November 27

Read: Ephesians 4:17-32

Put away your evil nature, as displayed in your former mode of life… get yourselves renewed in the temper of your minds and.., clothe yourselves with that new and better self which has been created to resemble God in… righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-25, Weymouth).

Get Yourselves Renewed

Here is the whole doctrine of Christian holiness — (1) the need for it, (2) the nature of it, and (3) the consequences that I may expect in my life. In verses 17-19, God encourages the worst sinner by showing him from what depths Christ can lift a human spirit. In verses 25-32 we see the virtues that identify us as followers of Christ. Between these two Paul describes God’s sanctifying work in the soul.

Weymouth’s translation above brings us life-giving truth with convincing clarity. If I want to serve God, I must put away my evil disposition. I know that I had that kind of nature because it showed itself in my manner of life before I knew Christ. If I am unsanctified, it is still displayed in strong misleading impulses. This nature is doomed to perish, It can perish now, with my consent and by the power of the Holy Spirit. If it does not thus perish now, it is doomed to perish with me in everlasting separation from God.

God’s way to make me the kind of person He wants me to be is for me to get myself renewed. I am to be clothed with a new and better self. This is a Greek phrase signifying to assume the interests of another. Eusebius says of the sons of Constantine, “They put on their father-they seemed to enter into his spirit and views, and to imitate him in all things.” This new and better self that God gives to me is a self that resembles Him in righteousness and holiness.

Prayer For Today

O God, this is the kind of person I want to be. Give me that new self, I pray.