Ephesians - From Rebellious to Renewed - Ephesians 4:17-24

Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. The emphasis here is on the mind. If you want your life to be transformed, then you must have a transformed mind.

The doctor tells you that you are what you eat, and I suppose the clothing salesman would tell you that you are what you wear, the automobile salesman says you are what you drive, the banker tells you you are what you save, but the Bible tells us you are what you think. And I'm sure many psychologists today would agree with that. Thoughts are real. Ideas have consequences. You sow a thought, you reap an action. You sow an action, you reap a habit. You sow a habit, you reap a character, and you sow a character and you reap a destiny. Thoughts are real, thoughts are powerful. Thoughts feed the inner person just as food feeds the body. Thinking determines living. Proverbs 23:7, as he thinks, so he is. 

Thoughts are powerful. Paul knew this, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God he wrote in Ephesians 4:17, "This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart, who being past feeling, have given themselves over to licentiousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus; that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness."

In these verses, Ephesians 4:17-24, Paul deals with the fundamental of a changed life, namely, a changed mind. He has moved into the practical part of Ephesians. You'll recall that Ephesians 1:1-3:21 deal with our wealth in Christ and they emphasize doctrine. Ephesians 4:1-6:24 deal with our walk in Christ and they emphasize duty. You'll find this word walk repeated several times in Ephesians 4:1-6:24. Our wealth in Christ, our riches, our walk in Christ, our responsibility. 

Now he has already discussed in verses 1 through 16 the subject of walk in unity. Ephesians 4:1, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called." Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Walk in unity. There are four factors that are involved in this unity. One, humility, verses 1, 2, and 3, where we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Then identity, verses 4, 5, and 6. We belong to the one body, we have the one Spirit, we've been called in the one hope of our calling, our identity in Jesus Christ. 

In verses 7 through 12, Paul writes about diversity. To each one of us grace is given. God gave gifts to people, and these people have now been given to the local church. For what purpose? Verse 12, "for the equipping of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the body of Christ." That is a literal translation. He is building the body of Christ through the individual members using their gifts to the glory of God. 

But there is a fourth essential that is so important and that is maturity. Beginning in verse 13 of Ephesians 4, "till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things unto Him who is the head, Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." 

Now from Ephesians 4:17 to 5:17 he talks about walking in purity. And he deals with some of the everyday sins of the saints. Lying, verse 25. Anger, verse 26. Corrupt speech, verse 29. Bitterness and anger and evil speaking, verse 31. Walk as Christ wants us to walk. Walk in love, says Ephesians 5:2, as Christ also has loved us. Walk in love. Walk as children of light, Ephesians 5:8. Walk circumspectly, Ephesians 5:15. In other words, walk in purity. Walk the way God wants you to walk in a changed life. 

Then he talks about walking in harmony. Ephesians 5:18 through Ephesians 6:9. Husbands and wives, parents and children, employers and employees, getting along with one another. At Ephesians 6:10 through the end of the letter, his emphasis is walk in victory, overcoming the devil. Walk in unity, walk in purity, walk in harmony, walk in victory. 

Now walking in purity begins with a transformed mind. Paul emphasizes in verses 17 through 24 the thinking process. Notice verse 17, "the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind." Verse 18, "their understanding is darkened," "ignorance is in them." Verse 20, "you have not so learned Christ." Verse 21, "you have been taught by Him, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus." And the key verse, verse 23, "be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Now the emphasis here is not on the emotions, that is, trying to work up some kind of religious feeling. Nor is the emphasis here on the will, although there is an act of the will in verse 22, putting off and putting on, being renewed. 

The emphasis here is on the mind. If you want your life to be transformed, then you must have a transformed mind. Let's notice that he talks about three different kinds of minds here. Verses 17 through 19, the rebellious mind. Verse 20 and 21, the repentant mind. And then verses 22 through 24, the renewed mind. The rebellious mind, the repentant mind, and the renewed mind. 

Let's look today at the rebellious mind. "This I say therefore." Now the word therefore, the word wherefore, these words are important in Christian living. You'll notice Ephesians 4:1, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you." Then in verse 17, "This I say therefore." Verse 25, "Therefore, putting away lying." Ephesians 5:1, "Therefore be followers, imitators of God as dear children." Ephesians 5:7, "Therefore do not be partakers with them." Verse 14, "Therefore he says, 'Awake, you who sleep.'" Ephesians 5:17, "Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Verse 24, "Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." 

Now why does he repeat this word therefore? One of the first lessons I learned in Bible study many years ago came to me from a pastor friend. He said, "Whenever you see a therefore in the Bible, ask what is it there for?" The word therefore is an application word. When Paul says therefore, what is he saying? He is saying this: I have given you a truth, I have explained the truth, now I'm going to apply it. You see the great problem in the church today is not lack of knowledge, it's lack of practical Christian living. We know far more than we practice. We argue over the doctrines of the Bible. Churches are divided over interpretations of prophecy. But the Word of God makes it clear that this book is given to us for practical Christian living. It is not a textbook to study to inflate the mind. No, it's a message from God to sanctify the heart. And so he says therefore, "this I say therefore, and testify in the Lord."

