STAND STRONG

God’s Word offers encouragement that fuels our faith and deepens our trust in Jesus. In this weekly podcast, Paul and Noah open the Bible in search of practical principles for standing strong. Let’s dig in!

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STAND STRONG

8.10 - New Life in Christ

June 30, 2025 • Season 8 • Episode 10

Join us as we discuss the end of Ephesians 4 where Paul challenges his readers to recognize the practical transformation we must experience in Christ.

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Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/

Noah: 0:30

welcome back to the Stand Strong podcast. We're in the middle of the book of Ephesians. We've been working our way through chapter four and man, it's just been such a rich study, Paul, I'm really glad that we've gotten to, to work through these, these sections of the text together. I know that more than ever, I, I need what Paul was writing when he wrote to the Ephesians.

Paul: 0:53

I've been waiting for us to get to chapter four for over a month. Not well. Yes, but because mine, mine has been on the application side as we're going through the journey. And yours was trying to tell us what the text is saying, and there's an overlap there. But man, as, as anybody knows, who's been through Ephesians by the time you get to chapter four it's just one, it's just one application after another, after another. And that's, that's where we are in 2025, is we're, we're taking, we're taking what the spirit has revealed. We're taking it off the page and we're finding out how. It impacts almost every area of our life.

Noah: 1:29

Right, right. In the context that we're working in today last week we wrapped up in chapter four, right around verse 16. As, as Paul's admonition in the first section of chapter four is that that his readers be joined in Christ, that they be united in Christ and in the love of Christ. You know, that's kind of verse 16. He says well, verse 15. He talks about growing up in every way into the head into Christ, verse 16, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. And so Paul's painted this picture of this is how the body of Christ grows. Mm-hmm. God intends it to grow. He's equipped it to grow. And it's supposed to grow, and Paul's admonition is now going back to chapter four verse one. Walk in such a way that's, that's worthy of that calling, that that helps and accentuates and and assists that growth. That's kind of what we've worked up through. To this point, but in verse 17, there's, there's a little bit of a shift as Paul says. Now this, I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. So where Paul goes here is he says, if this is what the body is supposed to do and if you're in Christ and you're a part of that body, then now here are some things about your life.

3:00

Mm-hmm.

Noah: 3:00

That you can't do and that you must do. That's kind of what the rest of this chapter really talks about. You can't do this in the body of Christ. You must do this in the body of Christ. Yeah, that's kind of where we're going.

Paul: 3:11

Yeah. So the word, the worthy walk and what he has been pressing in that be what you are. Walk worthy of the calling that has to do as with the concept of oneness or unity.

Noah: 3:22

Yeah.

Paul: 3:22

And what you've been preaching on Noah what you've been talking about is this idea of our, our purpose and our part in this is to maintain. Right, the unity. And so we've gotta be very eager in regards to that. And the eagerness manifests itself in me and in us as the body. This is an us kind of one another responsibility is in unity. He's pressing two things or has already pressed in this context. Two things in the unity and the eagerness of to maintain the unity. It's gonna take an absolute appreciation and understanding of the application of both truth and love. Truth and love. Those are indispensable. You can't, you can't say, well, let, let's major on the truth side and then ignore the love side. Right? Well, let's major on the love side. Ignore the truth side. That's just, that's ridiculous,

4:11

right?

Paul: 4:11

According to Ephesians four.

4:13

Yeah.

Paul: 4:13

So the, this unity, he's pressing truth and love. If we want the body to grow, God's designed to grow, those two things are absolutely essential. Alright. What's my responsibility in part in both of those? Truth and love. Now he's gonna press the walking worthy of the calling. He's gonna press the the purity side.

4:33

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 4:34

So we've got the unity and the truth and love. Now we've got purity, how we think. It influences how we behave, right? And if we are gonna say we are in Christ and we have come to know Christ, then purity in life matters.

Noah: 4:50

Yeah. Yeah, I think that's a really excellent way of putting it. Where Paul goes here in, in these verses is, I mean, he specifically calls out the way these people used to walk. And it's interesting. He says, you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. Well. He's writing to Gentiles, but there's a clear distinction that's being made here. There's the way that Christians walk. Mm-hmm. Jew or Gentile. And then there's the way that Gentiles walk and that's not the same,

5:22

right?

