Christians Walk In Christ's Way — Part 1

Good morning, everyone. Let's turn our Bibles to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4, verses 17-24. I’m reading it from the NASB version. “So this I say and affirm together in the Lord that you are to no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their minds, 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 up to for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as truth is in him, that in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of

“deceit, and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.” Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time as we look into your word. Lord, we believe, Lord, that your word is from you and it is for our edification. And you shape our lives. You build us up, Lord, through your word. We plead with you that you would allow the Spirit of God to work in our hearts, to illumine our minds and our understanding, and give us grace to submit to the teaching of your word.

We pray that you bless our time, Lord, in Jesus Christ’s name we pray. Amen. In the previous section or in a study, we have seen that Paul spoke about Christian maturity. And one of the marks of Christian maturity is that we walk in unity. As we see in the first three verses of chapter 4, the marks of unity is that we are being clothed with all humility, gentleness, patience and tolerance. That’s how we also preserve the unity of the church. And Paul shows that God gave diverse gifts to grow us into maturity. And another mark of maturity that we see in the previous passage is that we are also equipped to serve the church.

So we are not mere spectators in the body of Christ, but we grow, we mature, and we also serve the church. The leaders equip us and the source is the truth. And the goal of this maturity is Christ-likeness. And yet another mark of maturity is that we are not tossed or carried away by every wind of doctrine. Now many false teachings plague the church today, right? And I want to reiterate what I said in my previous sermon, that false doctrines are not innocent errors. False doctrines are not innocent errors. Behind every wrong teaching, there is deceitful scheming. So we must realize that the right teaching of God’s word is essential for right living.

And false teaching will always lead to a wrong life that dishonors God. Today’s the title of the sermon is Christians walk in Christ’s way. Christians walk in Christ’s way. Within Christianity, few views have led to erroneous doctrine and life. And from within the evangelical stream came something called free grace theology. And people like Lewis Chafer, Charles Ryrie and John Walvoord, they propagated this theology and this is still strong in many Christian circles and this is most, if you’re aware of the American geography, there’s a thing called the Bible Belt there.

So especially it has to do with the Dallas Theological Seminary, where it was birthed there, and you know, they believe that if you believe in Jesus you’re saved. And the critiques of this theology call it as “easy believism,” right? You just, you need, you know, all that you need to do is say a prayer, you know, and you just have to believe in Jesus. And you say, and you say it neglects the importance of repentance. And they view repentance as merely a change of mind, not sorrow for sin. Right? And some argue that repentance is not a condition for salvation, but it is a condition of fellowship with God and sanctification.

And to them, a believer need not be a disciple of the Lord. A person can believe in the saving work of Lord Jesus Christ and still not submit to his lordship. Right? And a person may be an unrepentant adulterer, but he is saved because he prayed a prayer.

He is just a carnal Christian. Such carnal Christians will go to heaven regardless of any future actions, including future sin, unbelief or even apostasy. The Christians who sin or abandon the faith will face God’s discipline. And this is one of the theologies that is plaguing Christianity today. Easy believism. You say a prayer and you are a believer no matter how you live.

And this is from the evangelical stream, and from the Pentecostal stream that gave birth to hyper grace theology. And people like Joseph Prince, Andrew Wommack, Andrew Farley, you know, these are the propagators of this theology. And hyper grace teachers, they maintain that all sin, past, present and future, has already been forgiven. So there is no need for a believer ever to confess their sins. You need not say, “Lord, I’m sorry for my sins,” right? Because your sins have already been forgiven. So it doesn’t matter how you live. This preachers also claimed that the Holy Spirit will not convict Christians of

their sins. Recently Andrew Farley tweeted, just four days ago he tweeted this, he said that Christian is living in, that Christian living in sin, someone says, no, that Christian may be sinning but they’re living in Christ, not sin. And this beautiful reality is their motivation to acting like who they really are.

So this stream of theology, they believe that no, you need not confess sin. It doesn’t matter how you live. God has forgiven your sins. And from the reform stream came an antinomian kind of view called radical grace theology. From evangelical stream, we have what, free grace theology; from the Pentecostal stream we have hyper grace theology, and from the reformed stream we have radical grace theology. And there are many proponents of this, and the one of the most famous proponents is Tullian Tchividjian — did I pronounce it right? Maybe. Yeah. And Ryan Haskins, John Moffitt and others. And if some of you are aware of their website called Theocast, you know, they are the proponents of that.

