The Clothing of a Christian (Ephesians 4:17–24)

In Ephesians 4:17–24, Paul gives a tremendous contrast between the life of sin and the life of a believer. In this study, we step back and look at an overview of the entire passage and examine four key aspects we must keep in mind if we are to wear the clothing of a Christian.

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Key Passage: Ephesians 4:17–24

Therefore this I say, and testify in the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their mind, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart. And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way— if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus— to lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
– Ephesians 4:17–24

Paul’s Great Contrast

Summaries

• Kenneth S. Wuest – “That you have put off once for all with reference to your former manner of life the old man which is being corrupted according to the passionate desires of deceit; moreover that you are being constantly renewed with reference to the spirit of your mind; and that you have put on once for all the new man which after God was created in righteousness and holiness of truth.” ⁽¹⁾
• Frank Thielman – “In 4:17–24, Paul says that the lives of his readers should reflect the dramatic transformation that has taken place in them at their conversion. They should no longer live in a way that speaks of the confusion, demonic control, and despair that characterize those who are estranged from the life God provides. They should instead live in ways that show their thinking is continually being renewed spiritually and that reveal their re-creation in the image of a God who is righteous and holy.” ⁽²⁾

4 Aspects of the Clothing of a Christian

1. Consequence (Thinking drives action which determines the outcome)

• Our thinking determines our actions
• The thinking of an Unbeliever – 
  • Thinking (corrupt, futile, self-focused, darkened)
  • Actions (impure, sinful)
  • Consequence (alienated from the life of God)
• The thinking of a Christian
  • Thinking (renewed in the spirit of your mind)
  • Actions (righteousness and holiness)
  • Consequence (greater intimacy with God)

2. Communion (Sharing in the life of Christ)

• » I will either be clothed with sin or I will be clothed with Christ
• Peter Thomas O’Brien – “The picture of putting off and putting on a garment was widespread in the ancient world and was employed in the mystery religions with reference to the act of initiation. The donning of the garment consecrated the initiate so that he or she was filled with the powers of the cosmos and shared in the divine life. In Gnostic texts putting on the garment indicated that the redemption had come, a redemption that would subsequently be perfected. But the background of the expression ‘putting off the old man’ and ‘putting on the new man’ was neither Gnosticism nor the mystery religions. In the Old Testament the notion of being clothed with moral and religious qualities is found, examples being strength (Isa. 51:9; 52:1), righteousness (Ps. 132:9; Job 29:14), majesty (Ps. 93:1), honour (Ps. 104:1; Job 40:10), and salvation (2 Chron. 6:41).” ⁽³⁾
• Paul takes it to another level and says we are to “put on” God Himself (Jesus)

3. Completion (Finished Work)

• Yes, continual sanctification but there is a “finished” or “once and for all” aspect to the “put off” and “put on”
• Renewed: present tense (continual-ongoing action)
• Put off / Put on: aorist tense
  • Focus is not on “when” as much as the action itself
  • Denotes a complete or whole action
  • The line in the sand has been drawn
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) – Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

4. Counterfeit (You can’t fake the clothing of a Christian)

• Sure you can “fake” the world around you … but in the end all things will be revealed
• WWJD
  • Parrots (“What would humans do”) can mimic but are still not a human
  • I can mimic but I can’t live godly out of myself … I need Jesus
• Flesh can only produce flesh
  • Which is why the flesh must be crucified

• Ian Thomas – “It is not difficult for man to live the Christian life,” somebody once said, it is a sheer impossibility!” A sheer impossibility, that is, without CHRIST. … The Christian life can only be explained in terms of Jesus Christ, and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you—your personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your money, your courage, your scholarship, your dedication, your sacrifice, or your anything—then although you may have the Christian life, you are not yet living it! If the way you live your life as a Christian can be explained in terms of you, what have you to offer to the man who lives next door? The way he lives his life can be explained in terms of him, and so far as he is concerned, you happen to be “religious” ­ but he is not! “Christianity” may be your hobby, but it is not his, and there is nothing about the way you practice it which strikes him as at all remarkable! There is nothing about you which leaves him guessing, and nothing commendable of which he does not feel himself equally capable without the inconvenience of becoming a Christian! It is only when your quality of life baffles the neighbors that you are likely to impress them! It has got to become patently obvious to others that the kind of life you are living is not only commendable, but that it is beyond all human explanation! That it is beyond the consequences of man’s capacity to imitate, and however little they may understand this, clearly the consequence only of God’s capacity to reproduce Himself in you! In a nutshell, this means that your fellow-men must become convinced that the Lord Jesus Christ of whom you speak, is essentially Himself the ingredient of the Life you live! ⁽⁴⁾
• John 15:1–5 – I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He cleans it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

• Job description of the branch: abide in the LIFE of the vine!
  • branches cannot bear life on their own 
  • I can’t produce godliness on my own

Ian Thomas: You can’t, but He never said you could. He will, and He always said He would.

Practical (Application)

• Have you actually put on the Lord Jesus Christ?
• Is His life (righteousness, holiness, and … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control) evident in you?
• What areas of your life are counterfeit?

FOOTNOTES

(1) Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 111–112.
(2) Frank Thielman, Ephesians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010), 307.
(3) Peter Thomas O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), 327.
(4) Ian Thomas, The Mystery of Godliness (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2015)

Photo Credit: Prixel Creative

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In Our Next Study Together …

I invite you to join me on this journey from the book of Ephesians to discover God’s eternal purpose, His plan for your life, and learn how to practically live out an abundant and fruitful Christian life. 

• The focus of our next study: Ephesians 4:25–32
  • We are going to look at an overview of our next section of Ephesians where Paul looks at the practicals of what we are to put off and put on.
  • I encourage you to read through Ephesians a couple of times this week and focus specifically on Ephesians 4.