In his letter to the Ephesians, it is clear that Paul expected the new identity of believers to have an impact on their lifestyle. In several places he essentially points out that although these followers of Jesus had once been unbelievers living in the kingdom of darkness, God had given them a new identity. Since that was true, they were expected to live up to who they now were in Christ.
For instance, Paul says. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…when you followed the ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air…But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ…He came and preached peace to you who were far away…Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household ” (Eph.2:1-2, 13; 17,19). Over and over Paul reminds the believers that they once were like the unbelieving Gentiles and once were living under the power of the enemy but that was no longer their condition or their identity. Jesus had changed all that.
After describing their huge change of fortunes for three chapters, Paul begins to tell them in very practical terms how they must live as these new creations in Christ. “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received…So I tell you this and insist on it ion the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking…Put off your old self…and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph.4:1,17, 22,24).
Then Paul begins to work through a list of things these new believers were to leave behind or jettison from their lives while “putting on” the garments of the kingdom. “Put off falsehood and speak truthfully…In your anger do not sin…do not give the devil a foothold…steal no longer but work…do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up…get rid of bitterness, rage and anger…be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other…Be imitators of God and live a life of love…among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality…because these are improper for God’s holy people…For you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord” (Eph.4-5).
Paul discusses many other things that we are to “put off” and “put on” as believers. In that process there will be radical transformation. We came into the kingdom looking like the devil but we should quickly begin to look like Jesus. It is, in one sense, a life-long pursuit but it should not take a lifetime to see major changes in our hearts and our lifestyle. It all begins, however, with the conviction that in Christ, I am not who I used to be and since I belong to him this is how I now live.
What I have seen in my own life and in others over the years is that expectations are key. Many of us have not been given great expectations for change in our lives nor have we been told what that change should look like. If I go to a golf pro and ask him to fix my swing, I expect to see a change and the evidence of that change will be more distance, more fairways, and lower scores. To get there, he must not only tell me what not to do but he must show me what the new swing will look and feel like. That is what Paul is doing for the Ephesians. As believers we should expect to become people who live the life Paul describes and we should see his descriptors as the normal life of a believer rather than some impossible standards we can never live up to. We must expect transformation for us to experience it.
What we must also know, however, is that transformation is a team sport in the kingdom of God. It takes God’s Spirit working with our desires and often takes other believers to get us where we want to go. I promise you can’t make those changes in your own strength. When stress and crisis come, you will default back to your old settings because your behaviors will have changed while your heart has stayed the same. Scripture is clear that it is God who gives us a new heart. But we should also know that God will not change our hearts without us doing our part. That means sincerely inviting him to make those changes; it means getting his Word in our heart; it means learning how to fight against the enemy; it means confessing our faults to others for prayer; it means repenting each time we find our hearts or our actions out of line with God’s will; and it means submitting to his will and his ways whenever we see it in the Word.
The promise of Ephesians is that God is ready and willing to bring our hearts and actions in line with who we are in Christ and he is willing to use the power of heaven to do so. Paul says, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph.1: 18-21).
That power is for you because you are in Christ. You are his temple, his household, a citizen of heaven, a new creation, seated with him in heavenly places, a child of the light, marked by the Holy Spirit, alive in Christ, and a dearly loved child. Ask for his power to transform you. Expect it. Look for it. Engage with him. Be who you are! Be blessed.
