We are Being Transformed

Well, what we've been seeing in Ephesians over the past number of weeks is who the church is

! From God's perspective, not from ours.

What we've seen is the church is central to God's plan for history, to unite all things under Jesus Christ.

It's a plan that he achieves through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

It's a plan that's, in fact, being worked out right now through time and space, through his church,

as both Jews and Gentiles, people from every tribe, language and nations, are united together under the Lord Jesus.

That's really the summary of the first three chapters.

What we're starting to see now is that Christianity isn't about giving ourselves a little boost to live a better life,

a better version of the life that we're currently living.

What we're seeing is that Christianity is nothing less than being a Christian,

is nothing less than a sweeping revolution that changes every aspect of life.

And this is what Paul is addressing in the opening verse in our section today,

which is what he's already been doing since the beginning of chapter 4,

where he says,

What our topic today is, Paul's calling us here, is to be transformed.

That is, to be who we already are.

So, four points, which is going to be our progression today.

First of all, already transformed.

Now, the key to this whole section, and I'm really covering right through to chapter 5, verse 21,

the key to the section is verses 22 and 24, putting off the old self and putting on the new self.

Now, I need to get a little bit technical here for a moment, so just bear with me,

because it's really, really important.

I'm going to talk linguistics and language, and particularly in the original language of the New Testament,

the Greek language, both verse 22 and 24 is in what is called the aorist tense.

The verb there, to put on to put off, is in the aorist tense.

Now, the aorist tense is not something the English language, or virtually any other language, understands.

It doesn't, the aorist tense doesn't exist for English language.

But what it means, what the aorist tense means for Greek language,

is it's a single action that's happened in the past, that's finalised,

but has ongoing implications for my very present.

That's what the aorist tense means.

And what that means is, when you look at verse 22 and verse 24, putting on and putting off,

the Ephesians have already put off and have already put on.

That's what it means.

It's already happened.

And what it means is, in the past, there's been a conscious, decisive decision that they've made.

And it's been a decision to turn away from the old life, to take off the old life, like an old piece of garment,

and to put on a new self.

And what they've turned away from is described in verses 17 to 19.

You must no longer live, as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

They are darkening their understanding and separated from the life of God,

because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardening of their hearts,

having lost all sensitivity.

They have given themselves over to sensuality, so as to indulge in every kind of impurity.

And they are full of greed.

Now, what we have here in these verses is Paul's psychology of unbelief, of life without God.

This is how our minds and our hearts work when they are separated from what Paul says here is the life in God,

the life of God.

It's a life that is marked by futility and vanity.

It's a sense, if you like, of doing life, of an awful lot of work, doing an awful lot of things,

and not actually getting anywhere.

Of all of those things, still having a sense of hollowness to it all,

not accomplishing anything.

And this futility leads to verse 19.

Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality,

so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

This futility in life means that eventually we give ourselves over to things.

Now, they are things like pleasures and activities and indulgences in life.

They are things that, on the surface, might appear to be harmful and good for us,

but all of those things are designed to soothe this sense of futility and vanity in life.

They are things, you know, you might say things like, well, you know, life might be futile,

but maybe it'd be better if I could run a marathon under three hours.

And so that becomes the driving force of my life, or if I'm financially secure in retirement,

or I've got more than 2,000 friends on Facebook, or I get an ATAR over 98,

or my kids are happy, or I've got a career that I'm validated in,

or that I've got the ability to have holidays wherever and whenever I want.

And what it says here, all of those things become the markers for who we are,

and it's designed to soothe this sense that my life is futile and a vanity.

And then eventually it says we give ourselves to them.

That is, we give ourselves over to them.

In other words, that they become the controlling things in our life.

They become the advantages of our life.

And we need it more and more and more.

I've achieved three hours marathon.

Maybe two and a half would be better now.

And it's a sense of I'm now controlled by the futility of life.

And that goes on, and I get busier and busier and busier

to try and hide the loud noise of futility that sits in my soul.

