Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (2009)

Living the New Life in Christ Rev. Toby O. Byrd

Eph. 4:17-5:2 (ESV)

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. [18] 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. [19] They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. [20] But that is not the way you learned Christ!— [21] assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, [22] to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, [23] and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, [24] and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

[25] Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. [26] Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, [27] and give no opportunity to the devil. [28] Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. [29] Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. [30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. [31] Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. [32] Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

[5:1] Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. [2] And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

We’re told, “Clothes make the man.” However, I think that the clothes we wear more often than not announce who we are rather than what we are. Although a new outfit can give you a lift, clothes are more an extension of our personality than a shaper of it. Regardless of what one thinks clothes do for them, there is only one thing for certain regarding clothing, it is designed to cover our naked bodies.

In today’s Epistle, St. Paul tells us that God does more for us than provide simply an outer garment for us to wear. Our heavenly Father, who loves us dearly, secures our future by giving us divine clothing, clothing that creates in us a complete new nature, a new self, one according to the pattern of His Son, Jesus Christ. Through His Law, He strips us of our old selves and through His Gospel; He robes us in the righteousness of His Son, granting us a new self, one that looks forward to Living the New Life in Christ.

St. Paul urges us, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires (v.22). The old self is our human nature as we received it by virtue of our birth. It is the nature we share in common with every human being. It is the nature that we received from our parents and the nature they received from their parents and so on all the way back to our first parents, Adam and Eve. Although Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, they lost that image in the Fall. Thus, as descendants of Adam and Eve, our human nature no longer exhibits God’s likeness. Trying to see the image of God in man is like trying to see your true image by looking into a shattered mirror. Our image in that mirror would be horribly distorted, as is our human nature ever since the Fall. Our nature, which we have had since birth, is inherently sinful. It is selfish and self-centered. Thus, because of that corrupt nature, we find it easy to injure and malign each other. St. Paul described this fallen condition to the church in Galatia, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21 ESV).

Our old self which is controlled by our distorted and flawed nature stands condemned under the judgment of God’s Law. As St. Paul says in the today’s Epistle, our lives are, “corrupt through deceitful desires.” This truth is verifiable; simply look at the world around you. Look at the mess it is in! St. Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus talks about lying, anger, theft, and slander (vv. 25-29). As we, in turn, look at the world, we can easily add war and strife, drugs, uncontrollable sexual appetites and divorce as well. Fact is the list of our sinful endeavors could get quite long. What’s unsettling is that we know that our efforts will not make it any different. Just as a leopard can not change its spots, we humans are unable to change our nature as well. We are stuck with what we are and condemned by its presence. Woe to us lost and miserable sinners. Is there no relief for our sorrowful condition? Yes! Thank God. There is.

God, in His inexhaustible wisdom, created a new nature for man which would replace our old nature, that nature which had been corrupted by sin. He accomplished this amazing feat through His Son, Jesus Christ. Our Lord, Jesus was ever so much more than a man who simply gave people rules for living. He was so much more than a man to follow and emulate simply because of His goodness. He came to earth and lived among us not just to teach us but to transform us from souls lost in the darkness of sin to souls shining brightly in the Light of His love. He came that we might have life—and that we might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Our Lord, Jesus told Nicodemus, He had come so that men might have a second birth and be born not as a result of the flesh but through the power of the Spirit (John 3:1-13).

The life of our Lord, Jesus is the display of that new nature, the nature He would give to man. He was in fact Himself a man; yet in His flesh dwelt the fullness of God. Thus, through Him, men were transformed into dwelling places for God’s Holy Spirit. Moreover, Jesus was different from all other men. His motives and attitudes and actions were shaped not by self-interests but by concern for others. He possessed such personal goodness that men could find no fault in Him. In every situation, trial, and tribulation, His heart overflowed with love toward the crown of His creation, man. Our Lord, Jesus, lived to serve. He lived so that He could transform people into persons like Himself with hearts changed to beat for others instead of for themselves and with actions redirected seeking to serve. To accomplish this great and divine feat, our Lord Jesus had to take our nature upon Himself. Then, as a man covered with our sinful nature, He had to undergo death because that was God’s judgment on our nature. On Calvary’s cross He paid the ultimate price to change our sinful and distorted natures by enduring the agony and pain of crucifixion. There, on that cross, His lifeless and distorted body hung, suspended by nails, so our corrupt and distorted natures could be reconciled with His heavenly Father. St. Paul reminds us of this truth when he wrote, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6 ESV). Then, In His resurrection He overcame death so that He might destroy the wages of death for us. The risen Christ shows us the new nature God created for us: a nature free from evil, a nature that possesses eternal life, a nature that has the power to Live the New Life in Christ.

