12. The Making of a Christian (1)

Posted on Posted in Sermon Notes Tagged with , , ,

Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians

Knowing Your Privilege in Christ

 “The Making of the Christian (1)”

(Ephesians 4:17-24)

17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

OUTLINE

  • A privileged people separated from sin unto holiness (v17-20)
    • A Changed Man
  • A purchased people in intimate fellowship with the living and true God (v21-24)
    • A Changed Life

INTRODUCTION

What is the church? A people (1) Chosen by the Father (Eph.1:1-4), (2) Purchased by the Son (Eph.1:5-9) and (3) Sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph.1:10-14). This is the big picture, the big idea that gives to us the origin of the church that I hope you will remember. But precisely what does it mean when we say – Chosen by the Father – Purchased by the Son – Sealed by the Holy Spirit?

We began this book by elaborating the church is firstly, a privileged people separated from sin unto holiness (v1-4) – this is what it means to be “Chosen by the Father”. Secondly, the church is a purchased people in intimate fellowship with the living and true God(v5-9) – this is what we mean when we say “Purchased by the Son”. And thirdly, the church is a protected people destined for heaven(v10-14) – this is what we mean when we say “Sealed by the Holy Spirit”.

It is the first two thoughts from our introduction that form basis for the Apostle Paul elaboration on what it means to be a holy and living testimony for our God.

  • A privileged people separated from sin unto holiness (v17-20)
    • A Changed Man
  • A purchased people in intimate fellowship with the living and true God (v21-24)
    • A Changed Life
  • A privileged people separated from sin unto holiness (v17-20)
    • A Changed Man

17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 

The new man in Christ created after holiness must continue to live a life separated from sin unto holiness. There is a stark contrast that the Apostle Paul is showing us here. The changed man created in holiness is not the old man.

The word “walk” describes a man’s life, the way he lives. The Gentiles (v17) is a description of the unregenerate man.

The first change is that he lives not in “the vanity of the mind”.

The word “vanity” means “devoid of truth and appropriateness, perverseness, depravity, frailty, (DA Waite), nonsense, nothingness, emptiness, a characteristic state of something futile, frustration, purposelessness (Friberg).

The mind of the unregenerate is moving headlong to destruction. This is a description of life under the sun that Solomon speaks of in the book of Ecclesiastes, a godless life.

It is a sad state to be lost without God in their life and choose to reject and even mocking God’s offer of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “Father, forgive them; for they know what they do.” 

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Luke 23:35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

The new man in Christ must abstain and not be influenced to go back to the old ways of sin. He separates himself from ungodly friends of the past that brought him much misery.

As the psalmist rightly warns:

Psalm 1:1-6 Blessed isthe man that walketh notin the counsel of the ungodly, nor standethin the way of sinners, nor sittethin the seat of the scornful. But his delight isin the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly arenot so: but arelike the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The godly prosper, the ungodly perish. A choice to choose prosperity of the soul that the Christian makes to live a holy life looking to God’s Word for guidance and strength.

The unregenerate covets the things of this world – money, power, position because of greed and pride – Colossians 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

The discontented heart rest insecure covets after the things of this world to give a sense of security but to find that it truly disappoints. This is the Singapore problem.

In the financial crisis of 1987 called black Monday, the stock exchanged tumbled, many lost their hard-earned savings who speculated in stocks and shares and multiple properties. In the financial crisis 1997, dubbed the “Asian Financial Crisis”, saw many lost their life savings and properties and broken families. In the financial crisis of 2007 called the “Sub-Prime Crisis” that led to the hard times of 2008 and 2009 saw greed reaching its feverish euphoria. We are now in 2017 and many of the unbelievers have jumped on the financial bandwagon for prosperity in the vanity of their mind to find financial security through wanton speculation are sitting on a bubble that has not burst. Has the bubble not burst before? Will it not burst again? 

1 Timothy 6:6-10 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into thisworld, and it iscertain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and intomany foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Is the “Christian” spared? Are there those who have overexposed themselves by taking up large loans through multiple property investments and still too drunken to get out?

The Christian must be securely trusting the Lord seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33) knowing that the Lord will not forsake us but will certainly take care of us – having faith and contentment!

For the unbelievers, without the guidance of God’s Word, succumbing to the insecurity of a life, without God’s assurances, may choose to overexpose themselves with debt through imprudent investments would pierce themselves through with many sorrows.  

18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

“Having been darkened in the mind” is the literal translation of the phrase “having the understanding darkened.” 

