This is week seven of our series entitled The Family. In this series, we are studying the Bible to learn who God has called us to be and what he has called us to do as a church family. Up until this point we have learned that we are called to be a disciple making family, a devoted family, a generous family, a united family, a gifted family, and a truth filled family. This week we are going to study what it means to be transformed.

17Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18They 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. 19They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20But that is not the way you learned Christ! – 21assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and give no opportunity to the devil. 28Let 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. 29Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

In our passage today, God tells us that if we call ourselves Christians, we should no longer walk or live our lives like the world around us, and we should put on new lives because we belong to God and to each other. If you profess Christ as your Lord and Savior, your life should look radically different than it did before you surrendered to him, and it should look radically different than the world around us.

I am reminded of Romans 12:1 – 2, where the Apostle Paul says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Paul’s instructions to the church in Rome, regarding transformation, is based upon the mercy of God; if we have tasted God’s mercy, it should change us, it should transform us radically.

How often do you devote your heart and mind to meditating on the areas of your life that God wants to change in you? Better yet, how often do you think about, and make steps towards genuine change, and repentance from sin, in light of God’s never-ending mercy? Asking God to make you more holy, to make you more acceptable in his sight, to renew your heart and mind, to reveal his will to you, to help you understand what is good, and acceptable, and perfect in every situation – this is how you offer yourself to God in worship as a person who is being transformed.

I am also reminded of 2 Corinthians 5:17 – 19 which says that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

The moment you surrendered to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you were made new and you were simultaneously given a ministry to spread the life changing – transforming – message of the gospel to others around you. Transformation is not just about you, but it does begin with you, and every person you come into contact with, gets to see the gospel in action through the way that you live your life.

Now, when I read the passage in front of us today, I try to imagine the vast majority of the American church as it is today, reading this letter for the very first time and I try to imagine the response. I think we do one of two things when we read the text we are studying today. We read it like a generalized list of do’s and don’ts for people in another day and age who were probably fairly good Christians but just needed some reminders on what to avoid.

Or we read it with other people in mind who need to hear this (those darn kids, that darn spouse, or that darn political party, etc.) they need to hear this because they have major issues. The problem with that kind of reading is that we depersonalize the text.

We do not immediately interpret this passage as Paul speaking to literal people whose faces and names he knew personally, as he confronts their sin, and demands that they begin walking like the newly transformed creations they were called to be. I imagine that some professing believers today, if they received this letter personally from their pastor, for the very first time, would cry out “How dare Paul throw stones at us? How dare he judge us this way?”

I think he dares to do so because, as I have stated before, the context of the book of Ephesians describes Paul’s desire to see Christians be who they say they are, and do what they say they will do, as they wage war against the enemy. Being a transformed church family requires that we learn to no longer walk like our old selves or like the world around us, it requires that we put on new clothing of the transformed life, and it requires that we do it in community with other believers that we belong to.

#1: NO LONGER WALK THAT WAY (VV. 17 – 22)

The first thing Paul begins with is a command to no longer walk that way – in the way of the world, in the way of our old lives. Hear these words in verses 17 – 22 as though he is speaking directly to you when he says “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! – assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.”

Is there anything in this reading that you need to remove from your life? Anything that you need to take off like a dirty set of clothes? Is there any worldly thing that you need to no longer walk in? What kind of futile, foolish, or worldly thinking patterns do you need to put off? Where have you been walking in darkness? In what ways have you alienated yourself from God? Where is there hardness in your heart? In what ways have you surrendered to sensuality, greed and impurity? What deceptive desires do you need to crucify with Christ as you seek to live in obedience to his Word?

Paul assumes that we know that being stuck in those sinful patterns is not honoring to God. He assumes that we know that we should not be lazy about addressing sin in our lives. He assumes that we understand the basics of waging war against sin in the context of biblical community. He assumes that we believe that we must no longer walk in that way so that we can begin to put on the new self in Christ Jesus.

#2: PUT ON THE NEW SELF (VV. 23 – 24)

Once we begin the regular rhythm of “no longer walking that way” and regularly taking off our filthy, sin-stained clothing together, we must begin to put on the new clothing of the new self. The image of verses 23 – 24 literally have nakedness in mind. Once we have taken off our sin-stained clothing, we have become naked and vulnerable – not very different from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We need to be clothed properly to continue growing in transformation.

