Ephesians 4:1-3 - Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 2:11-14 - Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands – remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall…
Ephesians 2:16 - …and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
Ephesians 3:1 - …for this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles…
Ephesians 3:6 - …to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of…
Ephesians 3:10-12 - …so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
Ephesians 4:3 - …being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
3 aspects of our new life in Christ that makes unity in the church more attainable
I. You Have a New Walk
A. Not in the futility of your own mind
Ephesians 4:17-18 - So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding…
B. Not apart from the life of God
Ephesians 4:18 - …excluded from the life of God…
Ephesians 2:1 - And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…
C. Not with a hardened heart
Ephesians 4:18-19 - …because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous...
Jeremiah 31:33 - …I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people…
1 Corinthians 11:25 - In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
D. Not with impurity or greed
Ephesians 4:19 - …and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
II. You Have a New Source of Truth
A. You learned and heard of Christ
Ephesians 4:20-21 - But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him…
Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Romans 11:36 - For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Acts 4:13 - Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
B. You have been taught in Him
Ephesians 4:21 - …if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him…
John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
C. You find your truth in Jesus
Ephesians 4:21 - …if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus…
"We may be exactly right about our particular issue, dangerously right, and driven insane in our rightness. Narrowed truth becomes unbalanced truth. It loses the ability to listen and be corrected. Narrowed truth becomes half-truth, and broadly false. Narrowed truth loses love and the redemptive modus operandi. As it does so, it becomes increasingly distorted, exaggerated, and deformed. It becomes a vehicle for interpersonal conflict and self-righteousness. Narrowed truth, shorn of balancing truths and charity, tends to become reactive error. Ephesians, after all, speaks a truth that calls us to live ‘with all humility and gentleness, with patience, forbearing one another in love… speaking the truth in love.’ That does not leave much room for the sour, self-righteous, and suspicious attitudes that fester in controversy. Controversy tends to make us forget Christ, causing us to become angry, messianic, despairing, or fearful. Ephesians presses us about such attitudes and the words they produce. Whether our words are spoken or written, they must never be inedible, rotten, hostile, and harmful. They must always be constructive. They must always be tailor-made to time, place, person, and circumstance. They must always give savory grace to those who hear or read." (Counsel Ephesians, The Journal of Biblical Counseling • Volume 17 • Number 2 • Winter 1999, pg. 10)
III. You Have a New Process of Change
A. Understand the primary difference between the “unsaved life” and the “saved life”
B. Understand the 3 steps to change and growth
On October 5th of 2010, three teenage boys participated in an annual Spring sporting event on their Pacific Island of Atafu
Shorting after the proceedings, the trio—aged 14 and 15 (x2)—disappeared in a small aluminum boat
After an extensive search was conducted, there remained no trace of them and they were presumed dead
A memorial service on their close-knit island community was held in their honor
50 days after they went missing, a New Zealand-based fishing boat destined for Auckland took a route they wouldn’t normally take, diverting them off the northeast coast of Fiji
While one this alternate route, the first mate spotted a small vessel in the distance—can you guess what he saw?
Upon approaching the aluminum boat, they came across 3 alive, but badly emaciated teenage boys
They had survived those 50 days off of coconuts, water collected from a tarp, and a seagull that happened to land on their vessel
After receiving basic medical attention, the boys were taken back to their families only slightly the worse for wear, all things considered
In all, the boys had drifted an impressive 808 miles from their point of departure
For reference, that’s further than the drive from West Lafayette to Pensacola, FL
I think it’s safe to say that several lessons were learned on this unintentional voyage—not the least of which being this:
When you’re on the ocean, you’re always going somewhere…
For these boys, it was further and further from home
There was no option to remain still for rescuers to find them, as survivalist advise when lost on land
Movement was occurring, and it was either taking them closer to safety or closer to danger
Life is exactly like this as well
Each of us—every person in this room—is moving in a direction
No one is perfectly still
And the direction you’re going is either towards Christ or away from Him—or, as our passage for this morning may phrase it: you’re either becoming more like Him or less like Him
We’re continuing our annual series of Building on Our Heritage this morning—particularly our slow walk through the Book of Ephesians together
I’d invite you to turn to our passage for this morning: Eph 4:17-24 (1172)
In large part, this is a continuation of what has been discussed the past few weeks, yet from a different angle
The theme of “Unity” has been central to this early portion of Eph 4—this is stated early in the passage:
Ephesians 4:3 – being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Two weeks ago, Pastor Aaron discussed it from the angle of the unique spiritual giftings that God provides each person for the edification of the body of Christ
Last week, Pastor Ross showed us from vv 14-6 that unity comes from each individual growing in maturity, becoming more like Jesus every day through the power of God’s work in us
We’re going to be discussing the very practical concept of How to Live in Unity
Bit-by-bit, this book is coming closer to the ground (*airplane landing illustration?)
