Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church begins by establishing that it is God who has called and chosen his people “to be holy and blameless in his sight”. The good news of salvation in Jesus Christ begins with God calling us to repentance and obedience to Christ, to a new way of living from a completely “new self”.
Around the middle of the letter Paul switches from speaking about the eternal truths of the gospel to the practical outworking in our response to God’s gracious gift of life. He writes, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Eph. 4:1). Such a high calling demands an all-or-nothing response to God’s invitation.
In practical terms though, it’s not just about an external change of behaviour patterns, but an internal renovation of heart and mind that lays a new foundation for how we live. The beginning of a new creation, that Paul calls “the new self”.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24 (NIV)
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