Ephesians 4:20-24 – Berris Patience – 2025 12 14

20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. (NASB 1995)

Transcript:

(Disclaimer: AI generated transcript. Accuracy may vary)

Good morning once again and I invite you to turn your copy of God’s word to Ephesians chapter four, the text that we have been studying. And just by means of clarification, there is Bible study this Wednesday and that’ll be the last one for the year. And then we’ll go on a break for two weeks until January 7th. Ephesians chapter four and today we’ll be looking at verses 20 to 24 around the theme, the New Man in, in Christ London businessman Lindsey Clegg told the story of a warehouse property that he was selling. The building had been emptied for months and needed repairs. Vandals had damaged the doors, smashed the windows and strewn trash around the interior. As he showed a prospective buyer of the property. Clegg took pains to say that he would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural damage and clean out the garbage. Forget about the repairs. The buyer said, when I buy this place, I’m going to build something completely different. I don’t want the building, I want the site compared with the renovation God has in mind. Our efforts to improve our own lives are as trivial, as sweeping. A warehouse slated with are slated for a wrecking ball. When we become god’s, the old life is over as we’re told, and we will go back to this passage later on in the sermon. We’re told this in the second Corinthians 15 or second Corinthians five 17. He makes all things new. That’s who we are when we come to Jesus Christ. He wants, all he wants is the sight and the permission to build on the site. He doesn’t want to renovate, he wants to recreate. He wants to make new. Last week, Paul reminded us that we should not continue living as we once did before experiencing this transformative power of Jesus Christ. The way of life described in verses 17 to 19 reflects our former selves. This is who we once were, that’s who we once were. And it caught caught in the patterns of behavior rooted in spiritual emptiness, spiritual deadness, and separation from God. This walk marked by the futility of the mind, a darkened understanding and ignorance due to the hardening of the heart, serve as a stark contrast to the new life that we now have and that we possess in Christ Jesus. Paul’s words highlight that those who remain in their old ways are still spiritually dead, enslaved by trespasses and sins. They’re unable to break free from the grip of their past. But in Christ, however, we are called to leave these ways, this lifestyle behind embracing the new purpose that we have in Christ, embracing our new identity in Christ that comes not from our own efforts as we’ve been seeing as we made our way through this book so far. But from God’s gracious work within us, through his word, through his holy Spirit, through other believers, through the leaders in the church, your new identity. Our new identity in Christ is profound, is our profound spiritual reality. Your reborn, you’ve been adopted, you’ve been freed, you’ve been transformed. It is both a gift and a calling to live as God’s beloved child reflecting Christ’s love and holiness in the world in which we live. And here are a few key aspects of our new identity in Christ. Paul declares that you are a new creation in two Corinthians five 17. And if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, all things have become new. This means that your past sins and failures no longer defines who you are this moment in Christ Jesus. In fact, you can rephrase this verse by adding sins and insert your name. I am in Christ since Barris is in Christ. Baris is now a new creation. Your union with Christ. That’s another key aspect. Galatians two 20 very familiar passage of scripture emphasizes that the believers are, have been crucified with Christ and are now live. And Christ now lives in them. Christ now lives in us. Your life is intertwined with Jesus Christ, with the life of Christ, shaping your purpose, shaping your direction, shaping how we live and act in this world. Paul reminds us in Ephesians one verse five, that we have been adopted. We have been placed in the family of God as adult sons. And this is again revealed in Ephesians one. Five reveals that God predestined us for this very purpose, for the adoption as sons through Christ Jesus. You are not just forgiven, you are welcoming to God’s family and have the full rights of an adult child or an adult son. You have been transformed and renewed. Romans 12 verse two reminds us of this and it calls us, it calls believers to be continually transformed a a phrase or an idea that Paul will present in this passage, the renewal of the mind. And again, this is an ongoing process that reshapes how you think. And as we conclude, we will see how we should think as opposed to how the world thinks. And this is how we’re gonna also discern the will of God. We also have freedom from sin according to Romans chapter six, verses six and seven. And this passage teaches us that the old self was indeed crucified with Christ breaking the power of sin on us. So you and I are no longer slaves to sin, but we’re slaves to righteousness. Paul reminds us of this. So in the verses that we have before us, Paul further explains