As Paul the
apostle shared with the Ephesians the difference between those who
“believe” “the truth is in Jesus” and those who do
not, he gave them two conditions for “learning Christ” -
“hearing Him” and “being taught by Him”. In
chapter four and verse twenty-two of his letter, Paul told the
Ephesians to “put off the former life” where we read:
That you
put off concerning the former conversation the old man,
which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
The
verse begins, “That you put off concerning the former
conversation the old man,...” Paul
began with the phrase,
“that you put off”
or “that the Ephesian church members would “put away, cast off,
lay apart and aside” “concerning”
which means “down from, through out, according to, toward and
along” “the former”
or “before, prior
and previous” “conversation”
which means “manner of life, conduct, behavior and deportment”
“the old” or
“ancient, worn by use and worse for wear”
“man” which refers
to “human being whether male or female”. Paul called for the
Ephesians to “cast off” their “prior life and manner of
living”.
The
verse continues, “...which is corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts;” Paul added, “which is corrupt” or
“destructive, destroyed, leads away a Christian church from that
state of knowledge and holiness in which it ought to abide or
perished” “according to” which means “down from,
through out, toward and along” “the deceitful” or
“seducing to sin, delusion and deceivable” “lusts” which
means “desires, cravings and longings for what is forbidden”. The
“former life” of the Ephesians was filled with “desires
and cravings” which were prohibited for the Christian and should
not be a part of their current life.
When
we think through these words of Paul, we understand how important it
is for Christians to live differently than the “pagan” world. The
“old life” lived before people know Christ must be “put
away” and “forsaken”. If it is not, there is no distinction
between those who believe in Jesus and those who do not. We must
leave our “old way of living” behind, and conduct ourselves
according to the way Jesus wants us to live. There should be no
evidence of “deceitful lusts” which “corrupt” in
the Christian's life, and when our “former life” begins to
creep back in, may the Lord Jesus through His Holy Spirit make us
aware of our “backsliding”.
Next
time Paul tells the Ephesians to “be renewed in the
spirit of” their
“minds”, so read ahead, and
we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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