Ephesians 4: 17-19 (Don’t live in your former ways!!!)

            Summary:  Paul now gives his reason why the church in Ephesus, as well as all people, should push onward to growing in unity and holiness.  He is passionate that the Ephesians not fall back into their old ways and live as though they were still in ignorance, partaking in all acts of the flesh.

            Note: The word for ignorance means lack of knowledge.

Timeless Principle:  Paul is now essentially commanding the Ephesians to stop being who they used to be.  Paul is intense about this, he means no games.  He is demanding an action of following hard after Christ, not a petty lounging causing a hard falling away from Christ which is the opposite of our goal as Christians. 

Here we see that we should never submit to our former ways.  It is of the upmost importance.  Our accent towards holiness is marked by a hard fought effort to furthermore become like Christ, because this is what Christ desires.  He gave himself so that he might purify for himself a people for his own possession that is zealous for good works (Titus 2).  Paul exhorts these things in the very name that is above all names.  His tone here suggests an intense declaration of war against us.  Never shall we submit to glorifying ourselves, furthermore robbing God of His rightfully deserved glory in direct opposition of the purpose he set forth for mankind in love. 

Paul is careful to note a wide category of the things that we should put off here as he does throughout his letters.  He accuses, and rightfully so, those who are outside of the covenant of promise given by the blood of Christ of “giving themselves to every kind of impurity.”  Though this statement is amazing on its own, the accusation extends even further than this.  Paul says that they have given themselves over to their passions and they are “greedy” continue to practice and even seek out all kinds of impurity.  This is how we were before a divine heart transplant occurred.  Now because God revealed himself to us we look at these impurities as dirty and detestable but yet in the darkness we hastily retreat to take refuge in them instead of intensifying our efforts of all-out war against them.  The games that the Ephesians might have been playing here, much like the ones we play when no one is watching us are sickening and demand an action of death.  Paul warns of their consequences in Romans 1 in mentioning that those who repeatedly practice these things with blatant disregard have an action waiting for them, “they will be given over” to their desires by God.  This is a scary thought.  God has not called fence riders or fair-weather Christians.  He has called a people for his own possession.  So stop bickering and pursue hard after God being built into a “holy temple of the Lord.”