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On Sep 10, 2017: Ephesians 2-4 How To Change The Way You Walk · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017. Well, this morning I've titled the message, How to Change the Way You Walk. Let's see if I can get there. There we go. How to Change the Way that You Walk. Perfect. There we go. My iPad is not used to this. I apologize. Okay. How to Change... So there's, you know, some great things that are found in the book of Ephesus, Ephesians rather, of course. And one of the things that's always been noted is the structure of Ephesians. And that's really important for understanding what it is that Paul is writing to the Ephesians. That in chapters one through three, you have Ephesians. Paul really describing in great detail all that God has done for us. But then in chapters 4, 5, and 6, he gets to the practical side of how we should live, but there's the connection between the two. It's how we should live in response to God. all that God has done for us and all that we have in him and all that he has given to us in him. And so as we talk about changing the way that we walk this morning, I want to start out here in Ephesians chapter 2 and then we'll jump to Ephesians chapter 4 because you can't separate the two really. That first we need to understand what God has done in us in regards to our walk and And then we can talk about how to change our walk and live the life that God has called us to live. And so there's four points we'll look at as we look at these two chapters this morning. First, here in Ephesians 2, verses 1-7, the point is God delivered you from the walk of death. And so we read in verses 1-3 that, And you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others." And so before we get to the practical side of changing the way that we walk, we need to understand first what kind of walk we have as a result of what God has done for us. And so Paul introduces the subject in verse 1, and he lays out for us our condition before Christ. He says, you, and if you have the New King James Version, it says, he made alive, but it's italicized, which means that's not actually in the text. Literally, it just says, and you who were dead in trespasses and sins. And so Paul is, first of all, saying, first we need to recognize our condition apart from Christ. We were dead in trespasses and sins. That we had no life. We had no spiritual life. That the result of our sin had kept us in this condition of death. And that's where we were. We were dead. And in that deadness, he says in verse 2, we were walking... in sin. We were walking in that dead life and in those trespasses and sins according to the course of this world. And so we were walking on the path that this world walks on. We were walking on the path like everybody else in the world. It was a path of death, a path of trespasses, a path of sins. And the end result in verse 3, he tells us, we were by nature children of wrath just as the others. And so this is our natural condition. Dead, walking like everybody else in the world, in the same course as everybody else, in sin, in trespasses, and resulting in the necessity of and the deserving of God's wrath. And that is our natural condition. Paul tells us in Romans 6, 23, of course, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The wages of sin is death. That is the wages that we earn by living out this life, by walking in this course of sin and trespasses just like everybody else. It causes us to be nature's, I'm sorry, children of wrath by nature. But then Paul explains what God did in verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us. And so that's our condition. It's bleak. We are in the walk of death. We are deserving of wrath. We are, you know, headed towards destruction. That's where we are naturally. But then God intervenes. He steps in Because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, and he made us alive together with Christ. And Paul points out here, by grace you have been saved. The grace of God is at work in salvation, in intervening, in interrupting this natural flow. We were in with the rest of the world, you know, kind of running with the herd. If you picture, you know, maybe you like some zombie shows or movies or something, and the zombies, you know, kind of just... all grouped together, moving in the same direction. And that's how we were, you know, we're just, we're dead and just going in the same direction. But God intervenes. He breaks the flow, even when we were dead in our trespasses. And he made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places. And so God is breaking that natural flow. Because of his great love for us, he intervenes. Why? Well, because of his love. Because, not because, you know, we're so amazing, but because he's so amazing. Because of his great love for us, God intervened. And so we were dead, but he has made us alive. We were stuck in walking in the course of this world, and now he has seated us in the heavenlies. We were destined towards the destruction and the wrath that we deserve, but now we are promised eternity, and we're seated in the heavenlies, awaiting for the glories that God has in store for us. And to that, Paul spoke about it in verse 7. He says that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. So the work that God did in this intervention is so incredible that Paul says, for the ages to come. So that's talking about as we go into eternity and for the ages that are to come in eternity, He is going to be showing the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us. And