And Theocast, the website, propagates these views. And well, many do not view this as a heresy, but somehow misguided. Misguided. It is a form of antinomianism. You know, if you know antinomianism, it means that no law. Right? There is no law. I mean, there’s nothing that really has to guide you. And they say that Christians do not gain more by sanctification.

In other words, they deny the aspect of sanctification. There is nothing you gain by sanctification. You don’t grow in sanctification. Their basic understanding is that our efforts in sanctification don’t matter. What matters is understanding Christ’s righteousness and that Christ will never reject you.

Their basic funda even for sanctification is to relax, remember, trust, receive and grow in that understanding. Their interpretation of Philippians chapter 2 verse 12, the famous verse, you know, the most familiar verse, 12 and 13: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” “Work out your own salvation,” right? You know, you know how they interpret this? They say that God works his work in you. It’s not we work out our salvation, because “for it is God who works in you.” They say that God works his work in you, which is the work already accomplished by Christ, right? Our hard work therefore means

coming to a greater understanding of that work. They reduced sanctification to mere contemplation of Christ and his work. That’s it. You need not do anything. It is all that Christ does. All that you have to do is like you need to grow in that understanding of Christ’s work. That’s enough. That’s enough.

And all these streams of grace theology, be it free grace theology, hyper grace theology, radical grace theology, miss out on understanding the Bible’s emphasis on necessity of sanctification. Sanctification or our maturity is the evidence that we possess the justifying grace. It is the evidence that we are justified.

We are justified because of Christ. We are made right with God by the work of Christ and therefore we make every effort by the empowerment of the Spirit of God to live a life that really pleases God. It is taught elsewhere in the New Testament that you were darkness, not elsewhere. In Ephesians chapter 5 verse 8 it says that you were darkness but now you are light.

Believers’ behavior or the way we live must correspond to the truth that we believe and we must correspond and also must correspond to the work of the Spirit of God in our lives. A mere confession isn’t enough. The distinctiveness of a Christian life arises from our distinctiveness of who we are in. We can by no means hide that distinctiveness in this world and yet be a Christian.

We cannot separate regeneration and repentance. A regenerated person repents. Repents every time he or she sins against God. This passage that we have read, verses 17 till 24, probably we’ll look at only till verse 22 today. And this passage consists of two thoughts or exhortations from Paul. Number one, not to live according to the pagan way of life. Number two, but to live as a new creation in Christ Jesus.

Paul begins this section with a conjunction. What is the conjunction? It’s a word that connects two thoughts, right? And here it begins with, “so this I say.” In some versions it could be, “now I say,” “now this I say,” or in some versions it could be, “therefore I say.” And Paul links this section to the previous one through this conjunction. And he connects this exhortation with the previous one in verses 1 to 3. In verses 1 to 3 there is an exhortation and he is connecting this thought with that exhortation. It is a continuation of that main appeal, and the appeal that we see in verses 1 to 3 is that to walk worthy of your calling. That’s the main thought that continues. That thought continues till chapter 6 verse 9. That’s one single thought, right? We ought to walk worthy of a calling

and part of a responsibility to maintain that unity or and to walk worthy of a calling is that we do nothing like the Gentiles or the pagans or the unbelievers. The wording here is strong. Paul didn't use his usual words to exhort believers here. Usually, he would use, I urge, whenever he would exhort believers, use i urge or i beseech or i implore you as it did in verse 1 but here he uses two verbal indicators it is unusual for paul when he gives an exhortation no the english word say there you see there verse 17

So, “I say.” The English word “say” doesn’t give us the force of the Greek words. It properly means “I declare” or “I decree.” Have you ever heard or read Paul saying that, “I decree, I declare”? It’s very rare, right? But you may be familiar with this term, “I beseech you, I urge you, I implore you.” But here he says, when giving an exhortation, he says that, “I declare, I decree.”

One New Testament scholar says that, that is how Roman emperors or governors opened their communications in the Greek world to impose their will on their subjects. “I decree.” It is like Paul saying, “I lay forth before you” or “I decree to you” or “I declare to you.”

And he uses another verbal indicator there, “testify.” It means to witness, “I decree and I witness, I testify.” These two words show us the importance and the solemnity of this exhortation and the force of this appeal lies in the prepositional phrase there, “in the Lord.”

“I declare, I decree,” not by my own authority, but by the authority which the Lord has given me. In the Lord, as an apostle of Christ, I declare, this is from the Lord. This is a decree from the Lord. Right? That’s the, that’s the force of that statement. And Paul’s authority comes from the Lord. Number one, do not live like a pagan. Do not live like a pagan. Paul says here, “So this I say and affirm together in the Lord, that you are to no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their minds, 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.”

