Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Walking With God

Walking With The Lord - Part 8 - Learning Christ - Part 2

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2016-04-08

Synopsis: In this sermon, Pastor John Weaver continues his series on walking with the Lord by focusing on how believers learn Christ. He expounds Ephesians 4:17-32, emphasizing that learning Christ involves a three-step process: putting off the old man (the corrupt sinful nature), being renewed in the spirit of the mind, and putting on the new man (created in righteousness and true holiness). Weaver illustrates this principle with practical examples from the passage, such as putting off lying and putting on truth-telling, putting off sinful anger and putting on righteous anger, and putting off theft and putting on honest labor and generosity. He stresses that self-reformation is insufficient; true change requires replacing old sinful habits with new godly ones. The sermon concludes with applications to begin change one step at a time and to aim for becoming something entirely different from one's natural self.

[John Weaver] Bibles into Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. And that's in the New Testament. Is that what you're telling him? Yeah, I'm teasing. Ephesians chapter 4 beginning there with verse 17. This is number 8 in Walking with the Lord, and I brought a subtitle, Learning Christ Part 2, because we dealt with that subject last week. So notice if you would, Ephesians 4 verse 17, This I say therefore and testify unto the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness

[John Weaver] of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over into lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ. If so be that you have heard him and been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man,

[John Weaver] which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for he remembers one of another. Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands a thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed in the day of your redemption. bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

[John Weaver] Now just for your recollection I will remind you that I have dealt with how Enoch walked with the Lord and how God told Abram, walk thou before me and be thou perfect. I showed you from Hebrews chapter 11 verses 5 and 6, the foundation is simply walking by faith, for without faith it is impossible to please God. And then in Ephesians chapter 4 we also looked where the Apostle Paul told us to walk worthily before the Lord, and there are three messages there. And then we got to verse 17 where the Apostle tells us to walk differently, and he tells us that we are not to walk as the unsaved walk. week I began dealing actually verses 20 and 21 on learning Jesus Christ. What he said in verse 20, but you have not so learned Christ.

[John Weaver] In other words we must learn Christ but we don't learn Him in a way that teaches us to live in an ungodly manner. So what Paul is doing in this passage is this, he is teaching us how not to live. He is teaching us how to live. And he's also teaching us how to change our lives. So in essence, what he's doing is he is teaching us on how to learn Jesus Christ. Now, he informs us clearly in this passage how to learn Christ, but also how to discern whether or not we have learned Christ or are learning Christ. Jesus Christ, of course, does not teach us to live an ungodly, unholy, and unethical life.

[John Weaver] We may be in the world, but we're not of the world. Now, let me just quote a few scriptures just to get us started today for you to think about. What I just said, we may be in the world, but we're not of the world. In 1 John chapter 2, verses 15 through 17, our Lord said it like this, love not the world, Neither the things are in the world. Let me just stop right there When he said love not the world.

[John Weaver] He's not talking about his creation. I He is talking about the world system and man and his corruption. For listen to what he said, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And then he explains it like this, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. So when he is talking about the world here he is talking about the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. He is talking about the world or the realm of what you and I would call natural man or unsaved man. So the Apostle Paul said it like this in Galatians 6 and verse 14. He said, but God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Jesus Christ by whom I am crucified unto the world, the world unto me."

[John Weaver] So Jesus Christ then teaches us not to love the world nor the things that are in the world. And in that instance He also teaches us that we have been crucified to the world and the world to us.

[John Weaver] Now He goes a little bit further in Romans 8 and verse 13 because He teaches us about mortification. I'll show you this a little bit later in the scripture. To mortify literally means to make dead or to count dead. In Romans 8 in verse 13 he said, but if you live after the flesh you shall die, but if you through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body you shall live. By the way we get the word mortician from mortify that means literally to make dead or someone who works with the dead. he said it like this in Colossians 3 and verse 5,"'Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth.'" And listen to what he calls our members, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. Isn't that interesting how he says these things are our members?