Noah: 5:22

The, these are, you know, he's talking to, called out people. The way that he describes it the way that the Gentiles walk and the futility of their minds. 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. They've given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. There goes what you were just talking about there, and then you get to verse 20, he says, but that is not the way you learned Christ. That's where Paul really drives to, he says. You can't walk like you used to walk. You can't live like the people around you are living. And Paul's emphasis here is you have to live how you've learned Christ. And I, I don't know how many times I've read these verses, but that is for me, always a really potent reminder. You are supposed to live the way you learned Christ. You're supposed to live in a way that aligns with who he is, what you know about him, his character, and what he's done. That's so when he says you can't walk like that anymore because that's not how you've learned Christ, what he's saying is because you're in Christ, because you have a life in Christ, you have to abandon. The, the pagan and the godless mindset and the lifestyle that you knew before Jesus. Now that you know Jesus, you have to live like, you know Jesus.

Paul: 7:01

Yeah, I love that. And the Gentiles I refer to'em as pagans. Yeah. I, I remember long time ago, all the kids, they were all, all three of'em. They were little. And, you know, I had an expression, I would refer to certain kinds of people and I would use it as teachable opportunities when there was clearly a group of people that were acting in such a way if we were out in a public place and these, these people were clearly acting like animals. I mean, absolutely everything you look at'em was, was anti-God.

Noah: 7:34

Yeah.

Paul: 7:34

And I would refer to him as heathens.

7:37

Hmm.

Paul: 7:38

And one day we got in the car and we were headed back, and I had been talking about the, those heathens. And one of the kids who will be, who will remain nameless on the podcast was back in the backseat. They, there goes daddy again talking about them heathens. He, the, these people here, these heathens, these heathens they, they are who they are because of their mind, because of the way they think, futility of their mind.

8:05

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 8:06

And if my mind, if my, if, if my mind is pointless, that is, I'm, I'm not paying attention to the way that I think it, it is going to impact how I live. I, I actually like the new international version, Noah, as it starts in verse 17. And I'll tell you why after I read it. The NIV in verse 17 of Ephesians four says, I tell you this and insist on it in the Lord. Okay, so suppose, suppose Brother Noah gets up there and he says, Hey church, I've got some good ideas I'd like to share with you about how to live a pure life in Christ Jesus. Not that you, Noah would do that, but people would get this idea. Okay, we'll listen for the next 30 minutes'cause he's got some suggestions and some good ideas. Here's an apostle saying, yeah, I'm insisting on this.

Noah: 8:57

Yeah.

Paul: 8:58

The, the, the rule of Jesus as Lord and my authority to represent Jesus in the way that he truly is to be Lord of your life. These are things that are absolutely essentials.

9:12

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 9:13

You take care of how you think, because if you don't, then your life will become no different from the pagans. Mm-hmm. You'll get a hard heart, you'll become very callous. The way that you, you live, and it's, it doesn't happen overnight, but it can happen if you don't guard the way you think.

Noah: 9:34

Yeah, absolutely. There is such a sharp contrast that's being drawn here as Paul is giving this instruction and giving this admonition, right? Mm-hmm. There's the contrast between those who he says, were alienated from Christ due to ignorance or alienated from God due to ignorance. And then how you're supposed to walk as a Christian or the callousness of their, their hearts and their minds due to their continual, immoral behavior. And what we'll get to in just a few verses that, you know, the, the transferation that we experience in Christ, this is a sharp contrast. It should, it should strike us that. When we are living in Christ, we can't live that way anymore. Like you said, we have to protect our minds. Why? Because people who are in Christ shouldn't look like, shouldn't act like, shouldn't think, like those who are alienated due to ignorance.

10:37

Mm-hmm.

Noah: 10:38

We're not ignorant anymore. We have been shown Christ that changes us. And so there's a very real sense in which Paul. Is saying there's no excuse. Once we know Christ, our minds can't operate this way anymore. Our hearts can't be hardened like that anymore. In Christ. We're changed, we're transformed. Our hearts are softened, and we don't have the calluses to that immoral behavior anymore, and I think that that is kind of where we get when we are in verses 21 and following. Mm-hmm. When Paul says, he says, that's 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 and true righteousness and holiness. So what's, what Paul is describing here is this is what you look like in Christ, right? This is the post transformation you. You learned the truth in Christ. You put off the old self in Christ. You've been renewed in the spirit of your mind. You've been recreated in God's likeness. This is you now. This is you now.

