“THE FUTILITY OF THEIR MINDS!”

 Ephesians 4:17-24                               (ESV)

“[17] 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 WAY 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.”

Many times I have written about THE JEWS, the ones who crucified JESUS and did everything possible to make HIS LIFE a constant struggle.  Today we are led to describe THE GENTILES, according to some, “Gentile is a term that usually means "someone who is not a Jew”.   Using the terms THE JEWS and THE GENTILES can cause confusion, and we should all understand who it is that is behind confusion???

 2 Corinthians 5:17 plainly states “Therefore, IF ANYONE is in CHRIST, he is a NEW CREATION. The old (man and his actions) has passed away; behold, the new (man with his SPIRIT led life) has come.  IF ANYONE means what it says, ANYONE!  We cannot be satisfied with our OLD SELVES, for that is from the NATURAL MAN.  When JESUS CHRIST transforms our lives HE gives us a NEW SELF to replace the OLD MAN and his DECEITFUL DESIRES.  Whether a descendant of Abraham, or a descendant of the ungodliest of reprobates, GOD IS ABLE to transform ANYONE into a tool for the GLORY OF CHRIST!  Look no further than the ninth chapter of Acts where JESUS converted Saul into Paul!

If we focus on THE OLD MAN we negate THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST and the unimaginable sacrifice HE paid for us!  THE NEW MAN should be what we SEE when any Believer, not how HOLY they are, but how JESUS has been made manifest in their lives.  The OLD MAN is limited by “THE FUTILITY OF THEIR MINDS”, but the NEW MAN is only limited by GODS PLAN and Glorifying JESUS in their actions!  When we accept that “THE FUTILITY OF THEIR MINDS” is part of the OLD MAN, we become FREE to live as the NEW MAN we were CREATED for!!!