Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:17. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 4:17

“Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.”

Because of the fact that we as christians are being directed and growing up into the fullness of Christ, we must allow Him to change our way of thinking and living. Paul now goes on to describe the implications of living in the light of Christ.

When religious beliefs remain just beliefs, then our faith becomes ideology or dogma. Faith must impact our lives or it remains theoretical ,and shows that we have not allowed the Holy Spirit to change us.

Paul uses very strong language to introduce his exhortation. The words affirm and testify together mean that a solemn declaration is being made. In English we might make a legally binding declaration with language such as “I affirm and testify,” or “I swear and declare.”

The word translated here as testify is the word from which we get the word martyr. The early church recognised the power of testifying to Christ even to the point of death .

Paul himself can testify to the importance of being changed by Christ. Prior to his conversion he was a strong and violent persecutor of the followers of Jesus. Now, as an apostle, he can testify to the power of the gospel to change a life.

So Christians coming from a Gentile or non-Jewish background, similarly must leave the ways of the pagans.

Paul describes the old Gentile ways as “futility of their minds.” They were deceived by their false religion, and so they lived accordingly. The Gentiles are in darkness; satan has blinded them and they cannot even see that they are deceived.

Wrong thinking leads to wrong actions. Paul goes on to list the ways in which the former Gentiles need to change in order to be more like Christ.

We need to recognise that this is not legalism. Paul does not lay down the law, because he knows from experience that legal ism is as futile as Gentile religions. But he does seek to correct their thinking so that it is productive not futile.

All religion that is not related to Christ is idolatry. These Gentiles who received Christ had previously worshipped a multitude of “gods”, but now needed to follow the way of Christ.

The defining feature of idolatry is that we serve a “god” from a desire to control the “gods”. People worshipped weather “gods” such as Baal because they needed weather suitable for crops, or else they starved.

They gave offerings and performed rituals in the hope that the various “gods” would protect or provide. Apart from that, they could live their lives in anyway they liked.

When we come to Christ, there is nothing we can do to make him more amenable to us. He already did everything necessary to atone for our sins.

This is the reverse of the pagan “gods”. People made offerings in the hope that the “god” would do something good for them. In Christianity, God makes the first move, becoming flesh and dying for us, before we even knew about it.

In paganism, humans act and the “gods” respond. In Christianity, God has acted and we respond to his self offering.

What’s response can we make? Paul tells us in Romans that we must present ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

Gentile believers, then, move from a religion of little demands made by a little “god”, to a God who gives all and expects the same response in return .

It is no wonder that Paul tells us we must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking.

Key points in this verse:

• Faith in Christ must result in changed behaviour, or else it is just a theory
• Paul can testify to this because of his own experience of changed life
• The Gentiles (i.e. non-believers) are trapped by the futility of their minds
• Pagan religion demands little and gives little
• God gave everything in order to save us, and we must give Him our whole lives in response