Paul: 11:59

Yeah. So it's as, as many who are following this on this journey have heard before, but it is so important to just look at the scripture for what? For what it's saying. Noah, you made a great point. It's not just putting off certain things, it's then putting on mm-hmm. Certain things and the putting on of certain attitudes that produce certain actions. It's not just the putting away. This and putting away this, it's okay. What's gonna take its place?

Noah: 12:25

Yeah.

Paul: 12:25

You know, so that's, I mean, we're

Noah: 12:27

getting,

Paul: 12:28

yeah, all that's important, but sandwiched in there that sometimes, at least for me, gets missed. And when to go back to verse 23, Noah. Mm-hmm. The new King James says it this way. In Ephesians 4 23, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, other translations be made new in the attitude of your minds. Or it's a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. What's oppressing there in that context? That is, that is all about purity of life, right? How we live. I. That's impacted by how we think. This is continual action. This is not a one and done. This. Renewal is not a one and done. This is a continual action. The spirit of our mind has to be refreshed because all of us, regardless of age, we need a renewed energy. In regards to the very things that Paul is talking about here, you didn't learn Christ this way. Here's the new life. Here's the new heart. Here is indication that Christ is really Lord of your life. Here is what is going to help the body grow, help you to grow, help to keep the body unified, and on and on and on and on. You need to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Here's the way I illustrate that as an athlete, you, you talk to the professional athletes and a lot of them say, look, I could keep going. At this level, physically, that is my body. I could repair my body. I could, I could continue. It's not the physical component that is causing me to retire. I can't stay at that level, that peak level. Mentally. I can't stay in the game mentally. I just, I'm tired.

14:27

Hmm.

Paul: 14:28

Listen, we all get to a point where we just get tired. Yeah. And he says, be renewed in the spirit of your mind. I. Now, he's not saying Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.

14:41

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 14:42

What he's saying is, realize in Christ God's on your side, but look. You're going to, you're going to be dealing with darkness, and you're gonna be dealing with temptation, and you're gonna be dealing with all sorts of things that are gonna tempt you in your mind to go back into, to just kind of throw it, throw it in neutral here, and just whatever happens happen. You can't do that. Yeah. You gotta be diligent. You gotta be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And I, and I think that's, I, I, I don't know that we give that as much attention about how to have renewed energy, which, I mean, I could deal with a low hanging fruit here that makes our, that makes our gatherings as a church all the more important.

15:27

Yeah.

Paul: 15:27

That makes a group meetings and other occasions beyond the coming together in one place in the assembly to worship. Other opportunities. Those are so important. Do you have devotional time? Do you have prayer time? Do you have time for me? I mean, listen, I, I could get on a whole subject and you would do better at it than me talking about how important Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, letting the message of who God is and you know, what can grow your faith and give you renewed energy. Music does it for me.

Noah: 16:01

Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's one of those things where I, I think we do. When it, when it comes to the renewal of of our spirit and our minds we do long for, for the practical what, you know, what are you wanting us to do? How are we supposed to do this? What does this mean? You know, really practically speaking. And and I think the things that you've listed are extremely helpful. The very next verse he says to, that we're supposed to put on the new self created after the likeness of God and true righteousness and holiness. One thing that I think goes along with that is that that helps with the, with renewal of our, our hearts and our minds and our spirits, is that it's not our righteousness. We've been recreated after the likeness of God. And he is truly righteous and he is truly holy. And sometimes the exhaustion that we feel in our spirits and our minds is from a constant effort of self-justification and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. We have to recognize that we're not, we're not justified on our own merit. We've been justified because God has recreated us in his righteousness.

Paul: 17:24

Yeah, I've told my kids, I've told my kids, I think this is one put, put somewhere you can see it on a regular basis. It's not perfection. It's progress.

17:33

Mm.

Paul: 17:34

Not perfection progress. And those of us in Christ that, that's important to the renewal. Renewal of the mind.

