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To Be Made New: What does it mean to "put off your old self" and "put on the new self?" This hopeful calling is about experiencing the whole-life transformation God envisions for you. No longer having to follow our emotions and desires alone, anyone can learn this new way of life according to the truth that is in Jesus. Recorded on Jun 23, 2024, on Ephesians 4:17-32 by Pastor David Parks.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOur series,\xa0Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to\xa0Finding Life in Jesus\u2019 Name\xa0from John\u2019s gospel. The Apostle Paul\u2019s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you\u2019re considering the life of Jesus or if you\u2019re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSermon Transcript\n\n\n\nWe\u2019ve been working through Paul\u2019s letter to the Ephesians in a sermon series called The Gospel in Life. And today, as we finish Chapter 4, we\u2019re going to consider the call of the Christian life to put off the old self and \u201cto put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.\u201d I remember when our kids were little. Some of you have little ones here today. Two out of our three kids are adults now. But when they were little, I could never really picture how they would be when they were all grown up. I could only ever picture the next phase of their life. When they were in preschool, I could picture them in second or third grade but not high school. As a parent, I had certain things I hoped they\u2019d have in their future, but I just couldn\u2019t really envision them in that future. But then they\u2019d go from preschool to second or third grade, and by then, I could start to picture them in fifth or sixth grade\u2026or even in middle school. But here\u2019s the thing: my kids were going to learn/grow/change; they were going to be transformed as they grew up, whether I could picture it or not. And it turned out to be more than ok. I love the young adults they are today and am excited about their future, whatever it\u2019ll look like. In our passage today, I hope you\u2019ll see that you have a Father in heaven who has a vision for your future. But unlike me, he can see the end from the beginning. And his vision for your life is a vision of transformation for every part of your life. If you have your Bible/app, please take it and open it to Eph 4:17. We\u2019ll read through this text and unpack it as we go.\n\n\n\nEphesians 4:17\u201319 (NIV), \u201c17 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. 18 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. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.\u201d The first half of Ephesians is more on what the gospel is. The second half focuses more on what the gospel does or (to use his language) what it looks like to walk in a manner worthy of the calling they\u2019ve received in Christ. Here, Paul starts by looking back at where his mostly Gentile friends in Ephesus came from before they became Christians. He says, \u201c\u2026you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.\u201d Now, remember that most people in his audience are Gentiles. But Paul isn\u2019t cutting them down here. He\u2019s been clear that everyone, Jews and Gentiles, were on the same sinking ship, and both groups needed a savior in Jesus. What he is saying is that apart from Christ and the power of his Spirit, the life of unbelieving Gentiles flowed out of a futility or an emptiness in their ways of thinking. Again, this isn\u2019t meant as an insult. He says they were darkened in their understanding of reality because they were separated from God. He\u2019s not saying they\u2019re not smart,