why we ought to continue or are not rather to continue in the lifestyle that we have been saved from. You emphasizes that Romans are Ephesians four, verses 20 to 24. Paul writes, but you did not learn Christ. And again, coming from last week where he talks about the mindset and the lifestyle, the conduct of the unsaved person, the Gentiles, he uses that term to describe them. He said, but you did not learn Christ in this way. If indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him or in him, just as the truth is in Jesus that in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old, rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust and deceit. And that you are to be renewed in the mind or in the spirit of your minds. And to put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God, have been created in the lightness of God, created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Lord, I ask that you’ll use your words, speak to our hearts and may Lord it shape us and mold us into the people that you’ve called us to be, that you’ve adopted us to be, that you have sent your son to die on the cross for and that we’ll continue to elevate our lives to the standard that Jesus Christ have set and that we’ll continually use him through the your word as our example and as lights to this world for Christ’s sake. Amen. So verses 20 and 21 reminds us that we ought to be molded and have been molded by the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Following Jesus isn’t about adopting empty rituals or being swept up into old patterns of life. Instead, it is about a radical transformation. That is what following Jesus Christ is and should be. It’s a radical transformation. Learning Christ means we’re entering our, have entered into his life, his way of life, his lifestyle, his truth, his love, every aspect of what Jesus Christ taught. That is what it means to learn Christ. It is not just intellectual knowledge. There the world is filled with intellectual knowledge about Jesus Christ. And as I shared a couple weeks ago, even the devil knows about Christ, demonic world knows about Jesus Christ intellectually from an intellectual standpoint. So it has to be more than that. It’s relational. It’s about a relationship with Jesus Christ. It means being taught by him. It means being shaped by his spirit. It means to be conformed to his image. It means to be molded into the image of Christ Jesus embodying the truth of Jesus Christ. The phrase emphasizes that Christian discipleship is a personal and its transformative, not merely moral improvement or cultural conformity. It’s personal and it’s transformative. In contrast to the conventional, non-Christian perspectives and lifestyle, Paul emphasizes that his audience has acquired an alternative approach to their lifestyle. Their relationship with Christ provides them with a new identity and a distinct manner of living informed by Christ’s teachings and by the example that we see through the life of Jesus Christ. This verse, these verses are a reminder to us that the lifestyle which we saw above is opposed to the lifestyle of those who are in Christ Jesus. And that is, that goes without saying that is speaking or stating the obvious Paul’s words that we have learned. Christ invites us into something far deeper than simply acquiring knowledge about Jesus Christ. We’re not just memorizing doctrines or memorizing scriptures here. We’re not just rephrasing or paraphrasing rules, our rehearsing rules. We are entering in a relationship with the true and living God, the Son of God who died for us, who came and sacrificed his life for us. That is what we’re being invited to. To learn. Christ means to walk with him, to walk how he walked, to live the life that he lived, to be shaped by His presence and to allow the spirit, his spirit that permanently dwells us to transform our lives, to transform our thinking, which Paul is gonna talk about to transform every fiber of our being. That is what it means to learn Christ. Paul is not talking about head knowledge here. Colossians reminds us just as you receive Christ, Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him. Colossians two, six and seven. Learning Christ is not a one time event and it makes sense because he’s an infinite being. You can’t learn him in one sitting. In fact, it’s gonna take a lifestyle lifetime. And that is why Paul continues to urge the church here in Ephesus twice. We’ve seen it already to continue growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ because we cannot grasp the magnitude of this individual, of this person of Jesus Christ. So it’s a lifetime effort. It’s not just a one time or a one off thing, it’s a lifetime. It’s a something that we have to practice and it’s a part and it should become a part of our everyday lives. One author beautifully puts it this way, learning Christ means welcoming him as a living person and being shaped by his teaching. And this is the heartbeat and should be the heartbeat of discipleship. Christ himself dwelling with us, teaching us, leading us into the fullness of life with God the Father. And again, I must emphasize that Jesus Christ is the standard for our living in this Christian life. He is the standard. He sets the tone and it’s by his example. We live out the life that he calls us to live. Verse 