so this work of intervention, this work of delivering us from the walk of death is so contrary to what we deserve, so contrary to what we could earn, that it's going to be on display for all of eternity as the amazing riches of his grace and his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. And so as we begin to consider how to change your walk, I just realized there's a typo there, how to change you walk. I will definitely fix that before second service because I can't let that go. How to change your walk. First of all, we need to understand that it was God who started this process, that it's God who delivers us and sets us free from to give us the opportunity to change our walk. That is, on our own, without God's intervention, there's no hope for us to change our walk. We're in that zombie pack. We're going along with the flow, stuck in the course of this world, storing up and incurring more and more wrath. But God, because of his great love for us, delivered us from the walk of death. He did the heavy lifting, you might say, that he did the regeneration. He broke in and gave us the opportunity to be delivered from that cycle, from that trap of continuing in that path of destruction. Well, moving on to verses 8 through 10, here we have point number two, and that is that God prepared good works for you to walk in. So not only did he intervene, break the flow, give you opportunity to have a new life, but then he prepared ahead of time a new life for you. In verse 8, Paul says, And so these are very familiar verses to us, but just appreciating them for a moment. By God's grace, we have been saved. That he intervened, not because of us, not because we've deserved it, not because of our goodness, not because of anything that we could do, but by grace, you have been saved. And grace is undeserved kindness. It's God's goodness towards us that we do not earn, cannot earn, could never deserve. It's God's riches at Christ's expense. It's another way to consider grace. It's God's riches towards us. It wasn't free. It's free to us. But it was at great expense, the expense of Jesus Christ dying upon the cross for our sin. And by grace, you have been saved. And then he goes on to say, through faith. And so it's by faith that we're able to receive this grace. And yet Paul points out that even that faith is not of yourselves, that the faith is a gift of God, that God is the one who enabled you and has given you a measure of faith that you would be able to believe God at his word and receive the grace that he offers to you. And then he goes on to say, it's not of works. And so it's not earned. It's not deserved. It's not, you know, our efforts that bring this salvation. It is the efforts of God from the beginning to the end. And then he says in verse 10, We are his workmanship, Paul says. This is all about the work of God, that it's his creation that we're talking about here and talking about our lives and who we are in this work of salvation. This word workmanship speaks about a work of art. You could think about it, and many times it's been referred to as a poem because the word is poema in the Greek. And so, you know, a poem is a work of art. But any type of artwork that you could consider and the effort that goes into it by the artist, you can understand that the work of art is not the work of the art, but it's the work of the artist. And in that same way, we are his workmanship. That your life and who you are and your character and your nature and everything about you is a part of his work. Not your efforts, but his efforts. It's his work of art. That's what you are. And he says that you were created in Christ Jesus for good works. So this work of art that God has created in you is good. Not just, you know, to be mounted on the wall and just sit there and do nothing. But there's a purpose. You're a work of art that has a function. You've been created for good works. You've been created for things that God has set before you. And he tells us that these good works in verse 10, God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And so there is this life that God has set before you. And it's God's work of art that who he has created you to be and the deliverance that he has brought in your life and the giftings that he's given to you and the work that he's accomplishing in you, the way that he's forming you and shaping you, it's all about his work masterpiece, his work of art that is you, and with the design of the life that he's laid ahead of you and the things that he has in store for you, these good works which God prepared beforehand. And so it's about God. God prepared good works for you to walk in. He has made the way. He has intervened and broken the flow of this path to destruction and given you life and called you out of that and formed you to be this masterpiece and set good works before you. But then notice at the end of verse 10, he says that we should walk in them. And so here we begin to see now there is the distinction between all the work that God has done, and then now the work that he calls us to do. And what is the work that he calls us to do? He calls us to walk in the things that he has prepared for us. He says that we should walk in them. And that word should is important because it indicates to us, Paul is not saying this is automatic. So in all of this talk about God creating us and forming us, He didn't do so in a way that we are now robotic and that we are programmed and that we just automatically do the good works that God has set before us. And we automatically