Until something forces me to stop and be confronted with the vanity of my life.

And that's what happened to the Ephesians in verses 20 and 22.

That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ

and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self,

which has been corrupted by its deceitful desires.

Now, again, there are three, another three verbs in there that are also in the aorist tense.

Decisive action in the past that's finished that is consequences for my present right now.

And what Paul's saying there is they lived in the futility of their life until a radical decision happened

and a radical change happened in their life.

In Christian circles, we call it conversion.

God calls it recreation.

He calls it new birth.

That's what Paul's referring to here.

It revolves the rejection of our former self, a life without God,

and the starting of an entire new life under and in God and under the lordship of Jesus.

And verse 20, the three verbs are,

you learned Christ, you heard Christ, and you were taught the truth that is in Christ.

What happened to them in the past is that they heard about Christ.

And then they heard the voice of Christ.

And in so doing, they discovered the truth that is Jesus.

And they turned from the old life to the new life.

They discovered the truth of who he is and what he has done for them.

And so what Paul's doing here in this first section is he's reminding the Ephesians here of their conversion,

of the moment that they took off their old self and they put on their new self,

when the truth of Jesus broke into their lives.

And he says,

you're already transformed.

But notice that in verses 25 and onwards,

and if you read to the end of chapter 5,

and in fact,

keep going really into chapter 6,

there are various moral actions and behaviours

that Paul is calling the Ephesian church,

in fact,

some to put off and equally others to put on.

He's still calling them to put off and put on.

But crucially,

we need to understand that before you get to verse 25,

verses 17 and 20 to 24 are there.

They come first.

Verses 22 and 24 talk about putting off the old self and putting on the new self,

not about putting off old behaviours and putting on new behaviours.

It's talking about the self,

the person.

Christianity,

this is essential

because way too many people get this wrong

in the church and outside the church.

Christianity is about being someone

before it's doing something.

First and foremost,

it's about becoming a whole new self.

It is a comprehensive revolution

that changes who you are

before it revolutionarily changes what you do and how you live.

That's possibly the biggest

and most common mistake people make about Christianity.

morality

is not Christianity.

Even biblical morality

is not Christianity.

Christianity is not about becoming more moral.

This is how most people look at it.

And to be honest with you,

I've,

over more than three decades,

I've had this conversation

so many times with people

and I'm confident

that in my old life,

I asked exactly the same questions.

It goes something like this.

Look, I'm interested in becoming a Christian,

but I'm just wondering,

if I do become a Christian,

do I need to stop having sex

with my married co-worker?

Like, will I need to do that?

I'm just weighing up here,

you know,

will I have to give money away?

Do I need to do that?

Do I need to come to church at all?

Do I have to forgive my parents

for not giving me the Porsche

on my 18th birthday?

Because I haven't spoken to them for 10 years.

Like, do I need to do that?

Now,

the answer is,

well,

yes,

ultimately,

in fact,

you'll see all of those behaviours

mentioned,

not in the details I just gave,

but you'll see them there

eventually,

but let me just say,

you've asked me the wrong questions

and you've got in Christianity

entirely wrong.

Entirely wrong.

Becoming a Christian

is about becoming a new person

before you live

with a new set of behaviours

and attitudes.

You haven't understood

what Christianity actually is

in asking those questions.

That's the first point.

Already transformed.

Secondly,

verse 25 says,

it starts with,

therefore.

And so what follows

is the implications

of the very fact

that they have already

taken off

and have put on.

Therefore,

because you have made

the decision

to throw off

your old self

once and for all,

you must now

put on

all conduct.

so you must continue

to put off

all conduct

that belongs

to the old self.

Throw it away.

And the point here

as we move on

is this new self

that we have taken on,

all of its behaviours

and attitudes,

you do not

naturally

drift

into it.

doesn't just happen.

We must actively

put it on.

Chapter 4,

verse 1,

which Ash

took us to last week,

calls us,

the Christian,

to live worthy

of the kingdom

that we've been

called into.