[John Weaver] Now, the question automatically arises how do we know to not love the world? And how do we know to mortify the deeds of the body? Well the answer is very simple, Christ teaches us to love not the world and He teaches us to mortify the deeds of the body because these truths are explicitly taught clearly in His Word. But even a more profound question and provocative question would be this, how do we accomplish that? How do we accomplish in our lives not loving the world and mortifying the deeds of our body? Well, I want you to look closely at verse 21. He says in verse 20, let's go to verse 20. He says, but you have not so learned Christ. Now verse 21, if so be that you have heard Him and have been taught by Him truth is in Jesus." Now, I want to call your attention, if you would please, to verse 21. He said, if so be that you have heard Him and have been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus.

[John Weaver] Now, if you'll notice at the end of verse 21 you have a colon, that is those two dots. One of the main functions of a colon is emphasis. So here is basically what he is saying, watch if you would in verse 21, if so be that you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, then the colon. The colon means hold on, wait a second, pay attention, the most important thing is about to follow. Now if you will notice sentence that is begun in verse 20 does not end until you get to verse 24. Because in verse 20, you have a semi-colon, then a colon, then a semi-colon, then a semi-colon, and then finally a period in verse 24. So, you have one sentence then from verse 20 through verse 24.

[John Weaver] Now, what Paul is going to do is he's going to teach us basically how to learn Christ. He's going to teach us how to be a good student and a good disciple.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you something that should be very helpful and encouraging. Learning Christ is really simple. It is! is easy and practical to apply. Although learning Christ is very simple, and although it is easy and practical to apply the truth, it is excruciatingly painful to our flesh. And our flesh will fight with every ounce of its fiber to stop us from learning Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, Galatians 5 verses 16 and 17, listen carefully, then I say, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now listen, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit. And the word lusteth there means fights against. For the flesh fights against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would. So, The Apostle is telling us here is our renewed Spirit, here is our flesh, and the flesh is fighting against the Spirit, and the Spirit is fighting against the flesh. They are two contrary principles. And that we cannot do what we would, that is we cannot act naturally, because if we act naturally we are acting according to the flesh.

[John Weaver] Now, I just told you that learning Jesus Christ is very simple. It is. But what you are going to find is that our flesh will not lie as easily and as submissively and as readily upon the altar as did Isaac. Our flesh is going to fight, and scream, and groan, and moan, and wail. So, let me just try to show you how simple this really is. Let me ask you some questions.

[John Weaver] And you answer them in your minds. Don't answer them out loud because obviously I already know the answers. Okay? So here we go. Listen. How many of you go to sleep each night in your work clothes? How many of you get up each morning and go to work in your pajamas? Wow. What about this one? When your work clothes get dirty, I mean filthy, stinking dirty, and you have to go somewhere, how many of you just put on clean clothes over your dirty clothes? And when those clean clothes get dirty, you just put more clean clothes on over your dirty clothes.

[John Weaver] And you keep doing that until all of a sudden you're like this and you can't move and you can't function. You have so many clothes on. You say brother we were that silly No, it's not silly. I'm proving a point The point I'm trying to prove is this it's something that you have done all of your life since you have been able to understand When you get through working during the day and you're ready to go to bed and when you take your bath you put off your old clothes your day clothes and you put on your night clothes and get up to go to work in the morning, you put off your night clothes, you put on your day clothes, or your work clothes. When you go to somewhere and your clothes are dirty, you put off the dirty clothes, you put on new clothes. I don't know if you've noticed this or not when I read Ephesians chapter 4, but if you read Ephesians chapter 4, and especially Colossians chapter 3, you're going to find two phrases that occur over and over, put off, put on, put off, put on.

[John Weaver] What happens in the natural physical realm is also that which happens in the biblical and spiritual realm. So, I want you to notice Ephesians 4 and verse 21. He says, If so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus, here's why he says, hold on, wait a minute, get ready for this, this is coming. Here's what our Lord teaches us, that you put off concerning the former conversation or conduct of the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to note something if you would please before I go any further. I want you to notice at the end of verse 22 you have a semicolon. At the end of verse 23, you have a semicolon. The function of a semicolon is to connect two related sentences. Thus, verse 22 and verse 23 are related and they lead to the final truth that is mentioned in verse 24.

[John Weaver] So here is what Paul is doing in verses 22, 23, and 24. He is giving us general instructions on how to learn Jesus Christ. And then from there he descends from the general to the particulars in verses 25-31. So let me say it another way. He encapsulates the principles for us in verses 22 through 24. And then he expands and illustrates those principles for us in verses 25 through 32.

