Now, Paul says, "I don't want you going back and walking like you used to walk as a pagan, as a Gentile." he is talking to Gentile. Let's read the text together in Ephesiand 4:17-19;
"This i say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentile also walk, in the Futility of their mind, being in their understanding, excluded 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, haven given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. In verse 17 when he says, "I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that is a powerful statement. Paul want to emphasize here that this is some serious stuff that he is to tell us. So he says, "I say it to you with the Lord or in the Lord." in other words, "pay close attention to what i am about to tell you," he wants them to see that Christianity is radically different from the way the world lives. These people had come out of the world the temptation is always to go back to where we have come from. Paul says," Oh no" he has given us a picture of what the Christian life is all about, being strengthened in his inner man by the Spirit of God. Now he is saying, "Don't go back live differently. It is a radically different lifestyle that you have now as a believer." even though we have been delivered from the power of sin, we still have a problem we have to deal with. Look in (1Peter 2:11). There is something we all have to deal with, and the Bible call it the flesh. Of course, as long as we have human bodies, we must deal with it. It's always tends to pull as back to the place we came out of. Read in (verse11).
"Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust, which wage war against soul." in those two words you find out where there are "fleshly" they have to do with my body, and they are called "lusts". Those lusts want to pull me back to the world that i have come out of.
Remember, spirituality is a pursuit, not an arrival. The moment I stop pursuing Him, guess what i am pursuing? I am letting the flesh dictate my life. There are fleshly lusts we have to deal with. So Paul is saying, "Don't go back and live like you need you used to live. Be careful. There is a tendency like a magnet which is pulling you backs to live after the flesh."
Look over in (James 1:13). Remember sin is missing the mark and when you miss the mark, that means you have not obey God. When you obey Him in power of the spirit, you always hit the mark. Righteousness is the result. When you don't obey Him and listen to the to your flesh look out in (James1:13).he said "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone." the word "temptation" there is the peirazo. Let me give you my definition of that. I think all decisions, all trials that we go tbrough are neutral, but in every one of them God had something He wants to teach us, reveal to us. That is what He is doing, He us testing me. He doesn't tempt me for evil. The old tempted comes along out of
(Matthew 4). And tempted us unto evil. Satan get involved of course, the world is his playground and the world is his pulpit. Therefore, when i am in a very difficult time and i have to majr a decision between my flesh and spirit it is very obvious that i am in a time of Peirazo. I am in a trial. The devil is putting me one way, and God is pulling me the other way. It says in verse 14 of James 1 "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." The apostle Paul is warning them: "Look out, Look out, you come out of the world." Ephesus was the most wicked place you find on thr face of this earth these young Christians had to live in the midst of all of that wickedness he is saying, 'listen, dont you dare go back to it. You have come out if it. Now be strengthened in the inner man by the power of God.
What is Sin? Sin is missing mark. Sin is when you obey the flesh. Sin will take you further than you ever wanted to stray cost you more than you ever dreamed you would pay, and keep you longer than you ever you though you would stay. Don't ever forget that Paul is encouraging them to a life of holiness
He is saying, "you had better watch out. You had better not to go back and live ad the Gentile lived." He is going to show them first of all how not to walk. Then he is going to show them to walk. Paul is speaking to the Gentile. Look in Ephesians 1:1 "for this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake you Gentile. This is a very significant term because it says in the old Testament that Israel is not numbered among the nation. Israel had the nature of Adam in them, but they werr not numbered among the Gentile nations. The Gentile nation are very important to understand. As far as i can tell they were formed in genesis 11. They tried to build the tower of babel over there in babylon. God remembered babylon. Remember that in revelation? When He did, He had to scatter them and changes their language. That is when the nation began to form with different language and people scattered over the face of the earth.
