The New Way of Walking (Think Like a Christian)

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome aboard.

All right.

You've all seen these advertisements before.

Maybe it's a late night TV program.

Maybe it is in some kind of, I don't know, magazine you're looking at.

Imagine with me, the Gut Buster 3000.

And you have a before and after picture.

The before picture is of Jim.

He's 38 years old and he's gigantic.

He's huge, head disheveled, sticking his gut out so you can see his size.

And he probably plays Donkey Kong in his parents' basement.

That's the kind of impression you get with Jim.

That's the before picture.

And then there's the after picture.

Jim, 185, 3% body fat.

Hair is impeccable.

He is on a yacht with ladies.

You know what I mean?

It's like the Gut Buster 3000 has changed him.

There was the old Jim.

And then there's the new Jim.

And the Gut Buster 3000 did the changing.

Well, this morning, we're going to look at a passage in Ephesians that talks about our old self,

who we were before we became Christians.

And then it's going to point us to the new self, who you are now in Christ.

And the big difference between the two is not a Gut Buster 3000.

It's the resurrected Christ who made us new creations.

And so would you open up your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

We're going to look at verses 17 through 24.

This is a wonderful passage.

And what it is, it's setting up to help us as Christians to know how to walk as Christians.

How to live out our calling in Christ.

So let me read this.

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.

They are darkened in their understanding,

alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them,

due to the hardness of their heart.

But they have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality,

greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

But that's not the way you learn Christ.

Assuming that you've 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 these 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.

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

You've got to think of yourself as you truly are.

A new creation in Christ.

Your old self is history.

Your new self in Christ is the present reality.

You have a new identity in Christ.

You're not who you used to be.

Now, knowing and believing what God says to be true of you in Christ

will change the way you live your life.

Who you are determines how you live.

And so this morning, I want to help you from this passage,

see who you are.

So three moves this morning.

The old you,

the new you,

and the need to renew.

So the old you,

the new you,

and the need to renew.

You must believe what God's Word says is true of you.

You're a new creation in Christ Jesus,

and it changes the way you live your life.

So, the old you.

The old you.

Now, I have a little warning in front of this.

This is going to be a little bleak.

And so, to be faithful to the text

is to show you some things about yourself

that you may not necessarily like to see.

And so, little warning ahead of time.

Unless sin be bitter,

Christ will not be sweet.

And so, we're going to be reminded of some things right now

that you may say,

that's hard to hear.

Well, in verse 22,

our Lord Jesus,

through the Apostle Paul,

tells us to put off the old self.

To put it off.

So, we've got to ask the question,

who is the old self?

Verse 22 says,

put off your old self,

which belongs to your former manner of life,

and is corrupt through deceitful desires.

The old self, the old you,

is who you were,

former manner of life,

before you became a Christian.

That's the old self.

And notice,

that the former you,

is corrupt through deceitful desires.

Who you were before becoming a Christian,

was corrupt.

The word corrupt,

is describing the nature,

of our old self,

before Christ.

And Paul,

is not painting a pretty picture here.

What he's actually saying is this,

not only were we corrupt,

we were moving from bad to worse.

We were becoming more and more corrupt.

We were on a disintegrating descent

towards destruction.

We were dead to God,

and decaying morally.

Ephesians 2, 1-3.

The old self is the non-Christian you,

walking in darkness.

Now let's press into this a little bit more.

If you would look at Ephesians 4,

17-19,

God wants us to understand

what we've been called out of.

Now this I say and testify in the Lord,

that you must no longer walk

as the Gentiles do.

Those Gentiles who didn't believe in Christ.

Don't walk like them,

in the futility of their minds.

They are darkened into their understanding,

alienated from the life of God

because of the ignorance that is in them

due to their hardness of heart.

They've become callous

and have given themselves up to sensuality,

greedy to practice

every kind of impurity.

What we read in Ephesians 4, 17-19

is a description of the nature

and practice of non-Christians.

Of those separated from the life of God

in Christ.

And this is a description

of our former way of living.

This is who we used to be.

Our old non-Christian selves.

You see in that passage in verse 17,

in the futility of their minds,

our thinking was empty,

hollow,

without substance.

Now back in the day,

we would never have said that.

We probably thought we were on target.

Thinking the right thoughts.

We know what reality was.

But we were actually

futile in our thinking.

We didn't know the truth,

nor did we have the ability

to comprehend it.

And so what we see in verse 17

when we're talking about

the futility of the mind

is an emphasis on your mind.

We were darkened in our understanding.

Verse 18.

Again, another word.

