Excerpt from “Living Sacrifice: Devotions for Lent” by Diane Hunter

Ephesians 4:17-32

The Old Life and the New

Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds.  They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.  They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.  That is not the way you learned Christ!  For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus.  You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Rules for the New Life

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.  Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.  Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.  Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.  Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Meditation

During our Lenten journey, Paul offers these how-to instructions to the Ephesians (and us) concerning the expectations that reflect our new life in Christ.  With a bit of sarcasm thrown in for comic relief (see vss. 20-21).  Starting with the expectation of shedding the old life of futility, darkness, alienation, ignorance, hardness of heart, and greedy impurity; Paul insists that new life in Christ does not embrace these attributes.  “Put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts” (vs. 22).  Then your spirit and your mind will be renewed and it will be obvious (like wearing clothing) that this new you is a child of God “in true righteousness and holiness” (vs. 24).  Really!?  How exactly do we achieve that pinnacle of faith?  Good news, Paul continues (this is, after all, the how-to instructions), with new behavioral standards.  Stop lying, go to anger management classes, stop stealing, and watch your mouth.  The new life is absent of bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling, slander and malice.  All of which aggravates the Holy Spirit who you received as “a seal for the day of redemption” (vs.30).  Instead, embody the Holy Spirit through kindness, tenderheartedness, and unconditional forgiveness (like Christ forgives).  With these simple how-to steps, the new you will step out in “accord to the likeness of God” (vs. 24).

Prayer Prompt:  Dear Lord, grant me new life in you.