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New Attitudes - Part 2

Be Made New

Ephesians 4v19-24

6th May 2016

In Ephesians 4v17-18, Paul insists that Christians must no longer live as the Gentiles do, explaining that Gentiles (Christians are no longer Gentiles) live in the futility of their thinking. He goes on to say that Gentiles are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. He then says:

Ephesians 4v19
Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

That may seem harsh to us. We all know non-Christian people who are rather "nice" people - gentle, inoffensive and kind. But I think Paul is writing about most Gentiles, not about absolutely all Gentiles. And in the Roman empire in the first century, there was a lot of sensuality, impurity and greed about, as any historian will tell you. And in British society today, not everybody is caught up in sensuality and impurity, but there is a lot of it about. Just watch television most evenings.

Older versions of the NIV translate full of greed as with a continual lust for more. And it's not just about sensuality. There are people who want more and more money, more and more cars, bigger and bigger houses, more friends, more fame, more power. But then, if you didn't know God, wouldn't you want to fill your emptiness with something? And you too would find that whatever you have isn't enough. The only thing that truly satisfies is a relationship with God.

Ephesians 4v20-24
That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 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; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Jesus Christ is the ultimate answer to our needs - not just our spiritual needs but also our emotional needs. The way of life we have learned, if our teachers are any good at all - is not to seek after more earthly goods, but to seek after a deeper relationship with Christ. And yet there remains within many of us a little bit of a desire own more things, to own newer, shinier, more expensive, more luxurious things, to be more popular, to have more power. Paul says, put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.

And Paul says more than this. He says, be made new in the attitude of your minds. Don't just change what you think; change how you think. Change your priorities. What do you most desire? What do you invest your time and effort in? I hope what we most desire is the kingdom of God. I hope what we really want is to know Christ really well. To sense His presence. To hear Him when he speaks. To respond when He prompts. It's that far more wonderful than any earthly possessions?

You, dear Christian, are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5v17). You've been born again (John 3v3, 67; 1 Peter 1v23). You've been created to be like God. How's that for a self-image? God has decided to form His character in each of us, so that we'll be loving like He's loving, we'll be generous and sacrificial like He is. That's an ambition that's truly worthwhile!