experience the fullness of what God has designed us to be. There was back in the day, I'm sure, well, actually, it's still around, but I used to, when I was young... marvel at these adults who had thousands of dollars invested in computers and they primarily used them to play solitaire. And that was so frustrating to me as a poor kid who loved computers. And I was limited to, you know, the one that my dad bought, which was, it was a good one, but it wasn't, you know, as good as some of these others that people were having me come fix for them because they couldn't get their screensaver to say the right words that they wanted to say or whatever, you know. But, you know, primarily they used it for things that didn't need the power. It didn't need, you know, and, you know, similar today to other devices that we could consider that, that it's not using the full capacity of what it was designed for, right? And the same is true in our lives, that God has designed us for great capacity. We're works of art, but we oftentimes are not using this masterpiece that God has created to the full potential that he has created because there is the responsibility that we have. He's set it all up for us that we should walk in them, but that means it's not automatic, right? It's not done for us. And so there is the balance here of what God has done. And it's based upon the resources that God has provided, based upon the work that God has done, that we have the opportunity to walk and to change the way that we walk and to go forward in the things that God has called us to. And I know it's a little bit strange, but for some reason, it was just on my heart to illustrate it this way. So here's a bunch of rubber duckies. And I don't know if it makes you think about that song, rubber ducky, you're the one. But that's what I've been thinking about all week. So, but here we are, this sea of dead ducks. Paul says, you were dead in trespasses and sins. in which you once walked according to the course of this world. And here we are before Christ. We are in this sea of dead ducks and we're all going the same direction because, well, that's the course of this world. That's the current of, you know, the water that we're in. It's just, it's going down this path towards destruction. towards the wrath of God. And we are in this and there's, well, as a dead duck, there's no opportunity. There's nothing that we can do to change this. We can't go against the current. We can't, you know, change the direction. We're just stuck in this sea of dead ducks on this course, on this path to destruction. But God saw us there. He singled us out and he says, because of his great love, which he loved us. So here we are in this sea of dead ducks, but God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, he saw us, our condition, our need. And because of his love, he gave us the opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ. He gave us the opportunity of salvation. And in verse five, it says, when we were dead in trespasses and sins, he made us alive together with Christ. And so you have this transformation that has taken place. You're still amongst the rest of the dead ducks, but now you have life. He's made you alive together with Christ, right? But not only has he made you alive together with Christ, he's changed your direction. And no longer are you on the course to experience the wrath of God, but now you're seated in the heavenlies. You're on your way to eternity with him. And so this is the transformation that has taken place. And then he tells us in verse 10 that God has prepared a path before you. He's cleared the way, he's set things up so that you can live out the good works, the things that he has set before you. He has created in you a masterpiece. It's a functional masterpiece that you would be able to live out the life that God has set before you. And so this is the work of God. This is the work that God has done. However, this is not the end of the picture, but instead God wants to now call you to take what he has given. The life that he has given, the transformation that he has given, the change of direction that he has given, and then to go forward in that direction. Again, the structure of Ephesians is such that these first three chapters tell us, this is what God has done for you. And we've been just getting a glimpse of that here in chapter two. What God has done for you and the transformation that has taken place and the life that he has given. And now we can turn to Ephesians chapter four. In Ephesians chapter 4, 5, and 6, now Paul applies, what does this truth mean to us? What does it mean that God has done all of these things, and how does that impact our life? Now that we understand what God has done for us, Paul says we can get to the practical side of changing the way that we walk. And so that it doesn't just look like, you know, we're continuing on in the path that we were always on with the rest of the world, but that there is a real change in our behavior, a real change in our conduct. And that is expected and really required for us as believers. And so we're going to jump to Ephesians chapter 4. and look at verses 17 through the end of the chapter, but we'll look at verses 17 through 19 for point number three. And that is, stop walking like an unbeliever. And so you can see the difference. Here's what God has done in point one. He delivered you from the walk of death. Number two, God prepared good works for you to walk in. Now, he hands the baton to you. And he says, okay, I've done the heavy lifting. I've done the hard work. Now, You take these things that I've done for you and this life that I've given to you and begin to live out the change that I have accomplished for you. Verses 17 through 19 say this, 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. 