EPH 4:22 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

One of the things we see in the latter part of this letter is that Paul is contrasting our old life outside of Christ with our new life which comes from Christ. There is a direct correlation between being born again and bearing the fruit of that new birth from above.

And one of the issues Paul brings up is that if we say that we belong to Christ by faith then we have a responsibility to show the world that we no longer belong to this world but rather to our new Master who gave His life that we might live with Him forever.

But the motivation for living in this new life doesn't come simply from duty, though there is a place for that, but from gratitude and thankfulness and an understanding of this hope we've been given. We see this in earlier verses we've studied.

EPH 1:18 "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe..."

Paul wants us to grasp what we possess by faith. And he also wants us to weigh the incomparable greatness of this free gift with what we used to possess outside of Christ. And what we used to possess was death, since the wages of sin is death.

When you put those two things on the scales and weigh them, there should be a clear understanding of the eternal distinction between the two and a desire to show our thanks for a gift we did not deserve.

It would be like Charles Manson being set free. There are very few people who would argue that he is deserving of parole. In fact, every few years his case is reviewed as he appeals for release. And every time he is denied.

In a similar way we would have to agree that as we approach the bar of God's throne on our own merits, His righteous judgment would have to condemn us. And He is under no obligation to make arrangements for our release from such judgment.

And yet, that is exactly what He did as He sent His Son into this world, who took on flesh, lived the perfect sinless life we couldn't, and then stood in our place as He suffered our penalty on the cross paying our debt to God in full, after which three days later He gloriously rose bodily from the grave defeating sin and death. There is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

But, once we have embraced Christ as Lord and Savior we receive much more than a promise of forgiveness. We literally receive a new life with a new nature with a new relationship with our living God and Creator that cannot be annulled.

And this is a major distinction from what we see in the world when a criminal has served out his sentence or is released early from jail. They may leave the prison cell, but nothing has changed on the inside of that person which would compel them to view life from a Godly perspective or live life to God's glory, short of being born again.

This is why we have repeat offenders. The system is trying to rehabilitate people when only true rehabilitation can come from being given a new life which only God can give. And this is what Paul wants us to realize. He wants us to realize that we literally have a new life which we did not possess outside of Christ. And he wants us to consider that life as we live in this world which is no longer our home.

That consideration must produce gratitude with the understanding that outside of Christ we would be lost forever separated from our God in hell. When we weigh that with the inheritance we've been given in Christ it should cause everyone of us to rejoice and come to God in thanks and say, 'Lord, what can I do to show my appreciation for Your love given to me?'

Well, Paul answers that question in our text. EPH 4:22 "... with regard to your former way of life, put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
23 be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24 and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

This putting off and putting on is not some action which the world can produce without a third party enabling them to do so. For the believer it is simply employing what we already possess in Christ. You can't utilize what you don't have. You can't put off that which is who you are. And you can't put on unless it has been given to you by someone else.

This is why the best the world can do is to change the behavior of a person through altering your mind-set. What God does is to go quantum leaps beyond that by changing the person himself, not just the behavior. We're not just given a new lease on life, we're given a brand new life.

And with that life in Christ we're given the ability to walk in the fruit of that life. God never expects anything of us unless He enables us to accomplish His will. This is why we've been given the Holy Spirit of God who is always with us to strengthen, encourage and equip us for works of service to God's glory.

Most of us, at different times in our lives, have concluded that there is no way we can serve or represent God as He desires because of trials or tribulations that are going on in our lives. We've all thought that certain temptations are more than we can handle.

And yet what Paul has been telling us is that that could not be further from the truth. We are not simply asked to live a new life, we are given the power and the life which we did not formerly possess outside of Christ. In Christ we are more than conquerors. That is not some Christian cliche to create a positive attitude.

That is the truth of what we possess. To be a conqueror is one thing, to be more than conquerors is to be assured that there is nothing in this world which can keep us from representing our God who has called us to Himself.

And so, when we are asked to put off or lay aside the old self, Paul wants us to know that it is well within our ability in the new life we have in Christ. The same is true of putting on the new self. In the power of the Spirit we can accomplish that which God commands.

But, putting off and putting on are things we must actively be involved in. God will not do it for us. He wants our wills to be involved. He wants our love for Him to be involved. And so it is an act of our wills to the degree that we make a conscious choice for God by faith.

Again, some will say, 'I can't do that.' And yet, that is essentially telling God that He has not given us what we need in Christ to accomplish the task, which is to make Him a liar.

Listen to what Paul tells the Colossian church in COL 3:8 "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."

There is no way Paul could command this unless he fully expected God to be faithful to Himself to enable us to overcome these things which are of the flesh. God has a vested interest in us to become conformed into the image of His Son. Why would He ask something of us and then not provide the means to accomplish it?

But how do we put off and put on? First, we must realize that there is something to put off. If we think that the old life has no power or ability to cripple us then we've already lost the battle. If we think that the enemy can't tempt us or that we're above temptation we've opened the door for deception.

This is why John wrote in 1JO 1:8 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."