Please follow along as I read our passage for this morning…
Text
Ephesians 4:17-24 – 17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
This is the Word of the Lord
And, in what I hope to be a highly practical message for us this morning, we’ll be discussing 3 aspects of our new life in Christ that makes unity in the church more attainable
But before we dive right in, allow me to clarify the tone a bit…
Much of the passage describes the state of those outside of Christ—reminiscent of the beginning of Ephesians ch 2 (*dead in our transgressions)
So, by way of perspective, much of what is described in our passage characterizes how you and I used to exist
We taught through Ephesians in our college ministry back in 2020, and when we got to these sections, we called this the “rear view mirror you”…
In other words, this way of talking about yourself, if you’re in Christ, is reflective and not descriptive…
As such, we’ll lay out the points in that way as well—describing the “new you” as we look at the “rear view mirror you”
So this first way our passage talks about our renewal is that…
I. You Have a New Walk
Let me reiterate what was said in our introduction: you and I are currently moving, from a spiritual perspective
And to tie that in with what was just mentioned, you’re either moving further from that “rear view mirror you,” or closer to it…
Our passage spends the early portion talking about what’s going on in the rear view—the life you used to live
But once Jesus made us spiritually alive together with Him (as Eph 2 says it), we were plucked from that existence and placed on a totally new continuum—one of purpose, and not futility; one of life, and not death; one of knowledge, and not ignorance; one of purity, and not degradation
Paul, through the Holy Spirit, works through these new realities
First, we now walk with purpose…
A. Not in the futility of your own mind
We get this, along with our understanding of spiritual movement, from vv 17-18…
Ephesians 4:17–18 – So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding…
Again, just like a ship on the ocean, Christian and non-Christian alike are going somewhere
Those outside of Christ are “walking,” but it’s in a way that is futile and impaired
They are all walking somewhere, but it’s nowhere worth being
And the route they take is fogged by their darkened understanding
In a humbling way, we’re being told once more that you need God to see God…
What does this have to do with unity in the church?
For those of us in this room who are Christians, God has metaphorically “turned the light on” for each one of us
Now, we’re no longer walking in darkness, but in the light
And while that might read like a sticker on someone’s laptop, how does that impact us?
What does it look like at ground-level to walk with purpose and light?
Let me try to get there through another question:
How often do you think about God? (*repeat)
I’m not asking how often you think about doing the right thing, or how often the church comes to mind, or anything else—right now I’m asking: how often do you think about your Creator?
And when you think about Him, if you do, HOW do you think about Him?
If purpose is the opposite of futility, then thinking about God and thinking about Him rightly would be the most purposeful thought imaginable
Why is it that the Gentiles—or those outside of Christ—are futile in their thinking?
God isn’t considered, and when He is, it’s never accurately (or else, they’d be in the light and not the dark)
One thing that distinguishes your new walk is a regenerated mind—one that is able to think about God and think about Him rightly
Can you see how a church filled with men and women considering Christ will build unity? And can you see how the opposite is true? (*explain?)
Christian brother, Christian sister—God has given you the capacity to think about Him
I hope your days are saturated with this level of purpose and light
But if not—what can be done?
The solution is quite simple, yet the steps to get there will vary from person-to-person
Dwell on the person of Christ!
God is utterly inexhaustible in His person (*the Christian should never be bored)
How to get there depends a lot on what you do think about—especially if your walk has been away from God
You may need to drastically reorient your life towards Christ (and purpose, but I repeat myself)
But may I suggest an incremental change?
Think of one aspect of your life that has the temptation to walk away from Christ—it may be aspects of your job, choice of entertainment, marriage, parenting, commute, etc.
Take a moment to consider what it would look like to consider Christ in that area… and start walking
But verse 18 continues,
Next, we now walk in newness of life…
B. Not apart from the life of God
We read this haunting phrase in the middle of v 18…
Ephesians 4:18 - …excluded from the life of God…
This is effectively a restatement of his opening point in ch 2…
Ephesians 2:1 - And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
But for those in Christ, what is our current state?