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 hearts, who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. Paul here, as he's talking about application, as he's talking about what to do in response to what God has done, he says, Now understanding back in chapter 2, he made it very clear. We all walked according to the course of this world. We all walked as the Gentiles walk, as unbelievers walk. That was our condition. That is our natural condition. And now he's saying to stop walking like that. And he attaches it to the word therefore. Now therefore is an important word in the scriptures, in particular in the book of Ephesians. It ties us back to the things that Paul has been saying before. And without getting into all of those details, it ties us back to verse 1 of Ephesians chapter 4, where Paul says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling to which you were called. And so the therefore in verse 17 takes us back to therefore in verse one, which takes us back to chapters one through three. Again, it's all attached to, this is all that God has done for you. And there's this amazing richness and incredible elements of what God has done for you. And so now therefore, walk worthy. Now therefore, stop walking like the rest of the Gentiles walk. Warren Wiersbe says, And so as we look at this chapter in Ephesians chapter 4, and even as we read chapters 5 and 6 in the next couple days, We need to understand it was written not just for us to have good inspiration, not just for us to have good information, not just for us to know about God, not just for us to have these things before us and in our minds and in our hearts, but the Bible was written to be obeyed. And so changing the way that we walk is not, you know, just some kind of optional, like, you know, thing that happens automatically, or it's something that God is now calling us to actually do. That we're going to have to engage ourselves and get up and actually take steps to change our behavior. And to not sit there, you know, as kind of like a victim, just, you know, well, I'm stuck. You know, this is my behavior. It's always been my behavior. It's how everybody around me behaves. And God says, no, no, I've delivered you. You used to be in that current, in that flow with everybody else. You used to be, you know, one duck in the midst of a bunch of dead ducks, but I've given you life. Now, the current is still going in the same direction, right? And there is still the pressure around us and the natural tendency even of our own sinful nature to just go with the flow. So that even as one who has believed in Jesus Christ and by grace have received the life that he has offered, we can be stuck in that same current and continuing down that same path and continue in those same patterns that were there before Christ. Our old nature still wants to operate the same way. And so here Paul is calling us and he's exhorting us. He's saying, you need to take some steps to change. That it's not going to be automatically happening for you. God does the heavy lifting. He does his part and it's the bulk of what is needed in your life. But now he hands the baton to you and he says, okay, now you go forward from here. You take what I've given to you and start to live it out. And that begins with, first of all, just a ceasing, a stopping, walking like an unbeliever. First things first. Don't just automatically continue like you've always continued. Don't just automatically speak the way that you've always spoken. Don't just automatically decide like you've always decided. Don't just automatically drive like you've always driven. Don't just automatically, you know, you fill in the blank. There is this Current, you know, there's this direction that you've been going, but now in Christ, there needs to be a new direction. And so first, there needs to be a break in that flow, a break in that process so that you don't just continue like you used to, because you're not a blue duck anymore. You're a yellow duck. You have life. In verse 18, he says, 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 hearts, who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness to work all uncleanness with greediness. Paul says, look, the rest of the Gentiles, the unbelievers, they walk the way that they walk. They live that life and they decide things that way and they, you know, take those steps and, Because their understanding is darkened and they're alienated from the life of God because they don't know any better and their hearts are blind and they've lost the ability to feel. And so they just continue on in the things that they continue on in because that is the condition of their heart. But Paul is saying, but that's not you. It's not appropriate. It's not right for you to just continue in the same things that you've continued in because You're not a dead duck. You are alive and you have from God these amazing resources to change. But you have the responsibility. You have to be the one to take action. God did not transform you into a robot. He transformed you and gave you life so that you could choose to stop doing what the world does, to stop living the way that you've always lived. Therefore, he says, I testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk. You're in the same context. You're around the same