God has shared with us the new nature He created through His Son. He did so by calling us to faith and bringing us into an intimate relation of fellowship with His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Early in his letter to the church at Ephesus, St. Paul wrote, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus . . . For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:4-6, 10).

Hearing this truth, the question I must ask is do you realize who and what you are? By virtue of your union and communion with Jesus Christ you share in what He is. You are so close to Him that St. Paul uses the picture of a human body to describe that relationship. We Christians are members of the Body of Christ. His very life permeates our being and flows throughout us, filling us with His goodness. As followers of Jesus Christ we are people who have been born again. We have been given life a second time. Our rebirth took place in our baptism and this is a reality for those who believe in Jesus Christ and profess Him to be their Lord and Savior. Often in the early church when an individual would report on someone’s age, they would consider his day of birth the day he was baptized into the Lord. In those waters of baptism we were given a complete new nature, the nature our Lord Jesus gained for us by His death and resurrection. We are not just descendants of flesh and blood; we are children of God and bearers of His Spirit; all this through the blessed and holy waters of baptism.

God’s power is at work in us to enable us to live different lives than the ones we lived while in the old self. From the apostles to today we are witnesses of the work of Christ in the lives of those who love Him. Our Lord redirected their lives from the way of anger and hate to paths of love and service. Through His Spirit, He grants us divine patience and strength to face the problems and troubles of life. Thus, in Christ, we experience a power strong enough to heal both body and spirit and by that power, He grants us victory over life’s last, great enemy, death.

Considering the blessings we have been given, St. Paul tells us to stop being what we were and instead, be what God has made us. God has given us a new nature to replace the one with which we were born. Thus, St. Paul tells us, “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” (vv. 22-24). You have been given a new nature, you are a new person, and you have a new self, therefore show it in the way you live. As believers in Jesus Christ, as one who confesses that Jesus is Lord and believes in His atoning sacrifice, you are no longer to live as your old self did. You are no longer to follow the ways of the flesh or the world. You are no longer to live as a corrupted human being. Thus, St. Paul says, reject the old self. Reject its calling when your flesh tempts you to walk in sin. St. Paul, in his wisdom, admonishes us and says, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (vv. 26-27). Therefore, rely on your new nature which is created according to the pattern of the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Call upon the Spirit to help you live in the righteousness and holiness which is yours through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus. Follow the admonition of St. Paul who tells us to, “Avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless” (Titus 3:9 ESV). Moreover, not only should we avoid such things, but we are also to avoid those who would pull us into such conflict. St. Paul goes on to say, “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” (Titus 3:9-11 ESV).

Hearing the admonition of St. Paul and knowing what our Lord has done for us in the waters of baptism, the question becomes, “well then, why don’t we do what we should?” Why do we continue to insist on living the life of the old self? Why do we keep on wearing tattered, dirty, and smelly clothing soiled by sin, when our Lord has given us new, clean, and fresh clothing to wear? When we reject the new clothing offered us by our Lord, we are like the guest at the wedding feast who refused to wear the wedding garment. When asked by the king why he wasn’t wearing the wedding garment offered, the out of place guest was speechless. The king had him tied hand and foot and thrown out into the darkness where there was always weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 22:12-13). Why be thrown into the darkness when our Lord offers only light?

Sadly, today, too many Christians allow themselves to be dominated by the old self. They lie, cheat, and steal; lust, hate, and slander—and they do so without giving it a single thought. They live by the standards of morality common to the world and imitate the patterns of behavior set by the ungodly. Moreover, they pull this old self morality into the church and call it worship, corrupting God’s word and making a mockery of divine worship. They are driven by the old self and dominated by confusion that their rights supersede God’s word and divine worship. One cannot help but pray that the old self has not replaced the new self; permanently.

Oh, to be sure, such persons have fallen from grace. They have turned from a life of salvation to a life of sin. Such is the dilemma of each and every one of us because it is impossible for us to put off the old self. That old human nature still clings to us throughout our lives. However, what is impossible for us is not impossible for God. The old self is put off only by the efficacious power of God’s grace. Thus, our Lord sends the Holy Spirit to refresh our faith and sanctify us in the Word; strengthening the new self to reject the calling of the old; leading us daily to live the baptized life, a life of contrition and repentance. Daily, then we turn to our Lord in prayer, thanking Him for the blessings He has granted us while prostrating ourselves at His feet, seeking His mercy and forgiveness for our sinful lives. Therefore, to save ourselves from the old self, we should do as did the Psalmist, “call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” (Psalm 18:3 ESV). For without this constant call to our Lord for blessings and forgiveness, we will too easily sink back into the way of the flesh, the way of the old self.

Do clothes make the man? Yes, when those clothes are the wedding garments given to the guest of the marriage feast between Christ and His church. Yes, when those clothes are the clothes of the new self which God has given us through faith to wear so we can Live the New Life in Christ. Amen.

May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.