21, this verse Paul says, if you have indeed heard of Jesus Christ. Now this is what Greeks scholars called a first class conditional clause. There’s three different clauses, uh, conditional clauses in the Greek as first, second, and third. This is a first class conditional clause. And this clause is assuming reality. This is real. Paul isn’t saying I, I’m not sure if you’ve heard, and it wouldn’t make sense for him to say this because you’ve already showed them that they know about Jesus Christ. They’ve learned Jesus Christ, they’ve been accepted into the family of Jesus Christ. So this is a statement of fact as opposed to the second class, which is a statement of probability. This may or may not be. And the third class conditional clauses, this will not be a reality under no circumstances. And there are instances of all three in the Bible. But this is a first class conditional clause, meaning you have learned about Christ. You have heard about Jesus Christ. This is real. He is real. The teachings that you have experienced is because of Jesus Christ. The transformation that you have experienced is because of Jesus Christ. So it would be better translated since since you have heard about Jesus Christ and have been taught by him, then you have to live and act in accordance with that life that you’ve been learned learning about Jesus Christ. And that’s what Paul is trying to drive home. Paul’s decision to refer to Jesus rather than Christ is rather odd, especially for Paul ’cause he ly say Christ Jesus or Jesus Christ. But here he just says Jesus. And this may be deliberate aiming to highlight the connection between the resurrected and reigning Christ. He’s basically trying to emphasize to the church, to the believers in Ephesus that he’s the same person. Jesus and the Christ aren’t two separate individuals or two separate entities. And you might say, but of course that makes sense. There are teachings like those out there in the world today. There were teachings like those out in the world during Paul’s era. John addresses first, second, and third John. This is what he’s attacking from the gnostics because they’re teaching that Jesus and the Christ are two separate individuals or entities, however they phrased it. So Paul is making the profound statement that he’s the same person. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the son of God. He’s the reigning king. He is the one who rose from the dead. He’s the one who ascended and is at the right hand of God the Father. He’s the one who is Lord. He’s the one that every knee will bow and confess to, that he is indeed Lord. They’re not two separate individuals or separate entities. Paul asserts that truth. The truth is in Christ. And Jesus Christ says he is the truth. Not only because Jesus himself declared that he is the truth, but because this is counter to the deceit, the life that we live is counter the deceit it count, it is counteractive to lies. And that’s our formal way of life. ’cause we lived in a a, a life of lies and deceit and Jesus Christ transformed that. And now we live according to the truth of God. The Gentiles abandoned truth when they’re rejected God, the one true and living God. And they embrace the lifestyle that is built and embedded on self and lies and selfish pursuit and in morality and on godliness to the core. And Paul is saying, that’s not who you are now because God has changed you, God has transformed you and you are become, you have become new by welcoming Christ Jesus into our lives and in the lives of the church here that Paul’s writing to the readers have now embraced the truth and they have made that truth their own or they should. So you are a new man in Christ because you are molded by the knowledge of Jesus Christ, but you are a new man in Christ because you mortify and you should mortify or put to death flesh or the things of the flesh. Verse 22 that in reference to your formal way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the loss of deceit. Paul is saying based on the truth or this truth that we just saw, verses 20 and 21, you are required. In fact you are commanded to lay aside, to put away, to get rid of your former manner of life. And this verse is very similar to verse uh, one and two of Hebrews chapter 12, where Paul, where the author says, see now that you are in compass, you’re surrounded by a cloud of witness. Let us lay aside the weight and sin that so easily entraps or entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. How are we gonna lay aside the sin? Yes, we have examples of Godly men and women who have done so, but we also have the great example, the greatest example, the author, he continues to tell us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. And that laying aside the laying aside of the weight, the weight there in that verse is not necessarily things that are sinful. And I know this because it says wait and sins. So there are things in our Christian life that will hinder us from running the race effectively that aren’t necessarily sinful. They’re neutral, they could be neutral and they could be different and varied, but they’re laying aside there, which is what I want to emphasize is the idea behind this word or phrase is laying aside with the intent of never picking it back up. So it’s not, I’m gonna rest it there