people, and you even have the same sinful flesh. but don't keep walking like you've always walked. I like what Ironside said about this. He says, a very common saying is, when in Rome, do as the Romans. But that does not apply to the Christian. No matter where you find him, he is to walk as a heavenly man. He is called to refrain from everything that would in any way tarnish his pilgrim character. Although everybody around us might be participating, might be engaging, might be in that same flow. And so it's easy for us. It's kind of the natural tendency to just go with that same flow, to do what we've always done, to do what everybody else is doing. Paul says, first things first, we need to stop that course, that path. And so even though we've been made alive, we can continue to just be sucked away by the current. And Paul says, no, start to swim. Start to walk, start to move in the opposite direction. Stop walking like an unbeliever. But how? So this is the point of, I think, you know, everything that God has for us this morning, moving on into verses 20 through 32, because we all understand these things. I didn't probably, you know, shatter your world and give you a new understanding to things you've never, ever heard before, right? We know what God has done for us. We know that God expects us to stop that behavior and to live out this new life in Christ. But how do we do that? And many times that can be hard to understand and hard to grasp in our lives. But as we move forward into verses 20 through 32, Paul gives us some very, very practical steps to be able to change. And change can be so hard for us. And it feels impossible many times. And yet, I found this when I first heard this passage taught well and began to understand the concepts. It really changed my life. And so I pray that you also would be able to, from this and from the word of God here, be able to change the way that you walk according to what God has called you to. And so point number four this morning, walk like Jesus walks. one step at a time. I want to read verses 20 through 24. It says, Paul here is explaining, look, unbelievers walk the way that they do because they are alienated from God. But then he says in verse 20, They walk the way that they walk because they're separated from God and they know nothing about God. But that's not what you have learned. He's drawing a distinction between the nature of unbelievers and the nature of believers. You have a different nature. He says, The walk that you now need to live is based upon your relationship with Jesus, the change in your nature, the change in your relationship to God. You are not alienated from God any longer, but you are connected to God. And so living like the rest of the Gentiles is not what Christ has taught you. But now what God calls you to do is to live according to what Christ has taught you. And again, he gives some very practical instruction for how to do that in the concept of putting off and putting on. He says in verse 22, put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. And so he says there's a putting off. And this word putting off, it's the idea of like taking off a garment. It's that kind of thing that you take something and remove it from you. Put off, but then... You don't just stay there in that condition of having that put off. In verse 24, he says that you put on the new man, which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Paul here is describing some decisions and choices that we have to make about this nature that God has given to us. Again, it's not automatic that you have this new nature in Christ is automatic, but But that you live according to that new nature is not automatic. And there needs to be a deliberate choice, a deliberate decision for you to put off the old and put on the new. And what Paul is describing here is a replacement of behaviors, a replacement of actions, that you replace old behavior with new behavior. The commentator Thomas Constable says, Paul identified our responsibility in this verse. We are to put on the new self as a garment. The new self is the person the Christian is after regeneration. We put on the new man as we pursue the things of Christ rather than the desires of the flesh. And so what Paul is explaining here is that there is a choice that must be made. to put on the new man, to put on this new person that you are in Christ, is this deliberate choice to pursue the things of Christ instead of the desires of the flesh. To take the behavior that we once did because, well, we're caught up in the current and everybody else is doing it and that's what our natural tendency is. And so we're going down this path. That's what we're to put off. Those actions, those behaviors. And And I'm speaking somewhat generally here. Paul's going to give some examples, but as we go through this, I would encourage you to be thinking some specifics in your own mind and heart. What are you struggling with? What is it that is in your life? What is it that you do, your behavior, that is contrary to who you are really in Christ and the nature that God has created in you and for you? What's in your life that is contrary to the walk of God? Because it's those things that God wants to identify and say, look, you don't have to keep behaving that way. There's a new way to behave. Because of who I've created you to be, because of this transformation I've given, going back to Ephesians chapter two, because I've given you life and seated you in the heavenlies and prepared this path of good works ahead of you, I've given you what you