Day 1 Introduction to the Text Ephesians 4:17-22

Transcription

1 Day 1 Introduction to the Text Ephesians 4:17-22 In Ephesians 4:1, the Apostle Paul implored the Ephesian Christians to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. In order to walk in a worthy manner, Paul then says in verse 2 with all humility, and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. In the passage we are studying this week, Paul continues the appeal he made in Ephesians 4:1 only this time, he is focused on how not to walk. Paul insists that the Ephesian Christians no longer walk, just as the Gentiles also walk (Eph 4:17). And how did the Gentiles walk? They walked in the futility of their mind. He describes the Gentiles as darkened in understanding, excluded from God, and callous toward sin. Paul s description of unregenerate unbelievers in this passage just repeats what he has essentially said earlier in the letter. For instance, before coming to faith in Christ, we were all dead in our trespasses and sins, walking according to the ways of Satan and the world, living in the lusts of our flesh, and were considered children of wrath (2:1-3). Additionally, Paul says we were 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 (2:12) in our unredeemed state. Notice that Paul implores the Ephesian Christians to no longer walk like the Gentiles. How can Paul tell them to not walk like Gentiles when they are Gentiles themselves? Because they are no longer Gentiles, in a spiritual sense. God has brought together Jew and Gentile, making the two into one new man (2:15). They are no longer strangers and aliens, but are now fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God s household (2:19). In light of these great truths, Paul appeals to the Ephesian Christians, and all Christians today, to no longer live as we used to live. God, in His great mercy, grace, and love, has made us into a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), whereby our identity is no longer associated with our racial background, or social status, but instead, is found in Jesus Christ. Therefore, Paul pleads with us to lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit (4:22). Scripture Memory: Ephesians 4:22 1

2 Day 2 Observe the Text Read Ephesians 4: How does Paul describe the walk of the Gentiles (i.e., unbelievers)? (v17) 2. According to Paul, what causes an unbeliever s ignorance toward the things of God? What is the result? (vv18-19) 3. How did Paul contrast the Ephesian Christians with the Gentiles? (vv20-21) 4. Why does Paul call believers to lay aside the old self? (v22) 5. How should Christians live? (vv23-24) 2

3 Day 3 Interpret the Text Read Ephesians 4:17-22 again Verse 17: walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind Paul wants their attitudes and conduct to become sharply differentiated from the non-christian Greeks and Romans with whom they live. Once again Paul uses the Greek word walk (περιπατέω; see 2:2, 10; 4:1), which comes from Paul s Jewish background, to characterize the features of their daily lifestyle. The term translated here as [futility] (ματαιότης) is used extensively in the LXX of Ecclesiastes to characterize life that is not lived on the basis of the fear of God (see, e.g., Eccl 1:2, 14; 2:1, 11, 15, 17, 19). Life is vain, futile, and without purpose unless it is ordered around God and his purposes. Here the word mind refers to more than just the ability to reason. It refers to the capacity to think, plan, and make moral judgments and lifestyle choices (see also Rom 1:28; 12:2). This could also be described as the set of worldview assumptions that guide non-christian Gentiles in their thoughts about life and how they live in light of these convictions (Arnold, 281). Verse 18: because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart Does the ignorance in them point to an inherent flaw original sin? Or does it point to their disobedience? The next phrase clarifies: they brought it on themselves by hardening their hearts against the truth about God. Hardened hearts is a common biblical metaphor (Ex 4:21; 7:3; Ps 95:8; Mt 19:8; Mk 3:5; Ro 11:25; also common in Qumran writings). Hardening translates pōrōsin (GK 4801), which literally refers to a callus or hardening of the skin. It describes a spiritual insensitivity or unresponsiveness or a lack of remorse. Unbelievers repetition of wrong choices produces a spiritual hardening of the heart (the center of one s being), with the result that their consciences become ineffective in curbing sin (Klein, 125). Verse 19: to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity [sensuality] is wantonness vice that throws off all restraint and flaunts itself, unawed by shame or fear, without regard for self-respect, for the rights and feelings of others, or for public decency. Impurity has a wide range of meaning: it includes sexual misconduct, but is applicable to various forms of moral evil (Bruce, 356). 3

4 Verses 20-21: you did not learn Christ just as truth is in Jesus... Paul makes the rather unusual statement that they learned Christ. One normally learns a content (e.g., the law, statues, and ordinances, etc.) or a certain pattern of behavior (e.g., to obey God or to do good), but not a person. This unique expression most likely heightens the element of personal relationship with Christ that is central to the Christian faith and emphasized in Ephesians.The fact that Paul uses the name Jesus here instead of Christ or Jesus Christ may be an intentional way of connecting the truth about the resurrected and reigning Christ to the historical Jesus. They are one and the same person. It is just as important to learn the truth he taught and embodied during his earthly ministry as it is to learn the truth about him in early Christian preaching and tradition (Arnold, ). Verse 22: you lay aside the old self The same expression occurs in Col. 3:9, but with a difference. There the Colossian believers are reminded that they have put him off; here the readers are taught to put him off. This tension between the indicative and the imperative, between the already and the not yet, is common in the Pauline letters; it is summed up in the admonition: Be what you are! Be in practice what the calling of God has made you (Bruce, 357). who loves the church (5:23, 25) (Stein, 122). 4

5 Read Ephesians 4:17-22 one more time. Day 4 Apply the Text 1. Since becoming a Christian, what old habits have you done away with? 2. Why is it easy for us to drift back into old habits and ways of living? 3. What teachings of Jesus do you still need to appropriate in your life? 4. What aspects of your old self do you still need to get rid of? 5

6 Day 5 Implement the Text Review and reflect on your study of the passage 1. How has studying this passage changed your understanding of the way unbelievers think and act? 2. What is the first step you plan to take in changing an old pattern of behavior? 3. What are some ways that you plan to help a fellow believer to identity? 6

7 Bibliography Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update. Arnold, Clinton E. Ephesians. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, Bruce, F. F. The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Klein, William W. Ephesians. In The Expositor s Bible Commentary: Ephesians Philemon (Revised Edition), edited by Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, Vol. 12. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,

8 Sermon Notes