momentarily so I know where it is and I can pick it up back when I want. No, this laying aside is you’re done with this. It’s getting rid of this is, this is has, I want nothing to do with this anymore. Look into Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Get rid of it. That’s what Paul is saying, get rid of the old self. But what is fascinating about how Paul uses this phrase, it’s in a present continuous sense, which means we’re always gonna struggle in this lifetime. We’re always gonna struggle with the old self that Paul is talking about here. So he says it’s an ongoing thing. We have to constantly be rid ourselves of this old self on a daily basis, constantly getting rid of it. It’s a, it’s calling for an ongoing it daily, even multiple times a day. Complete repentance, asking for complete repentance. That’s the idea behind this. So we ask, I begs the question, why is it that we continue to struggle with certain aspects, certain aspects of the old self? Maybe it’s because we’re not constantly asking for repentance. We’re not living in a condition, we’re not living in a state where we’re continually laying it off on a daily basis because we think one and done once is good enough is not. It is not Paul’s statement about the old self to the Colossians and the Ephesian believers aren’t contrary, even though they might seem different. While believers have been given a new identity through Jesus’s death, they must continually live in accordance with the reality of the new life that they’ve been given in Christ. The old self is more than just an old mindset. The phrase describes the believers in relation to their shared connection with Adam, that first sin. That’s the idea behind this old self. Adam acted as humanity’s representative in his disobedience, in his sinfulness, in his rebellion against God. And again, in sharp contrast, Jesus Christ now stands as your representative head. And that’s why we can’t live in the old self anymore because the old self represents Adam and the adamic nature. But the new self represents Jesus Christ. He stands, he’s our representative of the new humanity that we have in him. So the term old self reflects a communal identity. All we’re ones fallen, all we’re ones spiritually dead in transgressions and sin. Paul tells us this in chapter two, it also points to a lingering remnant of our former identity that is still a struggle with each and every single one of us. These sinful tendencies must be removed, must be laid aside, must be rid of, and we have to overcome them. And we are reminded of this in Colossians three verse five. Their old self needs to be put off. Why? Because it’s corrupt. It is corrupt. It is depraved. It is perverted. It is John Owen who said these words, convicting words, be killing sin or sin be killing you. And that is something that we have to place in the forefront of our minds. This old self and this statement, be killing sin or be killing you is a twofold statement. It will lead to death or it will lead to your ruin. Sin will the old self is also cous. The old self is deceitful. And the word that is used here appears twice in the New Testament, in the gospels, in the parable of the sower where it refers to that which lures to wealth that contributes to the failure of the seeds that are sown among the thorns in Matthew 13 in March, chapter four. The rest of the New Testament writing uses this word in the context of the non-Christian lifestyle like Paul does here in the text before us and also in second, in Second Thessalonians two. And with potentially the deceptive nature and this type of philosophies and sin that we see that is out there that will lead, mislead and misguide believers, regardless of what it is policy. And these things need to be put away with the old self is in a state of corruption. The old self is in a state of lost and deceit. And this is in complete contrast with who we are now in Christ Jesus. The old self must be mortified. The old self must be put to death again on a daily basis. We can’t one and done kill the old self. It has to be a daily thing. It has to be a constant thing for us to constantly live in a state of repentance before God. And one of the things that Paul highlights in this verse is that the, oh, this is just the normal way. It’s a continual way of life. The old self. It’s not something that was once and it will not be anymore. This kind of deceit and corruption. That’s just what the old self is perpetually, continually. And we must mortify that because we’re new men, we’re new in Jesus Christ. Our lives are molded by the knowledge of Christ. But we also need to remember that we have to mortify, we have to put to death the old self. We have to lay aside that sin and that weight that entangles us and that hinders us from running. And another thing I like about that analogy in Hebrews chapter 12 is the author is using that entangle surround in two contexts that we have the cloud of witness positively that is surrounding us. That is we are looking to them and we’re using them as examples, but then we have the sin that is surrounding us that is clinging so closely. That’s what the word actually means. It’s it is clinging so close to us and it’s it. It is hindering us from moving and acting and living the way God wants us to live. And we have to get rid of it. And I