need, but now you need to make the choice to put off that old behavior and put on this new behavior. It's your responsibility because you are a new person in Christ. You remember that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. This is the reality of who you are. Now, we don't always feel like a new creation, but it's not about whether or not we feel like we're a new creation. It's, well, it comes back to we walk by faith and not by sight. You are a new creation. That means you don't have to continue stuck in that current, doing what you've always done, doing what everybody else is doing. You don't have to continue in that behavior that you hate, in that behavior that you know is destructive, in that behavior that you know is storing up, you know, this consequences and judgment that you can make a deliberate choice to replace that behavior, right? to put off the old and say, instead of that, I will do this. But the putting on is crucial. And I think many times we fall short because we try to put off, I'm gonna try to stop doing that. I'm gonna try to stop behaving that way. I'm gonna try to stop having that bad attitude. I'm gonna try to stop. And we do make effort to stop, but there also needs to be The start. It can't just be to put off and then that's it. But instead, what Paul is describing here is a replacement. That instead of thinking these thoughts, I'm going to think some other thoughts. Instead of behaving this way, I'm going to behave another way. And Paul will illustrate that in the verses that finish up the chapter. And so we'll look at these real briefly just to get an example, an idea of some of the things that Paul is talking about. In verse 25, he says, So take a look at verse 25 and understand, okay, there's a putting off and there's a putting on. The putting off, He says, put away lying. So that's how you used to operate. That's how you used to behave. That's the current you were in. That's the natural tendency of your flesh. Lying would just come naturally. Now, as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have a new nature. You have been enabled by God to stop that. But it's not just stop lying. Instead, what does he say? Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor. So there's the putting off and there's the putting on here in verse 25. Putting off, lying. What do we put on instead? Truth. That we don't just try to stop things, but instead that we replace those behaviors, those thoughts with the things that are appropriate to who we are in Christ and what he has done in us. And so don't just stop lying, but instead speak the truth. And he even goes on to tell us why, for we are members of one another. And so there's good reason for us to put off and put on because of our attachments to one another. And he'll continue that pattern throughout the rest of these verses. So verse 26 and 27, he says, "'Be angry and do not sin. "'Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, "'nor give place to the devil.'" And so here we have a putting off as well as a putting on. What are we putting off? Anger with sin. What are we putting on? Anger with reconciliation. Anger with sin. He says, be angry and do not sin. The anger in itself is not always and necessarily sin. But he says instead, do not let the sun go down on your wrath. Instead, make a change. Instead, reconcile, he's saying. Now he goes on to say, nor give place to the devil. Again, there is this reason that continuing in that anger gives further opportunity for the enemy to bring his destruction and do his work. And so we have the opportunity to put off. And I know anger is a thing that many people struggle with. And so how do we change that? How do we deal with that? By putting off and putting on. by, it's one step at a time, looking at the example of Christ and making a choice. Now, listen, many times we're recognizing the anger, we're recognizing the lying, we're recognizing whatever example that we have in our minds after the fact, right? And so in that case, then repentance is what's needed, that we've already blown it, we've already, you know, gone the course of this world. And so that's why it goes back to the grace of God and we ask for forgiveness. But As we take these steps and as we seek to walk with God, he's also gonna give us opportunity beforehand to catch. And you're gonna have the opportunity as you get angry to make the choice. I can continue in this path and sin in my anger, or I can choose to not let the sun go down on my wrath. And I can deal with this quickly. I can make things right. I can reconcile quickly. Moving on to verse 28. So what are we to put off? Stealing. And what are we to put on? Instead of stealing, he says, put on labor, work. But not just work is what we're to put on. Paul says, giving. Giving. And you can see that the putting on is the exact opposite of what you're putting off. If you're dealing with lying and that's your struggle, then you need to put that off and put on truth. You know, there's a saying, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. When it comes to a struggle with lying, that's not the goal. Just don't say anything at all. So that way you don't lie. No, no, no. The goal is replace that lying with the speaking of truth. You need to learn to replace, not just to not lie, but to speak the truth. In the same way with stealing, it's not just, you need to learn to stop stealing. You need to learn to stop taking things that are not yours or taking advantage of people in that way. No, instead, it's not just the ceasing, but it's then the