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Ephesians 4:17-19
As we begin to study Ephesians 4:17–19, I want to make sure that we all know what a Gentile is: A Gentile is everyone other than a Jewish person. Scripture sometimes refers to the Gentiles in a way that may seem undesirable or bad, such as in the above passage where the author (Paul) states “…you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk,” (Ephesians 4:17b, NKJV). This is in reference to those Gentiles who have not accepted Christ as their Savior. Keep in mind that Paul is writing to “…the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:” (Ephesians 1:1b) as he wrote this letter to the church at Ephesus.
Paul is writing to the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus, this does not mean that these writings are not for the non-Christian. In this book of the Bible, as well as in all of Paul’s writings, Paul teaches the way to salvation in Christ Jesus. That is the message that we all need to hear and understand in humbling ourselves before Christ in repentance, and accepting salvation through our faith in Christ Jesus given to us by the grace of God because He loves us so much (John 3:16–17).
This is a command to leave the ways of the world and live in salvation given to us through Christ Jesus.
Christ died on the cross for our sins, taking upon Himself the punishment due to each of us for the sins we have committed. Since we have sinned, we are not perfect and cannot live in God’s perfect heaven when we die our physical death. But Jesus is perfect and sinless, making Him the only acceptable sacrifice for the sins of humanity (that means you and me and everyone else).
If we accept what Jesus has done for us through our faith in Him, God gives us the gift of salvation of forgiving our sins, and then we are made perfect in Christ. It is through the perfection of Christ that we are made perfect, in Him, not by anything that we did or ever will do.
Dear Lord,
I pray that You will speak to our hearts and open our eyes to the gift You have given us of salvation in Christ Jesus. Please help us all to see that we do not have to be slaves to this world “in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Ephesians 4:17–19), but that we would acknowledge our freedom from the ways of this world in Christ Jesus and accept our salvation in Him and live each day for You LORD – in Christ. In Jesus name I pray, amen.