Understanding referencing

the importance of the mind.

The lights of our understanding

were off towards God.

We were blind

to recognizing the light

of the knowledge of Christ.

We were futile in our thinking.

We were darkened in our understanding.

And we were alienated

from the life of God

in Christ Jesus

because of the ignorance

that was in us.

Again, ignorance.

Another reference to the mind.

What were we ignorant of?

What were we ignorant of?

We were ignorant of the truth

that is in Christ Jesus.

We did not know God.

We were not in a life-giving relationship

with the resurrected Christ.

Our ignorance of Christ

was essentially a rejection

of Christ.

And mind you,

this is not

an innocent ignorance,

but a culpable rejection

of Christ,

which demonstrates

the fact that we were separated

from the life of God.

We were dead to God.

We were futile in our thinking.

We were darkened

in our understanding.

We were alienated

from the life of God

because of the ignorance in us.

And then we get to the heart

of the matter.

Paul brings us to

the cause of it all.

You see that at the end

of verse 18.

Due to their hardness of heart,

we were hardened to God.

Our futility of mind,

our darkened understanding,

our ignorance and alienation

was all a result

of our hardened hearts.

Remember,

your heart

is the control center

of your life.

What controls your heart

controls your life.

What controls your heart

controls what you live for,

how you walk through your days.

And back

before we were Christians,

our hearts

were hardened

towards God.

Now, not all of us

had the same degree

of hardness.

We are on varying degrees

of hardness to God,

but we are all

hardening

towards God.

We didn't live for Christ.

We lived for our own pleasures.

This was our nature.

This is who we were

apart from Christ.

That's who we used to be.

This is a picture

of our old self.

And just to be

absolutely clear,

God places the blame

for our futility

of thinking,

darkened understanding,

alienation and ignorance,

squarely on our

hardened hearts.

We're responsible.

He holds us responsible

for our corrupt natures.

sinners.

This was who we were

by nature.

And remember,

who you are

determines how you live.

So our corrupt nature

worked its way out

into practice.

And we see that

in verse 19.

19.

They have become callous

and have given themselves

up to sensuality,

greedy to practice

every kind of impurity.

Callous.

It's another way of talking

about a hardened heart.

You know,

when you're working outside

or doing something

a lot with your hands,

you get calluses

on your hands.

And what they end up doing

is they keep you

from feeling pain.

They make you unfeeling,

numb you to pain.

And what Paul is saying here

is that a callous heart

is numb to God

and His ways.

And so out of a callous heart,

people,

formerly ourselves,

to varying degrees,

gave ourselves up

to sensuality.

Giving ourselves over

to the godless pursuit

of sensual pleasures.

Without God on the scene,

we're still going to pursue

something to make us happy.

It's the law

of diminishing returns

played out in morality.

Maybe you've experienced this.

Maybe you know other people

who've experienced this.

When someone has a heart

that's hardening

towards God,

they'll seek pleasure

apart from God.

They'll pursue satisfaction

somewhere else.

Somewhere where God forbids.

And over time,

that gets old.

And so you look for

another kind of fix.

And instead of repenting,

you move deeper down in.

You fall further into

the disintegrating

descent

of decay

towards destruction.

That's the practice.

That's the lifestyle

of those apart from Christ.

You move from bad

to worse

because your heart

is hardened to God.

It's not static.

It's dynamic.

It's regressive.

Now, not all of us

were in the same place

when God graciously

intervened in our lives.

Some of us

were just

getting started

down the

descent of decay.

Others of us

were well down

that slippery slide.

But the point

you need to see here

is that

the descending

into moral decay

was because of

who we were.

dead to God,

alienated from

the life of Christ.

We see this being

played out.

Who you are

determines how you live.

We see it here

in the first part

of 17 through 19.

Now, would you look back

at verse 17?

We read this.

Now this I say

in testifying to the Lord.

Paul is saying,

listen to me

as your apostle.

Now this I say

in testifying to the Lord

that you must

no longer walk

as the Gentiles do.

We are no longer

to live this way.

Why?

Because it's not

who we are anymore.

God through Christ

has changed

our very nature.

And because He's done that,

we have a new way to live.

So we've looked at

the old self.

The old you.

Now let's look at

the new you.

Let's look at what God

has done through Christ

in you.

He's given you

a new nature.

Verse 24.

And put on the new self,

created after the likeness

of God and true righteousness

in holiness.

Well, we just got done

looking at the nature

and practice

of the old you.

Now we're going to

bear in on the nature

of the new you.

Who we are now

in Christ.

And so,

in verse 24,

you see the word

created.

