Rachel Workman: 17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. Wow, sounds a lot like the world we live in today.
20 But that isn’t what you learned about
Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned
the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful
nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead,
let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on
your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
What we can take from this is that we are
corrupted by lust and deception in our sinful state. And that the Spirit can
renew us. I choose that over corruption.
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Pat Bell: There is a lot of
confusion in today’s world. It amazes me the way the bible continues to mirror
the world we live in.
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Mike Grimm: 17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the
Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their
thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated
from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the
hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have
given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity,
and they are full of greed.
20That, however, is not the way of life
you learned 21when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in
accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with
regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being
corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude
of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God
in true righteousness and holiness.
People should be able to
see a difference between Christians and non-Christians because of the way
Christians live. We are to live as children of light. Paul told the Ephesians
to leave behind the old life of sin, since they were followers of Christ.
Living the Christian life is a process. Some of us, like myself, expected
immediate change, that "Ah ha" moment so to speak. It doesn't happen
to all of us. Once I finally came to terms with that, I accepted the fact that
it will be a slow change. The more I put into it, the faster the change would
be. If we keep listening to God, we will be changing all the time. Just look
over the past year. Do we see a change for the better in our thoughts,
attitudes, and actions? Although change may be slow, it comes as we trust God
to change us
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John Burnett: 7 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,[a] 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. The contrast of the old self and the new self is
stark. The sinful nature or old self is completely happy living in sin
because it loves its sin more than the Savior. As verse 18 says, the
gentiles are darkened and alienated from God because of their ignorance and
hardness of heart. This heart is either proud and thinks that it can be
good enough to be saved by making a decision or walking an aisle but that is
not the way you learned Christ. We are given a new self, when our eyes
are opened by the Holy Spirit and we realized how depraved our old self really
was. We realize the truth that is in Jesus and that we are saved by grace
alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Jesus shows us amazing
grace, gives us a saving faith and a new self by renewing our minds. We
are no longer happy with our sin. We despise our sin just like He does
and we begin the process of sanctification to become more like God in
righteousness and holiness.
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Tomorrow’s reading for Ephesians
4:25-29
25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”[d] Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. 29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
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