Sermon on Ephesians 4:22-28, for the 19th Sunday after Trinity (1 YR lectionary), "Put on the New Self"

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. A year ago we marked the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation, when Martin Luther brought the light of Scripture back to the church. One of the discoveries that jolted Luther as he studied the New Testament was that every Christian struggles with an ongoing battle—between the saint and sinner in us. Or as Paul puts in in Romans 7, the battle between the spirit and the flesh, or the new self and the old self. So long as we are alive we have this constant struggle against our old sinful nature, tugging and pulling us toward all manner of sin, selfishness, greed, and impurity. And the new nature that seeks after holiness, righteousness, and God’s Truth. That struggle only ends in the grave, and after the resurrection of our body, to the sinless eternal life in Christ. But the new self is already implanted and germinated in us in Christ Jesus. So day by day we faithfully struggle against that stubborn old self, drowning it in the waters of baptism, and crucifying our sinful desires and passions by repentance in Christ Jesus.

We pick up that struggle every day we’re confronted by our cantankerous anger, our relentless selfishness, our simmering jealousy, or agitated impatience. Every time our sinful nature rears its ugly head, we’re reminded that our flesh is still our enemy. But as it says in our bulletin quote—that is our old self. It is no longer who we are in Christ Jesus. Your old self is like an uninvited guest who won’t leave. Ignore it and treat it as your enemy. It’s desires are not in line with the Spirit, or God’s will. If we’re spiritually sleepy and unaware, the sinful nature is glad to “take over the controls” and steer us back into hurtful thoughts, words, and actions.

So Ephesians 4 reminds us of this danger, this ever present “old self” that is no longer who we are, but is always working against the new self, our life in the Spirit. Verse 22 says “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.”  Put off, as in, take off the old, dirty clothing. Shun it, cast it away, keep it off you. It’s part of our “former manner of life.” Whether in youth or adulthood, we have all lived in sinful ways, done things we know are not of Christ, or still have the temptations of the flesh pulling at us. And this old self is “corrupt”—rotten, decaying. Not belonging to life and health, but to disease and death. We all find rotten or spoiled fruit “gross” and won’t eat it. But the old self produces rotten or bad fruit. The old self does things that don’t lead to health or wholeness or soundness, but lead to death and decay. We need the pure healthy teaching of God’s Word, and the nourishment of His holy Sacraments—washed in baptism, our renewal, and fed with His body and blood for our forgiveness. We reject what is corrupt and decaying, and cling to what is wholesome and good.

v. 23, “be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and…put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” In a certain book, a young woman is caught in a world of corruption and evil, and longs to leave it, but feels too strongly chained to it. She despairs it is “too late” and she is too far gone to return to an honorable life. Another woman compassionately urges her that it is never too late! How can she persuade her to come to freedom? Many face this same challenge. Sin deceives us, that there is no longer a path to true righteousness and holiness. But the death of Jesus proves otherwise. The death of Jesus on the cross for our sins proves that freedom and forgiveness lies open, and that it is not too late. We are “renewed in the spirit of [our] minds”. Jesus strips away the old self, and drowning it in the waters of baptism, and a new, clean person rises to walk in new life with God. The old self is persistent to come back and attack us, Luther said the old self is a “good swimmer”—but we must never forget that we are dead to that old sinful nature, and alive in Christ Jesus. We know this by faith, not by experience. Our experience seems to lead us to despair, but our faith confirms that what Jesus has done is true, real, and effective in us. We are a work in progress, to be completed at God’s designated time in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).

And we are being “created in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” God is the One who is creating this likeness in us. He is molding us and fashioning us back into His own image and likeness, which we lost through the Fall into Sin. Colossians 3:10 reaffirms: “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” God is washing away our old self and its sin, and shaping in us His own image and likeness. If this were our own project, it would be a failure. But it’s not a “do-it-yourself” project. From start to finish, God is the “professional contractor” on the job—He is our Creator and Renewer.

Look at verse 25-28. These verses show us short, concrete examples of this struggle between the old self and the new self, related to the 8^th, 5^th, and 7^th commandments, respectively. V. 25: “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” Luther always taught about the positive and negative side of each commandment. Sins we are to avoid—the “You shall not”—but also the good that we are to do—the positive ‘do this’ instead. So verse 25: the 8^th commandment. Put away falsehood or lies, and then positively, speak truth to your neighbor. The old self schemes by lies, deceit, and manipulation. But the new self is committed to honesty and truth. Not only are we to “speak the truth”, but to “speak the truth in love” (4:15). Why? “For we are members one of another.” That responsibility to speak the truth extends not just to fellow believers, but to all neighbors, because we are “members of one another.” We are interdependent on each other, and truth and honesty sustains and strengthens these bonds. Lies, slander, and falsehood sows distrust and weakens those bonds.

v. 26 addresses the 5^th commandment. Jesus taught “You shall not murder”, goes beyond just the violence and harm that we inflict on others, but goes right to the seed of anger that starts it. V. 26 says “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” Anger is like a burning ember. Give it oxygen, and it will flame into a destructive fire. It’ll burst into sin in a flash, and hurtful words leap from our mouth, that can never be recalled, or hurtful actions proceed from our hands, and wound others. Do not let the sun go down on your anger is a daily reminder not to let grudges, bitterness, unforgiveness, or other feelings of anger to follow us to bed. Be quick to reconcile, forgive, seek out the person with whom we’ve had angry feelings or an argument, and seek their forgiveness, before the day’s end. Help and serve our neighbor instead. Bitterness stored up in our heart is a corrupting thing, as we mentioned before. It leads to poor health in body and soul. Uproot the root of bitterness, like the weed that it is, and sow forgiveness and peace, as far as it depends on you.

