The Importance Of Holiness

 “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. 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. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!” Ephesians 4:17-20 ESV

There were numerous occasions when Paul felt the need to emphasize that his words were not his own, but of the Lord. He imparted valuable guidance to the churches he founded, drawing from his experiences as a Rabbi and teacher of the Law. Some of his teachings were based on his own wisdom, while others were inspired by the Lord, which he humbly attributed to divine inspiration.

It seems like Paul was addressing the issue of how the Ephesians used to live before they embraced their new life in Jesus. He contrasted their old ways with their new life in Christ, emphasizing the superiority of the latter. Some of the Ephesians were Jews from the Synagogue in Ephesus, and they were resistant to Paul's teachings. After facing frustration for three months, Paul moved his teaching base to the hall of Tyrannus, where many people came to Christ (Acts 19:9).

It appears that Paul was referring to these Jews from the synagogue when he mentioned people who were "darkened in their understanding" and "alienated from the life of God." Despite their belief in obeying the Torah and its commandments, they did not recognize Jesus as their Messiah. Even though Paul had preached about Jesus in the synagogue multiple times, these Jews remained ignorant due to their hardness of heart. They had become callous, given to sensuality, and greedy to practice impurity.

Ephesus was a prosperous city known for its trade, and it's likely that the Jewish congregants were heavily influenced by the city's prosperity. Paul might have been urging them to change their ways and not to live like the Gentiles.

Ephesus was city which also had pagan deities that were worshiped in different temples throughout the city, the contrast to Christianity by Paul was stark as these deities did not produce the hope and life that Jesus could produce, and the call by Paul was to leave these pagan deities and rituals behind and place full faith and confidence in Jesus Christ.

How much are we influenced by this fallen world in adhering to the beliefs and customs of our current culture? Paul's message is a clarion call to all of us who have fallen into the sins of the flesh that cater to our carnal nature, whether it's about our rights, beliefs, or about our understanding of God. As all of us are dead to sin, we do not allow it to preoccupy our minds with its tempting ways, drawing us to prioritize our thoughts or ideas above the direction of the Spirit. Instead, we focus our minds on Christ and His grace and mercy toward us, which is far greater than sin for a short season.

One thing we need to be careful of is spreading rumors about other people of faith. Paul was referring to avoiding doing what the Gentiles do, after all we are those Gentiles. We should always speak the truth in love, as Christ is the truth, and not focus on the inclinations associated with the flesh. We are better than that, and our behavior should reflect that. We should always speak in love because God is love, and as we speak to and about others, it should reflect our heart of love for our brothers and sisters, for God is love.

We have learned that Christ is the example or model of our interaction with others. He loved completely and honestly as to avoid the problems of having to speak about others in a light that was not helpful in building them up. And as we build up others, we are effectively building up ourselves in the faith as well, that’s how we mature in our walk before the Lord, we are all interconnected in profound ways.

In summation, the overall tone of this passage of scripture is quite dark. However, Paul is trying to use this rebuke to draw attention to how he observed the behavioral responses of the Jews in the temple at Ephesus by comparing them to Gentiles, Paul expected better things from them as Sons of Abraham. He wants them to see that even though they have rejected the message of Christ, their practice of Judaism is just as insincere as they are. There is no benefit to them practicing something that isn't affecting or changing them into becoming better people of God.

Stephen Barnett