When it comes to football, I can talk a good game. As a supporter of the world’s greatest team (Newcastle United – surely you didn’t have to ask?) I can tell you why we need to keep faith with Anthony Elanga, why we still have a centre-forward problem, and why Sven Botman has never quite been the same since his injury. When to comes to the beautiful game, I can talk a good game. But put me on the pitch alongside those players and I would very quickly be found wanting.
The same can be true of the Christian life and the church. It’s easy to talk a good game. We can talk, as we have these past few weeks from Ephesians, about what God has done for us in Christ, about his plan to unite his people under Christ, and about the wonderful community of love and unity he is creating. But step out of the pulpit and onto the ‘pitch’ of real life and we discover that loving one another sacrificially and patiently isn’t always easy.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, community is hard work. It is easy to love the idea of community more than the experience of community.
Put Off Your Old Self
That is why Paul’s words in Ephesians 4 are so important. Having spent the first half of the letter explaining what God has done for us in Christ, Paul now shows us what that should look like in practice. His summary is found in verses 22–24: “put off your old self… be renewed in the spirit of your minds… and put on the new self.”
If we are going to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, we need to take off old habits and behaviours and put on new ones.
Paul lists some very practical examples. Off must come impurity, greed, deceit, lies, sinful anger, stealing and corrupting talk. Instead, we are to put on truthful speaking, sacrificial giving, kindness, love and forgiveness.
Put On Your New Self
But notice where the change begins.
“Be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” (Ephesians 4:23)
Christian growth starts upstairs. The way we think shapes the way we live. Paul began this section by describing those outside Christ as having futile minds, darkened understanding and ignorance of God.
We need, therefore, to have our minds continually renewed by the truth of Jesus.
That happens as we learn and are taught the gospel. But it also happens as we help one another to think God’s way. Paul tells the church to “speak the truth” to one another because “we are members of one another.” We are one body, and so we should take care of one another.
That means being a community where a different message is heard from the message of our culture: where faithfulness matters more than sensuality, generosity more than greed, and the things of God more than the world’s agenda.
And ultimately, Paul brings everything back to Jesus:
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you… And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.”
That is the heart of it.
When Paul tells us to imitate Christ, telling us to give to those in need, it’s not a surprise is it? That’s what God did for you in Christ.
And when Paul tells us to imitate Christ, saying ‘show others kindness’, it’s not a surprise is it? That’s what God did for you in Christ.
And when Paul tells us to imitate Christ and forgive those who wrong you, it’s not a surprise is it? That’s what Christ did for you!
Fill you mind with all that Christ has done, be changed by it, and then go and do likewise.
SERMON RESOURCES BELOW 👇
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