“Give no opportunity” or “place”  to the devil. Don’t give him room, or a foothold to operate. The old spiritual “shut de do’ keep out de devil, shut de do’ keep the devil in the night” is right—shut him out of all our activities. Give him no space to work mischief, deceit and harm. Basketball players learn to use their body and position themselves to “box out” the opposing team. Keep the devil “boxed out” of your life; don’t give him easy shots, or let down your defense. Team defense is better than one on one. Starve our anger of oxygen; remove fuel from the fire, and starve him of opportunity by keeping away from easy temptations. Don’t give  him ground to sow trouble and renew the habits and corrupt desires of our old self. Too often we flirt with temptation by putting ourselves in potentially compromising situations. The new self learns to avoid these, and “box out” the devil.

Finally verse 28 turns to the 7^th commandment: “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Again, the old life is ended—turn away from dishonesty and stealing, and turn positively to honest labor. This verse is one of many that praises the goodness and dignity of honest work. A few weeks ago we talked about honor and dishonor. Honest labor, with a good return for our work, leads to honor. Work gives people dignity, because they can hold their head up high for providing for themselves. But at the same time we are providing for ourselves, God supplies an additional motive to do good work—to “have something to share with anyone in need.” All through history there have been those who are in need, either by inability to work, illness, age, injury, or misfortune. God calls on us to use our income to grow in the spiritual gift of generosity. The seventh commandment is a warning against stealing—but much more than that, God wants us to turn positively toward the virtue of generous giving. Seeing and identifying the needy, and finding ways to help them. This also spreads goodwill and harmony among people, just as speaking the truth with our neighbor, and seeking to be reconciled with those whom we have wronged, or who have wronged us.

In all of this, we must see and recognize it’s Christ’s work in us, to put the old self to death, and raise up the new self in true righteousness and holiness. It’s God’s new creation in us, and He sees it through to completion. We are involved in the process, as the object of God’s workmanship, but God is the real driving force behind our change and our renewal. Luther talked about how we are under a shared yoke with Christ, but He pulls the real weight. It’s like a child pulling a full and heavy wagon load with their father. Their hand is on the handle together with the father, but he is doing the real work. He lifts what we could never lift, He breaks chains of which we could never be free, and He lives in us with a generosity, goodness, and love for truth that overflows through us. So it is with our sanctification in Christ. Of course we “participate” and are “along for the ride”—but it’s under God’s power alone that we can begin to transform from the old self that held us captive to sinful desires, toward the new self that walks in righteousness and purity forever. With joy, we put on this new self, daily in Christ Jesus, always watchful for the plans and schemes of the devil, but giving him no opportunity to work. With joy, we embrace the new identity that God has made for us in Christ Jesus, knowing that it leads us to everlasting joy and peace in Him. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Sermon Talking Points

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1. The New Testament uses the language of the “flesh” (Romans 7:5-6, 14, 18; 8:4-9;); the “old self” (Ephesians 4:22; Romans 6:6; Colossians 3:8-9); and the “former ignorance” (1 Peter 1:14) and “futile ways” (1 Peter 1:18) to describe our old sinful nature and its ways. How is it described?
2. By contrast, this is compared to our “new self” in the Spirit. How is this life described? Romans 7:6, 22, 25; 8:1-11; Ephesians 4:23-24; Colossians 3:10.
3. What is deceitful about our old self and its desires? Ephesians 4:22; Hebrews 3:13; Romans 7:11. What lies does our sinful nature tell us? How is the sinful nature like an “uninvited guest who won’t leave?” How should we treat our deceitful sinful nature? Romans 6:6; Galatians 5:24.
4. Ephesians 4:24 tells us that our new self is “created after the likeness of God”. How does Colossians 3:10 reaffirm this? What does it mean for us to be renewed and created in God’s image and likeness anew? Who is the incarnation of this image we are being shaped into? Romans 8:29
5. Ephesians 4:25-28 speaks to at least 3 commandments. The 5^th (anger), the 7^th (stealing and greed), and the 8^th (lying). Martin Luther taught that each command has a negative aspect (“thou shalt not”) and a positive good that we are to do. What is the sin to avoid, and the good to do, for each of these three commands, according to these verses?
6. How does our interdependence in society rely on truthfulness and honesty? Ephesians 4:25. Why should we never leave grudges or bitterness unresolved before sleep? Ephesians 4:26.
7. How do we keep the devil “boxed out” of our life as much as possible? Ephesians 4:27. Why is the new self the work of Christ, and not our own? John 15:4-5; Philippians 1:6.