God is light. When God is forced out of the mind, it is full of darkness. A life devoid of holiness. The word “alienated” means “to be shut out of one’s fellowship and intimacy” (DA Waite). And the word “blindness” means “the covering with a callus, it is a hardening, when the mind is hardened, it cannot see” (DA Waite).

1 John 1:6-7 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

When we walk in the light, we walk in obedience to His word, we find strength to live life. There is a sublime joy emanating from such a life. But the life of sin is darkness and a fearful awaiting of judgment.

 19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 

The phrase “past feeling” means “to cease to feel pain, they had been anaesthetized, like a dead drunk person who feels no pain, no feeling about their sins” (DA Waite).

Do not be given over to “lasciviousness” or “unbridled lusts, excess, licentiousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence” (DA Waite).

“to work all uncleanness with greediness” – “uncleanness” means “moral impurity or lustful profligate living” and “greediness” means “a desire to have more (DA Waite). 

Living with contentment is God’s wisdom for protecting His people from the perils of financial bankruptcy. If a financial crisis were to hit Singapore this year, will we be prepared for it? Do you know that Singaporeans have one of the highest debt-to-income ratios in the world? Unfortunately, Singapore is importing this spend-first-pay-later, or spend-first-earn-later, mentality that has ruined the Western world. 

One bank is offering a 32-inch flat-screen TV for taking a credit line that gives four months’ salary. Credit card companies dangle a cash offer of $50 to tempt customers to take up the credit card with two years’ free subscription. The enticement is very real and attractive. Here is a scenario given in the Monetary Authority of Singapore website to warn against unrestrained spending and the snare of financial debt. 

Mr Michael Tan was a successful manager with an MNC drawing a monthly salary of $10,000. When Mr Tan was promoted in 1999, he upgraded to a bigger home and bought a new car. Mr Tan held credit cards with eight banks, and spent more than $5,000 monthly on entertainment, fine dining and shopping. He did not keep track of his spending, and often rolled over his credit card payments. When the recession hit in 2002, Mr Tan’s company downsized and he was retrenched. Although he was jobless, Mr Tan continued to chalk up debts on his credit cards and paid only the minimum sum every month. A year after losing his job, his savings ran out and he had difficulty servicing his credit card payments and other loans. Mr Tan’s house and car were repossessed, and he was eventually forced to declare bankruptcy. 

20 But ye have not so learned Christ; …

God’s way is not man’s way. Christ did not teach us to be greedy and to lust after the things of this world.

Matthew 6:19-34 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great isthat darkness!No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall henot much more clotheyou, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day isthe evil thereof.

As one pastor puts it well, “We believe God is all-knowing and all-powerful. He knows our need and He is able to “supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”. Sadly, many Christians are seeking their own way — and all too often it is the worldly way — to meet their needs. They then find to their great loss that living outside God’s law has dire consequences. When Lehman Brothers went into liquidation in 2008, many Singaporeans lost their money. It was heartrending to read of ordinary folks who lost their hard-earned money and of many others their retirement savings simply because they had bought mini-bonds linked to Lehman Brothers. At point of purchase, they had been painted a rosy picture by their bankers. Lehman, they were told, was an American investment bank with a gilded credit rating. The return, they were promised, would be good. When Lehman collapsed, their hopes and dreams were dashed. Many investors could not even get a cent back on the sums they had paid for the bonds. Many people who were burnt by this experience. 

There are two groups of people. Those who invested and suffered loss and those who have not invested and have their money still intact in the bank. Indeed, I will venture further to say that even if you are not in financial straits but are, nonetheless, facing some form of crisis, seek biblical principles for your financial management. The reason is simple — there is only one answer to all of life’s problems. Jesus is the only way, yesterday, today and forever. All Christians are directed to the Lord Jesus who is “the author and the finisher of our faith”. 

Every Christian should have a God-centred attitude towards the things of this world. Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” I want to quote Matthew Henry’s comment on this verse, “Godliness is itself great gain, it is profitable to all things; and, wherever there is true godliness, there will be contentment; but those (who) have arrived at the highest pitch of contentment with their godliness are certainly the happiest people in this world.” The psalmist says, “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked” (Psalm 37:16).”

  • A purchased people in intimate fellowship with the living and true God (v21-24)
    • A Changed Life

21If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 

The word “put off” describes a once and for all personal action to put off “sin” and the word “put on” describes a once and for all personal action to put on holiness.

Do not let the sins of the old man plague your life any longer. Like the putting off of a soiled garment of sin and lusts, we are to put on fresh clean garment of holiness and faith.