Verse 17 says,

stop living

the old life.

Chapter 5,

verse 3

refers to the old life

being in brother

for God's people.

Instead,

he calls us

in chapter 5,

verse 1 and 2,

follow God's example

therefore

as dearly loved children

and walk

in the way

of love

just as Christ

loved us

and gave himself

up for us

as a fragrant

offering and sacrifice

to God.

Ephesians 2,

which I was,

took us there

a number of weeks

ago now,

says that

the very essence

of the old life

of sin

is a life

which is centered

entirely on me.

It's a life

where everything

exists for my glory,

where my heart

is curved

towards myself.

It's a life

fundamentally

that is selfish,

no matter how

we cover it up

and make it look good.

That's the old self

and what we see here,

the new self

and all its behaviors

and attitudes

is the exact opposite.

it's a life

as chapter 5

tells us there,

a life of love.

It's a life

of personal

sacrifice,

of giving

and serving

and forgiving.

In fact,

everything

that's listed here

is about

building

relationships,

loving

others.

Third point,

how do we do that

then?

How to be transformed,

how to continue

to be transformed.

I want to spend

a bit of time

on this one

because,

frankly,

we all want

to change

and

it's one of the

preoccupations,

in fact,

of our

society

and yet

we always

struggle

to change.

It's one of the

things we kick

ourselves for,

how quickly

we have

New Year's Eve

resolutions

and

90-something

percent

fail

before the

end of January.

Struggle

to change.

So,

the first thing

we need to do,

there's three points

here,

and the first thing

is we need

a new motive,

a different motive

to change.

that is what

it's saying

is that

the reason

why we

do things

is critical.

It matters

critically.

Why we do

the things

we do

absolutely

matters.

It matters

so much

because it's

in fact

possible

to do

the entirely

right things

to do,

to even

live with

Christian morality

and to

do it

for the

wrong

reasons.

For

instance,

let's

take

raising

children.

And you

want to

raise your

child to

be truthful.

The main

ways that

we raise

children

ethically

and say,

for instance,

in the issue

of truth,

the main

ways we

do that

is through

fear

or pride.

Fear or

pride,

or maybe

a combination

of both.

Fear says

something like

this,

you better

tell the

truth or

I'll

punish you.

Liars,

or God

will be

angry with

you,

or even

take it

even further,

all liars

go to

hell.

Or you're

going to get

found out,

and if you

get found

out, people

won't trust

you, they

won't like

you.

That's

fear.

pride says

something like,

oh, awful

people lie.

Awful, awful

people lie.

Truthful people

are good

people, but

awful people

are bad,

bad people.

God will

bless you if

you tell the

truth.

truth.

And so

what happens

in that

moment is

an external

pressure for

fear or

pride.

Fear, I

don't want to

get caught, I

don't want to

be punished.

Pride, I

don't want to

be like the

awful people,

and if I'm

not like the

awful people,

therefore I'm

a good

person.

Fear and

pride.

External

pressures to

tell the

truth.

And the

reason

the reason

I will

tell the

truth is

because I'm

motivated by

self-interest.

That's the

reason I do

it.

It's about

me.

It's got

nothing to

do with

damaging the

life of the

person that I'm

lying to.

It's got

nothing to

do with

whether it

honors God

or not.

It's about

me.

And it's

no different

than Ephesians

2 and my

life being

curved in

on myself.

And so I

pursue

Christian

morality for

my sake.

And that

works for a

little while.

But then

there's a

time when

telling the

truth doesn't

work for me

because there's

something else

that's even

more valuable

to me in my

identity.

And that

might be,

for instance,

being rich.

rich.

And so

when the

opportunity

presents

itself,

I will

lie,

I will

falsify,

I will

embezzle.

And if I

ever get

caught out in

that moment

for doing

those things,

I go,

I don't know

what happened

to me.

This is not

who I am.

I'm not a

liar.

I was not

brought up

to be a

liar.

And the

answer to

that is,

well,

of course

you are.

