ber that the old life is behind us. We must start living our new life which makes us victorious in Jesus Christ. It wasn’t any easier in Ephe sus that it is today. There was prostitution in the temple of Diana, magical arts in the city, pressures of great wealth, moral corruption of the people, lying, greed, rioting, clamoring, bitterness, hatred; it was a place of heathen darkness. (We’re speaking of Ephesus, not the United States.) To people in such an envi ronment, Paul writes this exhorta tion to godly living. Fornication and adultery had been accepted as a nor mal way of life. With the coming of the Gospel many of these weary, sin-sick hearts were quickened with a desire to turn from their low lives of degradation and find newness of life in Jesus Christ. These people needed help and instruction. Ephe sians 4:17-22 tells what to put off, while, beginning with verse 23, we have positive assertions as to what to put on. The new man is created in righteousness and true holiness. To the average mind of the world ly person the works of the human flesh are not all bad. In God’s sight, however, all man’s righteousness are as filthy rags even at best. This is why we need to be renewed in our minds. Spiritual things must be giv en first place. To put off the old man demands a continuing act of faith in complete dependence upon God. Only He can help us to maintain a fixed attitude towards our old flesh, seeing it as God does, crucified with Christ. If the old nature were eradicat ed, as some erroneously teach, there would be no point in Paul’s plea to put off the old man. If we had only a new nature there would be no other way for us to walk but in righteousness and holiness. Putting off the old life means recognizing its potential to sin. There is a need for daily self-examination (I Cor. 11: 28). Potentially the Christian pos
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