Paul warned the Ephesians to no longer live in sin as they had before their conversions. This alienated them from God. This devotion looks at why we sometimes return to a sinful lifestyle and resources we can acquire to strengthen our relationships with God.
Nuggets
- When we become believers, we will have different priorities than we did before becoming a believer.
- We’ve got to have God as our moral compass.
- Upon conversion, the physical life or darkness should decrease its pull.
Starting at the beginning of this chapter, Paul told the Ephesians how to put into practice what he had told them in the first three chapters. He started out talking about different gifts God has given his people: apostles, prophets, evangelists, preachers and teachers.
In these verses, it seems like Paul has taken a wild turn. He is talking about either going back to or not changing from the nonbeliever way of living their lives.
Let's Put It into Context
Remember, we are talking about Ephesus here. It was one of the largest cities of the ancient world. It was a commercial city, being on several trade routes and having its own harbor. It also was home to the temple of Diana and all the pagan culture that went with it.
Those who had formerly embraced that culture were probably struggling with change needed to be made to live as God wanted them to live. It would have been very easy for them to revert back to their old way of living.
Watch How We Live
“Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds” (Eph. 4: 17 RSV)
But Paul could affirm that lives could be changed. He was living proof. He had the testimony to back it up.
When we become believers, we will have different priorities than we did before becoming a believer. Then, we probably wanted to climb the corporate ladder, find happiness in possessions, and bask in our accomplishments.
Now, we want to become disciples. We want to spend time with our Heavenly Father, learning more about Him. We want to live the lives He has called us to live.
The Disciple’s Job Description
To access the complete job description, click the button below.
The phrase “… in the futility of their minds” (Eph. 4: 17 RSV) is an interesting one. Many of the translations say futility — either of the mind or thoughts. Others say, “… hopelessly confused” (NLT) or “… vanity …” (KJV).
The Good News Translation has an interesting take. “In the Lord’s name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless” (Eph. 4: 17 GNT).
The Contemporary English Version gets downright harsh. “As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people” (Eph. 4: 17 CEV).
Whoa! Isn’t that strong wording?
What Paul was saying is that some of the Ephesians were pursuing the empty ways of the world. The were going back to being enslaved by the devil.
Look at it this way. They were now disciples of Jesus. They had given their lives over to God to be changed.
But they hadn’t changed, really. Yes, they may be attending church more or praying before eating (even in a restaurant).
Still, they hadn’t completely given themselves over to God. They were keeping some of their pet moral sins.
We’ve got to have God as our moral compass so we are not pulled back into the sinful lifestyle. We’ve got to look different than those in the world.
Yes, that can be difficult. We open ourselves up to ridicule and harassment when we live as Jesus would.
We have to obey God’s laws and commandments. If we don’t, we wreck our witness.
Alienated from the God
“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” (Eph. 4: 18 RSV)
Upon conversion, the physical life or darkness should decrease its pull. We now know of the spiritual life or Light, which will last for a far longer time than this transient physical life.
Unfortunately, it didn’t for some of the Ephesians. It sometimes happens to us, too.
But let’s start at the beginning.
We know sin separates us from God. “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (Isa. 59: 2 ESV). Iniquities is another word for sin.
Who have sinned? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3: 23 ESV). It is critical for us to rectify that because “… the wages of sin is death …” (Rom. 6: 23 ESV).
Fortunately, God provided the way to fix that. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2: 8 NKJV).
To read a devotion in the Foundations of Salvation series, click the appropriate button below.
But we are still here in our physical bodies. God doesn’t just throw a switch and we sin no more.
Our continuing to sin separates us from God. It keeps us from having the right relationship with God.
It could have some really nasty consequences. “For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries” (Heb. 10: 26-27 HCSB).
Sometimes, we can claim ignorance about not knowing about needing a Savior. We talked about this in the last devotion, where Jesus told Pharisees they now had to make a choice because they were no longer ignorant.
But we can’t claim that if we have already admitted our sins, believed that Jesus should be our Savior and Redeemer, and confessed God as our Sovereign Lord. If we are pulling back from that, it means we have hardened our hearts to Him.
If we have a hardness or blindness of the heart, we are past feeling — past caring. It is hard to change someone’s mind when they don’t care one way or the other.
Being uncaring about spiritual matters takes the filter away. We could end up committing some serious sins that have serious consequences, especially since the sinning is deliberate.
Given to Licentiousness
“they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness” (Eph. 4: 19 RSV)
This is the sad part. They “… have given themselves up …” (Eph. 4: 19 RSV). It was deliberate. It was intentional.
Licentiousness is an everyday word, right? Not.
Let’s see how the other translations handled this word. The word was translated sensitivity (NIV), lustful pleasure (NLT), sensuality (ESV, NASB), lewdness (NKJV), lasciviousness (KJV), vice (GNT), and promiscuity (CSB, HSCSB).
We’ve talked a couple of times about Paul’s list of sins. They are found in Galatians 5: 19-21, Ephesians 5: 3-6, and I Corinthians 6: 9-10. A partial list includes sexual immorality, impurity, homosexuality, idolatry/covetousness, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, greed, drunkenness, filthiness, and all impurity. Did you see that a couple of them deal with sexual sins?
Part of it was fueled by greed. The churchy word is covetousness. The Ephesians wanted more than they had.
Whatever the reasons, the result was all kinds of sin. Sometimes, we sin because we have become hardened to the sin.
Making the Connections
What God is looking for people with a clean heart. He is looking for people who are willing to ask Him to be their Sovereign God.
God knows that Satan is going to try to throw big obstacles in our way. He wants to knock us away from loving and serving God.
How Do We Apply This?
How do we make sure we don’t get off track? We make sure our relationship God is strong.
I am in a couple of Christian blogger groups. Here are some links you can use to access resources developed by these bloggers to grow in your faith.
Resources for Growing Our Faith
Almighty Father. You have called us to live pure lives. That is very hard to do in these sinful bodies. Lord, forgive us when we slip and follow the ways of this world. Lord, we pray that we do not do this intentionally. We know, though, there are times that we do. Convict us of our sins so that we may confess them to You. Strengthen us as we seek You. Show us the lives we are to live in You. Amen.
What do you think?
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