- Feb 7, 2010
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Ephesians 4:21-24
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 Godtruly righteous and holy.
In a world where truth is hard to find, there is one source we can always depend upon Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and he always tells us the truth. There is no one else we can trust to tell us the truth. We need to learn from him, not just about him. We need to sit as his feet and listen, not just hear about him. We need to ask his Holy Spirit to give us understanding as we read his word so we can draw closer to him and learn his ways and know how to obey him.
As we study his truth, which is contained in the Bible, the written Word of God, we get an honest and realistic view of ourselves and the rest of the world. God certainly cares about us and our needs and our pain, but he doesnt compromise the truth when he describes our condition or what we need to do to fix it.
This passage instructs us to stop following our sinful nature in any way. We need to throw it off toss it away from us like a dirty garment. We need to throw off our former lifestyles and start new with Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that our old nature was sinful and corrupted by lust and deception.
Once we put off the old life, we need to put on the new life, the new nature God gives us in Christ, which is created to be righteous and holy like him. Its like putting on fresh, new clothes after a good shower.
When we have worked hard and our clothes are wet with sweat and we start to have a bad smell, we need to take a shower and put on clean clothes. We dont just put clean clothes on over our smelly, dirty bodies (sorry for being so blunt). That would just soil more clothes, and wed still be dirty and our odor would be offensive to others. We also dont just take a shower and put on the same dirty clothes we just took off. Yuck! They would feel sticky and nasty on our clean bodies and would contaminate us. No, we put clean clothes on a clean body.
In some ways this is a picture of us spiritually. Before Christ, we were dirty in our sins, and our best efforts to cover up that condition was like filthy rags on a soiled body. We didnt even know what clean was, because the world gives us conflicting reports. Everything the world had to offer us to clean ourselves up failed because the world doesnt have what it takes to fix the problem of sin.
Once Christ comes into our lives, he not only truly cleans us up spiritually, but he gives us brand new clothes his clothes to change us into people acceptable to God. He doesnt hand us back our old clothes to put on, for our old efforts are still incapable of pleasing God. He doesnt put his clothes onto our dirty bodies; he cleans us up (actually makes us new) through repentance and forgiveness of our sins through his blood. Once he places his new clothes on our bodies he has cleaned, we are truly clean and acceptable. From that point on our lives belong to him and he is able to keep us clean as our master.
Have you thrown off your old, sinful lifestyle, like a dirty garment, or do you keep putting it back on, day after day? Are you trying to put a new garment on an old lifestyle? Doesnt really work, does it? No, you need to throw off the old (repent turn away from it), allow Gods forgiveness to cleanse you, and put on the new (his righteousness live by faith in obedience to Christ). Then you will be a clean vessel, fit for the Masters service.
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 Godtruly righteous and holy.
In a world where truth is hard to find, there is one source we can always depend upon Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and he always tells us the truth. There is no one else we can trust to tell us the truth. We need to learn from him, not just about him. We need to sit as his feet and listen, not just hear about him. We need to ask his Holy Spirit to give us understanding as we read his word so we can draw closer to him and learn his ways and know how to obey him.
As we study his truth, which is contained in the Bible, the written Word of God, we get an honest and realistic view of ourselves and the rest of the world. God certainly cares about us and our needs and our pain, but he doesnt compromise the truth when he describes our condition or what we need to do to fix it.
This passage instructs us to stop following our sinful nature in any way. We need to throw it off toss it away from us like a dirty garment. We need to throw off our former lifestyles and start new with Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that our old nature was sinful and corrupted by lust and deception.
Once we put off the old life, we need to put on the new life, the new nature God gives us in Christ, which is created to be righteous and holy like him. Its like putting on fresh, new clothes after a good shower.
When we have worked hard and our clothes are wet with sweat and we start to have a bad smell, we need to take a shower and put on clean clothes. We dont just put clean clothes on over our smelly, dirty bodies (sorry for being so blunt). That would just soil more clothes, and wed still be dirty and our odor would be offensive to others. We also dont just take a shower and put on the same dirty clothes we just took off. Yuck! They would feel sticky and nasty on our clean bodies and would contaminate us. No, we put clean clothes on a clean body.
In some ways this is a picture of us spiritually. Before Christ, we were dirty in our sins, and our best efforts to cover up that condition was like filthy rags on a soiled body. We didnt even know what clean was, because the world gives us conflicting reports. Everything the world had to offer us to clean ourselves up failed because the world doesnt have what it takes to fix the problem of sin.
Once Christ comes into our lives, he not only truly cleans us up spiritually, but he gives us brand new clothes his clothes to change us into people acceptable to God. He doesnt hand us back our old clothes to put on, for our old efforts are still incapable of pleasing God. He doesnt put his clothes onto our dirty bodies; he cleans us up (actually makes us new) through repentance and forgiveness of our sins through his blood. Once he places his new clothes on our bodies he has cleaned, we are truly clean and acceptable. From that point on our lives belong to him and he is able to keep us clean as our master.
Have you thrown off your old, sinful lifestyle, like a dirty garment, or do you keep putting it back on, day after day? Are you trying to put a new garment on an old lifestyle? Doesnt really work, does it? No, you need to throw off the old (repent turn away from it), allow Gods forgiveness to cleanse you, and put on the new (his righteousness live by faith in obedience to Christ). Then you will be a clean vessel, fit for the Masters service.