In Ephesians 2:12 look at what he says about Gentile. "Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in thr world." He is saying the Gentile world has no clue about God, Jesus or anything to do with the gospel. Paul mission was to get the gospel to these people these Gentile who were living in such detestable ways, look in (verse 3:8).Paul says, "to me the very least of all saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ." the Ephesians believer he was writing were part of the ones who had been shown the light, had understood and believed in (verse 2:13). He says, "But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off (Gentile) have been brought near by the blood of Christ. So he is speaking about Gentile, remembering israel is not numbered among the nations. Yes, all men have the nature of Adam in them and they born separated from God. Think with me for a second, these represented generation after generation of people with no clue of the gospel, no clue about God, and no clue about Jesus Christ. Think how depraved tbey had become by the tome Paul is given the commission to take gospel to the Gentile world. Lets see how Paul describes the way the Gentile nation, pagan people lived at that time. They still live that way today. It is in (verse 17). "This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the Futility of their mind." the word "Walk" there refers to the way they lives the world "Futility" is the word that means emptiness, vanity, the term "mind" id the word that refers to the mind and ability to understand, the intellect. They cannot understand spiritual truth. The way the pagan world think is totally foriegn to God and to the world. The world out there not have any ability to understand God. Sometimes we get overwhelmed with all the immorality in our world. Friend, when sinners stop sinning that is when you need to get overwhelmed. They don't know the difference. They do not know God. They dont have the ability to intellectually concieve of God. They don't understand. Look back in (Roman 8:20). Paul uses that word Futility" to describe tbe disappointing misery of the world of nature as a result of the curse. When Adam sinned it didn't just affect Adam, it affect to the whole. Roman 8:20 says "for the creation wad subjected to futility [emptiness vanity], not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it." in other words, when Adam sinned. It didnt just bring a curse upon himself it brought a curse upon all of nature. That is why they groan, waiting for the revelation of the sons of God, as the passage goes a to talk about.
In (2 Peter2:17-18). Peter uses that word "futility to mean emptiness, no ability to understand. He is describing false teachers, He say in (verse 17). " These are springs without water and mist, driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires by sensuality, those who barely edcape from the ones who lives in error." the word" vanity" there is the same word. So we see it applied different ways we see it applied to nature in their disappointing result of man's sin and we also see it applied to false Teacher. It is an emptiness, an inability to understand God.
Let's go back to our text the reason their mind are empty of any understanding of spiritual truth because their minds are darkened. I think that is a very, very interesting thing that he is telling us here.
Ephesians 4:18 says, "being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart." "Darkened" is in the perfect passive tense. When you have the perfect tense, something in the past that is bearing a present result. So they hzve been darkened. It id not so much that they did it themselves. Yes, something they did caused it, but they have been darkened, they can't understand. It tefers to the fact that their ability to understand has been darkened, and they are in a state of darkness. The word "understanding" is dianoia, which is a wird that means intellect again. It is almost the same ability to understand. Think about this when you think of the world. When you go to school next week, when you go to work next week, you are walking out into this. The Gentile nation, the world, has no ability on their own to understand has been darkened. As a result, they live totally unacceptable lives. So when we go out into darkness, among people with darkened mind, we are not to allow our flesh to pull us back to the way we used to live. They are living a detestable lifestyle they are a generation after generation of people who don't have a capacity to even understand God. These is one thing i want you to get in your mind.
"being Darkened" has the idea that God darkened them, but remember this they would not, so therefore, they could not. It isnot a matter of God being a mean God, and just darkened them, no, He knows the hearts of of all men and nations who have turned against him. He knows that it began with Adam and filteted down through tbe nations and because of tbat, they have been unwilling to bow to him. Therefore, God has derived their minds. In reality, it is their own unwillingness that has brought tve darkness upon them. Read again Ephesians 4:18 continue and say, "being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God [alienated from God], because of the ignorance that is in them, becausr of the hardness of heart." That is what i wanted you to see. The ignorance is there for a reason. It is because of the hzrdness of their heart that the ignorance is there. A person who won't believe can't believe, and he is therefore, rendered unable to understand the truth of God. They live in a state of being alienated because they have hardened their heart. Look in (John 3:19-20). Jesus said this whe came. "Andthis is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be expose." Look in (Roman1:5). And you will find almost the exact same thing. Paul say in Ephesians. Paul is writing to Gentiles." through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith all the Gentile, for His name sake. " now look at (Roman 1:15-18). "Thus for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed in other words, you keep putting layer upon layer of other things over it until finally you don't even recognize it that is what the world has been doing for generations.
Read (Roman 1:19). Goes on "because that which is known about, God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. It is not as if they don't have a clue. They don't want it. Because tvey don't want it. They are alienated and their heart are hardened. Read (Roman 1:20).
All of this as a result of men not wanting God in their lives. Paul is saying, "listen guys, they are still out there over the generation it has gotten worse and worse and worse. When you go out there, don't you go back and live like they lives, Oh! No, you live on a higher plain. God made himself evident to them. When i was trying to track all of this back, i was thinking, was there a time when all the nation just rejected God? It goes to go back to Adam! Because of (Ephesians 4:18). It goes back to Adam. Remember Adam was created by God His own image and like. He's God ambassador here on earth to take dominion, read (Psalm 2:1-2) but Eve was deceived by the Devil the serpent seed was with cain. Watch Ophirian Tv. the serpent seed was in boat, the story of Noah. The "flood." from Adam to Abraham (Genesis 5:1-32; 10.1-32; 11.10-26). Adam was the father of Seth, the Bible didn't tell Adam was the father of cain. Ham the Father of canaan.
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