Commentary - Ephesians 4:17-24

Bird's-eye view

In this pivotal section of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul draws a sharp, non-negotiable line between the old life of paganism and the new life in Christ. This is the great turning point of the letter, where the glorious indicatives of the first three chapters give way to the stark imperatives of the Christian walk. Because we have been made alive in Christ, seated with Him in the heavenly places, and built into a new temple, we must therefore live in a radically different manner. Paul is not giving suggestions for self-improvement; he is issuing a divine command, testifying in the Lord. The passage functions as a fundamental before-and-after picture. The "before" is a grim portrait of the Gentile world: a life of mental futility, spiritual darkness, alienation from God, and moral callousness, all spiraling downward into a vortex of impurity and greed. The "after" is a command to decisively shed that old identity, that "old man," like a filthy set of clothes, and to be continually renewed in the very spirit of our minds. The climax is the charge to "put on the new man," an entirely new self created by God in true righteousness and holiness. This is not about trying harder; it is about living out the reality of a supernatural transformation that has already occurred.

The central contrast is between two ways of thinking that produce two ways of living. The pagan mind is futile and dark, leading to a life of sensuality. The renewed mind, taught by the truth as it is in Jesus, leads to a life of righteousness. This passage is therefore a foundational text on the nature of repentance and sanctification. Sanctification is not simply stopping a few bad habits. It is a radical renovation of the mind that results in a complete change of wardrobe for the soul.

Outline

Context In Ephesians

Ephesians 4:1 marks the great continental divide of the epistle. Paul pivots from theology to ethics, from creed to conduct, from indicatives to imperatives. The first three chapters are a breathtaking panorama of what God has done for us in Christ: He chose us, redeemed us, sealed us, made us alive, raised us up, seated us in the heavenlies, and reconciled us into one new man, the Church. The word "therefore" in 4:1 is the hinge upon which the entire letter turns. Because of all that glorious reality, we are now commanded to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling." This section, 4:17-24, is Paul's first major elaboration on what that worthy walk looks like by contrasting it with the unworthy walk of the pagan world. It lays the groundwork for all the specific commands that will follow in chapters 4, 5, and 6 concerning speech, anger, work, marriage, and spiritual warfare. Before you can get the details right, you must grasp the fundamental principle: the old life is gone, and the new life has come. You are a new creation, so you must live like one.

Key Issues

The Great Exchange

At the heart of the Christian life is a fundamental exchange. It is an exchange that happened for us, and it is an exchange that must happen in us. At the cross, Christ took our sin and gave us His righteousness. That is the great objective exchange, the foundation of our justification. But that is not the end of the story. The gospel does not just declare us righteous; it makes us righteous. It sets in motion a subjective exchange within us, a process of transformation called sanctification. Paul describes this process here using the metaphor of clothing. We are to take off a filthy, corrupted set of garments, the old man, and put on a brand new, divinely created set of clothes, the new man.

This is not optional. It is not an advanced discipleship course for the spiritually ambitious. This is the very essence of what it means to be a Christian. To say you have learned Christ is to say you have learned how to do this. The command is not to somehow manufacture a new self out of the raw materials of the old. The new man is a finished product, already created by God in Christ. Our task is to put him on, to wear him, to live into the reality of who we now are in Jesus. This requires a constant, conscious act of the will, enabled by the Spirit, to be renewed in the very control tower of our lives: the mind.

Verse by Verse Commentary

17 Therefore this I say, and testify in the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

Paul begins with the utmost seriousness. "This I say, and testify in the Lord." This is not his personal opinion or some helpful advice. This is an apostolic charge, a solemn testimony delivered with the authority of the Lord Jesus Himself. The command is sharp and clear: stop living like the unbelieving Gentiles. The core problem with the Gentile way of life is not located first in their behavior, but in their thinking. It is a life lived in the futility of their mind. Their thinking is empty, pointless, and leads nowhere. It is like a hamster on a wheel, a great deal of mental energy expended with no actual progress toward truth or reality. Without God as the ultimate reference point, all human thought eventually collapses into meaninglessness. It is a closed system feeding on itself, unable to connect with the source of life and truth.

18 being darkened in their mind, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.

Paul now drills down into the reasons for this mental futility. First, their understanding is darkened. They are not neutral seekers of truth who just haven't found it yet; they are spiritually blind. The lights are out. This darkness results in their being alienated from the life of God. They are estranged, cut off from the only source of true life. This is a description of spiritual death. Paul gives two reasons for this alienation, and they are intertwined. The first is ignorance, but this is not an innocent lack of information. It is a culpable ignorance, a willful refusal to know God. And the root of that willful ignorance is the hardness of their heart. The Greek word suggests a petrifying, a turning to stone. The heart, the core of their being, has become calloused and unresponsive to God. The problem is not primarily intellectual; it is moral and volitional. They do not know God because they will not have God.

