Would you open the Word of God with me, please, to Ephesians chapter 4, where our text today is verses 20 through 24. How to walk is something we must all learn in our early days. We learn to walk basically in three ways. First of all, by watching others. Trying to avoid those big feet that you see around you as they, mom and dad, march across the floor. And suddenly begin to realize as an infant that they move faster than you do with that callus on your tummy and
on your knees. And you begin to look and see that they walk on their legs. By watching, you learn to walk. And then by experimentation. As they say, practice makes perfect. In between the stitches on the forehead and the bruises that appear on the body, practice makes perfect. And so that little one that you once were got up and began to try to walk. But thirdly, there
was training. There was instruction given. Maybe it was Daddy who put that little child that you were over beside the coffee table and said, now come to Daddy. And held out those arms. And as that child fell forward, that was not a fall. That was the first step, you see. And so Daddy keeps instructing. This is how you do it. This is how you walk. And you take the little child and hold him and let him move his legs. And in that way, the child learns to walk. By example,
by experimentation, and by instruction. This part of the book of Ephesians tells us as Christians how to walk. That's the theme of chapters 4, 5, and 6. What our behavior, that is, should be like as God's children. God wants us to know how to walk, how to conduct ourselves as believers. And that walk is something that we must learn, and we learn it by three things. We learn it in the first place by the example of others. We watch others to see how we should conduct
ourselves as believers. The Apostle Paul exhorted those whom he won to Christ to follow his example, to walk as he did. And then we learn also by experimentation. We try things, some succeed, some fail. By the way, never be afraid to try something. just because you might fail. There are times that we learn more in our failures than in our successes, don't we? And so you and I learn to behave as believers by experimentation. But then we learn thirdly by instruction, instruction
that is from the Word of God. It is that particular point that is emphasized in our text today, this matter of being taught, being instructed in the things of the Lord. He says, beginning in verse 20, But you did not learn Christ in this way, that is, the way of the world which he has just
described, the pagan way of life. You did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed, or better since indeed, you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus, 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, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness
of the truth. What we have learned by having heard Christ And by having been taught in him is how we are to conduct ourselves. I want to point out to you those words, those interesting words that are found in verse 21. Paul says to these Ephesians, you have heard him. Not about him, but he says you have heard Christ. The same thing can be said to you today. If you have attended a Bible preaching church. For we hear Christ speaking when we read and hear the word of God.
That is what Paul is saying. He says to them, you heard Christ. When? When Paul taught them the Bible. And he says, you have been instructed. You have been taught in him. Just as truth is in Jesus. So we are gathered here today to see what Jesus Christ would tell us. I believe that what we need to learn is just what the Ephesians had learned, and that is the truth about ourselves. Understanding the truth about ourselves will enhance our walking worthy as God's called -out
children. You see, what you know determines how you live. Did you realize that? What you know determines how you live. Now, by know, I don't mean just knowing intellectually. By know, I mean that which the Spirit of God has written on your heart, that which you have actually been taught by Him, not in a classroom, in a college, or in a Sunday school, or even in the sanctuary
of the church. but rather what you have been taught by him and you know from the classroom of your communion with Christ and the classroom of your daily experience with him. What you know determines how you live. Paul has told us already that the pagans are ignorant and are darkened, therefore they are sensual. But Christians are not so. There are two truths that every child of God needs to be taught by the Spirit. As we know these truths, we will live the way God wants
us to live. The first truth is the truth about the old self, the old man. He mentions that individual, that person in verse 22. What does Paul mean when he talks about the old self or the old man? The answer to that is this. Paul is referring to all that you were before being saved. The old man is the you that was in Adam. It is the person or the essential being that you were by your natural birth into the world. That is your essential identity as one who is lost and unregenerate,
one who is a child of sin and of the devil. That is the old self. Now I want to say before I go any further that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, this is the only self there is for you. You are still what is called here the old self for the Christian. You are still lost in your sin. And your essential identity is with Adam and with sin and death. And you are in need of being saved. But for those who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, we can speak of this self
in Adam as the old man, the old self. Now what does he say about the old self here? Well, he says, you lay aside. the old self to lay aside means to put off to remove as though you were removing garments or clothing he says you lay aside take it off get it away from you now the question that really is brought to us in the text here is is paul commanding us to lay aside the old self Or is he reminding us that we have? Now it goes down to the verb, of course, that
Paul writes here. It is an infinitive, and it's aorist. Now that doesn't mean anything to you unless you have studied something of the Greek language. But grammatically, grammatically speaking, this verb here can be rendered, and I think should be rendered, as something that has taken place in the past and it's complete. That is the way, for example, that Kenneth Wiest took it. He was a Greek scholar who taught for many years at the Moody Bible Institute. He says it means you
have put off once and for all the old self. John Murray and Lewis Sperry Schaeffer Likewise, say that this is past action completed, and they put it this way, you did lay aside the old self. And so I don't think that the New American Standard Version, which I'm using, or most of the other English versions, really treat this verb in the right way. Because I believe that what the Apostle is saying here is this, that at the point of salvation, The Christian did lay aside the old
self. Now that agrees with the parallel passage to Ephesians 4, and that's Colossians 3. I'd like you to turn over there with me, and notice that the apostle says something very similar. It's really a different verb. He writes it differently, grammatically. But I believe the truth is intended to be the same. Colossians 3 and verse 9. He said, Do not lie to one another. Now why? Since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices.
Now here there is no question that he's talking about a past event that has once and for all been completed. Now, if there is some question as to how Ephesians 4 should be rendered, I think Colossians 3 .9 solves the problem for us. Paul is not going to, in one place, command us to do something that in another place, he says, has already been done. So the point is this, that Paul is telling us, going back now to Ephesians 4, that we laid aside, we did lay aside the old
self once and for all. When? At the moment that we were saved. Now the point that Paul is making here is this. Why should you and I walk worthy as he has commanded us to earlier in this chapter? Why should we walk no longer like the pagans as we talked last Sunday? Here's the answer. Because you are no longer what you were. Therefore, don't revert to a manner of life which does not represent the true you as you are now, because you laid aside that old man when you trusted
Jesus Christ as your Savior. So don't live a manner of life that corresponds to what you were. What a tragedy that would be. But he goes on to say, live like the new person that you are in Jesus Christ. Now there's another passage that I want to look at in connection with this, because it too is parallel. It's Romans chapter 6, where the apostle speaks about this old man, or the old self, once more. Look in verse 6. He says, knowing this. Now what do we begin by
saying? What you know determines how you live. Paul is saying this is something you must know. That our old self was crucified with him. That our body of sin might be done away with. That is rendered powerless, inoperative. That we should no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. What is Paul saying to us in Romans chapter 6? Essentially the same thing as he says in Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3. And that is that that old man, that old self that
you were in Adam, was put to death. It was executed at the cross. who was crucified with Jesus Christ, that sin within you might be dealt with, that you might no longer be slaves to it as you once were, but now you have the capacity by the power of God to say no to those sinful impulses within you because you're a new person now. You are not what you used to be. You're something new. Going back to Ephesians, the Apostle says to
us that that old self is corrupting. It seems to be pictured here as a corpse that is decaying, that is growing increasingly putrid. He tells us that that is ripe for being discarded, for being laid aside. It is becoming rotten waste. He says that it is dominated by deceitful lusts. Sin works in it to entice, saying sin will satisfy, but it never does. It's deceitful. And so the apostle says, have nothing to do with this whole
mess any longer. There was a time in one civilization when there was an abhorrent punishment for murder. If a man killed another, His punishment was that the corpse of the dead man was tied to him. He was laid down and the corpse was put on top of him and across his body that corpse was tied with the head right here. And his punishment was that he had to bear that corpse until it rotted away from his body. Paul is drawing upon a picture like that. And he says, don't carry
that corpse around anymore. That old you have nothing to do with it. It is corrupting according to the deceitful lusts. Be done with it, he says, because you laid it aside at the point of conversion. Paul has said to us that truth is in Jesus. One truth in Jesus that you and I need to get into our hearts, we need to get a hold of is this, that at the moment of our salvation we did lay aside the old self. Old things passed away. We are no longer to have anything to do with that
which is rotting and corrupting. But the second truth in Jesus is the truth about our new self, the new man. What is this new self? Well, there are some who would say that it is a spark of divinity that is in every man and which has been fanned into flame. That's baloney. There is not a spark of divinity in every man. There is something of the image of God in every man, an image that has been ruined and marred by the fall into sin. But there is no spark of divinity in every man.
What is this new self that you and I are? Well, it's the new creation that we have become. This new self is the new identity. It is the new you. It is the new person that you have been created to be in Christ Jesus. Paul puts it this way in Galatians 2 .20. It may be good for us to turn back there and look at those words so that we see them with our eye gate too. Galatians 2 .20. Notice he says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live. Now
who is this I? This is the old man. That he was an Adam. He says, I, the old I, was crucified. with Christ. It is no longer that old I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I, now here's the new I, the new I, the new self, the life which I live now in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered himself up for me. Paul is saying that he is a new person, that it's Christ in him. That moment that you were saved, your old self was executed
with Jesus Christ. And within you, a new you was created. We can say Christ is in you, the hope of glory. Christ lives in you, not to dominate or submerge your personality, but really to fulfill your personality as the new you. Now what does the Apostle tell us in our text today about the new you? Well, again, we have the same verb form used. And so we understand Paul to be saying this, you did put on the new self. You did put it on once and for all at salvation. And he tells
us that this new you was created. It was not brought into being through self -generation. This new you is not the result of turning over a new leaf. It is not self -reformation. But he's saying literally there was a new you created. In Christ Jesus. That's why old things are passed away. All things have become new. Because you are a new creation. You are a new person. A new self. In Jesus Christ. Paul says something similar earlier in this epistle. In verse 10 of chapter
2. When he says we are his workmanship. his poem, as it were, created in Christ Jesus for good works. We are his work, his work of art, if you please, his poema, created in Christ Jesus. Again, I point out that this is not the work of yourself. This is not... Yours through self -fulfillment or self -realization. This is the work of God. It is the work of grace. Creating a new you when you trusted Jesus Christ. Now he describes this new you with terms like these. You were created
in the likeness of God. That means according to what God is like morally. God is the pattern for the new you, not the old Adam, which was the pattern for the man you were, the person you were. But God himself is the pattern for the new person that you are. Morally, you have been created in the likeness of God, and he gives two specific ideas. He says, in righteousness and in holiness. Righteousness has to do, first of all, with that which is put into our account
when we're saved. It is imputed to us. At the moment that you were created in Christ Jesus, there was put into your account in heaven perfect righteousness that can never run out. But that righteousness also is more than just in a legal account. But it's righteousness that God desires to work into your life. In your actions of daily life. It is your duty to your fellow man. God has created you in Christ Jesus, first of all,
in righteousness. To be a righteous person. Not the kind of a person described earlier in these verses, like the pagans. Sensual. and greedy, and impure, but righteous. That's what God's created you to be. And not just righteous, but also he has created you in holiness, as a holy person. That doesn't mean that you're sinless. Though you are a new person in Jesus Christ, the power of sin still dwells in you. You still have temptations. You still yield to temptations.
You still do sin. But that does not negate the truth that you are a new person in Christ Jesus who was created in righteousness and in true or holiness of the truth. What does it mean when it says that we are created as a holy person? It means that you have been created as one who has been set apart for God. That's really what holiness is all about. It's one who is set apart for a special function and purpose. So God has created you in righteousness to live differently.
He has created you to be his own in the midst of this world, to set you apart to be different. In contrast to the old you, which is decaying, he says furthermore that this new you is being renewed. Look at verse 23. That you be renewed in the spirit of your mind. That new you is being constantly sustained by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ within you. But in addition to that, you as the new you are being continuously
renewed in the spirit of your mind. that is in that inner man which grasps the things of God. You are being renewed by the work of God in you. He uses the truth to renew you. Warren Wiersbe puts it this way in his book, Be Rich. He says, conversion is a crisis that leads to a process. Through Christ, Once and for all, we have been given a new position in his new creation. But day by day, we must by faith appropriate what he has given us. The word of God renews the mind
as we surrender our all to him. As the mind understands the truth of God's word, it is gradually transformed by the spirit. And this renewal leads to a changed life. Physically, you are what you eat. But spiritually, you are what you think. Proverbs 23, 7, As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. This is why it is important for us as Christians to spend time daily meditating on the word, praying, and fellowshipping with Christ. What is being said
here? It is this, that what you know about yourself in your inner man determines how you're going to live. How you think about yourself, what you allow to be written on your heart as truth, that directly impacts your conduct. That's what he's saying. And so he says, look, here's what you have heard Jesus say. This is what you have been taught in him. And the truth is in him. Here's the truth about you. First of all, you laid aside that old man that you were. Therefore, don't
identify any longer with it. Don't conform yourself to that manner of life. Because you later decide it's rotting, it's corrupting, it's decaying. Have done with it. He says, secondly, I want you to know this truth. That you have been created in Christ Jesus as a new person. You are a new you in Jesus Christ. Created in righteousness. Set apart for God's special purpose. And now he says, cause your mind, allow your mind to
be renewed with this truth. Because as you fill your mind with this truth, it will impact the way you live. And you will walk worthy in Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying. What is it that you are allowing to be inscribed on your inner man, on the spirit of your mind? What are you accepting in your mind as truth? There are some of us who are accepting self -destruction as truth. And rebellion. and sexual impurity. You say, no, wait a minute, I don't accept that as
truth. But if you fill your mind with it, that's what's going to be written on the spirit of your mind, on your inner man. That's why there are some of us who are so concerned about rock music. I don't think that there's a more direct route to the spirit of your mind than music. The kind of music that you and I listen to. And of course it's not just rock music, although that seems to be filled especially with self -destruction and self -hatred and rebellion and sexual impurity.
But other kinds of music can be filled with that too. Are you allowing that kind of stuff to be written into your mind? I want to assure you that if you are, that's the way you're going to live. Because what you accept as truth about yourself and about your world, what you thus become, what you come to know, that is going to determine how you live. What are you reading and accepting as truth? What are you placing
into your mind? Because it is what is placed into our minds and what we thus accept and allow to be written there indelibly, what we thus come to know that determines how we live. That's why Paul says, no, your mind, let it be renewed. Renewed. And how is it renewed? By this. This is the truth. The truth about ourselves, the truth about the world in which we live, the truth about values, the truth about the worth of life, the truth about standards for living, the truth
about health and disease. This is truth. And that's why the apostle says, be renewing the spirit of your mind. That renewing takes place as we commune with Jesus Christ in his word. The greatest need that I have, the greatest need that you have, is to hear Jesus and to be taught the truth that is in him. And this is where we find it. But so often what we put into our minds and the truth that we begin to write in our hearts, we get from television, and we get from magazines,
and videos. And what we begin to put there eventually comes out in our actions. I believe the challenge of our text today is this. Let the Spirit of God tell you the truth about your old self. and about your new self. Now that's not going to be written deeply on your heart in one sermon,
I want to assure you of that. But if you can somehow get a hold of a piece of that and get it down into your spirit of your mind, and if you begin seeking after that truth and seeking to discover in God's Word the truth that is in Jesus, the truth about you, And as you allow that to be inscribed on the spirit of your mind, it will change your life. And you will begin doing just what Paul is instructing us to do in this chapter. Walk worthy of the calling with
which you've been called. Why has Paul spent three chapters of this book telling us who we are in Jesus Christ? Because that's the truth about us. And he wants us to know that truth so that it can impact the way that we live. You and I have been set free from the slavery to sin. Paul says that we have died to it. We have been raised with a new master, and that new master is Jesus Christ. No longer should we therefore go on presenting the members of our bodies to
sin, to obey sin. But he tells us in Romans 6, we ought to present the members of our bodies to Christ, to obey and to serve him. Now by the members of our bodies, he's talking about the members of our bodies, our capacities. But he's talking, about more than just that too. He's talking about the talents you have. He's talking about the resources that God has given you over which to be steward. He's talking about the spiritual
gifts that God has given you. I think he's even talking about the potential that is locked up inside of your life. What he is saying is, Present all of that to God. You have been set free from sin, not to do what you want to do now. Understand that. But so that you are free to say no to sin and to say yes to Jesus Christ. So I have a very simple question for you in closing. Will you, as the new you today, say yes to Jesus? I don't
know what sin may be enticing you to do. I don't know what that corrupting, decaying mass may be deceiving you about. But will you look hard at it today and understand the truth about what that is? and say no to it? And will you understand who you are in Jesus Christ, a new creation, a person who has been set free from bondage, that you might be a love slave to him? And will you say yes to Jesus and to everything he wants in your life, whatever the cost? Let's pray together.
Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. Will you say yes to Jesus today? Will you hear the truth about you? Will you understand what he's done for you and what he asks of you now? Present yourself as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is only your reasonable service of worship. Will you write where you're seated in the quietness of your inner man? Say yes to Jesus. Will you say, Lord, whatever you want? You've purchased me. I am yours. And I choose
at this moment to say no to sin. I choose to say no to the manner of life associated with the old me. Jesus, I say yes to you. Father in heaven, I thank you for telling us in the Bible the truth, because we live in a world of lies, and we are so easily deceived, because we tend to judge truth on the basis of how many people believe this or that. Help us to understand that truth is not in a popularity contest. But the
truth is what you say. There are some of my brothers and sisters here who have been deceived into thinking that they can never change. That what they have struggled with in their past, in that old man, they have to always be. Enable them by the Spirit to know the truth and let it make a difference. There are some of us on the verge of being deceived into sin. Open our eyes that we may know the truth. I pray that each of us who is in fact a new person in Christ will say
yes to Jesus today. And the result of that will be our walking worthy. of the calling that we have in him. And I pray this in his name, in Jesus' name. Amen.