| What it means to live as Christians! |
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What it means to live as Christians! Eph.4:17-32
There’s have to be something that distinguishes a disciple of Jesus from any other disciples in the world. Jesus himself said that his disciples are those who remain in him. Therefore, they would produce fruit and bring glory to God by the fruit they produce. Here in Ephesians we find other distinctive qualities that those who call themselves Christians or followers/disciples of Christ ought to have or develop. These qualities have to do with behavior and attitude of the mind. A disciple of Christ is also differs from others in the way of thinking and behavioral patterns.
When a person comes to Christ the Bible illustrates this switch as someone moving from darkness to light; from death into life. The Bible calls children of light those who are in Christ. How are the children of God supposed to behave and think in this world?
Our text gives us some ideas to help us understand the kind of life and behaviors Christians ought to have, if they indeed call themselves Christians.
Eph.4:17-32
Paul begins by making a distinction between those who don’t live for God versus those who do. The gentiles mentioned here represent those who live alienated from God because of their attitude of their mind and sinful behavior. Paul said to the church, you must no longer live like them. In the futility of their thinking; their understanding has been darkened, they have separated themselves from God, the source of life, because of their ignorance; these are people who have hardened their hearts toward God; and this is evident in the way they behave, these people don’t feel remorse for their sins, in fact Paul said that they just have a constant urge for more impurity (continual lust for more).
Verse 20. You did not come to know Christ this way. The Christ’s way is not marked by this type of behavior.
Christians who know Jesus are taught according to his truth. Paul highlights 3 things that a Christian learns through the teachings of Jesus.
a) To set aside your old way of life, your old self (which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. (the old self always desires things that are not in accordance to God’s truth)
b) To be made new in the attitude (spirit) of your minds. (v.23) Romans 12:2 calls Christians to renew their mind, transformation starts with the mind, the way you think, the way you look at things in life. We are to have a mind that exemplify Christ attitude. We are to have a Christian worldview. The lens by which we see the world must be Christ-centered.
c) To continue to put on the new self-created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (v24). This new self is designed by God; it’s the pattern he has given us. This is seen in us by doing the right things, those things that please God and by being holy; the word holiness here carries the idea of free from contamination. We must every day make the choice to live for God and stay away from what contaminates our lives.
Paul is using a clothing imagery here when he is talking about putting off and putting on.
IN verses 25-32 he goes into detail as to what it is we are to set aside (put off) and what we should put on.
-A Christian or disciple of Jesus is to put off (lay aside) falsehood, instead, speak truthfully to your neighbor. God doesn’t like falsehood (Zech.8:16-17) Why are we to be truthful with one another? Because we are all members of one body (the church).
-A Christian learns to control anger. Anger is not a sin, but what you do when you are anger tend to be sinful. Some people use bad language when they are angry with others, other people would hit others because of anger. Don’t give Satan an opportunity through your anger. (don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, in other words, deal with it quickly)
-A Christian does not steal, but works hard to provide for others. (v28)
-A Christian watches his/her speech, unwholesome talk means speech that is hurtful toward others; it also include foul language.. (v29) Christians should not use foul language. Don’t let those words come out of your mouths; let only what is beneficial, what is helpful to build others up not to tear them down. Sometimes we do more tearing down than building up with our communication, with our language.
-verse 30 encourages us not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom we have been sealed for the day of redemption. The Spirit lives in us, encouraging us, guiding us and acting as a compass or GPS to help us do the right things, so that we make the right decisions. It grieves him when we lie to each other, when we talk nasty to each other, when we don’t want to forgive each other; when we ignore him while he tries to guide us.
-A Christian must put away bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander and malice. These are bad fruit for a Christian to have. These behaviors are not Christ-like
-A Christian or disciple of Jesus is kind and compassion to one another; forgives others because he/she understands forgiveness. We are to forgive just as we have been forgiven by God.
These are some of the things a disciple of Christ is to set aside and some of the ones we are to have and harvest in our lives. Many people claim to be Christians in this world, the Bible shows us the type of life we are to live, the kind of attitude we are to have; the type of behaviors and habits we are to practice. If we truly claim to be followers of Jesus, disciples of Jesus, we are given direction as to what we must get rid of in lives and also what we are to constantly put on and harvest in our lives. Jesus has given us a pattern by which we are to be molded. He expects his disciples to think in certain ways and to act or behave in ways different from others in the world. Who are you living for in this world? You don’t have to answer this question, your actions will show!
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