EPHESIANS 4:17-19 WALK NO LONGER LIKE THE UNSAVED

Eph 4:17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

 I. THE ADMONITION (17-24)

A.  NO LONGER WALK LIKE THE REST OF THE GENTILES... (17-19)

The issue here is the mind, the whole issue here is how you think.

Look for example at verse 17, it ends with “the mind,” verse 18 begins, “the understanding,” verse 18 also talks about ignorance. Then as you come down to verse 20 you have the word “learned,” and in verse 21 you have the word “taught,” and in verse 23 the word “mind” again. In other words this whole thing of learning and teaching and mind and knowing as opposed to ignorance, the mind is the issue, the, the point being this, now here's the key, Christians think different than pagans, " Pr 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. ". We've got to think different, and when we think different we will act different. Salvation first of all is a change of mind, it is a new thinking process. Unsaved people can't think right.

Salvation is a change of mind. A new thinking process. He says it in verse 20, "You have not so learned Christ." And we have told you enough about that so you understand that Christianity is mental, before it's experiential. It is a thinking that draws us to God. We think different about our sin than we used to think, we think different about God than we used to think, we think different about Christ than we used to think, we think different about what we ought to do with our life than we used to think and a new thinking process brings us to salvation, and salvation is a change of mind. That's really what the word repentance means, to change your mind, new thinking process. So, the pagan thinks one way and we think another way. Now how does a pagan think? Well he's got some problems.

 He shows us four elements of pagan thinking.

1.    They walk "in the futility of their mind"

First is self-centeredness, and you could also call it useless thinking, but let's call it self-centered.

2.                   Which leads to "ignorance that is in them"

Ignorance here surely does not refer to one’s intelligence. Neither does ignorance seem to refer to what one does not know. Ignorance, as Paul uses the term, refers to the “knowledge” which unbelievers possess, in which they place their trust, and from which they base their actions.

Because of such ignorance they are "alienated from the life of God

        C. It starts with the "hardening of their heart"

Their being insensitive to God and His ways

               And the better word is hardness of heart. Because man willfully is alienated from God, willfully ignorant and willfully hardens his heart he gets his understanding darkened judicially by a sovereign God.

3.        They are shameless. One thing about pagans, when they continue in sin and they turn themselves off from the life of God they will become shameless, verse l9, "Who being past feeling." They just don't feel anymore, apathetic, insensitive, they don't care. There are no standards, they don't care what the consequences are. They don't mind shocking people. Their whole processes of thought are just destroyed.

4.        Which finally results in what we could call borrowing a term from Romans 1 a reprobate mind.

        Shameless thinking people, leads to shameless action. First of all, center on yourself, that's where it starts, pagan, centers on himself, all his own things, his own attitude. Centering on himself in his useless, purposeless, pointless existence he turns God off and then he begins the hardening process that hardens him against God and pretty soon he has no sense of shame, he'll say anything, do anything he can get away with, the only ethic becomes, can you get away with it?.  

      "work all uncleanness with greediness"

         -- Desensitized, they seek after ever-increasing forms moral depravity - cf. Ro 1:18-32

The word work is very interesting, it is a word that means business, it, it, it can mean actually business, they make a business out of uncleanness

 Lessons: 1. We are to be different, unique and set apart.

2. We don’t need a list, we know what is wrong  - Ro 14:23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. If in doubt, cut it out