So, we must all start with the understanding that we have something to put off, namely the nature we were born with into this world. Does this mean that we will ever put it off completely in this world? I'm sorry to say that there is no way that will happen in this world completely.

But, that should never keep us from moving in that direction. We were born with a sinful nature and it will never be fully vanquished in practice until this flesh dies and the old nature with it. And so, what Paul wants us to do is to realize that the old nature will continue to raise its ugly head time and again in our lives.

But, he doesn't want us submitting to its desires. Its desires are some of what Paul brought up in the portion we just saw in Colossians. It desires to be angry. It desires to slander and to react in rage together with using filthy language and so on.

We know when we're acting in the flesh. And by the way, that's a good thing to the extent that we're still sensitive to what grieves the Spirit. But, with the realizing that's it's fleshly we must then begin to put off those things which would dishonor our Lord.

And this is where it's important to realize that putting off and putting on are two sides of the same coin. As believers we have two natures. We have a fleshly nature which desires to please self and we have a new life in Christ which wants to please our God and love Him with lives of obedience.

And these two natures are at war. The question we must face is, what master will we serve in this war? Paul says in ROM 6:14 "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."

Free from what? Free from the penalty of sin and its power. Again, if this were not so Paul could not have said to the Christians in Rome, "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. (ROM 6:12-13)

You see, Paul is saying that since we have been brought from death to life we now have the ability to live in that life, and we have the ability in the power of the Spirit to offer the parts of our body to Christ as instruments of righteousness.

And that's where putting off and putting on are in a sense simultaneous works, realizing that there will never be a day when we can rest from putting off, and we can never assume that putting on must be approached without diligence and discipline.

O.K. So, putting off is making a conscious choice not to offer ourselves to the temptations of this world which the flesh wants to naturally seek after. It is realizing what sinful behavior is and it is making that choice to walk away from it. But, we must then put on the righteousness of Christ and His new life in the sense that we choose His way instead of our own.

But, what is the actual process? Again, we don't live in a vacuum. We are constantly bombarded with temptations found in this world and we are constantly having to put off those desires to walk in the flesh.

God's solution to walking in this new life we have in Christ is to opt for His will when we are tempted. And to be able to do that we must be feeding ourselves and being nourished in a way where we are spiritually strong.

Michael Jordan is doing an ad. on T.V. where he implies that if you want to have the strength and the stamina to be a good athlete you better, "eat your Wheaties."

What we feed ourselves, spiritually speaking, will have a direct effect on our ability to put off and put on. This is what Paul is talking about in EPH 4:23 "to be made new in the attitude of your minds;..."

The NAS, together with the NKJV puts this verse, "that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind."

There has been a misnomer in certain segments of the church-at-large today, where it is acceptable to down-play doctrine. This is probably one of the most dangerous attitudes any Christian can have because if that is carried out we actually disarm ourselves when going into battle.

Suppose a Jehovah's witness, or a Mormon comes to your door and tells you that Jesus Christ is not God, but either an angel, or a little god. How do you respond unless doctrine is essential to our understanding of who Jesus Christ is?

Doctrine is just another word for teaching. Would we want to exclude the teachings of Jesus or Paul or any of the prophets or apostles? Would we want to go through life never knowing for certain that there is a right teaching and a wrong teaching concerning how we can have eternal life?

Does it make a difference that we share the gospel according to the teachings of Jesus? Of course it does. Because the wrong message kills. If we teach that you can be saved through any religious system, then are we being true to the teachings of Jesus Christ?

Peter's response is, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (ACT 4:12) That is sound doctrine.

If we teach that you can be saved by doing good works to earn your salvation, are we being true to the teachings of Jesus Christ? Paul answers that in this letter.

EPH 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -
9 not by works, so that no one can boast."

If we teach that it doesn't make any difference how you live your life after you come to faith in Christ are we being true the teachings of Jesus Christ? Again, Paul answers this in this letter.

EPH 1:4 "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight."

So, does it make any difference what kinds of teachings or doctrines we hold to? You bet it does! And so when Paul tells us to put on the new self as we renew our minds in Christ, he is saying that we must take the time to know what those teachings are and then to have those teachings, together with the Holy Spirit who gave us those teachings, shape our new lives in Christ to His glory.

You'll also notice that Paul speaks of renewing the spirit of our minds. To renew the mind suggests that there's a problem with the existing mind to some degree. And of course the existing problem is that our sin nature has fed our minds and our attitudes concerning how we view life and God.

I remember, when I was a teen-ager how my attitude toward God had been altered to a great degree. I was brought up in a religious home always fearing God because I was taught that it was through my good life that I would ultimately attain righteousness. Well, I knew my life was not without sin and so I figured I would end up in purgatory. In fact, I knew that's where I was going.

And since I knew I wasn't going to be good enough to get to heaven with the first team I might as well enjoy life and not feel guilty about it. But when you begin to harden your heart to the things of God it doesn't take long before the conscience begins to justify any and all ungodly behavior. What we don't feed our minds can be just as devastating as what we do feed our minds.

Now, how do you suppose we renew the spirit of our minds? Well, it begins by understanding that there is a need for this renewing, together with the hope that true renewal will begin to take place.