Firstly, he gives a decree from the Lord to all believers, especially to those who are from the Gentile background. Right? All the non-Jewish people are categorized as Gentiles. Even we here are from the Gentile background. We are non-Jewish people, so we are from the Gentile background. And this appeal may also apply to believers from a Jewish background in general. But if you know the history of the Jewish people, they were often attracted to the ways of the Gentiles. Ways of the Gentiles are so attractive to our sinful nature.

But this appeal is to the believers from that background. You know, you look there for the phrase in verse 17, the phrase, no longer walk, no longer walk, shows us that they once walked on that path. Once they were on that path. And now they should no longer do that.

Because they are called from that situation and they were translated into the kingdom of God’s Son. And the word “walk” here, it conveys a course of life. It’s not like whenever you like to walk you take a walk, no, other times you do relax, no, it’s a course of life, the way you live, the motivations of your heart, the purpose, the ambition, the aspirations of your life. It’s the course of your life. And we must no longer live as they live, the unbelievers. Because you now are different. You are now set apart for the Lord by Christ’s gracious work in you.

And because the world’s way, the world’s value system, morals and the values of Christ are poles apart. We must no longer live like the world. No matter how they’re attractive to our sinful nature, we must no longer live like them or the way we used to live once.

It may have been ingrained in us. Such practices, it could be habits or thought patterns, those could be ingrained in us. But now we belong to Christ. He purchased us. We must walk worthy of a calling. The most remarkable thing here is that, the most remarkable thing here is, those who once were Gentiles are no longer Gentiles.

He doesn’t call them, “you Gentile believers,” no. Bible doesn’t make that categorization of Gentile believers and Jewish believers. We may be from the Gentile background, some may be from the Jewish background, but we are not Gentile believers. We are no longer categorized as Gentiles. We are no longer Gentiles. They are now part of a new creation. A new human race and joined to Christ as Paul clarifies in chapter 2.

God is building a new humanity in Christ Jesus. Jesus is making a dwelling place for God through this new humanity. All believers now have a new identity, and our identity is in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are enjoined with Christ, and we are new by the virtue of our union with Christ.

We must all function and live with this new identity. Paul explains the Gentile way of life with the phrase, “futility of their minds.” Futility here means something empty, vain or meaningless. Their thinking or their way of life is without meaning and purpose. It is devoid of any worth before God. Its goal is also futile.

The way of life is based on the futility of their minds and it shows their state of existence. Paul describes this futility of their mind or the futility of the way of their lives with a couple of phrases. Number one, he says that, “darkened in their understanding.”

This is the state of all believers. Whether you are from Jewish background or Gentile background, this is the state of all unbelievers. The state of all unbelievers. Paul describes such depravity in Romans chapter 1 verse 21. He says that, “For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings and their senseless hearts were darkened.”

And the Greek word, heart, mind, and understanding were interchangeably used. It means the same. Darkness is an antonym or the opposite to light, truth, and life in the Bible. This speaks about the state of all unbelievers. All unbelievers in that state of darkness, lack of truth, lack of life. No, until the light came, until the light shone into their hearts. And this state of being darkened here in Ephesians is set in contrast with being enlightened. You remember Ephesians chapter 1 verse 17 and 18, in that prayer of Paul, he prays for these people, he reports his prayer there. Verse 17 of chapter 1 he says that, “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.”

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” Such enlightenment is only available for those in Christ Jesus.

Apart from Christ, our understanding is darkened. Our minds are darkened. Our hearts are darkened. It’s only through the gracious work of the Lord Jesus Christ we are enlightened. God should enlighten the people with the gospel. And it is because of the gospel and the grace of Christ Jesus, we see that, we understand things.

We understand things related to God and eternity. And we are able to live by His grace for God’s glory. As we sang that hymn, which was penned by John Newton, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, now I see.” This happens only through the gospel. What does it mean to be darkened in our understanding? What does it entail? It means being excluded from the life of God.

You know nothing about God. You don’t taste God. You don’t understand God. You don’t experience His grace. We are excluded from the life of God. It cannot mean God’s own life or even our physical life. It is the life that God bestows on his people who were once dead in their trespasses as we see in chapter 2 verse 1. It is a life that awakens people to God. It is the spiritual life.