The Apostle Paul described lusts as deceitful because they fail to give true and lasting happiness, comfort and security to their pursuers. They promise much but satisfy little. They are deceptive. They do not satisfy the true need of the soul. This idol often blinds the heart, making it insensitive to the Gospel. More often than not, those who possess material prosperity deny the existence of God. They ascribe success to self or factors other than God. As Jesus says “the deceitfulness of riches” – Hearts deluded by riches are often full of conceit. 

Such “lust” the Apostle Paul warned dull the senses and make the heart grow cold towards the things of God. There are inordinate, sinful desires that captivate the heart of the unregenerate man, preventing him from receiving the truth. 

These lusts described the diseased condition of the soul. Luke 8:14 cites these “lusts of other things” to include the “pleasures of this life”. One may have the opportunity to come to church and hear the preaching of God’s Word and be touched or moved by it. However, immediately after the service, he may be ushered to some worldly recreational activities that will cause him to lose his foothold on God’s Word. 

23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

The bondage of sin can only be broken when the Spirit of God, by His Word, brings conviction to the heart to repent and turn to Him. We are to seek to be renewed in the mind by the imbibing of God’s Word into our hearts. 

When we are saved, God gives us a new nature, He makes us a new man patterned after righteousness and true holiness. 

There is a battle, a tug of war within us, we are to let the Spirit bear fruit in our lives as we practice holiness habits.

In another text in Galatians 5:16-24 is given to us the wherewithal to bear fruit.

Galatians 5:16-24 (KJV) 16 ThisI say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told youin time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

3 Steps to Fruit Bearing 

  • It is a choice – watch your flesh! (v17)

But more so, he is saying this to the believers to watch your flesh! Look here, Galatians, are you struggling against the flesh that is in you! Is there an awareness within you of the flesh pulling you down?

Testimony – One brother called me and said, can I just speak to you for a moment. I feel myself so dirty and filthy because I realize that I can sin so easily. I feel so ashamed of myself. I feel so discouraged also. We have to realize that we cannot escape from the flesh for it is our very self. We may be able to escape from the world by changing environment but we cannot escape from ourselves. We have to know how to deal with the works of the flesh for it will pull us down, it kills and destroys our spiritual life, when we indulge in the works of the flesh, there is no joy in our hearts, we feel miserable. We cannot bear spiritual fruit by indulging ourselves in the flesh. We have to watch our flash, understand the motions of sin in us. We are dealing with a subject of vital importance and interest for every believer. Why is it that there are many believers who may be believers for 20, 30 years and yet exhibiting the carnality described here in v19-21. 

(2) It is tug of war – suppress/kill your flesh! (v18)

Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

These two natures in us are completely opposite. One will pull us down and the other will build us up. Before we are born-again, there is no struggle because there is only one nature in us, the depraved nature. But after we come to faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit lives within us. When we yield to the flesh, we quench or choke the Holy Spirit, we cannot produce fruit. 

When we are tempted, what does the Bible says, 1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

God will always provide a way to escape. We have to make a choice not to succumb to sin and cry out to Him for help.

Illustration – Remember Peter, when he saw Jesus walking on water, by faith, he stepped into the water and walked. As long as he looked to Jesus and not allowed the environment to frighten him, he had victory, he walked on water. When he began to sink, what did he do? He cried out to Jesus, Lord save! And Jesus immediately stretched out his hand to hold him. Did he make a long prayer? No, but a sincere cry for help and he continues his walk. It is the same for us for the Christian life. It is a supernatural life, sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit. But we must take the step like Peter to walk and see how Jesus sustains him.

(3) It is dependence on the Holy Spirit that gives the victory (v19, 22-23)

Galatians 5:18 “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”

If you are being led by the Holy Spirit, we depend, rely, trust, cling to, have God as your sufficiency and not depend on our own strength – our own efforts of fulfilling the law, we will have victory.

When we choose to walk in the Spirit and depend on the Holy Spirit to help us, we will have victory. We will be a vessel unto honour fit for the Master’s use. 

“But the fruit of the Spirit…”        

But – the fruit of the Spirit in contrast with the works of the flesh.

It is a fruit:

  1. It comes through cultivation. 
    1. There is a time element involved, comes in its seasons.

Of the Holy Spirit. It is of a heavenly kind, quality or characteristic, of a heavenly power. We come to the linking verb “is” denotes a statement of fact or a present reality (indicative mood). This fruit of the Holy Spirit will certainly be manifested in the lives of growing Christians as an authentication of Holy Spirit’s work. It is a statement of truth!

CONCLUSION

  • A privileged people separated from sin unto holiness (v17-20)
    • A Changed Man
  • A purchased people in intimate fellowship with the living and true God (v21-24)
    • A Changed Life