This is why Paul says in verses 23 – 24 that after removing our sin-stained clothing, that we need “to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Our new clothing, our new self, is the perfect, spotless, sparkling white robes of Christ’s righteousness and holiness. If we say we believe in Christ for salvation, then we are admitting that our sin-stained robes are filthy and disgusting and that we are powerless to change our clothes alone.

This is why Christ gave his life at that cross. This is why he died in our place. He took our filthy sin-stained robes and put them on himself as he gave us his perfect white robes of righteousness and holiness. Our duty and privilege then, is to actively change our clothes in community as other brothers and sisters in Christ check our clothing, point out our blind spots, and remind us of the finished work of Jesus at the cross on our behalf.

Listen, maybe you are not convinced yet that this whole clothing changing thing is best done in community with the church family. Maybe you think you are peachy king and doing quite well on your own. Maybe you think it is a waste of time to be in weekly community with other believers… well I am sure you wouldn’t say it is a waste of time, but your schedule says differently based upon what you prioritize.

But here’s the thing, just as I need people to inspect the physical clothing I wear and alert me to malfunctions and mismatches, you and I need the same thing spiritually. We need other people to check us on the regular so that we do not walk around with ketchup stains on our shirts while claiming to be wearing clean clothes. This is what it means to belong to one another in community.

#3: WE ARE MEMBERS OF ONE ANOTHER (VV. 25 – 32)

Listen, it may be difficult for you to comprehend this idea of a church family that is being radically transformed together. Maybe you grew up thinking church was just a place you attended a few times per year or maybe a few times per month at best to feel better, to get that spiritual pep talk, or to boost your image and self-esteem. Or maybe you think those trips to church are more about gaining knowledge for self-help. The Bible does not have those images in mind as it pertains to the church family.

The church is primarily a group of people who have been saved by Jesus, people who are submitted to Jesus, and people who are committed to regular weekly community so that we can draw close to God together and help one another walk in transformation – to become more like Jesus together. This is why everything Paul says in verses 25 – 32 revolves around the phrase “for we are members one of another” (v. 25). 

Paul’s vision here is a group of people who are knit together like a beautiful tapestry without any fringes or frays hanging on the edges, without stragglers, without outliers, without the crazy uncles who show up every now and then when there’s food to consume.

With that image of a close-knit family being joined together, belonging to each other, being woven together in regular community, without fringes, without frays, without strays, Paul says in verses 25 – 32 that since we are supposed to be in the business of changing our spiritual clothes regularly, we are to:

“put away falsehood, [and] let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. 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. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

In these verses, Paul describes what our new clothing ought to look like and how to put it on. He has previously stated that our new clothing, our new lives should be righteous and holy (v. 24) and now we see what those righteous and holy, transformed clothes look like.

Our new clothes are full of truth not deception and falsehood. They are not full of unresolved anger that leads to sinful decisions and behaviors. When he describes the thief that no longer steals but works hard to share with others, he is saying that our new clothing should not look like the clothing of people who consume products while never investing in the community.

Our language should be pure and aimed at building others up rather than tearing them down. There should not be any bitterness, wrath, anger, division, slander, or maliciousness or wickedness among us. Our clothing should be full of truth, kindness, tenderness, and true forgiveness that is based on God’s complete forgiveness. Our clothing should literally look like Jesus in all of his perfection as we are being transformed into his image for all the world to see.

Anything less than this description is an afront to God and it grieves the Spirit of God whose seal upon us marks us for eternity in heaven. Just as one of our guys recently highlighted, in the same way that battle buddies in the military inspect each other’s gear, God has given us battle buddies in the form the church family to inspect one another’s gear. Notice that the “one another” phrases act as bookends in verses 25 and 32. Paul’s description of our new clothing is bookended or centered in the practice of belonging to one another in community. 

You and I would be foolish to think that there is any other way to change our clothes, to pursue transformation, to walk as a transformed community without the actual regular presence of community. Close examination of one another’s lives as we get eyeball to eyeball on a weekly basis – that is the normal pattern all throughout Scripture. Regular community is where we wage war together against the enemy as we help each other walk in repentance and transformation.