[John Weaver] So, let's go back and look at verse 22. So he says, if you've been taught by Christ, you have been taught, first of all, to put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. So our former conversation is simply our former conduct. It's how we lived. It's how we walked. It was our lifestyle. So our former conduct, that is before we were saved, is nothing less than an expression of the old man, which is absolutely corrupt. So Paul then refers to our old sinful nature as the old man. The old man is what we were and what we are in Adam.

[John Weaver] deals with original sin, it deals with imputed sin, and it deals with what you and I would call actual sin. Let me give you a quote, John Gill said it like this in talking about the old man, and he says, by the old man is meant the corruption of nature, called a man because natural to men. It lives and dwells in them. It has spread itself over the whole man. It rules and governs in men and consists of various parts and members as a man does. It is called old because it is the poison of the old serpent with which man was infected by him from the beginning. It is derived from the first man that ever was. It is as old as the man is, in who it is, and it is likewise called so with respect to its duration and continuance. And in opposition to and contrary to distinction from the new man, or the principle of grace, it is called ours because continually to us it is in our nature, it cleaves to us, and abides in us."

[John Weaver] He's talking about the old man. Now, let me show you something. I want you to hold Ephesians 4 and turn back in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. And the reason we are enabled by the grace of God to put off the old man is because that old man, what we were in Adam, has been crucified with Christ. So look in Romans 6 and verse 6. Paul says, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him.

[John Weaver] body of sin might be destroyed, and henceforth we should not serve sin." Now note if you would the Bible tells us that here is something that we should know. Our old man, what we were in Adam has been crucified with Christ. We were crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not be the servants or the slaves of sin.

[John Weaver] Now, skip down to verse 11. Watch this, here is the application of this truth. He says, likewise reckon, or count, or impute, likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now watch, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, But yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you.

[John Weaver] For you are not under the law, that is as a means of justification, but are under grace." Now, go back to verse 11, look what he says, likewise reckon, count, or impute yourself to be dead indeed unto sin. So, here is a man that is a drunk. He died a drunk and he's lying in the casket dead and I walk up and I take a fifth of whiskey and I wave it in front of his face and I say here you old boy Would you like to have a swig? What's he gonna say? What's he going to do? nothing He's dead In other words if you are dead What does sin have to do with you This is what he is saying, you have to reckon, you have to count, you have to impute yourself dead indeed unto sin. But on the other hand you have to reckon, and count, and impute yourself alive unto God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, watch verse 12 he says,"'Let not therefore sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it and the laws thereof.'"

[John Weaver] He did not say, let not sin therefore be in your mortal bodies. Sin is in us. We are sinners. But he said sin is not to reign. Sin is not to have control. Sin is not our Lord. It does not have the authority to demand that we obey it if we are Christians. He said, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. And then he says, watch here is the practical application, neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. In other words we don't have to obey sin. But he says yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. So obviously if we reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin and sin is not to reign in us then we are to be yielding our bodies unto Jesus Christ through God our Heavenly Father.

[John Weaver] Now, the Apostle Paul said it like this in Colossians 3 verse 9, let me just quote it, lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds. So this old man then that has been crucified now has to be Now, I want you to go back to Ephesians 4 and look again at verse 22. He says that you put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. So, our former life that is as unsaved is here described under the analogy not only of an old man but corruption. also said to be corrupt, listen carefully, according to deceitful lusts. Deceitful lusts. Now, I want to put two things together for you. Jeremiah 17 verse 9 the Bible says this, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked Who can know it? Now, if we have a deceitful heart that is desperately wicked above all things, and now you have the deceitful lusts, what does that mean? It means in an unsaved man, there is no soundness.

[John Weaver] There is no common sense. There is no rationality. And there can't possibly be in anyone that is motivated by a deceitful heart and also deceitful lust. What is he telling us? That the unsaved by nature are governed by their passions and by their pleasures. Sin dominates them. Sin rules over them. Sin manipulates them. Sin seduces them. Sin always promises happiness, excitement, gratification, and pleasure, but it always produces death.