Created and put on Him.

Put on the new self.

Created after the likeness

of God

and true righteousness

and holiness.

Think new creation.

A new creation

created by God

in the likeness of God.

Would you flip over

to Ephesians 2.10?

For we are His workmanship

created in Christ Jesus

for good works.

God made us alive in Christ.

Ephesians 2.5.

He made us alive in Christ

in order to be like Christ.

In true righteousness

and holiness.

And this gracious act of God

in which He made you alive

was a decisive act of God.

There once was a time

when you were dead in your sin.

God intervened

and then you were alive in Christ.

It was a decisive moment

in your life.

The new self

is who you are now

in Christ.

Redeemed.

Made new.

Indwelt by the Spirit.

You've been given

a new nature in Christ.

We are a new people now.

Claimed by Jesus.

Now let me just do some truth

in advertising right here.

Because there can be

some misunderstanding.

When we are made new in Christ,

God does not eradicate

from our experience

our sinful nature.

He doesn't completely eradicate it.

So though we have been made new,

we are going to have

an inclination still

to do things

according to our

former way of life.

But we have a new desire now

through what Christ has done.

Look at verses 20 and 21.

But this is not the way

we learn Christ,

assuming that you've heard

about Him

and were taught in Him,

as the truth is in Jesus.

Paul has just said

we are not to live

like non-Christians.

Who they are

determines how they lived.

But we have come

to know Christ.

We've learned Christ.

And so our former manner

of life stands

in sharp contrast

to the way we were to live.

Stands in sharp contrast

to the way we live now.

Because we've been

fundamentally changed.

Jesus has made us new people.

Notice,

there's a shift

in this passage.

So 17, 18, and 19

is focused on

the old man,

nature,

and practice.

And then in verse 20,

there's that little word,

but.

It's a change of direction.

It's a change of focus.

It's a movement away

from looking at

who we were

to looking at Christ

who has made us new.

Christ calls us

to a dramatic change

in how we live our lives.

And we're not to live

like non-Christians anymore

because they were dead to God.

Now we live

as those who are alive to God.

It changes the way we live.

We were hardened to God,

verse 18,

and then God gave us

new hearts.

There's something

I need to point you to.

This is,

this is wonderful.

Would you turn back

in your Bibles

to the book of Ezekiel?

Ezekiel was a prophet.

And in Ezekiel chapter 36,

Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

there is a prophecy

pointing to

what life would be like

for God's people

under the new covenant

when Messiah would come

and by His blood

establish a new people.

Here's what they will be like.

Chapter 36,

verses 25-27.

I will sprinkle clean water on you

and you shall be clean

from all your uncleanliness

and from all your idols

I will cleanse you.

Old man gone.

And I will give you

a new heart

and a new spirit

I will put within you

and I will remove

the heart of stone

from your flesh

and I will give you

a heart of flesh.

I will put my spirit

within you

and cause you

to walk in my statutes

and be careful

and be careful

to obey

all my rules.

What we see here

in Ephesians chapter 4

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

is the fulfilling

of Ezekiel 36.

Jesus accomplished

something on the cross.

He purchased for Himself

a new people.

In a new way

His people live.

A new nature

for His people.

We were hardened to God

but God through Christ

gave us new hearts.

When you became a Christian

you were given

a heart transplant.

Your heart of stone

was removed

and God graciously

gave you

a new soft heart.

The hard and callous heart

gone.

And in its place

a soft heart.

A fleshy heart.

Malleable.

Tender towards the Lord.

Inclined to His ways.

Our hardened hearts

before we were Christians

made us futile

in our thinking.

Darkened in our understanding.

Alienated because of our ignorance.

And what God did

through Christ

is that when He gave us

a new heart

our darkened understanding

was enlightened

by the light

of the knowledge

of Christ.

Our empty thinking

was given substance.

Christ.

Who He is.

What He's done.

What He's doing now.

And what He will do.

God is uniting

all things

in Christ.

Our alienation

due to our ignorance

became our reconciliation

due to our knowledge

of Christ.

He is our life.

He is our peace.

When we became Christians

we were given new hearts

made new

so that we would be

able to see the truth

that is in Jesus.

Verse 21

He made us new

so that we could

walk in His ways.

This is the new you

in Christ.

This is who you really

truly are

right now

if you're a Christian.

And if you're not a Christian

you need to become a Christian.

you need to turn

from your old ways

and turn to Christ

who will give you life.

This is true of you.

You are no longer

the old you

the old self.

Christ has made you new.

This is the truth

that is in Christ.

The old is gone

the new has come.