Noah: 17:41

I think that's a, a great point on which to try to transition into this last section of chapter four. It's not perfection, it's progress. Just a few minutes ago you said. It's not just putting off, it's putting on what, you know, you take off the old things, but what do you replace them with? Mm-hmm. And that's really where Paul goes here in this last section of chapter four, is these are really practical descriptions of what transformation in Christ looks like. This is where he says things like, put away falsehood. Let each of you speak truth with his neighbor. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let, do not let the sun go down on your anger. Give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal. Rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such that is good for building up as fits the occasion, so on and so forth. Here's, here's my point, Paul is giving a really. Clear picture of what it looks like to not just have the old yucky stuff stripped away, but the new. Beautiful, precious things of Christ put on. There's, there's this escalation that, that he talks about here where we're putting away the lying and we're putting away the unrighteous anger and we're putting away the theft and we're putting away the sinful use of our tongue slander bad influence, corrupting talk. We're putting away all those things. Okay. That's good. But then he escalates it and he says, now instead you're supposed to speak truth. You're supposed to show self-control. Mm-hmm. You're supposed to, instead of being a thief, you're supposed to work. Why? So that you can be generous, so that you can give not only are you not supposed to use your words in a sinful way, you're supposed to use them in what he calls a fit way for, for the building up of other people. So. It's, it's not just the getting rid of the old, it's being transformed into the new where what we used to be inclined to do. Not only are we not inclined to do it anymore because we've been transformed by Christ, we're actually moving in the opposite direction for the sake of Christ and for his glory. That, to me, is an extremely practical thing to get from, from Paul's writing here. The transformation of Christ gives us an absolute 180. It's not just putting it in park and not going any further down the, the road to evil. It's turning around and heading the other direction. And to, to me, that's just a, a powerful part of the verses here. Now then he says. In verse 30, after he has these kinds of contrasts, don't do this anymore, but instead do this, he says, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. And then we have the same kind of contrast. Be kind to one another. Tenderhearted forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you. And that roots the whole transformation for us, that that shows us where the foundation is. What we're looking to is what has Christ done for us. That is the source of our transformation. That's the source of this change in our life, is the fact that God in Christ has forgiven us.

Paul: 21:16

Yeah, beautifully said, well said. I'm not sure. No, I know all the answers as to why he, just, in this section, the, the reminder or, or the concern that the spirit can be grieved. He just says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. I. By whom you were sealed. He had already talked about that ceiling of the spirit. Back in chapter one, we dealt with that briefly, but here, here, just make, make a point. This should be so obvious when we're talking about the Holy Spirit, we're talking about God. And so we're not talking about wind or breath as it's referred to at times. We're talking about a person,

21:55

right?

Paul: 21:55

And so God can be grieved. And God is grieved when his people are not practicing the things that Paul says I insist on.

Noah: 22:09

Yeah.

Paul: 22:10

And so this, this is, this is all about God, you know he, Jesus said, I will send you another comforter.

22:19

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 22:19

So the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete there, was referred to as a comforter. Well, if, if, if I am not tenderhearted, unwilling to forgive. Mm-hmm. Full of anger and wrath. Where's the comfort in that? Mm-hmm. If I'm unkind, there's no compassion in, in that. The Holy Spirit is a comforter. We're the body will grow as the body is allowed to encourage and build itself up.

22:51

Yeah.

Paul: 22:52

The Holy Spirit, as the Paraclete was an encourager he styled the spirit of truth, speaking the truth in love. Mm-hmm. Holy Spirit, oh, this is gonna be profound. You're gonna love this one Holy Spirit. Well live a pure life. Right. You know, so I, I don't know exactly why, but there is one spirit. Yeah. And that one spirit is grieved when the body is not where it God designed it to be, to maintain what God has created. Yeah. Such unity

Noah: 23:31

when, when those of us who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and are supposed to be living in Christ are instead living apart from Christ that grieves the Holy Spirit. Mm-hmm. We're in rebellion. In fact, this same phrase of grieving the Holy Spirit is, is used back in Isaiah 63 in a, in that exact type of context, speaking of the rebellion of the Israelite nation.

24:01

Mm-hmm.

Noah: 24:01

Isaiah says that it grieves the Holy Spirit, their rebellion, these people who ought to be serving the Lord. These people who ought to be faithful to God and who have seen his power, and have experienced his mercy and his grace and his salvation. They should be faithful, and yet they're rebellious. And Isaiah, in Isaiah 63, he says, it grieves the Holy Spirit. I think we see a similar picture here. We've been, we've been redeemed from the ignorance that has, that left us exiled from God. We've been given this new mind and this new heart in Christ. We've been given this new life to walk and this new calling to walk worthy of. And when we rebel against that, it grieves the Holy Spirit. Yeah.

Paul: 24:50

You know, of, of all the things Noah. Bringing this to a, to a close'cause there's so much more we could say here in chapter four, and we'll talk more about this because if you just race the chapter division going into chapter five, we're gonna, some of these things are gonna come back up.