We ought to never take for granted words “formerly,” and “were,” when we see them applied to our previous life
How did this conjoining with the life of God come about?
Ironically, it came about by the death of God
In a mystery that has yet to be revealed in its entirety (to our understanding, at least), God sent His Son—fully God and fully man—to die on a Roman cross on our behalf
Had he not done that, there would be no “formerly” or “were,” there would be only “currently” and “are…”
But since Jesus died for our sins, all those who trust in Him are given life with Him
But since we’re striving to be practical, what does this look like
Once again, it’s very simple—but unlike our previous point, it’s a state and not a process
In other words, gaining spiritual life is a one-time event, followed by an irreversible reality
It happens the moment a man or woman submits to Jesus, trusting in His death on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins and committing to follow Him as Lord
And then, much like the first point…
We now walk in the light…
C. Not with a hardened heart
Our passage continues…
Ephesians 4:18–19 - …because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous…
It’s a bit easier to be practical on this one
If you find your heart calloused towards others or hard towards the things of God, which direction do you suppose you’re drifting?
This takes a discerning heart—one that’s attuned to how God and others are being regarded
If you don’t see this present in your heart, I’m aware of only one solution: prayer to the God who is able to soften hard hearts
Might I suggest this prayer, in particular:
Proverbs 139: 23-24 – Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
As we grow in our love and care for one another, this will lead to unity in the body of Christ
Lastly, we now walk in purity…
D. Not with endless impurity and greed
This portion of the passage closes with a strong warning against several manifestations of selfishness that are pervasive in those outside of Christ or drifting away from Him:
Ephesians 4:19 - and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
The term used here for “sensuality” has a broad lexical scope
It has the implication of lacking self-constraint and engaging in whatever deeds their whimsical lusts may drive them
It’s not hard to see the possibility for disunity here…
A man or woman who lacks the fruit of the Spirit of self-control will be engaged in this degree of sensuality
They’ll be led by their own justification rather than the Spirit—they’ll do what FEELS right, rather than what IS right
And people who are driven by their feelings rather than controlled by the Spirit are an incredible drain on unity
They seek to take us off-course, drawing attention to themselves rather than stirring everyone’s affection for Christ
And the same goes for those who are greedy—they pursue what’s best for them (by their own estimation) rather than what’s most glorifying to God
But the antidote is plain—the opposite of selfishness in all its forms is to put on the humility of Christ
And I praise God for the men and women who serve as examples of this humility to the rest of us—pursuing the desires of Christ over the flesh
If this sort of selfishness is a struggle of yours, go talk to someone who is emulating the humility of Christ well
This will only strengthen our unity as a church body
So the first way our new life in Christ impacts our unity is that we have a new “walk”—we’re no longer drifting away from God, but drawing closer to Him
The second way this renewal affects our unity is that…
II. You Have a New Source of Truth
This is a point we actually discussed during our Mother’s Day message a few weeks ago
Everyone is being guided by something in their lives
The choices of books, experts, podcasters, professors, pastors, leaders, etc. are myriad
But for the Christian…
A. You learned and heard of Christ
Listen to how quickly the conversation pivots in v 20…
Ephesians 4:20–21 - But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him…
All this time has been spent focused on the “rear view mirror you,” but everything changed when a certain thing happened…
Notice what the text doesn’t say…
It doesn’t say it changed when you learned a certain set of principles…
It didn’t change when you read the right book
It all changed… when you met a certain Person…
Jesus alone has the ability to rip someone from this previous state described earlier in our passage into a changed life
Allow me to ask another question: do you actually believe this? (*explain question)
Would your own life reflect this?
And would the counsel you give others reflect this truth?
In other words, when someone is caught up in all the bad described in this passage: futility, darkness, exclusion from the life of God, ignorance, hardness of heart, callousness, sensuality, impurity, greediness, corruption, lusts, deceit… do you show them CHRIST?
Or do you find something to replace the name of “Christ” in our passage?
It’s a cliché in our culture to say: “people don’t really change”
And you know what, I believe it when I hear it said in the movies, from secular social media accounts, and so forth
But church—is that true of US?
(*slow) People don’t change, but I know a Guy who changes people…
Listen to how Peter and John are described in Acts 4, and I pray it describes you as well:
Acts 4:13 - Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
When everyone is focused on Jesus, unity will abound as we look more like our Savior
We’ve learned and heard of Christ, and…
B. You have been taught in Him
That’s how our passage continues…
Ephesians 4:21 - if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him…
What is the year, according to the calendar? (2024)
How was that number determined?