This is not meant to be done alone. Holding onto Christ as our beacon of truth, putting off our old way of life and putting deceitful desires to death cannot be done alone because you are blind to your blind spots. That is why this is a community project. Being and becoming a transformed community that actively fights to no longer walk that way – in our old sinful ways – means that we drag things into the light together so that we may kill sin before it kills us as we hold onto Christ.

Why else would Paul write this letter to individuals in a church family? On the one hand you need to read this passage like a personal letter. On the other hand, at the same time, you need to recognize that the church was designed to read this and apply it together in the context of a sin fighting, transformation pursuing family.

APPLICATION…

By way of application, I think that the problem for some modern day Christians in the West, is that they resist the notion of the gritty, exhausting, sacrificial work involved with pursuing transformation together. They get comfortable with the status quo of consumer religion. They get distracted by their out-of-control schedules. they get intimidated with the thought of other people joining them in the journey of transformation because, while they long for deep relationships in a church family, they fear being fully known and rejected, so they wind up walking alone.

These people are more like the Lone Ranger without Tonto in this journey of transformation. They see themselves as the masters of their own destinies with no need for the body of Christ. Churches everywhere have built their programs around these kinds of people. Instead of sin-fighting communities, the American church has often built stages to entertain fans, classrooms to lace theology with politics, and baby-sitting services for families who do not know how to disciple their own children – all under the banner of making disciples while helping you find your best life now, greater happiness, better friends groups, and God’s glorious purpose for your life.

On the more dramatic side of things, as if what I have already said is not dramatic enough, I think our western culture has bought the lies that we are not to judge one another or cast stones at each other. How did we arrive in this place in the American church? How could so many professing believers in America buy into this?

When did we buy the lie, that confronting sin within ourselves and in our brothers and sisters’ lives was the same as some religious hypocrites who were hell-bent on throwing literal stones at another sinner – with whom they were probably compromised with in the first place (Jn. 8:7)? People who interpret the Bible this way would most likely tell David to put his stones away, to forgive Goliath, to empathize, and to evangelize him, despite the damage he was doing to the people of God.

And when did we buy the lie, that confronting sin and calling one another to grow in holiness, to honor God with our lives, to worship God from a pure conscience, to pursue real fruit-filled transformation was somehow breaking the cardinal rule of “judge not lest ye be judged” while ignoring the context of what Jesus was actually saying in Matthew 7when he commanded us to use righteous judgement for ourselves as well as those in the family of God?

People who buy this lie, resist true accountability. They proclaim false versions of mercy and grace and forgiveness as the highest calling of a Christian. They gaslight anyone who confronts them, and they generally go from bad to worse since they refuse to surrender their puffed-up version of their own image to the corrective work of the Spirit of God among their brothers and sisters in Christ.

May it never be said of us that we refused to remove our old ways of living. May it never be said of us that we rejected the new clothing offered to us in Christ Jesus. May it never be said of us that we were constantly absent from walking in transformation as a church family. May it be said of us that we fought sin together so that we could pursue lasting transformation in community with one another.

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, can you imagine Jesus looking at the Father and the Spirit and saying “I do not have time for you” or “I do not really need you” or “you do not really need me”? Of course not! We believe in the community of the Trinitarian Godhead who is eternally united, eternally coexistent, and eternally bound together, never to be separated.

It is this image of the Godhead in us that was broken at the Fall in the garden of Eden. It is the reason that divorce rates are so high, why people jump from church to church, why people do not practice true restoration and reconciliation. The enemy has been waging war against God since the beginning and since we were created in God’s image to reflect him to the world around us, Satan, Sin, and Death have worked overtime to kill community because that is where we are transformed into the image of God together.

The beauty of the gospel message is that when Jesus died on that cross and when he left that tomb empty and when he promised us eternity in heaven, he did it to restore the fractures of God’s family. He died as a bridegroom to ransom and to restore the wife who had divorced him for other lovers. Jeus literally died to restore the family of God.

Being a transformed family really is all about living out the sacrificial and sanctifying work of the bloody cross, the empty tomb, and the promise of heaven in relationship with one another so that we can take off our sin-soaked clothing and put on the perfect garments of Christ’s righteousness together.

My prayer is that we would spend some considerable time asking the Spirit of God to examine our hearts, to examine the current clothing we are wearing, to examine our commitment to belonging to other believers, and then to step out in obedience to what he reveals to us so that we can pursue being a transformed family that honors God with our lives. – Amen.

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).