If we think that renewal is hopeless or that it doesn't make any difference what we are fed, then what ensues is snacking instead of eating what God wants us to eat. We might tune into a radio program and get some teaching periodically, or we might open the word of God using the kamikaze approach.

You know what the kamikaze approach is don't you? Yeah, it's opening your bible and closing your eyes and then taking your finger like a dive bomber and wherever you land is what you read. Some call that being led by the Spirit.

Now, I would never suggest that the Spirit of God couldn't direct you to a portion of Scripture He wanted you to read and study and meditate upon with that approach, but when Paul told Timothy to study to show himself approved he did not have this tactic in mind.

We must come to the word of God with the idea of not only hearing from God but also learning of God and appreciating more and more the salvation we have from His Son. This is why it's good to study the Scriptures in a systematic way. And by systematic I mean approaching the word of God with the express purpose of seeking out those teachings of God so that our minds might be renewed.

This can be done by pursuing a topic in the word of God like justification or sanctification. It can be done by doing what we do on a Sunday morning as we go verse by verse through the word of God. This is referred to as expository teaching. That just means that we take the time to go into detail concerning any particular passage, comparing Scripture with Scripture.

With this approach we try to do what is referred to as exegesis as opposed to eisogesis. Exegesis is explaining what the passage actually says, whereas eisogesis takes certain liberties with any passage and reads different things into it.

It would be the difference between taking the instructions for assembling a bicycle and following them word for word; that's exegesis, and taking those same instructions and feeling free to be creative with them, maybe leaving out step number 3 to get to step number 5, or interpreting those instructions according to your preconceived idea as to how a bicycle should be assembled; that's eisogesis.

We always want to know what God intended to say and not read something into His word. It's when we begin to take liberties with God's word by taking a passage out of context, for example, that we change what God intended to say.

And when we do that, we not only do not renew the spirit of our minds, we actually create an environment where we are deceived and invite the enemy to confuse us and keep us bound to the kind of teachings which cripple our ability to love and serve Christ and each other.

I'll give you an example. Suppose you were taught that Jesus Christ is not fully God as well as being fully man. How might this affect your walk with Christ? For one thing you could never depend on Him if He's not the Almighty God. You might despair, wondering if He could deliver you from temptation or from a particular trial you're experiencing.

But more important He could not be our Savior if He's not fully God and fully man, since only God can forgive us of our sin. Only God can live that perfect life in the flesh as the Son of God came into this world taking on flesh, and taking our place for sin on the cross.

GAL 6:14 "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

If we will discipline ourselves to read and study the word of God, like the Bereans in the book of Acts, we will find that not only will we grow in wisdom and knowledge, we will also find ourselves desiring to walk closer with our Lord as He encourages us from His word.

Set some time aside everyday to come to God in this way. Ask His Spirit to teach and comfort you as you open the word. And come to the word with the express purpose of not only learning but being a doer of the word.

When you read and study ask yourself questions like: what is the big picture with the passage I'm reading? In other words, what does the entire context say? Are there other portions of Scripture which address the passage I'm in to give me more insights?

Am I approaching the Scriptures with a pre-conceived idea as to what it should say, instead of letting the word of God speak for itself as the whole counsel of Scripture speaks to our hearts? We don't want to twist verses to mean something that might promote ungodliness as we justify sin instead of fleeing from it.

We might also ask ourselves questions that have to do with areas of our lives that God wants to change. If we come to a hard passage that addresses such an area, do we rush past it or do we listen to what God says and then act on it as we seek His grace and strength?

When God speaks of renewing our minds He doesn't simply mean the grey matter between our ears. He speaks of the intellect as well as the heart and the will. Are we approaching the Scriptures only to gain knowledge or are we approaching them with both our intellects and hearts as we desire to not only hear from God but then to act on those things He teaches?

If we will not approach God's word in these ways then we will not find our minds and lives being renewed to glorify God. But, if we're willing to hear from God and obey we will find that the old nature is not as enticing as it once was.

ROM 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

That's what we want; to please our God and walk according to His will. And we have the promise that God will do it. Unfortunately, we become impatient and give God a time-table. 'God if you don't take this desire away then I must assume it's O.K. to continue in this fleshly practice.'

That is not God's will. It's not His faithfulness which can be called into question, it's ours. Are we willing to put off the old man as we put on the new? This can only be done as God has prescribed in His word.

Paul says in ROM 13:14 .... "clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

I like David's attitude seen in his prayer found in PSA 51:10 "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

Yes, we must seek earnestly to put off the old and put on the new, but never forget God's part.

EZE 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

Don't ever forget who you are in Christ. This is important in having an appreciation of so great a salvation. And this is the truth concerning how God views every one of His children.

2CO 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

Let's not live in the old, but as Paul says in our text, let us put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. (Eph.4:24).

The truth will set us free, and Christ has done that. Let's stay in the truth of God's word and walk as free people no longer bound to the sin which used to entangle us. God's grace and strength are more than sufficient to overcome any sin. It's just a matter of walking with Him as we walk away from those things which would drag us down as we thank our God for the forgiveness we have in Christ everyday.

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