17 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. 18 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. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. No longer walk as the Gentiles do = Paul is not referring to Gentiles as a whole, but to those Gentiles who are pagan and do not know the true God. The pagan Gentile culture was permeated by worship of the Greek gods, which included many immoral practices and culture. Gentile Christianity in the Early Church: In the New Testament, we find the Gospel spreading to Gentile cities and regions. Because these areas were mostly pagan, the first generation of Gentile Christians often struggled to leave behind their pagan culture. This is why Paul writes letters to the Gentile churches to correct bad behavior. Gentile believers often brought their pagan culture into the church gathering. They didn’t know any better at first, so Paul writes to correct and instruct them on the way of Christ. Paul’s letters to the Corinthians are a prime example of the issues in the early Gentile churches. Futile, darkened, ignorance = A person who refuses God is destined to have a mind that is not working properly. Without God, we are left to our own understanding. Hardness of heart = Grk. porosis - Literally, blindness of heart. This is used metaphorically to describe a heart that refuses to see truth. Sensuality = Grk. aselgeia - Refers to debauchery or unrestrained morality. Paul says that pagans are greedy to practice every kind of impurity (sexual immorality). Without God, we seek to please the desires of our flesh, which can progress to obsessive and unrestrained behavior. Ephesians 4:20–24 ESV 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. But that is not the way you learned Christ = Here, Paul show a sharp contrast that disciples of Christ are not to live like the pagan Gentiles. Assuming you have heard = This is another indicator that this letter was written to people whom Paul did not know personally. Ephesians was actually written for a wider audience, but was copied and distributed from Ephesus. Put off your old self = Who we were without Christ must be put away. The New Testament teaches that our old self died when we trusted in Christ. Baptism represents the death of our old self and the resurrection of the new self. Paul teaches this in detail in Rom. 6:1-14 where he says, “out old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing” (Rom. 6:6). Be renewed in the spirit of your minds = This echoes Rom. 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Put on the new self = As Paul wrote in Rom. 6:4 “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Righteousness and holiness = Righteousness refers to a right standing or right relationship with God. Holiness refers to being set apart or unique from the culture around you. Ephesians 4:25–27 ESV 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. Put away falsehood = Notice Paul says, “having put away” which is past tense. Paul assumes that believers have committed to refusing deception and lies. Disciples of Christ should not be easily deceived. We should see lies for what they really are and practice wisdom. Speak truth with his neighbor = Believers are expected to live in the truth and speak the truth to each other. True disciples of Jesus refuse to hide behind a false grace that avoids telling the truth. Grace without truth is not grace and truth without grace is not truth. Both grace and truth work together. We are members one of another = The main reason we need to put away falsehood and speak truth is because we are all part of each other. As the body of Christ, we are all members of the same body. Paul covered this in detail in Eph. 4:1-16. The body of Christ must display the deepest form of unity. Be angry and do not sin = Here we see that anger is not sin, but it can lead to sin. Getting angry is an emotion that is often unavoidable. Even God gets angry. But what we do with our anger is the issue. Do not let the sun go down on your anger = If we want to avoid being led into sin by our anger, we must deal with it quickly. Sleeping on it can deceive us into thinking that we are “over it” the next day. But all we have done is bury the anger deeper where it can put down more roots. Where there are roots there will be fruit, but not the good kind of fruit. Give no opportunity to the devil = Anger is the devil’s workshop. The Greek word for “opportunity” here is topos, which means a place or a space. Paul is saying that remaining angry gives the devil a space in your life. It’s like you are giving the devil a room in the house of your life. Ephesians 4:28 ESV 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let the thief no longer steal = This one might seem obvious to us, but in that culture it was normal for a poor person to steal what they needed. However, in the body of Christ no one should ever be in need. We provide for each other, which eliminates any reason to steal. Doing honest work, that he may have something to share = For Paul, those who do honest work are expected to share with those in need. Paul had a deep desire to care for the poor and his missionary journeys raised support for poor churches on many occasions. Ephesians 4:29–30 ESV 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. No corrupting talk = Grk. sapros - The word for corrupting here refers to harmful, rotten, unwholesome speech. At its root this word is mostly used to describe something rotten and putrid. Paul says this kind of talk is unfit for Christians. Only what is good for building up = Paul uses the Greek word oikodome to describe words that build or construct others in a positive way. Our words can build up or tear down. Christians are to be like Christ, who is the Creator or builder. Do no grieve the Holy Spirit = Apparently, when we practice corrupt talk and tear others down with our words, it grieves the Holy Spirit. Sinful behavior against others actually stops the Holy Spirit from working and moving in the church. By whom you were sealed = This refers back to Eph. 1:13 where Paul told us we were “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 4:31–32 ESV 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, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, malice = This is way the world deals with each other. Notice the progression: it begins with bitterness and ends in evil. Bitterness = Resentment Wrath = Intense Desire to Harm Anger = Emotional Fury Clamor = Outburst (lit. shouting) Slander = Lit. Blasphemy Malice = Evil Be put away from you = Everything in the list above must be put away. Kind, tenderhearted, forgiving = Kind (do no harm), tenderhearted (compassionate), forgiving (generous grace). As God in Christ forgave you = This echoes the teaching of Jesus in Matt. 6:12, 14-15. Jesus taught that we must forgive other “just as” God forgives us. If we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven by God. Conclusion Today, we celebrate our forgiveness through worship and communion. As we do that, we should recommit ourselves to this new way of life that Jesus calls us to live.