use the analogy of you saying bolt running and just picture you saying bolt going out to those tracks. He has steel toe boots on. He has a backpack full of tools in it and a tool belt. How do you think he’s gonna run? He probably won’t get out of the starting blocks because he doesn’t have the proper and effective running gears on. They’re gonna hinder him. And that’s how we have to picture our Christian life. We mortify the old self, but we have to be also mature in our mindset according to verse 23. And that should be renewed in the spirit of your minds, live in a constant renewal of the mind. Again, that’s the idea there. It’s not a one off thing, it’s not a one and done thing, it’s a continual thing. This is the same idea again conveyed in Colossians three verse 10. And we see this mind thing coming over into play over and over again. Not only in this passage or not only in this book, but throughout the New Testament. We see the mind plays a significant role in the spirituality of each individual. While the Gentiles live in the futility of their mind and in the darkened not darkness rather of their heart, the believer lives their lives in complete renewal, in constant renewal. This is to prevent the mind from straying towards the things that are futile. This is to prevent the mind from being clouded by sin and the seed that is in the world. The spirit here and some will argue that it is the Holy Spirit. I would disagree. It isn’t the Holy Spirit that is referring to here, but no doubt he’s implied because there’s absolutely no way we’re gonna renew our minds in and of ourselves. It’s an impossibility. We can’t do it without the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the agent through which the renewal of the minds come. And the verb that is there is in the passive voice mean something is causing us to renew our mind. It’s not us that is doing the renewal ourselves. If that were the case, we wouldn’t need the Holy Spirit. We would need the Bible. We would need Christ. And this would spiral back into the entire salvation process. If we can do something to make ourselves this spiritual, there wouldn’t be any need for the divine intervention. It’s in the passive voice, meaning it’s the work of the Holy Spirit, is that knowledge that we continually are gaining in Christ Jesus that is gonna cause us to renew our mind. That the Holy Spirit of God and the word of God is going to use to convict us when we’re sinning is gonna use to transform our way of thinking and transform our lives into being more and more like His, like our savior, Jesus Christ. That’s how the renewing of the mind is gonna happen. What you have learned in Christ, the things that you’ve been taught about him, the truth about Jesus Christ, and of course us presenting our bodies a living sacrifice on a daily basis, on a constant basis. In essence, the renewing of the mind refers to an ongoing transformation of thought patterns, shifting from the world, the perspectives to Christ-centered understanding of the truth of the Word of Jesus Christ. Again, it’s not a one time event, it’s an ongoing process to align our thoughts, to align our attitude, to align our conducts to the values of God himself and the word of God himself through again the word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word that is used implies a complete renovation. A complete transformation is not just minor adjustments, it’s a complete and total transformation. Therefore, renewing the mind is what Paul speaks of when he writes Philippians chapter four, verse eight. And here is a a, a solid pattern, a solid example of how we should start the renewal process of our minds and do this on a daily basis. Paul says, finally, brethren, whatever is true, that is whatever is sincere, whatever is real, whatever is trustworthy, whatever is honor, honorable, that is whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is noble, whatever is right, that is whatever is just whatever is correct, whatever is righteous, whatever is innocent, whatever is pure purity there speaks of innocence. Again, whatever is lovely or pleasing, whatever is of good report, worthy of praise, admirable worthy of being, appeal appealing, goes on to say if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, what are we used to do? Dwell on these things. Dwell on these things. This is one way in which we’re going to transform the way we think, the way we act. The mind that is preoccupied with the things of this verse. Philippians four, eight will have no room to things that are contrary to the things of the world or things of God, sorry. And think of that if we’re focused, if our mind is fixated on the word of God, if our mind is fixated on the things of God, if our minds are fixated on the things that are true, trustworthy, pure, sincere, et cetera, we won’t have time to think on things that are ungodly. And as a result, the things that we’re thinking on that are godly is gonna mold us and fashion us to live the life that God has called us to live. It’s not easy. It absolutely is not easy. And I always say, this is why these things are commanded in scripture and they’re repeated over and over in scripture. It is hard. But as we have seen so far throughout this very chapter, God has given us the enablement through the Holy Spirit, through his