replacing. That now you work, it says labor, working with his hands, what is good, that you may have something to give. What's the opposite of stealing? It's not just not stealing, it's giving. And so what he's describing here is like a complete turnaround, a complete go the opposite direction. Take those old behaviors that you struggle with and do the exact opposite. That's your new nature in Christ, but you have to make that choice. It's not gonna be automatic and it's not gonna be the default. You have to make a deliberate decision to put off stealing now. and to put on labor so that you can give. In verse 29, he says, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you are sealed for the day of redemption. What are we putting off here? Corrupt words. And what are we putting on? Words that are good for necessary edification. Words that impart grace to the hearers. And so if your words are what you're struggling with, here's what Paul says. Here's how you deal with that. Here's how you change that. Stop the corrupt words and start the good words. Don't just, again, not say anything at all because you have nothing good to say, but start to say good things and good things that build up, that edify, that help. He finishes with a variety of examples in verse 31. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God and Christ forgave you. And so whatever it is you're struggling with, he says, put that off and in its place, put on malice. your new nature in Christ. Instead of bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor, put on kindness to one another. Instead of bitterness, put on forgiveness. You have to make the deliberate choice. You can't just say, well, I'm trapped in this bitterness. It's, you know, it's who I am. It's who I've always been. It's, you know, what I've been taught. And so here I am stuck in this bitterness. No, that's not who you are in Christ. But it's going to require you to take some deliberate steps, some deliberate decisions, that every time you see that bitterness working in you, that you, first of all, stop it, and you make a deliberate choice to forgive. As you catch yourself about to tell that lie, that you stop it, and that you replace that. And again, not just not speak, but replace that lie with the truth, and speak forth the truth. Now, these are some examples and you can maybe, you know, see some of the things that God wants to speak to you about in these examples. But also maybe there's some things that aren't in this list, but that you know, this is something I'm struggling with. This is something that God wants to do. How do I break free? How do I make the change? It's the same principle. It's putting off and putting on. God's given you everything that he need and who he's created you to be that you can replace the behavior. It's one step at a time. It's not automatically you never struggle with that issue again, but it's that as you're taking that step and recognize this is the sin that I'm practicing, that you stop that and start instead. You take a step in a different direction. You go the opposite way to do what God has called you to do and to live out the new nature that you have in Christ Jesus. And so walk like Jesus, one step at a time. That's the point. You're not a dead duck anymore. Don't just continue down the path. Don't just go with the flow. Don't just keep on in the same behavior and pattern. God has delivered you from the walk of death. You don't have to continue down that path. And he has prepared for you good works. He set a path before you to live the life that he's called you to. Don't settle for less than the fullness of life. what he has set before you. He's created you to be a masterpiece. Don't miss out on the fullness of what he has in store for you. He's done the heavy lifting, the hard part. Now, you stop walking like an unbeliever. And in its place, walk like Jesus one step at a time. It's very practical. And whatever you're struggling with, whatever you're dealing with, there's some very practical things that you can consider. It's not that it happens automatically or overnight, but step by step, one step at a time, you can stop and change because of what God has done in you and for you. Let's pray. Lord, this morning, I pray that you would help us to change the way that we walk. Lord, that our lives would reflect you and this new nature that you have created in us and given to us, that we are alive in Christ, that we are seated in the heavenlies. And Lord, there are some spiritual realities here that sometimes tragically are not even hinted at in the life that we live. And I pray, Lord, that you would forgive us Thank you for your extended mercy and grace that continues to cover us when we fall short in all of these areas. But Lord, also I pray that you would help us to not just stay in that same condition, stuck in the current and going with the flow. Help us, Lord, to put to work these things that you have accomplished in us, Lord, that we might change, that we might put an end to those things that are not of you, that we might make the decision, the choice to stop but not just to stop, but also to start. And I pray that you'd give us great wisdom. Lord, as we wrestle with different issues and each of us has different struggles in our lives, I pray that you would give us wisdom and clarity in how you want each of us to put off that behavior and to put on something else in its place. Give us wisdom, Lord, that we might do that well to live the life that you've called us to live. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.