So we've looked

at the old you

we've been looking

at the new you

in Christ

and then let's look

at this word

renew.

Look back with me

in verse 20.

But that is not

the way you learn

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.

Look again

at verse 23.

And to be renewed

in the spirit

of your minds.

Alright.

Let's be honest.

We forget.

We forget who we are.

We forget

that God in Christ

has radically changed us.

We forget that.

It escapes our minds.

We forget who we are.

And often times

what that leads

is to living

doing things

corrupt behavior

that's more in keeping

with our former

manner of life

than who we are

right now.

So the question becomes

how do we live

in light of who

God in Christ

has made us to be?

And the answer

is right here.

It begins by

renewing our minds.

It begins by

remembering

who we are

in Christ.

This is the

starting point

of Christian

practice.

We've just looked

at who we are

by nature.

The new you.

Now we're starting

to move towards

what that looks

like lived out.

And it starts

with your mind.

Remembering

what God has done

for you in Christ.

We must regularly

renew our minds

on the truth

of who God

in Christ

has made us to be.

It's got to be regular.

It's got to be regular.

We've got to call

it to mind.

When we renew

our minds

on the truth

of who we are,

God gives us

resolve

to live for Christ.

It's his chosen

means to do it.

Truth functioning

in our minds.

Minds that have been

awakened

enlivened.

Now

we are able

to know

who we are

and live.

Has anybody

seen The Help?

Great movie.

I really enjoyed

The Help.

There were several

scenes that I just

thought were

particularly well done.

Minnie's chocolate pie,

I will never forget that.

I think that's

incredibly funny.

But the one

who steals the show

is Abilene.

So she's an

African American

slave,

not a slave,

maid,

functioning like a slave.

Abilene was

a black maid

and she was

essentially

raising

May Mobley

in the South

during the 1960s.

And one of the scenes

is Abilene

sitting in a rocker

with May Mobley

in her lap.

May Mobley

just is

woken up

and this little

white girl

who she's

essentially raising,

she says this to.

You remember?

You is smart.

You is kind.

You is important.

Remember that?

Remember what

Abilene had

May Mobley do?

Repeat after me.

You is smart.

You is kind.

You is important.

And throughout the movie,

every time

Abilene

gets May Mobley

to wake her up,

you is smart.

You is kind.

You is important.

When May Mobley

makes a big mistake,

Abilene brings her in

and says,

You is smart.

You is kind.

You is important.

Over and over,

Abilene

is reminding

this little girl

of who she is.

this is who you are.

Christian,

God is saying to you,

You is mine.

You is alive.

You is holy.

You is mine.

You is alive.

You is holy.

And this is true

regardless of how you feel.

You is mine.

You is alive.

You is holy.

Just think,

every morning,

you wake up,

you open up God's Word,

and you renew your mind

on the truth

that God speaks to you.

You is mine.

Love from eternity past.

You is alive.

I made you alive

in Christ.

You're a new creation now.

You is holy.

Created in the likeness of God

for true righteousness

and holiness.

That's who you are now.

When these words of our God

sink into our mind,

they renew our mind.

Yes, that's who I am.

They strengthen our resolve

to live in light

of who we already are.

Who God has made us to be.

And so,

we look at verse 22

and we read this.

Put off your old self

which belongs to your

former manner of life

and is corrupt

through deceitful desires

and be renewed

in the spirit of your minds

and to put on the new self.

Put off,

renew,

put on.

Paul is pointing us

to the practice

of a Christian.

Of someone who is

made new in Christ.

So what he's saying is this,

is we are to put off

the practices

that are

former way of life practices.

It's not true of us anymore.

We're to put those off

and we're to put on practices

that are consistent

with being created

in the likeness of God

and true righteousness

and holiness.

Paul's actually comparing

the Christian life

to putting off

dirty clothes

and putting on

clean clothes.

And we're going to come back

to that

for the next several weeks.

Because in Ephesians 4

what Paul does is

he starts us

in a direction.

Christian,

this is who you are.

this is how you must think

and this is how

it gets

really concrete.

Just look at verse 25.

You're not to speak

falsehood anymore.

You're to speak

the truth

to one another.

And so why?

Speaking falsehood

is not true

of who we are anymore.

We've been made new.

And so we speak

the truth

in love

to one another.

We're going to come back

to this

over and over

for the next few weeks.

Putting off the old self

and putting on

the new self.

Alright.

Christ changes

the way we live.

Because Christ

has changed

who we are.

Who you are

determines how you live.

And Christian,

you is

God's.

You is

alive.

You is

holy.

Let's pray.