word, through gifted men, through gifted women, through the body of Jesus Christ, to live in a life, to live a way that he’s called us to live. So though it’s hard though, it’s difficult, it’s not an impossibility, it’s not impossible. We can live this life and we ought to strive to live this life, but the spirit is paramount in this process and we have to allow him to work in our minds. The word mind refers to the ability to think and reason, which helps us to make moral choices and decide how we live it is all. It also includes feelings. So it overlaps with the heart. And we saw this a few weeks ago, they’re interchangeable in the scripture. In fact, in the Greek Old Testament, the mind is used to translate the Hebrew word for heart six times. And one author explains that the renewing of the mind doesn’t mean gaining a new ability to figure out. Figure out God’s will by logic alone. Instead, it means bringing our thinking, bringing our entire thought process into the full transformation of who we are in Christ Jesus. Therefore, thus restoring the mind to its proper role of being, of being damaged from sin. That is what it is. It’s a, it’s a corrective course. Our minds have been completely marred and drained by sin and staying by sin. And this is how we’re gonna correct it. This is how God is gonna use us. And Jesus Christ has the heart or the mind, whichever version or whichever word you want to use. This is where sinful actions come from. This is what defies an individual. This is what defies a person. That is why the scripture spends so much time talking about the mind, talking about the mind. And that’s why Paul starts off by stating and showing that this is the mindset of those who are ungodly and thus their constant lifestyle. And it won’t change until the Holy Spirit of God grabs a hold of them and transform that li that that mind and that mindset. We have to have mature minds and we need to have mature minds because we’re new in Christ. But we also need to model the new us or the new you. Verse 24 and put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God, has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. So as a result of putting off the old self, getting rid of the old self, we’re replacing and have replaced the old self with a new self. The believers are now urged, commanded, compelled to live their lives in conformity with the new identity that we have in Christ Jesus. These are traits that define God himself. I want you to get that true righteousness, true holiness. These are traits that define God himself. And you might say, man, that is a very high calling. This isn’t anything new to the church. This isn’t anything new to the believer or shouldn’t be anything new to the believers because God set this standard right in the Old Testament. Be holy because I am holy, be holy because I am holy. It defines who God is, the new identity that was acquired rather at salvation when we were sealed by the Holy Spirit of God and are joined in Christ death, resurrection and ascension. The new self again is not a renovation of the old, it’s a new creation. Paul tells us this second Corinthians five 17, and of course this implied or implied in this statement is that God is the one that is making this transformation. We can’t do it in and of ourselves. God is creating for himself a people who will conform to his image and his likeness. This is so that we can truly be image bearers of God because that image was marred when Adam decided to sin on our behalf, on behalf of the entire human race being created in righteousness and true holiness summarizes a virtuous life, A life that is obedient to the commandments of God. He calls us to be righteous because he is Leviticus 11 44 45. So your new identity in Christ requires you to change your thinking. It requires, it demands that you change your thinking. It demands that you change your behavior. It demands that you look and act differently than the world in which you live. It demands that you look and act like Jesus Christ would. That is what your, our new identity in Christ calls us to do. So every single thing, every single aspect of your life, everything that you do, every thought that comes in your mind should be the same as what Jesus Christ would think it would be. It should be the same as what Jesus Christ would do. That is the calling that we have folks. And this is the standard that has been set not by Paul, but by God himself. He has called us to be different from the world. And it makes sense because if we are gonna attract people to the church, whether this church or the body of Christ in general, how will they come to us If we’re looking the exact same like they’re looking, I said, well, I might as well go to the nightclub or the bar because that’s what I’m seeing in the church. It has to be different. We have to be separated. We have, we have this new identity. It’s not just for us to profess, it’s for us to live. It is not just for us to say that I’m Christian, it’s for us to live and act like Christians. It’s for us to see a difference in each other, each other. It’s for the world to see a difference in us and said, there’s something different. I hate it. I hate that they’re Bible thumpers. I hate the fact that they put on this holier than thou kind of facade. But this is what the world needs. It