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"Sensitivity,
Sensuality, and the New Self"
Jim Gambini
"So I tell you this, and insist on it in the
Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of
their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from
the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening
of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over
to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual
lust for more. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you
heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in
Jesus. 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 4:17-24)
Up until this point in Ephesians, Christians have been
told who they are and what the Church is because of what God has accomplished
through Jesus Christ.
Here in Ephesians 4:17, Christians are warned not to
live like a certain group of people. So I tell you this, and insist
on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do… To
a Jew in Jesus’ day, the world was divided into two groups – Jews and
Gentiles. A Gentile was simply someone who wasn’t a Jew. When
Jesus told his disciples, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…,
(Matthew 28:19a) “nations” is the same Greek word translated in Ephesians
4:17 at “Gentiles.” Out of the 164 times that word is used in the New
Testament, the English translation (in NIV) is either “Gentile” or
“nation.” When used in the context of Jews, it refers to those who are
non-Jews. When used in the context of Christian believers, it refers to
unbelievers. There are those who follow Christ and those who do
not. Believers (called Christians) do, unbelievers (the popular term
now is “pre-Christians) do not.
Christians are not to live their lives as unbelievers
live theirs. Why? The difference between believers and
unbelievers is as different as light and dark. We even noted Ephesians 5:8
that tells us: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light… This morning we are going to see why
darkness – the spiritual darkness that most people, and indeed, that most of
the world is in – is so horrible, and what Christians are supposed to do
about it now that the grace of God has brought such radical transformation to
their lives.
Notice that there are nine characteristics associated
with unbelievers.
1) "Futile thinking" We’re told they
suffer from futile thinking. There is something wrong with the way they
think. Their reasoning skills are defective. Their logic produces
wrong answers to the questions of life because their reasoning and logic
leads them away from God and eternal life. Futile thinking is any
conclusion that gives us answers contrary God’s character or revelation, any
kind of reasoning the leads a person away from the life of God.
2) Darkened in their understanding. Their
understanding is dim and extremely limited. They are darkened in their
understanding… (Ephesians 4:18a) Light is often used throughout the
Bible, especially the New Testament, as a metaphor for perceiving and
understanding truth. When someone does something that unintentionally
causes a fair bit of harm to someone or to themselves, we’ll sometimes say,
“That wasn’t too bright!” What we mean is that there was clearly a lack
of understanding. One of the problems darkness creates is an inability
to perceive what’s around us very well. That’s not so much a problem if
you only stay in one place with nothing moving towards you. But that’s
not life in this world. Nor is it spiritual life. Futile thinking is
often the result of a darkened understanding.
3) Separated from the life of God. To be separated from the
life of God is to be separated from God himself and it is to be separated
from life itself. This is what the Bible calls death. The
unbeliever is spiritually dead.
4) Spiritually ignorant. There are those who are
ignorant because of a lack of knowledge. Then there are those who are
ignorant because they choose to ignore knowledge that is available to
them. Psalm 53:1 tells us that the fool has reasoned within himself
that there is no God.
5) Their hearts are hardened. Some translations will say that
their hearts are calloused. Just like skin that becomes calloused
because of constant rubbing, a heart becomes calloused when truth is
constantly ignored. Callousness leads to the next problematic trait.
6) They become insensitive. Part of what a callous
does is protect from something that causes pain. It makes us less
sensitive. Hearts that are calloused are insensitive. Insensitive
to what? To the consequences of sin. To shame over sin
committed. Ultimately, to the Spirit’s work in their lives. This
kind of insensitivity leads then to the next trait in unbelievers.
7) They become increasingly sensually oriented. Someone who is sensually
oriented is someone who bases life choices on how they feel – not just how
they feel emotionally but also how they feel physically. The reason
they have for doing things or not doing things relies more and more on
nothing more than how they feel about it. Whatever makes them feel
good, nice, comfortable… these are the things they term “good” and worthwhile
pursuing. If something causes them discomfort or makes them feel uneasy
or sad – or even if they fear that such things will cause them to feel that
way, then such things are to be avoided.
8) They become increasingly indulgent in deliberate sin. One of the great
tragedies about sin is that it desensitizes the sinner to itself. Sin
never seeks to expose itself. It will always try to hide itself.
The power of sin is in its invisibility. If sin is denied to be sin or in
some other way unperceived as sin, it not only becomes unrecognizable as sin,
it eventually becomes desirable. Look at the increasingly casual
attitude in our society towards things like fornication, adultery,
pornography, and homosexuality. Look at our societal attitudes towards
wealth, consumerism and even nationalism. The boundaries our culture
used to recognize in all these areas are either being removed or have already
been removed.