Of course

you were

brought up

to lie.

You were

brought up

to make

everything about

you,

and that is

why you've

embezzled.

It's why

you've lied.

It's why

you're

falsified.

You've been

practicing

new self

behaviors out

of an old

self heart.

And it's

been working

for a little

while.

But ultimately

it doesn't.

And there

are churches

all over

this country

right now,

like this

one,

meeting,

and there

are people

sitting beside

each other

in those

churches,

living with

the same

moral frameworks,

but doing

it for

entirely

different

reasons.

Entirely

different

reasons.

There are

those who

are doing

it because

they hope

God approves

of them in

the end,

or because

it makes

them feel

superior to

those who

are not

living the

way they're

living,

fear and

pride.

And there

are those

who are

doing it

simply out

of gratitude.

for God's

grace

in Jesus

Christ,

taking them

from darkness

to light,

from death

to life,

from the

old self

to the

new self,

and so

they're doing

the life

they're doing,

they're living

the life,

they have the

behaviours,

they're just

out of joy,

out of joy.

So that's

the first

thing we

need to

change,

to really

change,

and that's

a different

motive from

the heart,

an internal

motive as

opposed to

external

compliance.

The second

source of

this new,

and the

second thing,

and I think

it's the

source of

this new

motive,

is we need

a new

identity.

We've seen

that we've

been made

an entirely

new person

in Jesus

Christ.

Chapter 5,

verse 1,

is the

Christian's

new identity.

Follow God's

example,

therefore,

as dearly

loved

children.

Verse 3,

his holy

people.

Verse 8,

you are his

children.

Light

in the

Lord,

which means

in

Christ,

you are

light,

not dark.

You've

been

forgiven

and made

new in

him.

That is,

God has

loved us,

he has

chosen us,

he has

called us,

he has

forgiven us,

he's

redeemed us,

he's filled

us,

he's changing

us,

and one

day he

will glorify

us.

The

almighty

God,

who alone

is holy,

who is

all-powerful,

who is

perfect,

he has

set his

unconditional,

undeserved,

sacrificial,

adopting,

redeeming love,

on you,

the Christian.

And it

is

all a

gift.

Not one

moral act

on your

behalf

has caused

him to

turn his

face towards

you.

Not one

positive good

thing that

you've done

has made

him approve

of you.

it is

all about

him and

his

perfection

and

desiring

to impute

it to

us,

to give

it to

us as

a gift.

And he

knows

already

the darkness

of the

heart,

the hardness

of the

heart,

the greed,

the debauchery,

the impurity.

He knows

it all.

And yet

he's still

set his

face towards

us,

designed

to love

and to

take us

from old

to new.

And it's

because of

who the

gift giver

is,

in his

sovereign

grace,

what he

has set

his face

towards us,

his love

in determining

us that we

are his

children,

that will

never

change.

That will

never

change.

As I

said to my

group on

Friday night,

there is

no sin

so small

that it's

not eternally

damnable.

And there

is no sin

so great

that it's

not eternally

forgivable.

you see,

deep and

enduring

change in

life comes

from an

internal

motive,

and the

only

energizing

motive is

an entirely

new

identity.

And as

we grow to

understand who

we are as

his children,

it will

shape our

hearts in

such a

way,

change our

motives in

such a

way that we

will take

on his

new

framework of

life in

determining what

is right and

what is wrong,

what is good and

what is bad for

my life.

And we will

live into

that.

so where do

you get your

ethical framework

from?

Where does it

come from?

TV,

family,

your culture,

friends,

social media,

maybe it's just

a vibe,

a feeling.

Like Donald

Trump said,

the war in Iran

will end when I,

he said,

I'll feel it

in my bones.

Maybe that's

it.

It feels the

right thing to

do.

I mean,

I laugh at

that,

but that is

the current

young generation.

It feels like

the right thing

to do.

Or is it

God and

his word?

You see,

it's not

until the

source of

right and

wrong shifts

to God's

word do we

actually change.