needs believers to act like believers. Not just say it from a mouth standpoint, not just to profess it. We need to live it folks. We have to live it. We’re commanded to live it. Your new identity, our new identity in Christ requires change. It commands change. It demands change in our actions and in our thoughts and especially our thoughts because our thoughts drive our actions. Your new self symbolizes transformation. This is new life by faith in Christ Jesus aligned with the characteristic and the character trait of God himself. Lemme put this into perspective for you. We are professing something and we’re professing to be like Christ every time we’re saying we’re Christians. And if we’re living the lifestyle that we see in 17 to 19 of Ephesians four, what are we saying to the world? This is how Jesus looks. We’re lying to the world about who Jesus actually is and His righteousness and his holiness. Because that’s who we’re modeling. That’s who we’re depicting. That’s who we’re showing to the world. It’s aligned with the correct, the correct trait of God himself. It’s aligned with the life or should be aligned with the life of Jesus Christ. The likeness of God points to humanity’s original design in God’s image. So going back to Genesis chapter one and two, and this image that was marred, B sin in Genesis chapter three has been restored, albeit not fully, but it has been restored through the work of Jesus Christ in transforming us and molding us and fashioning us into the person or people that God wants us to be. And of course, righteousness and holiness, off truth. Emphasizing our emphasizes, living our authentically. There’s that word, it’s not a show. So how we act on Sundays From nine till 12 is how we hacked from 1230 till nine o’clock again Sunday morning. It’s not facade, it’s not a stained glass masqueraded. It’s this is who we are. This is the life that I’m living. Whether I’m in corporate setting or I’m alone or I’m in with my families and friends. This is who I am because I’ve been transformed by the blood of Jesus Christ. It’s authentic living, guided by God’s truth rather than worldly deception. So when we come to Christ, we are invited. You and I have been invited to shed off to get rid of the old self. Those habits, those thoughts. Other parts of scripture reminds us of crude jokes and and vulgar language. The desires that pulls us away and seeks to pull us away from God and the things of God. We have to get rid of those. And in its place we are clothed with the new identity. One that reflects the righteousness of God, the righteousness of Christ, his holiness. This isn’t necessarily about perfection, this is about transformation. Each day is a fresh opportunity to live out the truth, to walk in integrity, to walk upright, to walk blamelessly before the world in which we live. And each day is an opportunity for us to allow God through his Holy Spirit and his word to mold us and fashion us and shape us into the people that he has called us to be. He has predestined us to be conformed how Paul tells us in in Romans, be conformed to the image of his son and our savior, Jesus Christ. That is who we are in Christ Jesus. We’re a new creation. So I encourage you to continue living the life people are gonna judge. People are gonna say things negatively about your Christianity, but as I’ve said before, that’s should be. That should be a compliment when they’re mocking you pertaining to how you’re living for God. That’s a compliment That’s not in their eyes. It’s mocking. But that’s complimentary because this is the life that God called me to live. And this is how you out there in the world is seeing me live my life in conformity to the image of Christ and to the word of God, then thank you. I appreciate the compliment. May this be who we are and may we be determined to continue to live out this new man, this new self, this new creation that we ha we are in Christ Jesus. Not for a show for the world, but because God demands us of us. God commands us to live this way. And he has called us to separate ourselves from everything that is sinful and ungodly. And may he en enable, he has enabled us. May we act upon the enablement and the strength, the power of his spirit, the power of his word to live the life that he has called us to live. Father, we are grateful. We’re thankful for your love. We’re thankful for these passages of scriptures, Lord, where again, the standard is high. And as challenging as our daily struggles with the old self, with the flesh can be, it should be an encouragement to us Lord, that you have enabled us through your spirit, through giving us your word and everything that pertains to life and godliness in your word, through gaining knowledge of your son and our savior, Jesus Christ, that the life you have called us to live is more than possible because of you who are working in us. So Lord, give us the strength. May we continue to draw on the power source that you have given us. And may we continue to let our lights be brightly s shown in this community and that others will see glorify you and Lord, even if they mock and scorn may be on the account of us living the life that you have called us to live, to strengthen us, Lord, as we continue to mold and fashioned, be molded and fashioned into the image of your son and our savior. Amen.