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,
Ephesians 4:20-21 [ESV]
This will be a shorter one today. I really needed the Lord today and He came to my rescue. At work today we had another reorg and as part of that reorg there were some very hard working people laid off. Thank goodness I did not have to manage that message with any of my team members this time…but it was still a heavy day. I was praying my way through talking with my new boss and helping my team navigate the emotions these situations bring. I care for them sooo much!
I am slow walking this last bit of this chapter as I don’t have a ton of time tonight to write and don’t want to launch into the meat of the next several verses yet. But, the verses today make a big set of statements in a few words teeing up the verses to come.
“But that is not the way…” There is only one way to learn of Christ and that is when the Father calls us to Him. The Gentiles mentioned in the preceding verses only reached into their own desires and understanding. They are out for themselves in gratifying their own desires. But when the Ephesians came into the new man, that is, the new community, and sought forgiveness, they entered a new world. Christ did not teach them to be self-focused. They learned a different moral truth and a different way to respond.
To learn Christ involves being affected by his person. The issue here is not only ideas, but also an approach to life. It means learning by example, reflective of the character Jesus reveals.
Application:
The thing that stands out to me is how I can use this passage message to help in my discernment of those I counsel and disciple. There are a lot of intellectual ‘Christians’ out there that don’t actually have genuine salvation. They have worked their way to a self built knowledge of Gods word, knowledge that is human strength alone…there is no Living Word in what they know. These people look like awesome Christians with lots of takes on theology and viewpoints on a Christian worldview. But, there is no relationship with Christ, the person is driven by ‘feeling’ spiritual and when the ‘feeling’ wanes they find themselves spinning. These people ‘believe’ they are saved but they are likely not. I have a soft spot in my heart for these lost people.
Today’s Psalm:
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.Psalms 37:5-6 [ESV]