Putting off and putting on

(sermon notes)

Ephesians 4
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.
25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.
26 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.
28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.
29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

how is change brought about in our lives?

- first, Eph 5:3-6 explains that everyone who is a Christian will change- the one who is living in a pattern of unbroken sin most likely has not been born again

Ephesians 5
3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

- God is offended by "Nike Christianity"- we can't "just do it" as if it wasn't grace that kept us going, as if Christ doesn't fit into the picture

Eph 4:17- after three chapters of telling us how God has worked to save us, Paul tells us we must no longer walk as the Gentiles do- even here, Paul goes deeper than what we do and goes to what is the condition of our heart

- why are the unsaved darkened in their understanding? because their hearts are hardened and they have been calloused by sin (Eph 4:18-19)
- "but we did not learn Christ in this way"- instead of having our minds darkened, we have the mind of Christ- instead of having our hearts hardened, we were given new hearts

- the world can only restrain behavior- it can't change the heart to change motivations- only God can do that- v.20 the beginning of change is to learn and know Christ

v.22-24- spiritual dynamic of putting off and putting on clothing

- this change of clothing is a deep change, it is not a bunch of resolutions, you are putting off and on a self

- 2 Cor. 5:17- "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
- Gal. 2:20- "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

- why do we have a problem believing that when Christ died, we died? because the old self is familiar and we feel its temptations- as R. C. Sproul says, the old self is like a chicken running around with its head chopped off, it doesn't know it's dead

- but we don't walk by the feelings of the old self, instead we walk by faith in what Christ has done

Gal. 5
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

- we live in the already not yet- we are already secure in Christ but we are not in heaven yet

- v.23- renewed in the Spirit of our minds- this is in contrast to the unregenerate, who are futile in their minds- we need for the the truths of the Word to transform us

this new self is something that God has created- we not only have a new life, we have a new hope, new desires, new things to do- we are being told to put on what God prepared for us

Ephesians 2
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

5 things to put off/put on

1. put off falsehood, put on truth
why?: we are members of one another- what concerns me concerns you, and if we lie to one another we cannot relate as we ought

2. put off unrighteousness, put on righteous anger
why?: because we need to be angry about the appropriate things and not be overcome by self-righteous tirades

3. put off theft, put on hard labor
why?: so we can give to those in need

4. put off corrupt talk, put on words that build up
why?: so we can give grace to those who hear

5. put off malice, put on forgiveness
why?: because God forgave us

application:

1. we live in a time that wants change but that does not want to think- weak theology does not change lives

2. the place to start is the tongue- three of the five areas Paul writes about deal with the tongue

James 3
1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
3 Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.
4 Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.
5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.
8 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.
11 Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.


You can listen to a great sermon by James White on Colossians 3:1-17 here. I am often struck by the ways Ephesians and Colossians complement one another.