And it shifts

because of our

new identity.

identity.

Our new

identity

is shading

a new

motive.

There's a

parallel passage

to this,

Ephesians

passage,

in the

book of

Colossians.

Paul also

wrote that.

Chapter 3,

verse 16,

Paul writes,

let the word

of God dwell

in you

richly.

Now,

what he's

saying there

in Colossians

3.16,

it's not

just,

oh,

you know,

read the

Bible.

He's not

just simply

saying here,

read the

Bible,

you know,

a chapter

a day will

keep the

devil away

kind of

stuff,

keep God

happy.

It's in

fact having

God's

word imminently

!

present in

your heart,

the driving

center of

your life

through your

mind.

It's pushing

the reality

of God's

word down

into the

very center

and the

driving

being of

my life.

So let's

go back

to Ephesians

now.

Remember

I said

Ephesians

verse 22

and 24

were in

the what

tense?

The

aorist

tense.

A single

past action

that's

completed

with present

consequences.

I've already

taken off

the old

self,

already put

on the

new

self.

In the

middle of

verses 22

and 24

logically is

verse 23

as it

happens.

And

verse 23

is how

we consistently

take off

the old

and put

on the

new.

Verse 23

is how

it happens.

And

verse 23

is not

in the

aorist

tense.

It's

in,

for those

with pens

you might

want to

write this

down,

don't,

because it

probably won't

mean anything

to you

anyway.

Verse 23

is in

what is

called the

present

middle

infinitive

tense

of a

verb.

And let

me tell

you what

that

means.

It

means

putting

on

and

putting

off

is a

continuous

action

that you

do

while it's

being done

to you.

That's

what that

means.

And a

good way

to read

verse

23

is

something

like this.

Constantly

be made

new

in the

spirit

of your

thinking.

be made

new.

So in

other words

you are

being made

new.

That is

something

that's

being done

to you

while you

were doing

it.

Now

what he's

saying there

is he

didn't just

say because

he'd been

made renewed

as you

read the

Bible.

Or as

you think.

He didn't

just say

as you

think.

It's

literally

the spirit

of your

thinking

which is

a very

unusual

term.

for Paul.

It's

more than

rational

thought.

It is

more

the spirit

of your

thinking

is more

like the

idea of

the direction

of your

thinking.

It is

the state

of your

mind.

It is

the inner

life of

your

thinking.

To have

or as

some

commentators

have put it

it is

be renewed

by having

your

imagination

being taken

captive.

By what?

Verse 20

and 21

again.

That however

is not the

way of life

you learned

when you

were heard

about Christ

were taught

in him

in accordance

with the

truth that

is in

Jesus.

The way

to be

constantly

renewed

in the

spirit of

our

thinking

is not

to focus

on

Christian

morality

or Christian

principles

or Christian

ethics

or even

dare I

say

key

doctrines.

It is

to focus

not on a

principle

not on a

dogma

but on a

person.

It's to

focus on a

person.

not even

on a

title

but on a

person.

And the

reason I

say that

interesting

again

verse 21

is the

only time

in all

of Ephesians

where Paul

doesn't use

the term

Jesus

Christ

Christ

Jesus

or simply

Christ

he says

Jesus.

It's the

only time

he says

Jesus.

That's

what he

writes.

And normally

in Ephesians

he's

emphasizing the

lordship of

Christ over

all things

and here

he draws

their attention

to the

man

Jesus.

Why?

Because

the key

the key

to being

transformed

from the

inside out

giving us

a new

identity

and a

new

motive

and all

its

behaviors

you know

taking off

the old

self

with all

its

behaviors

and putting

on the

new

self

with all

of its

characteristics

and behaviors

becoming

more loving

more selfless

more forgiving

is to be

captivated by

the man

Jesus.

You see

the Christian

life

and what

Paul's

calling us

to here

Christian

ethics

Christian

behavior

Christian

morality

makes

absolutely

no sense

at all

unless

they are

seen

through the

lens of

the person

Jesus.