19 And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

This hard-hearted condition has a terrible, inevitable result. Having become callous, or past feeling, they have lost all moral sensitivity. Their conscience is seared. The result is a deliberate act of self-surrender to sin. They have given themselves over to sensuality. This is not a momentary slip but a settled course of life. Sensuality here means a shameless, flagrant disregard for moral decency. This leads to the "practice," the diligent working out, of every kind of impurity. And the engine driving this whole train is greediness. This is the insatiable desire for more, the covetousness that refuses to be satisfied. It applies not just to money, but to lust as well. It is a lust that is never content, always demanding the next thrill, the next perversion. This is the death spiral of paganism: a futile mind leads to a hard heart, which leads to a debased life.

20-21 But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

Paul now makes a sharp turn. "But you..." The Christian life is a complete antithesis to the pagan life. The way of Christ is utterly different from the way of the world. He says, "you did not learn Christ in this way." Notice the language. Christianity is not a set of abstract doctrines to be learned, but a person to be learned: Christ. To become a Christian is to enroll in the school of Christ. Paul adds a condition: "if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him." This is a bit of pastoral prodding. He is confident they have been taught correctly, but he wants them to examine themselves. True Christian teaching is not just about Jesus; it is in Him. It is a teaching that flows from a vital union with Him, and it is a teaching where the truth is not a concept, but is embodied in a person: just as truth is in Jesus. The historical Jesus is the perfect embodiment of all truth.

22 to lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

Here is the first of three commands that summarize what it means to learn Christ. The first is a decisive act of removal. You are to lay aside, or take off, the old man. The "old man" is your former self, the person you were in Adam, defined by your old way of life. It is the unregenerate self, dominated by sin. Paul gives a description of this old man: he is being corrupted. This is a continuous process of decay and ruin. The old self is not getting better; it is rotting from the inside out. And what fuels this corruption? The lusts of deceit. These are the cravings and desires that promise happiness but always lie. Sin makes false promises. It offers pleasure and freedom, but it delivers only bondage and death. These deceptive desires are what cause the old self to rot.

23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

The second command is the central, ongoing action. Sandwiched between the putting off and the putting on is the command to be renewed. This is a present passive imperative, meaning it is something that must continually be happening to us. We cannot renew ourselves, but we must submit to the Spirit's renewing work. And where does this renewal take place? In the spirit of your mind. This refers to the very core of your thinking, your deepest attitudes and perspectives. It is the control center of your personality. The Christian life is not mindless; it is a battle for the mind. As our minds are saturated with the truth of God's Word, the Holy Spirit renovates our entire way of thinking, changing our assumptions, our values, and our desires.

24 and to put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

The third command completes the action. Having taken off the old clothes, we must put on the new. The "new man" is our new identity in Christ. He is who we truly are now as believers. And unlike the old man who is in a state of decay, the new man is a finished work of creation. He has been created by God. This is not our project; it is God's masterpiece. And what is this new man like? He is created in the likeness of God. This is a direct echo of Genesis 1:27. In Christ, the defaced image of God in man is restored. This likeness consists of two things: righteousness and holiness of the truth. Righteousness refers to our right conduct toward others, our moral integrity. Holiness refers to our right standing and conduct before God, our consecration to Him. And both of these qualities are born "of the truth." They are not counterfeit virtues, but the genuine article, produced by the truth as it is in Jesus.

Application

This passage leaves no room for casual, cultural Christianity. It demands a radical break with the world's way of thinking and living. We live in a culture saturated with the futility of the Gentile mind. Our universities, our media, and our entertainment industry are all built on the assumption that man is the measure of all things and that life has no ultimate meaning beyond personal fulfillment. As Christians, we are called to a fundamental rebellion against this mindset.

The application comes to us in three daily commands. First, we must consciously and deliberately "put off" the old man. This means starving the deceptive lusts that lead to corruption. It means identifying the patterns of thought and behavior that belong to our old life, the bitterness, the lust, the lies, the greed, and renouncing them as filthy rags that have no place in our new wardrobe. Second, we must actively "be renewed" in the spirit of our minds. This is not passive. It means saturating our minds with Scripture. It means praying for the Spirit to transform our thinking. It means evaluating every thought and idea by the standard of God's Word. We must think Christianly about everything. Third, we must consciously "put on" the new man. This means acting in accordance with who we now are in Christ. We are created in righteousness and holiness, so we must practice righteousness and pursue holiness. We do this not to become new men, but because we already are. We are simply dressing the part, living up to our new, God-given identity. This is the daily, glorious work of sanctification.