9) Last is a constant lust for more. What is lust? It’s
wanting something just to have it. When a man lusts after a woman, it
has only to do with him having her for whatever he wants her for. It
has nothing to do with what’s truly good or right. When a woman lusts
after new clothes, it’s not because she needs them, but simply because she
wants to own them. Lust is simply the craving to possess – whether it’s
possessing something tangible like a new car or computer – or something
intangible like an experience or a feeling.
Now, certainly not all unbelievers look as bad as all this
sounds. They aren’t all seeking some kind of drug induced
ecstasy. Not every non-Christian is addicted to sex and
pornography. Many atheists and agnostics sacrifice time or money or
energy in order to help and serve others in need. Certainly you know
non-Christians that are really very decent people – some that are even nicer
than many who would call themselves Christians. But let’s not miss the
point here. The point is that anytime a person intentionally gives
themselves to sin, the effect is that they become increasingly desensitized
to understanding what’s wrong with sin. Sin makes the next sin easier.
One of the great deceptions and traps of sin is that it
really isn’t that bad. A man might think to himself, “Oh, I can look at
just a little pornography this once. It’s not that bad. It’ll
satisfy my curiosity. I can not do it if I don’t want to.” The
problem is that, yes, it really is that bad. Sin wouldn’t be tempting
if we didn’t want to sin. This is precisely what James tells us in his
letter. 14Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil
desires. 15These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil
actions lead to death. 16So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and
sisters. (James 1:14-16, NLT)
The great lie of every sin is this, “I can sin and
still live.” The only thing sin teaches is insensitivity and
deception. The unbeliever cannot learn about life and righteousness and
holiness. That’s what these nine traits teach us. And that’s the
statement in Ephesians 4:20. 20You, however, did not come to
know Christ that way.
Despite our unbelief, despite our futile thinking,
despite our darkened understanding, despite being separated from God and the
whole condition in which we find ourselves because of our sin, God sent Jesus
Christ to teach us the truth. Sin says, “Hold on to me. I can
give you whatever you want.”
But Jesus Christ says, “You know that’s not true.
Hold on to me – and let go of your old self (which is just you with all your sin rot).
It’s as good as dead anyway. If you hold on to it, you’ll die along
with it.” The Message puts it this way: Since, then, we do
not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean
everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through
and through. Get rid of it! (Ephesians 4:22)
But getting rid of that old self is not enough.
The Christian faith is both negative and positive. The Christian not
only puts off the old self. The Christian also puts on the new
self. What’s the difference? It’s the difference between life and
death. And then take on an entirely new
way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working
itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you. (Ephesians 4:22-24, The Message).
The old self is what a person is after sin
pollutes and corrupts what God had originally created – a person made in His
image. The old self may bear some resemblances to the original design
but the image of God in the old self is twisted and broken, and only gets
worse. The new self is the replacement to that corrupted original
design God used to create human beings. It is what Paul calls in 2
Corinthians 5:17, “a new creation.”
So how does a person do this? How does
a Christian “put off the old self” and “put on the new self.”
The first thing you need to do is to be convinced of
what God has done for you and who you are in Christ. 17…you
must no longer live as the Gentiles do…23and be made new in the
attitude of your minds… In other words, you need to stop thinking like an
unbelieving sinner and think like a Christian. I know of no better way
to start changing your thinking habits than to read the first two chapters of
Ephesians over and over again. Maybe you could even memorize it, as I
did many years ago, so that you can think on it as you drive or work on
something that doesn’t take too much concentration. This is called
meditating on the Word. The first two chapters tell us exactly what God
has done for us and who we are in Christ. And talk with other
Christians about what you’re doing and what you’re learning as you meditate
on Scripture. They will be glad to hear what God is doing in you and
they may even help you gain some insights – new ways to think about the new
thoughts you’re thinking.
The second thing to do in order to “put off the old
self” and “put on the new self” is to pay close attention to the rest of
Ephesians. What is contained in the rest of this book are the practical
details of what it means to “put on the new self.” You’ll notice, as
you read and think about what is said, that you cannot put on the new self
unless you put off the old self. Think of it as changing out of the
clothes your wore to clean the barn and paint the living room so you can put on
the clothes you wear to have dinner with King of kings, Jesus Christ.
The only difference is that Jesus has said, “Don’t bother with cleaning the
barn and painting the living room. Everything has been cared for.
Just come and eat with me from now on.”
By putting on the new self you gain a new sensitivity
for what a godly life is – living to glorify God. And you gain and a
new sensitivity to God’s indescribable love for and presence with you – God’s
glory dwelling both with and in you.
Jim
Gambini was our pastor for the first several years when we moved to the
Mount Joy, Pennsylvania area in 2001 and he and his wife Wendy remain
our friends. This message is adapted from the sermon he preached
Sunday, 4/13/05.
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