SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/27/2019 9:46 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
The Walk of the New Self
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
4:20-24
Message of the verses: “20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed
you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22
that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self,
which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that
you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in
the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of
the truth.”
We
have come to a new main section in our study of the book of Ephesians, and in
this section we will study three different fairly long sub-sections with the
first one entitled “Christ-Centered” which I want to begin today in this SD
after we go over the introduction to this main section.
John
MacArthur writes in his introduction to this section “The new walk in Christ is
the exact opposite of the old walk of the flesh. Whereas the old is self-centered and futile,
the new is Christ-centered and purposeful.
Whereas the old is ignorant of God’s truth, the new knows and
understands it. Whereas the old morally
and spiritually calloused and shameless, the new is sensitive to sin of every
sort. Whereas the old is depraved in its
thinking the new is renewed.” So here we
have a comparison of these two walks of life, and there is no doubt in which we
are to live in the new walk, the walk of the new self.
It
must have been true that some of the believers in the Ephesian church and also
the other churches in Asia Minor where this letter was to go to were having
problems falling into the old way of life which Paul described in verses 17-19
as seen from this first sub-section entitled “Christ-Centered” and takes up
verse 20 which reads “But you did not learn Christ in this way.” So if Paul tells them that they did not learn
Christ in the ways he described in verses 17-19, then some of them must have
slipped into that way to which Paul wants to write to them on how to correct
their living ways.
When
Paul says “But you did not learn Christ,” he is talking of a direct reference
to salvation, as to learn Christ is to be saved. MacArthur writes “While it is true that the
verb manthano can be used in
reference to the process of learning truth (see Rom. 16:17; Phil. 4:9), it can
also mean ‘to come to know’ (Walter Bauer, A
Greek lexicon of the New Testament.
Translated and edited by W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. 5th [Chicago; U. of Chicago, 1958], p. 490), as a
one-time act, particularly when the verb is aorist active indicative, as in
this case. The aorist is also used in
John 6:45, where Jesus spoke to those who had ‘learned from the
Father’—indicating a reference to the saving act of faith under the Old
Covenant which would lead them now to Him.
“In
Matthew 11:29, Jesus offered one of the loveliest of all salvation
invitations: ‘Take my yoke upon you, and
learn from me’ (KJV). This use of manthano is also in the aorist tense,
indicating a single unrepeated act.
“Both
the context and the use of the aorist tense of the verb ‘to learn’ in these
passages lead to the conclusion that this learning refers to the moment of
saving faith.”
Lord
willing we will continue to look at this verse and what it entails in our next
SD.
Verse that goes along with our quotation
from yesterday: “7 The law of the LORD
is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise
the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The
commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.”
4/27/2019 10:24 AM
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