We are continuing with our series of words that describe the thinking processes of the Christian mind. Most recently we have been focused on the teaching of Paul wherein he says that once a person has been born of the Spirit of God, all of his growth and interaction with Christ takes place in the mind. Paul is not presenting a teaching involving the practice of psychology, but rather is showing that the believer's life and maturity comes from interacting with the Living Word of God, an interaction that takes place within the various areas of the function of the mind.
Last week we began our study of the word νοὺς (Strong's #3563) which has to do with the perceptive ability of the mind. In Scripture, it is applied to the believer's spiritual perception. We have understood from Paul, in Romans 12:1-2, that in light of what the Lord has done for us, we are to be continually not being fashioned with the world; but rather we are to be continually being transformed through the renewing of our minds (νοὺς). Paul teaches that this transformation of the perceptive process is necessary in order for Christians to be able to test things so that we can rightly perceive what the will of the Lord is for us. According to this text, it is spiritual perception, not logic or reason that is necessary for knowing the will of the Lord.
Today our study is taken from Ephesians 4:17-24, where Paul continues to present the necessity of the renewal of our perceptive process.
In the fourth chapter of Ephesians, Paul encourages believers to walk worthy of the calling with which they are called. After spending the first part of the chapter emphasizing growth and maturity, he goes on to say:
The second present participle denotes that the non-believers of the world exist as aliens who have been separated from the life of God. Paul is saying the life of the Spirit of God does not dwell in them, therefore there is no spiritual life or spiritual perception in them.
Next Paul presents a prepositional phrase telling us the reason for these two conditions: it is because of the spiritual ignorance that is in them. Then Paul follows with a prepositional phrase describing the reason why they are spiritually ignorant: it is because of the hardness of their hearts. The word for "hardness" is πὼρωσις (Strong's #4457) and means, "callous." He is saying that their hearts have become rock-hard, consequently no knowledge of God can penetrate, and spiritual darkness is the result.
20) but you yourselves did not learn Christ this way,
21) if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, according as truth is in Jesus;
In Verse 20 Paul says that believers who have been taught the truth by the Lord have not learned "Christ this way," referring back to verses 18,19 which describes the process of the direction of the life of the non-believer. He then puts a disclaimer in Verse 21 saying that it is possible for someone in Christ to have not been taught by the Lord according to the truth as it is in Jesus.
Verses 22-24 present the true teaching of Christ that is comprised of three things.
There are two parts and three teachings that form Paul's presentation of the teaching of
Christ. The first part is also the first teaching, "to put off" the old nature and lifestyle. The second part consists of the second and third teachings: "to be renewed in the spirit of your mind," and "to put on the new man."
The first and third teachings tell us to "to put off" and "to put on." These are terms used for taking off and putting on a coat, or piece of clothing. The Bible is clearly teaching that a person who has received Christ has been born of the Spirit of God and is no longer a slave to sin.
In Romans 6:11-14, after saying that Jesus died to sin once and for all, Paul says:
12) Therefore, let not sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obeyF15 it in its desires;
13) neither be yielding your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but yield yourselves to God as living from out of the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God;
We are to not let sin reign nor are we to yield the members of our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness, but rather to yield them to God as instruments of righteousness.
In Paul's teachings, he presents that the believer has been set free from sin through Jesus Christ. We should not be making the decisions to give ourselves over to the same lifestyle that produces darkness in our understanding. We are to yield ourselves to being transformed by renewing the spirit of our minds, growing in spiritual perception, so that we can know what the will of the Lord is. The choice to grow through the renewing of our minds is a choice between yielding to the old sin nature with its darkened understanding and putting off the sin nature as one would a coat while putting on the new life which God has already created for us in Christ.
Next week we will continue our journey through Paul's teaching on the mind (νοὺς) using 1 Corinthians 1:10-17.
Technical Notes:
F1: The present infinitive περιπατεῖν, "to walk," with the accusative subject ὑμᾶς, "you," is translated νὰ͂περιπατῆτε, "that you should walk."
F2: The word translated "emptiness" is ματαιὸτης (Strong's #3153) which means to be "void of substance" and is from the adjective μὰταιος (Strong's #3152) that means to "be useless, of no purpose, devoid of truth."
F3: In verse 18 the word translated "hardness" is πὼρωσις (Strong's #4457) and means to be covered with a callus. It comes from πῶρος, a kind of hard stone.
F4: The Greek word for "having become past feeling" is ἀπαλγὲω (Strong's #524) and means to "to cease to feel." This word in this text is a perfect participle, which denotes that when they arrived at a state or condition of having lost feeling or sensitivity, they gave themselves over to sensuality.
F5: "Sensuality," is the translation of ἀσὲλγεια (Strong's #766) which means "without restraint," "uncontrolled immorality." The word represents an attitude where people do not care what others say or think, as long as they can satisfy their desires. Josephus combined ἀσὲλγεια with μανιὰς, "madness." He said that ἀσὲλγεια was the sin of Jezebel (Antiquities 8.13.1).
F6: The prepositional phrase of purpose εἰς͂ἐργασὶαν, "toward working" is translated διὰ͂νὰ͂ἐργὰζωνται, "in order that they might work."
F7: The Greek word translated "greediness" is πλεονεξὶα (Strong's #4124) and means "to have more." It is a compound word from the comparative adjective πολὺς (Strong's #4119) "more," and ἔχω (Strong's #2192) "to have." A greedy or covetous person is one who wants to "have more" than what he already has.
F8: The aorist infinitive ἀποθὲσθαι, "to put off," with the subject in the accusative case ὑμᾶς, "you," is translated νὰ͂απεκδυθῆτα, "that you should put off," as taking off a garment.
F9: The second article τὸν in the long attributive position is translated ποῦεὶναι, "which is."
F10: The present participle, φθειρὸμενον, "being corrupted," denotes that the old man or old nature is currently and continuously in a process of being corrupted.
F11: The present infinitive ἀνανεοῦσθαι, "to be renewed," is translated νὰ͂ανανεὸνησθε, "that you should be renewed."
F12: The aorist infinitive ἐνδὺσασθαι, "to put on," is translated νὰ͂ενδυθῆτε, "that you should put on," as a garment.
F13: The second article τὸν in the long attributive position is translated by the relative pronoun που, "which."
F14: The aorist participle κτισθὲντα, "has been created," denotes an action, which has already taken place. The believer has already had the new man, or the new creation, created in him.
F15: The prepositional phrase of purpose with the articular infinitive εἰς͂τὸ͂ὑπακοὺειν, "for to obey," is translated νὰ͂υπακοὺητε, "that you should obey."
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Bill Klein has been a pastor, counselor, and educator for the past 41 years. He has had extensive training and education in biblical languages, and has authored a Biblical Greek course.
He is currently serving as Professor of Biblical Greek at Master's Graduate School of Divinity, and president of BTE Ministries - The Bible Translation and Exegesis Institute of America, a non-profit organization located in California that provides Bible study tapes and Greek study materials through their website BTEMinistries.org.