And without Jesus, people lack that life. People lack eternal life, no matter how healthy, how intelligent, productive, energetic, creative or happy they may seem. Right? We all are dead apart from Christ. We are excluded from the life of Christ. So life of God apart from Christ. And this state of alienation from God remains for two reasons. Number one, Paul says, ignorance in them.

Because of the darkness in them, they chose to remain ignorant. That ignorance prevails. They do not want to know God. Look at what Paul says in Romans 1:19-21. It says, “because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened.”

They chose to remain ignorant because we cannot go beyond our ignorance. That’s the natural state. It, we, they cannot come out of their ignorance. And the second reason for the alienation from God, Paul says, is the hardness of their heart. There is a natural hardness towards God and His truth. In the Bible, the hardness of heart is synonymous with an unbelieving heart. You see that in Mark 3, verse 5, Romans 11, verse 7, and also 2 Corinthians 3, verse 14. It’s a natural state. It’s synonymous with unbelieving heart. And because of this hardness, people resist any true knowledge of God and His truth.

Have you ever persisted with an unbeliever with the gospel? And you found them to be stubborn, hard-hearted? Every time. Unless God opens their eyes. Right? And because of this prevailing state of heart, Paul says in verse 19, “and they having become callous,” it is a state where people have lost all sensitivity to sin. They are not bothered by even serious commands or warnings from God’s word.

You’re going to die, you’re going to hell. They don’t bother. You will be punished. They don’t bother. They’ll think of a way out. Right? And they do not bother if we say that they are grieving God. It is a state where they have lost all capacity to be grieved or embarrassed.

And because of their lack of any morals, they have no restraints. I don’t mean that unbelievers do not have morals. There are unbelievers who grow up with some morals, good morals, right? Because of these morals, they may restrain themselves from certain societal evils and they try to be good law-abiding citizens. What if someone has no morals and no moral restraints?

We must acknowledge that all human beings have the potential become worse and to commit worse evils. All human beings, even those who are seated here, including me, we have the potential to do the worst evil, but not everyone lives that way. But we all possess a sinful nature which has the potential to be worse.

And Paul here is primarily speaking about Roman world. He probably describes the worst lifestyles of his day. He says that, “have given themselves up to indecent behavior for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” They have given themselves up to indecent behavior or sensuality in some translations or sexual immorality. The correct word here is licentiousness. It is debauchery. It is excessive indulgence in sex, improper ways of sex, alcohol and drugs. All included. And there is every kind of impurity with greediness.

When it says greediness, it means that, which means a desire for more evil. They are not satisfied with the evil that they are committing. They want to do more. They want to have the pleasure of that evil. And the Greco-Roman world was sexually promiscuous society. You know, its religion was immoral. They had ritual worship.

They had temple prostitution. They were both male and female prostitutes, temple prostitutes. They were called sacred prostitutes. And union with them was considered to be sacred, holy. It was religious. It was worship for them. All religions surrounding them even from the earliest times. Do you remember the story of the Israelites seduced by the Moabite woman in Numbers chapter 25? Do you remember that? The indulgent gross immorality, it was a ritual worship. If you can turn your Bible to Numbers 25, verses 1 onwards, it says, “While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to

their gods. There was worship, and this was ritual worship. And the people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. Verse 3. Do you know what was God's reaction against these Israelites? What did God do? Verse 4, “daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord's fierce anger may turn away from Israel. So Moses said to Israel's judges, ‘Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.'”

When Phinehas, verse 7, son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand, and followed the Israelites into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman's stomach.

Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped, but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000. Such was the reaction of God. Such was the anger of God against his people. Remember how Paul describes the unbelieving world in Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1 verse 24. If you can turn your Bibles there.

Romans chapter 1 verse 24. It says, “Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Verse 26. “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions, for their women exchange natural relations for that which is contrary to nature. And likewise the men too abandon natural relations with women and burn in their desire toward one another. Males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”

You know, today you hear about all this pride and stuff like that. God's reaction towards them. Maybe it's a secular society, there is no worship of God, but there is gross immorality. Be it sexual immorality, fornication, adultery, lesbian, gay sex, whatever, live-in relationships, everything grieves God.

God is not someone who is unconcerned about these things. He is very much concerned. He is very much concerned. And look at what Paul says in Romans 1, verse 18. “For the wrath of God. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

The only rightful reaction of God is His anger. Anger. God is displeased with all evil and his anger is burning hot against all sin. And God may not explicitly demonstrate his anger now, but he will undoubtedly demonstrate his anger. He will. God is not going to ignore.

