Ephesians 4:17-32
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—
21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
30 And 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, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
So much of good Bible reading comes down to simply learning to ask the right questions of the text and then finding ways to answer those questions from God’s Word. Below are a handful of what I call “breadcrumb” questions. In my study, I’ve gone just ahead of the class in the text and created questions that I believe will help guide you in understanding the passage. When we gather on Sunday, we’ll walk through these questions together. Over time, you’ll develop a greater ability to ask these questions on your own and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, find the answers in His Word.
Breadcrumb Questions
- Verse 17
- Does it strike you as odd that Paul would instruct his Ephesian readers not to walk “as the Gentiles do?” What is perplexing about that?
- See 3:1 for a reminder of who these Ephesian believers are.
- Also, 2:11.
- There are a couple clues here and elsewhere in Ephesians that might help us to see how Paul views non-Jewish believers and their relationship to Israel.
- 1st clue: here in v.17, he says, “you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do.”
- See especially 2:19- “you are no longer strangers…”
- Putting all these things together, how does Paul seem to view his audience of Gentile believers and their relationship to Israel?
- See 3:1 for a reminder of who these Ephesian believers are.
- Does it strike you as odd that Paul would instruct his Ephesian readers not to walk “as the Gentiles do?” What is perplexing about that?
- Verses 17-19
- The big idea of this passage is simply this: “You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do.”
- Before getting into what that looks like, Paul takes v.17-19 to explain why Gentiles walk the way they do.
- How many explanations for their walk/way of life can you find in verses 17 through 19?
- Do you see a progression here? Do some of these things seem to cause the others? (Hint: look for grammatical clues like “because of” or “due to.”). In other words, which ones seem to come first and which come later as a result?
- How many explanations for their walk/way of life can you find in verses 17 through 19?
- Verse 20
- Which word in this small sentence signals a shift or change in Paul’s flow of thought?
- What is interesting about Paul’s phrasing “learned Christ?”
- In light of the above progression from hardened hearts to darkened understanding to unholy living, do you see why Paul might describe becoming a believer as “learning Christ?”
- Verses 21-24
- Paul assumes that his readers have been taught this- to “put off your old self… and to put on the new self…”
- In this passage, we’re instructed to put off/put on the old/new self. Compare this with Colossians 3:9-10. Is Paul commanding believers to put off/put on in that passage? Or is he simply stating the fact?
- So, have we already put off/put on the old/new self? Or is it something we still need to do? Or is it somehow both?
- Compare Ephesians 3:19 with Colossians 2:9-10 for another example of this “tension.”
- So, have we already put off/put on the old/new self? Or is it something we still need to do? Or is it somehow both?
- In this passage, we’re instructed to put off/put on the old/new self. Compare this with Colossians 3:9-10. Is Paul commanding believers to put off/put on in that passage? Or is he simply stating the fact?
- How does being “renewed in the spirit of your minds” seem to fit into this process of putting off/putting on?
- It’s always interesting when we see Paul giving a command using a divine passive imperative. In other words, he’s commanding his readers to have God do something to them. How do they (and we) obey that command?
- Paul assumes that his readers have been taught this- to “put off your old self… and to put on the new self…”
- Verses 25-32
- How many different ways of walking worthily of our call can you pick out from these verses?
- It’s interesting how Paul gives a unique spiritual insight with each command. Let’s look at a few of them:
- (v.25) In what does Paul ground the command for truthfulness? (Hint: “for” is the most common grounding word in the New Testament).
- (v.26-27) It’s interesting that some use this verse to justify being angry. After reading these verses in their entirety, what is ironic about that argument?
- (v.28) What is the purpose in this verse of laboring and working honestly?
- (v.29-30) It’s probably best to see these two verses as fitting neatly together rather than as two separate commands. What are the ways we should/should not use our words? What happens when we use our words wisely? And when we use them foolishly?
- (v.31-32) What is the basis for the way we are to treat one another in these verses?
- Conclusion
- How can you incorporate this “put off/put on” command into the way you approach your life within the church every Sunday morning? And as you go throughout your Monday through Saturday life?
- Is there something you do every morning that can be a good reminder of putting off the old you and putting on the new? Can you recite these verses to yourself as you do that?
- How can you incorporate this “put off/put on” command into the way you approach your life within the church every Sunday morning? And as you go throughout your Monday through Saturday life?
I look forward to meeting and discussing this text with you all.
Leave a Reply