No

sense.

That's

why when

the person

says you

know do

I need

to stop

gossiping

and become

a Christian?

You know

well I need

to stop

that life

of slander

and gossip

in order

to be

a Christian

you've

not

understood

Christianity.

You're

focusing on

a behavior

not a

person

and when

you see

the person

you'll

understand

that gossiping

and slanderous

is damnable

to hell

because of

who Jesus

is.

And what

specifically

are we

meant to

see?

We're

meant to

see Jesus

moving in

the opposite

direction that

we've been

moving.

We've

taken off

the old

and put on

the new.

He was

already new

and he put

on our

old.

We need

to see

that

happening.

We can

only take

off the

old

corrupt

self

of

darkness

and

death

and

decay

and

eternal

destruction

and put

on the

new

self

of

life

and

life

and

renewal

and

glory

because

Jesus

went

the

opposite

for

us.

Ephesians

2 says

he was

equal

with God

with all

his

perfect

love

and

splendor

and

majesty

and

glory

but he

laid

it

aside

and

he

entered

took

on

human

flesh

he

entered

all

the

suffering

the

darkness

the

evil

the

sin

the

corruption

of

this

world

he

identified

with us

and he

traded

places

with us

when he

went to

the cross

he

bore

!

Human

history's

entire

old

self

on

himself

and

where it

says in

chapter 5

God's

wrath

gets poured

out

on

such

sin

he

allowed

God's

wrath

to be

poured

out

on

him

instead

he

took

on

our

old

self

so

we

could

have

his

perfect

self

he

took

on

the

corruption

so

that

we

could

have

his

holiness

he

was

hated

so

that

we

could

be

loved

he

was

put

to

death

so

that

we

could

have

life

and

when

we

are

captivated

by

Jesus

doing

the

opposite

for

us

captivate

we

actually

start

to

see

that

what

he

outlines

here

in

the

Christian

life

makes

entire

sense

as

we're

captivated

by

him

the

new

identity

grows

and so

does

the

internal

motive

of

wanting

to

please

him

and

be

like

him

in

everything

so

finally

and

really

quickly

there

is

a

fourth

point

and

I'm

going

to

brush

over

this

real

fast

what

does

it

look

like

what

might

be

the

signs

of

such

transformation

how

can

I

tell

whether

I'm

truly

being

transformed

or

if

I'm

just

taking

on

certain

behaviours

first

of

all

this

is

a

summary

of

verses

5

to

14

the

transforming

Christian

knows

their

sin

and

they

walk

in

obedience

they

know

their

sin

they

don't

minimise

their

sin

as

the

Christian

grows

they

have

a

growing

sense

of

just

how

comprehensive

and

evil

their

sin

is

and

comprehensive

in the

sense

of the

power

that it

has

over

their

hearts

the

guilt

of

their

sin

the

guilt

that

is

required

of

their

sin

and

also

the

forgiveness

of

sin

the

forgiveness

of

sin

that is

what

they're

doing

is

as a

Christian

grows

they

grow

deeper

and

deeper

and

deeper

in

grieving

and being

aware

of

their

sin

and

higher

and

higher

and

higher

of

understanding

if

that's

how

deep

my

sin

is

that's

how

great

God's

forgiveness

is

you

do

both

they

correspond

to

both

and

they

hold

it

in

balance

there

is

no

sin

so

small

that

it's

not

damnable

and

there's

no

sin

so

great

that

it's

not

forgivable

secondly

in

verses

15

to

17

the

growing

Christian

knows

the

time

and

they

walk

in

wisdom

the

transforming

Christian

the

ones

being

changed

knows

that

obedience

is

not

simply

obeying

rules

but

it's

about

living

life

rightly

under

the

lordship

of

Christ

for

his

glory

when

there

appears

to be

no

rule

in

the

Bible

associated

with

this

particular

action

or

activity

which

is

probably

80%

of what

we do

day

by

day

the

Bible

speaks

to

it

directly