THE NEW LIFE-STYLE

EPHESIANS 4:17–24

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

(Ephesians 4:17)

To emphasize the way Christians are to live in community with one another, Paul provides a description of the true essence of non-Christian living in Ephesians 4:17–19. Unbelievers, he writes, are futile in their thinking. They are capable of reason and they often know a great deal, but their thinking goes nowhere. It is not productive in any true sense. The civilizations they build eventually crumble because of their own inner contradictions and cruelties. Their thinking is in vain.

In verse 18, Paul reiterates this point twice. The unbelievers are darkened in their understanding, and they are full of ignorance. This is because they are separated from God and have hardened their hearts. Paul has been stressing our need to grow up in knowledge and to act like adults. But there is a false kind of knowledge, one that exists in a sphere of godlessness. False knowledge is warped knowledge, warped by the hardness of the heart. True knowledge grows from a heart that is opened up to God and takes place in the context of the life of God: the church. In short, true knowledge grows from faith.

In verse 19, Paul shows the result of false knowledge. The unbeliever loses sensitivity to reality, and indulges his sensuality, violence, impurity, lying, and lust. As we grow closer to God and become more sensitive to Him through His Word, we become more sensitive to other people, who are the images of God. By the same token, those who harden themselves against God also become hard against other people. They become selfish and exploitative. They use other people instead of helping them. They turn other people into slaves and prostitutes. Slavery and prostitution characterize all non-Christian civilizations, ancient and modern.

The new Christian civilization of the City of God, however, is completely different. Christians reject the old selfish ways and seek to grow in a new way of life, characterized by true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:20–24). In the verses that follow, Paul will get specific in detailing the characteristics of this new life-style.

CORAM DEO

Judges 5–7

Modern civilization reduces citizens to slaves of the state, taxing huge amounts of their earnings. Women are reduced to Playboy pinups. Children are murdered in the womb. Make these horrors a matter of your prayers today, and ask for renewed strength to live the new life-style in a decaying culture.

For further study: John 14:15–21 • 1 Cor. 2:11–16 • 1 Thess. 5:19–22

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