He's not going to turn a blind eye. He will deal with sin because he is a righteous judge. He will deal with all sin, all sin. And as a believer, how do you deal with sin? How do you treat sin? You have a soft corner for certain sins? Do you hate sin? Do you struggle with sin? Do you fight sin? Revelation chapter 21 verse 8, it says, “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral persons and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is a second death.”

God will surely deal with sin. And you need not be among such people who would face the anger of God. God already demonstrated His severe anger against sin once for all to save His people. He sent His son, our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into this world who was one with the Father from all eternity. At one point of time, he took upon himself a human form, born of a virgin woman, lived a sinless life among sinful people. He became that perfect substitute for our sins. And on that cross, all our sins were laid on him. God laid our sins on Jesus Christ.

He stood in our place with all the sins. And God crushed Jesus for our sins. Our Lord Jesus suffered and died in our place to save us from sin that grieves God. And the anger burning hot against every sin was poured out upon him and he was crushed, crushed for our sins.

He suffered and died in our place for our sins and rose again on the third day for our justification. Whoever looks to Jesus, believes in his saving work on the cross, repents of their sins, they will be saved from sin and God's anger.

For those who reject Jesus as their Lord and Savior, God's wrath is awaiting for them. God's wrath is awaiting for them. Point number two. Number one, do not live like the pagans or the unbelievers or like the world. Number two, live as a new creation in Christ Jesus.

Live as a new creation in Christ Jesus. Paul shifts his focus from the Gentile way of life and unbelieving mindset to the transformative power of knowing Christ. Verse 20 and 21. “You did not learn Christ in this way. For if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus.”

Now Paul brings a sharp contrast here by using another conjunction here. “But,” it means on the other hand. On the other hand, he says that you did not learn Christ in this way. There may be some believers who may be thinking that, no, it’s okay to sin. It’s just a small sin. It’s just a small thought of immorality, lust. It’s just in the thought. It’s okay. It’s small anger. It’s small bitterness. It’s small, that, this, lies, whatever. Everyone is doing it. They’re not dying, right? It’s okay. God will forgive. Free grace theology or hyper grace theology. God is not angry at us. He already died for us on the cross, right? You’re not grieved at sin.

You’re not grieved that you are hurting God. You’re grieving the Spirit of God. Paul says, do not live like that. He says, on the other hand, he says that you did not learn Christ this way. These believers were taught concerning Christ in the initial proclamation of the gospel and also subsequent instructions.

And you see that the focus of the teaching is on the person Christ. He says that you did not learn Christ. Christ is the topic. Christ himself is the content of the teaching which the Ephesian believers learn. Christ is the subject of the preaching and teaching.

This means that when these believers accept Christ as the Lord, they not only welcomed him into their lives, but also received proper instruction about him. Learning Christ means knowing his nature, his teachings, his commands. As a believer learns about Christ, we will learn Christ. We will know Christ.

How many of you ever — did you ever think that topic is really important? Again, systematic theology, it’s very important. Studying Christ, knowing Christ is very important. It’s not just for the pastors or teachers or the theologians, it’s for every believer. We must know Christ.

How many people can understand or can clearly talk about the hypostatic union of Christ? Maybe some of you are hearing it for the first time. Because that is part of Christ. That is learning Christ. We all should be acquainted. We all should be eager to learn Christ, know Him, His person, His nature, His teaching, His commands. We must be passionate to learn Him and it is not just mere doctrinal understanding of the person but it is an illumination into the person and the character of Christ.

It is to know Him that He is holy. He is holy. He hates sin. He is God and Savior from our sins. It is to understand life from the vantage point of God. See everything from His vantage point. Verse 21, Paul says, Paul makes a confident assumption that they have, these Ephesian believers, have heard the real Christ and have learned the truth that is in Christ Jesus.

It's confident. Truth is in Jesus alone. And apart from communion with Christ, there is only the futility of vain religion and philosophies which will get you nowhere but to hell. Paul's point is that if you know Jesus, then your life will be shaped by the truth of Jesus, his teachings.

Do you know Christ of the Bible? Do you know his nature? Is your life shaped by God's truth daily? How is your Bible study time? I don't believe in quiet times. I believe in studying the Bible. If you call that quiet time, well and good.

How is your Bible study time? Are you devoted to know God, know Christ, know His ways, to shape by His truth? Are you there to pour out your heart, your struggles, your weaknesses, your besetting sins in the presence of God daily, seeking for the grace of Christ to be empowered by the Spirit of God to daily live in a manner that is really pleasing to Him?

