Page 128 - Ephesians

If you listen with a spiritual ear, you know that I’m not encouraging
compromise in any way. I’m not promoting this false idea of
ecumenism, where we all get together in one big church. We are
one in Christ. That’s what we are to see. I’m not encouraging
that you lower your standards in any way, and make room for sin.
No! I’m not saying that. I’m just saying what the Spirit of God is
saying in the verse,
“Be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of
peace, until we all attain to the unity of the faith.”

That’s Responsibility #1

Studying EPHESIANS to Know God

Chapter 23 Put Off the Old 4:17-24

Responsibility #2 brings us to chapter 4:17-24. The second
spiritual foundation. You can see what God is doing in this
section. He’s contrasting the way the gentiles walk, excluded
from the life of God, with the way the Christian walks, in union
with Christ. You see, verses 17-19, describe life without God.
Verses 20-24, describe how someone lives with Him. The
foundation we’re going to illustrate, revolves around the
expression, “The life of God”.

There’s so much doctrine squashed into these eight verses. Let
me try to unwrap it, and get it before your heart. Then I will state
the principle. Some call verses 22-24, “The doctrine of the old
man, and the new man”. The New American Standard calls it,
“The old self”, and “The new self”. Commentators differ
greatly on this passage. What’s, “The old man”? What’s, the
“New man”? There’s conflicting thoughts. When you come
upon truths that seem to contradict, ask the Lord to give you a
common denominator truth that can bind them together.

Bishop Moore wrote a wonderful classic on the book of
Ephesians. He says the “Old man” and the “New man” in