The Way You Learned Christ

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV)

Have you ever noticed that, whether you are reading in Romans, or 1st & 2nd Corinthians, or Galatians, or Ephesians, etc., that the message is the same, repeated over and over? If we are reading the Bible, therefore, in context, we cannot get away from this message. It is hard to avoid because it keeps getting repeated. But many people today do tend to avoid this message, even though it is predominant all throughout the New Testament. Thus, they avoid it by not studying the Scriptures in full context, but by ‘cherry-picking.’

But the truth of the gospel of our salvation is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus Christ (God the Son) gave his life up for us on that cross so that, in his death, he could put our sins to death with him, in order that, by faith in him, we will now die with Christ to sin and live to God and to his righteousness, in the power of God, as being led by the Spirit of God. Sin will no longer have mastery over our lives, but now Jesus Christ is our Lord and Master, and our will is to do the will of God for our lives.

Therefore, we are no longer to live as we did before we believed in Jesus Christ. And we are not to live as the ungodly do for whom sin is their practice. And we are not to have hard hearts which ignore the commands of our Lord in order to follow the ways of the flesh, and of the world. And we are not to give ourselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

And that is not the way that we should have learned Jesus Christ, speaking of the way of the flesh and of continuing in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord, but while claiming him as Lord and Savior and heaven as our eternal destiny. But, sadly, that is the way many are learning Christ today. For they are being taught that they can profess Jesus as Savior and Lord and now all their sins are forgiven, and heaven is guaranteed them, but regardless of how they live, even if they keep on in deliberate sin.

So, why do you suppose that this subject of sin and the need for true repentance and walks of obedience to our Lord is taught all throughout the Old and the New Testaments? I would imagine that it is because we are all born into sin with sinful natures, in the image of Adam. And even as those who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ we will be tempted to sin, and we still have the potential within us to return to sin. And so we need these reminders of what we should have been taught in Christ Jesus.

For what we should have been taught does not line up with what is commonly being taught today as “the gospel.” For so many are teaching that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ is enough to secure us salvation from sin and eternal life with God in heaven, by God’s grace, regardless of how we live. But Jesus taught that we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with him in heaven (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23). 

So, the truth that is in Christ Jesus, which we should have been taught, is that, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are to put off our old self, which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires. And we are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, of the Spirit of God, via genuine repentance. And then we are to put on the new self (in Christ Jesus), created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Sin is no longer to be our practice. Obedience to God is to be our practice.

For Jesus Christ gave himself up for us on that cross, not just to save us from our sins so that, when we die, we get to go to heaven. He died so that we would now die with him to sin and walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, by the grace of God, in the power and strength of God, by his Spirit. And now we are to serve the Lord Jesus with our lives, fulfilling his purpose which he has for each one of us. And we are to be ministering the love and grace of God now to other Christians and to people of the world.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

In Harmony  

An Original Work / September 2, 2012

Based off Ro. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-17

Love each other truly. 

Cling to what is good.

Hate all that is evil. 

Never lack in zeal.

Serve the Lord with fervor. 

Joyful in hope be;

Patient in affliction; 

Praying faithfully.

Honor one another. 

Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people

Who are found in need.

Do not be conceited.

Sympathetic be.

Love, and show compassion

In humility.

Keep your tongue from evil.

Peaceful you must be.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;

Listens to their prayers.

But He’s against evil – 

Is His to avenge.

Do not fear what they fear.

Suffer patiently.

In your hearts, make Christ Lord.

Serve Him faithfully.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

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