Man, if you're not doing that, you're missing out greatly. If your life is not shaped by God's truth daily, if that is not important to you're misguided. You're neglecting something that is really important. How do you think that we change? How do you think that our thinking changes? The way we live changes. How do we think that we will deal with sin?

Do you think that we can be comfortable with certain things and it's okay? No! It cannot be. If our lives are shaped by the biblical truth, then we must demonstrate that in a changed lifestyle. It will demonstrate. Brothers and sisters, we live in a dangerous world.

We live in a multi-value system world. Well. It is both pagan and secular. Right? Everything is sacrificed on the altar of relativism these days. What is good for you is not good for me. If you like that, you follow that. Don't bother me.

Christians must live by the unshakable God's word in this pagan secular world. Christians should hold God's truth, hold on to God's truth strongly, fervently, boldly. And Paul says again, I want to read this again from Ephesians 5 verse 8, “For you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord,” and he says, “walk as children of light.” Do not hide that light. Do not hide that you're a Christian. Do not hide that you love the Bible. Do not hide that in the world which is secular, which will mock the Bible, which will critique the Bible. No, hold it high. Confess that you are a Christian, you love God. What matters to you most, your reputation or your relationship with God? Be bold. Be courageous of your faith. Let the

world laugh and mock. Be merciful to them. Be compassionate to them. Pray for them. Don't be offended that people are mocking at you. Be glad and rejoice that you now belong to Christ. Live boldly. Live boldly. Live for the glory of God.

John Chrysostom, one of the early church fathers, writes in his homily. He says, commenting on this verse, he says that, “So then, this is what it means to learn the Messiah, to live uprightly. For the one who lives wickedly does not know God and is not known by Him.”

There are many who would gladly profess to know Christ, but their lives demonstrate the futility of this world. Are you one like that? You are good in the church. You sing good songs. You use good phrases. Biblical, theological phrases. You call yourselves maybe reformed.

And use all these Reformed clichés or whatever. But in the world out there, when you are with your friends, your colleagues, you are like them. You hide your light. You hide your confession. You want to be among them. You want to be accepted by them. You want to be one among them. You don't want them to look down on you because you profess Christ.

Lest they mock you. You love. You begin to love what the world loves. You have a lifestyle that glorifies worldly values. Are you like that? Then this means you do not know God. I'm not saying this. What if God says it? Titus chapter 1 verse 16, Paul says there, “They profess to know God. But by their deeds they deny him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good.”

What is Paul's point here? Look at verse 22. He says that in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit. In verse 21 Paul says you were taught in him. What were you taught? Part of the truth that was taught is verses 22 to 24.

This was the content of their teaching that they received. Verses 22 to 24. Number one, they were taught concerning the former life. They were taught that we are to rid ourselves of that old self. You know, here in verse 22, Paul is not giving a command.

When he says that you are to rid yourselves of the old self, it is not a commandment here. It is not an imperative here. To rid here is not a verb here. It is an infinitive, which means it's a verbal infinitive, which means it's a verbal noun here. This is dependent on the verb taught in verse 21. Therefore, it means that to rid ourselves of the old self is the subject of the teaching that was first received by the Ephesian believers. He is reminding them that you received this teaching. You were taught in Christ this way.

This is the teaching that you received about your former way of life, that you have to get rid of that old way of life. This is the teaching you received. And by writing this is reminding them. And in the context, if you are in Christ, you are a new creation. The old must go. The old must go. And Paul says in Romans chapter 6 verse 6 that our old self is crucified with Christ.

We must all realize that we all still have the old sinful nature. But we must also realize that it is no longer the master. Its power is destroyed on the cross. The reason that Paul reminds his Ephesian believers about their former way of life is to remind them and us about the destructive ability of sin.

You start accommodating sin little by little, you see, your understanding, your mind, everything gets corrupted. And life outside of Christ is self-destructive. It is full of deceit. We must get rid of that old self each and every time. And we must aim to become like Christ. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for these precious reminders. We confess, we acknowledge that we are prone to be sinful, to love sin, to cherish sin. Father, we pray that you would give us grace that we might love you, love Christ, know Christ, understand Christ and his teachings, his ways, his commandments, his instructions.

Father, we pray that you would give us grace. May we learn to get rid of the old way of life. We may hate sin, deny self. Give us grace, Father. Lord, enable us through your Spirit to live in a manner that is really pleasing in your sight. In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen.