Jesus

The Grace of God Changes the Believer: Eph. 4:17-32

/ Neal Embry

We’ve talked about how God’s grace changes His church, from people who are naturally divided and selfish to people who are united by His grace for His glory.

Now, as Paul continues in his letter to the church at Ephesus, we see how God’s grace teaches individual believers to live holy lives.

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”–Eph. 4:17-19

Paul begins this next section by commanding the church to not live “like the Gentiles do.” Now, Paul isn’t talking about non-Jewish believers, but rather, those who are outside of God’s law and who live like they are outside God’s law. He’s talking about the unbelieving world, with its sin and ungodly lifestyle and culture.

We can relate to this. We live in a country that sponsors the murder of children on a daily basis via abortion. We live in a country that opposes God’s standard for sexuality, and celebrates infidelity. We live in a world that is obsessed with power, and which country has the strongest military and the strongest nuclear weapons. We live in a world that openly denies not just the goodness of God, but the very existence of God.

Paul reminds the church that this is not how they are to live. They are not to live “alienated from the life of God,” or to be “callous” and give themselves over to sexual immorality.

Why does he have to remind them of these things? Shouldn’t these truths just come naturally for the believer? In a way, yes. Those who have the Spirit of God should know and understand how they are to live, which Paul discusses a few verses from now. However, the unfortunate reality is that we all have a sinful flesh that sometimes looks at the sinful world around us and says, “That doesn’t look so bad. That actually looks good, and fun, and profitable.” We have a sinful flesh that would turn us away from the goodness and glory of God to the “broken cisterns” God has called us out of (Jer. 2:13).

Therefore, we must be continually reminded of what Christ has done for us.

“But that is not the way you learned Christ!–assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”–4:20-24

Christians are prone to legalism and licentiousness. We are prone to both try to save ourselves by good behavior, and, at the same time, cheapen God’s grace and twist into a license for sinful living. Both of these are unbiblical and ungodly positions.

Paul tells the church to be holy, not because they need to save themselves, but because they have been saved. Ungodly living is not the “way you learned Christ!” When you became a Christian, if you truly “heard about him and were taught in him,” you were not taught to live a life of sin in response to God’s grace. While Jesus never calls us to save ourselves, He does call us to live like saved people. People that are on their way to heaven should, by God’s grace, over the course of their lives, look more and more like people who belong there.

Our “old self,” our “former manner of life,” is to live like the world. It is in our nature to be deceived by sin. Those deceitful desires include the lies of sexual immorality, the lies of idolatry, which turns good gifts into false gods, and the lies of pride and unrighteous anger, which takes God off His throne and seeks to sit in His place. Sin is deceitful, Paul reminds us.

But we do not belong to sin! We have been freed from our sin; we have been forgiven and redeemed by God’s grace! We have learned Christ, and because of that, we seek to have our minds renewed, and put on the new self, which is made, not in the image of the world, but in the image of God, in “true righteousness and holiness.”

So what does that new life look like?

“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”–4:25-32

I like lists. I’ve always liked lists. I have more than one app on my phone that allows me to write down lists. I make lists of books I want to read, things I want to research, and when I get really bored, I rank my favorite sports teams in a list.

This even crosses over into my relationship with God. I like lists of what I’m supposed to do, who I’m supposed to be, because it allows me a way to gauge my progress, and supplies tiny “check-boxes” of Christian behavior.

And while there’s nothing wrong with lists of Christian behavior, we ought not simply read Paul’s instructions here as another list for us to accomplish. The goal of the Christian life is not to simply “check off” the next box in our spiritual progress, as if it’s another school assignment we’re trying to make an “A” on. These “lists” of Christian behaviors and practices are intended to give us a small, not exhaustive, snapshot of Jesus Himself. Jesus speaks truth (He is truth!); Jesus has righteous anger and does not sin; Jesus labors and works hard, and Jesus gives grace in His speech. Rather than presenting a list of actions to master, these actions should point us to the heart of our Savior, and call us to imitate Him in faith.

We don’t wake up and say, “I’m going to work on telling the truth and not letting the sun go down on my anger today.” That ultimately leads to morality apart from Christ. We end up getting so focused on the behaviors that we lose sight of the cross and we lose sight of Jesus. Instead of walking in fellowship with Jesus as Lord, and believing Him, and acting like the men and women we are in Christ, which all leads to these godly behaviors, we just try really hard to check off a list of behaviors and pronounce ourselves godly. Godliness apart from God isn’t godliness, though. God’s intent is for us to grow IN CHRIST. Go back to verse 15 of chapter 4: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” We are to grow in Christ, not apart from Him. We don’t grow in Christ when we focus on behaviors. We grow in Christ when we reflect on who Christ is, what Christ has done, and in faith, who He now calls us to be–men and women who reflect His glory and His holiness.

So when we look at these actions, we look at them and say, “This is what Jesus is like. This is who Jesus is, and I am in Jesus. Therefore, this is who I am, and who I’m called to be.” And in faith in Christ, we live out our godly calling.

God changes us, not when we focus on our behaviors, but when we focus on our Redeemer. He changes us when we remember that we are not who we used to be, and we are now following Christ. He changes us when we remember that we’ve been forgiven, and made new. He changes us as we examine the character and person of Jesus, and see who He is, and as we, by faith, by His grace, seek to imitate Him in love to a world that desperately needs to see Him.

Lord, may we remember to focus, not on ourselves or our behaviors, but on you and your grace. May we remember your holiness and your example, not as things to imitate to earn salvation, but as a way of life to imitate in gratitude for salvation by grace. May we as your church reflect your glory.

God bless,

Neal E.

The Grace of God Equips the Church: Ephesians 4:7-16

/ Neal Embry

Two weeks ago, we examined how we are united as a church through Christ. Because of Jesus, the church has been called to follow the same Lord through the same Spirit, and we are called to love each other and act as Christ acts toward us. We are united in core beliefs, values and doctrine, and strive for a common goal: the glory of God by spreading the gospel so others may come to know Him through Christ.

However, the church is not uniform. We do not all look the same. We do not look the same physically, of course, but in this next section of chapter 4, Paul makes it clear we do not all look the same spiritually, in a sense, either.

All believers are forgiven, beloved, children of God. All believers have the Holy Spirit, and all believers are called to obey the Great Commission and edify the church. But we do not all have the same gifts to achieve that goal.

“But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ (In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)”–Ephesians 4:7-10

Paul breaks from his talk about being “one” in Christ, to say, “But grace was given…according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Paul says: While we are one in Christ, we each have been given a gift of grace in different measure from Christ. This cannot be saving grace, because no Christian is more justified before God than any other Christian. However, each Christian has a different “gift” from God. In other biblical passages, these “gifts” are shown to be spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12:3-8).

Jesus gives His people spiritual gifts to glorify God, share the gospel and edify the church. He has power to do this because He won victory over this world, sin, death and Satan. Paul explains this in verses 8-10. Paul quotes Psalm 68:18, where the king “receives gifts” from the people, even the rebellious, after he wins victory. Paul uses this in reference to Christ, who brings the kingdom of God to Earth and wins victory over the false kingdoms of sin and Satan. Jesus, in His incarnation (“descended into the lower regions, the earth”), in His ministry, in His death, in His resurrection, and in His ascension, won victory over all things.

Because of His victory over sin and death on the cross and in the resurrection, when He ascended into heaven, Christ was able to equip His people with gifts of His kingdom, so they could continue to advance it here. These gifts include evangelism, preaching, teaching, prophecy, etc.

What a statement about spiritual gifts! They are far more than resume builders and things to commit to “when we have time.” They are blood-bought gifts from the King! And He is honored when we treat them as such and use them.

How do we learn to use our gifts and grow in Christlikeness? Paul discusses leaders, given by God, in the next few passage:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ..”–4:11-13

Here, Paul zeroes in on leaders in the church. He says these leaders “equip the saints for the work of ministry.” Teachers teach Christians how to share the gospel, as shepherds teach others to use their generosity, or zeal, in evangelism and in caring for the sick and poor. Prophets bring timely words from God, consistent with His Word, that challenge His church to be all she is called to be. Though the office of apostle is no longer active, the idea of a leader, a pastor, still remains. This person is one who serves the church by leading the church on mission, preaches God’s Word, conducts the ministries of the church, etc.

Leaders also play a pivotal role in discipleship: The body of Christ is built up when leaders are leading others to more and more Christlikeness. The measure of how far we’ve come is Jesus. Our goal is to be like Jesus in our ministry and in our personal lives and churches.

Therefore, leaders are servants. They are not about themselves, but about others. This follows the pattern of Jesus, who “came to serve, not be served.” Leaders should exemplify Christlikeness in their holiness and ministry.

“…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”–4:13-16

Serving God and growing into Christlikeness is serious business. If we do not pursue Jesus, we will slowly but surely walk away from Jesus. Leaders are needed who will devote their lives to helping others grow into mature Christians.

Would you leave an infant on a park bench? Of course not! That infant would die if you didn’t do something. That’s why parents raise their children, because the work isn’t done when a baby is born.

The same principle applies to discipleship: new Christians, immature Christians, will leave Jesus if someone doesn’t invest in their lives and help them grow into Christlikeness. As John Piper has said, sanctification is a community project.

We do this by speaking the truth to each other in love. We speak the truth, but we do so, not from pride or unrighteous anger, but out of genuine love for someone, with a heart motivated by the gospel and concern for both God’s glory and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

When this happens, when the church is serving Christ faithfully and helping others grow in Him, the entire church benefits. The entire church grows in love for God and others.

God has equipped the church. He has equipped leaders with grace to equip saints, who have been equipped by His grace with spiritual gifts, all to advance the gospel, to teach God’s Word, to make disciples, and to build His kingdom here on Earth. The question for us is whether or not we are going to use what He’s given us.

Lord, may we use the grace you give us to serve you. May we never take for granted the gifts you’ve given us, and may we use them to build your kingdom by making disciples and growing in Christlikeness.

God bless,

Neal E.