This is the first devotion in series of devotions on Christ-likeness.
Day One – What not to do… Passage: Eph. 4:17-20
Eph 4:17-20 With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. But that isn't what you learned about Christ.
Paul wrote the epistle to the Ephesians. Paul founded the church at Ephesus. Paul’s Jewish background comes into play inverses like verse 17. Paul had a heart and passion to evangelize to the Jews. But Ephesians was written to Gentile believers to assure them of their full inclusion with Jewish believers in the New Covenant (Schooley). Paul, here, was warning them against sinful desires. Many Gentiles had turned away from God with hardened hearts. The sinful desires of lust and impurity darkened their minds and hardened their hearts. This is not the way they should have been living. The Ephesians, on the other hand, have the teachings for Christianity before them. Paul tells them to learn from Jesus and the things they have seen and heard from him. The Spirit of the Lord was upon them, and the dispositions and sins that the Gentiles struggled with, do not have to be a serious issue to the Ephesians. Paul tells the Ephesians not to do these things, but instead learn from Jesus. In the next six devotions, we are going to learn from Jesus. We will learn to be more like Christ.
The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1952.
Schooley, Keith. (8-2-06)“The New Perspective and Ephesians.” The Schooley Files blog. Detroit. MI.
Accessed on 11-8-08 from http://www.schooleyfiles.com/2006/08/new-perspective-and-
ephesians.html
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