Let's talk about this rebellious mind. First let's describe it. He's talking here about the old man, the old life we used to live. And he tells us that this rebellious mind has three characteristics: the person is lost, the person is ignorant, and the person is dead. Notice this now. No longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles, meaning the unbelievers, walk in the futility of their mind. That word futility means aimlessness, vanity, emptiness. That word is used over and over again in Ecclesiastes, some forty times. Aimlessness, futility. 

Now the unsaved person's mind is a lost mind. There is futility, there is no purpose to the thinking. The unsaved person does not think in the terms of God's purposes. We find this described in Ephesians 2:1, "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as others." In Romans 8:1-39, Paul points out that to be carnally minded is death. We were at war with God. Romans 8:5, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit, the things of the spirit." For to be carnally minded, fleshly minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

The unsaved person has a mind that is lost. His mind doesn't think straight. He cannot think the thoughts of God. He is ignorant. Did you notice that in Ephesians 4 that the unsaved person is ignorant? Having their understanding darkened. A darkened mind. A mind that does not have spiritual understanding. It is not a mind that is filled with spiritual truth. 

It's rather interesting that Paul took all of Greek history including the great Greek philosophers and he called it in Acts 17:30 "the times of this ignorance." It's rather interesting, in Acts 17:1-34 Paul was addressing the leaders of Greece, that is, the philosophical, religious leaders in Athens. These were people who understood Greek philosophy. And Paul called all of their history, with Plato and Aristotle and all of their history, these times of ignorance. With all of their philosophy and all of their thinking, all of these books that we study today in university, Paul says it is ignorance, darkened, they did not know God. 

Now not only is the unsaved person's mind a lost mind and an ignorant mind, does not understand spiritual things, but it's a dead mind, being alienated from the life of God. Now when you are alienated from the life of God, that means you have no life. Lost, ignorant, dead. Now that's the unsaved person. How did he get that way? Let's explain this. How did he get this way? Well, he tells us, notice the two phrases "because of," "because of." Being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart. 

There's a process there that leads to a climax, the hardening of their heart. Their hearts are blind and hard, petrified, callous. Now how did they get that way? Well, Jesus has an answer for that. Matthew 13:1-58, He's talking about the Jewish people, but it would apply to anyone. Matthew 13:15, "For the heart of this people has grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, so that I should heal them." 

Here are people who deliberately turned their back on the truth. Now Romans 1:1-32 describes this perfectly. Romans 1:19, "because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." Now what did they do? Because although they knew God—Romans 1:21—they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. In what way? Idolatry. They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Verse 25, "they exchanged the truth of God for the lie." What is the lie? And worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. In other words, they turned away from the truth of God, which meant they lost the life of God. 

Now they have a will that is abandoned to sensuality. Who being past feeling, they cease to feel pain. Their conscience no longer bothers them. They are now into idolatry, ignorance, immorality, and they love it and they enjoy it. They've given themselves over to licentiousness. Now that means an unrestrained activity of lust. An insatiable desire for lust, licentiousness, involved in all kinds of filthy things, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 

Now get the combination here: licentiousness, disobeying the law of God when it comes to sensual things; uncleanness, defiling themselves because of their sin; greediness, they're never satisfied. They have to have more and more and more. That's the way sin is. You've got to have a bigger fix of dope, you've got to have a bigger party of lust, you've got to have more to drink. That's the way lust is. It's never satisfied. Now where does it begin? It begins with a mind that turns against God. Sin never did satisfy, sin never will satisfy. Here you have the mind of the unsaved person: lost, ignorant, and dead. 

By the way, this is perfectly illustrated in the prodigal son, Luke 15:1-32. You'll recall that he had three real problems, didn't he? He was lost. The father said that, "this my son was lost, he's found again." He was ignorant. The Bible says he came to himself and he said, "my father's hired servants are in better shape than I am, I'm going home." He was lost, he was ignorant, and he was dead. "This my son was dead, he's alive again." Now that's what Paul's writing about here. He says the mind of the unsaved person is characterized: it is lost, ignorant, and dead. 

Now how did the prodigal son get that way? "Father, give me." A rebellious mind. "Father, give me." And the father gave it to him. Romans 1:1-32 says God gave them over to these lusts. He said, "All right, you want to live that way? Go ahead." The greatest judgment that can come to us in this life is for God to let us have our own way. Remember that. You say, "Well, I've got to have these things, I've got to have these experiences." All right, if you want them, God may not get in your way. God may say, "Fine, you want that? Go right ahead. You can fill up your body and your mind and your life with all kinds of foul, dirty things. I'm not going to get in your way. But you're going to reap the consequences. And then you're going to come to me someday and say, 'Oh Lord, please stop this. I don't want to die.'" And God's going to have to say, "Well, I gave you your request, that's what you wanted." 

"Father, give me." And because of the boy's greediness, because of his uncleanness, he wasted his substance in riotous living. He ends up lost, ignorant, and dead. And of course, that's slavery. The boy ended up in bondage to the pigs. They were in better shape than he was. Thank God he had sense enough to have a repentant mind, and that will be our next study, starting in Ephesians 4:20-21. The rebellious mind can only bring defeat and judgment. Surrender your mind to the Lord and let Him give you the renewed mind.