Roughly, it’s based on when Jesus was born, hence 2024 AD (anno domini)
If Jesus lived to be ~33 years old, and the calendar is even remotely accurate, that would mean we’re about 1,991 years removed from the incarnation of Christ
Even the penning of this letter was ~30 years out from when Christ walked the earth
So how could Paul say to the Ephesians, and how can the Spirit of God say to us today, that we are to be taught by Jesus?
What’s our answer, brothers and sisters?
Yeah, and let me model our previous take-away by pointing you to Jesus, who made this declaration quite clear:
Luke 10:38-42 – Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
(*explain)
When each of us are sitting at the Lord’s feet, listening to His teaching, faithfully following Him as Lord, then unity in the body will increase all the more!
And that’s because…
C. You find your truth in Jesus
*setting up pool pump with wrong instructions…
How does our passage say it?
Ephesians 4:21 - if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,
We need to be reading off the same manual for unity to occur
And what’s more, we need to approach God’s Word with a humble demeanor—because Scripture can be used to create division when mishandled
David Powlison said it this way a while ago…
"We may be exactly right about our particular issue, dangerously right, and driven insane in our rightness. Narrowed truth becomes unbalanced truth. It loses the ability to listen and be corrected. Narrowed truth becomes half-truth, and broadly false. Narrowed truth loses love and the redemptive modus operandi. As it does so, it becomes increasingly distorted, exaggerated, and deformed. It becomes a vehicle for interpersonal conflict and self-righteousness. Narrowed truth, shorn of balancing truths and charity, tends to become reactive error. Ephesians, after all, speaks a truth that calls us to live “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, forbearing one another in love… speaking the truth in love.” That does not leave much room for the sour, self-righteous, and suspicious attitudes that fester in controversy. Controversy tends to make us forget Christ, causing us to become angry, messianic, despairing, or fearful. Ephesians presses us about such attitudes and the words they produce. Whether our words are spoken or written, they must never be inedible, rotten, hostile, and harmful. They must always be constructive. They must always be tailor-made to time, place, person, and circumstance. They must always give savory grace to those who hear or read." – (pg. 10) Counsel Ephesians, The Journal of Biblical Counseling • Volume 17 • Number 2 • Winter 1999
Brothers and sisters, we’ve been given a new walk and we’ve been handed a new source of truth
This allows us to grow in unity together
But along the theme of increased practicality, our passage moves on to highlight…
III. You Have a New Process of Change
Now, so far, the illustration that I’ve been using is rather passive: you’re either drifting towards Christ or away from Him right now
The implication is much like the 3 helpless boys in their aluminum skiff: you’re going wherever the current of the ocean decides to take you
Let me suggest something a bit controversial: it is the ENEMY that would have you believe the Christian life is passive…
If you’re not actively engaged in your walk with Christ, then you are most assuredly walking away from Him
Listen to the active nature of the final portion of our passage:
Ephesians 4:22b-24 – you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
(*explain – active, passive, active)
Now, I don’t want to spend a lot of time in these final 3 verses
Lord willing, next week, Pastor Aaron will take these 3 verses and develop them in a more complete and encompassing way
But for the purpose of unity, we must…
A. Understand the primary difference between the “unsaved life” and the “saved life”
The old self is characterized by corruption
Corruption, as I’m sure you’re aware, is the process of destroying or depleting the ideal
Since each of us are made in the image of God, we are functioning ideally when we embody the God-Man, Christ Jesus
That’s sort of a plastic way of saying this: when Christians live like non-Christians, it creates rot in the church
But when we strive for Christ and “put on the new self, which [is] in the likeness of God,” we grow in unity with one another
But on an individual level, we must…
B. Understand the 3 steps to change and growth
This is a bit of a cliffhanger—we’ve talked a bit about it, but the wealth of this passage will be drawn out next week
But remember, the life of a Christian is far from passive…
And because we worship a living God, it’s also rich with hope!
Our world provides no real solution to the disunity that we observe all around us
After all, if people are generally good what’s there to change?
And if society “out there” is the source of all problems, what can be done to effectuate lasting change?
But the Word of God, through the Person of Christ, provides solutions at the macro and micro level
So let’s walk as those who have been given new life
And let’s follow the truth found in the One who IS the truth
All the while, let’s build unity as we grow in our love for and likeness to Jesus…
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