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, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

                                                                                                         Ephesians 4:17-19 

I love the Bible because it not only instructs us on what to avoid but it also shines light on the things that we should embrace. Today’s passage is a stark reminder that those who are without Christ are altogether, spiritually dead while those belonging to Christ have been changed, redeemed, forgiven and thusly should be living lives demonstrating this change. First, let’s take a look at how Paul describes those outside of the body of Christ. Paul uses no less than six descriptors when describing the “Gentile nations” referring to all of those who are not born again believers in Jesus.

First, these individuals are futile in their thinking. When we declare an activity as “futile”, we are declaring it as useless or pointless. If you have ever been stuck in the mud, unable to move your vehicle, you have probably experienced this. Believing that revving the engine will assist in freeing us from the predicament, we spin the wheels but to no avail. Instead of getting out, we entrench ourselves even further. The futility of non-believers is in their thinking. By rejecting the very God who loves and died for them, they turn to useless things.

Secondly, these people are “darkened” in their understanding. One disconnect between believers and non-believers is that those outside of Christ simply do not understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Christian life seems utter foolishness to them (1 Corinthians 1:18). Jesus is Light and He has come to bring us life, but the reality is that mankind loves darkness rather than Light therefore they will not come into the Light (John 3:19). When we choose sin and reject Christ, we show ourselves to be darkened in our understanding.

Thirdly, these individuals are ignorant, meaning that they are without saving knowledge. To know Christ is to know salvation and redemption. To be apart from Christ is to know death. Ignorance in itself is not a bad thing in the sense that it simply means that we lack some knowledge or experience in a certain area of life. But spiritual ignorance demonstrates that we are lacking in the very thing that can bring us life and save our souls. God has not left us as orphans. He has left His Spirit and His Word with us. Neglecting both leads to spiritual ignorance.

In addition to the futility, darkness, and ignorance in the thinking of those outside of Christ, Paul includes two other tragic realities, hardness of heart and callousness. Perhaps at some point in your life you have enjoyed playing with Playdough (a pleasure that many take right into adulthood). This material is soft, moldable, and pliable. This is what makes it fun. You can create all kinds of things with Playdough. But when we leave it out of its container or fail to properly seal the lid, this soft, moldable, pliable material can become hardened and brittle, greatly limiting what you can do with it. To be hard hearted is to be rebellious and stubborn, refusing to listen, making one unusable and unteachable. When this hard heartedness goes unchecked, it can lead to being callous about the things of God. We all know what it means to have a callous on our hand, perhaps due to gripping and tool, a golf club, or baseball bat. These items can rub against your hand creating a collection of dead skin cells that form as a result of the friction between the item and our hand. This callous has no feeling as it consists of dead skin cells. You can run a straight pin through this nerveless collection of dead skin cells and feel absolutely nothing. This is the effect that sin and rejection of the gospel can have on a life. We can get to the place where we do not feel anything when it comes to spiritual things. This is tragic but that is not the worse condition.

Finally, Paul describes these people as “excluded” from the life of God. This is perhaps the most tragic of all of his descriptions. I believe that many people reject the Bible because of the spiritual indictment that it makes on all of humanity. For those of us who know that we are sinners and in need of a Savior, we run to the gospel with open arms. But for those who refuse to view themselves this way and desire to live life on their terms, the gospel is nothing more than a thorn in their side. They embrace the world while rejecting the very God who died for them. They are excluded from the life of God because they have rejected Him.

But for the believer, we have every reason to rejoice. After describing the spiritually reality of those outside of Christ, Paul presents some instruction for us as believers. Consider the following: 

…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, 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.

                                                                                                     Ephesians 4:22-24 

First, we are to lay aside our “old self,” which followed the world and its ways. Simultaneously, we are to put on the “new self” which is in Christ. We can think of this spiritual trade as that of wearing a coat. Just like we can take off one coat and put on another one, we can shed our old way of life that we lived before we were saved and put on a new way of life that we now have in Jesus. In another similar passage, Paul put it this way:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

                                                                                                2 Corinthians 5:17 

While this may seem difficult to do at times, it certainly isn’t difficult to understand. Paul is telling us that as we claim the name of Jesus, our daily life, the way we treat others, and the way we conduct our business should be entirely different from that of the world. The bottom line is this: Christians should be recognizable to the rest of the world. If we claim that we belong to Jesus, our lives should be distinguishable from others. Yes, believers will struggle with sin and at times may even fail, but the overall testimony of a life that has been changed should reflect such a change. The Bible speaks of those “practicing” sin as being contrary to the Christian life. To “practice” sin is to make it a part of your life consistently. At this point we need to be careful that we do not forget what we have learned in other parts of scripture when interpreting new portions. For example, we do not put aside what Galatians teaches us as we examine Ephesians. Our salvation is not by works rather it is by faith in Christ therefore we lay aside our old nature because we have been saved, not in order to be saved. Nevertheless, when we live lives contrary to the word of God and our new nature it begs the question, “Where do our loyalties really lie?”

But Paul doesn’t leave us wondering how we are to accomplish this. He tells us to “be renewed in the spirit of our minds.” One irreplaceable and effective way for Christians to live out their faith is to daily renew their minds in the word of God. In another passage, Paul put it this way: 

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind… 

                                                                                                         Romans 12:2a 

We are not to be conformed to the way of the world rather we are to be transformed. The word “transformed” is where we get the word “metamorphosis.” When we think of this type of transformation, we can think of how a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly. And where is this transformation to happen? It begins in our minds. When we renew our minds by studying scripture, we gain a spiritual perspective and defense mechanism that we would otherwise be without. So the key to “putting on the new self” is to “be renewed in the spirit of our minds.” 

In a world that is becoming more and more polarized, I believe that it is imperative for believers to outwardly live the change that Christ has made in them. Lines are being drawn and sides are being chosen. I know which side I am standing. I am resting in and proclaiming the name of Jesus! What about you?