[John Weaver] For instance, if you ever watch commercials on television, and you see a certain alcoholic beverage that is advertised, and I know that sin is not alcohol. Sin is not in anything material. Sin is in the human heart, okay? But have you ever noticed that when the advertisers for whatever liquor they are going to advertise, they never show an old drunk lying in the gutter, filthy, wallowing in his own vomit. Have you ever noticed that? They'll always show a beautiful young woman and a handsome young man sitting there and sipping and just having a grand old time. So the implication is, well, if you want to be happy, if you want to be successful, you just sip our liquor, and that's the way it'll work out, you know?

[John Weaver] It's the same thing when you see all the trash on TV, on the soap operas, and all this kind of stuff, and somebody's slipping around on his wife, or some woman's slipping around on her husband. They never show you the divorces. They never show you the broken homes and the children. Sin deceives. Let me put it to you like this. In James 1 verses 13-15, here is what the Bible says, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted, neither tempteth he any man.

[John Weaver] Now listen carefully, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And when the Bible says then, when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." Now, He said that every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. So let me put it to you like this, when there is something on the outside of me that promises to fulfill a desire that I have on the inside, then I'm being enticed. I'm being seduced.

[John Weaver] See, Here's an easy way to explain this. I go fishing and here's a rock ledge and there's a big old bass safe in that water under that rock ledge. I can't get him. Even if I jumped in the water, I still couldn't catch him. Even if I knew exactly where he was. And so what do I do? I get me a fishing pole and I get a hook and line and I put a big old fat juicy worm on there and I drop it right down in front of him.

[John Weaver] Now all of a sudden there is something appearing outside of him that promises to satisfy a desire on the inside of him. He comes out from the safety of that rock, bites that worm, that hook hooks him and I have fish for dinner.

[John Weaver] Now, that's exactly what God is saying. Every man is drawn away and enticed of his own lust. And when lust hath conceived, it produces sin. And sin, when it is finished, it brings forth death.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm just pointing out the fact He's talking about the old man that is corrupt according to his deceitful lust. Let me show you something else. Look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 3. me show you how deceitful this really is. Hebrews chapter 3, let's begin reading there in verse 12. Just to show you that we are talking about brethren, we are talking about believers, we are talking about Christians. So in Hebrews 3 and verse 12 he says, take heed brethren. So we are talking about believers. Take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened, watch through the deceitfulness of sin." If we allow it, sin will deceive us as well. Sin is exceedingly deceitful. So, if you'll go back to verse 22, Ephesians chapter 4 he says that you put off, you undress, you take this rascal off. You put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to show you something. Notice if you would please verse 22 ends with a semicolon. Verse 23 begins with a conjunction, the word and, A-N-D. So the semicolon shows you that these two thoughts are related. And certainly since it begins with the conjunction and it says, yes, you better take this together. So here's what God is saying. First of all, we put off the old man, which is corrupt.

[John Weaver] Secondly, in verse 23, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Now, it's impossible to be renewed in the spirits of our mind as long as we are hanging on to the old man which is corrupt according to his deceitful lust. That has to be put off.

[John Weaver] Now the word renewed is the Greek word ana-ana-eo and it literally is a present passive infinity. It is here asserting an obligation and it is literally treated as a command. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. So literally we are commanded here to have a renewed mind now the renewal is not a self renewal In this instance, the renewal is accomplished on us and not by us I'll explain that in some instances it is to be accomplished by us but in this instance it is to be accomplished on us and not by us in other words were to be constantly a continually renewed in our minds by Jesus Christ. So, he says you put off the old man and then you are renewed in your minds by Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, there are specific commands given to us in the Bible concerning the mind. Watch this one, Romans 12, 1 and 2. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed, how? By the renewing of your mind, that you might prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God." He said that we're to be transformed. How are we to be transformed by the renewing of our mind? The word transformed is a very interesting word It is where we get our English word Metamorphosis It's literally to go through changes like a butterfly the cocoon the larva the butter literally says be metamorphosized how by the renewing of your mind now When you get in Philippians 2 in verse 5, he says it like this Let this mind be in you Which also was in Christ Jesus? So we're to have the mind of Jesus Christ in first Peter 4 verse 1 He says it like this for as much than as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh arm yourselves with the same mind in In other words we are to have exactly the mind of Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Over and over he tells us we are to be renewed. Watch. Look if you would please at verse 22, 23 and then verse 24. Watch carefully. Verse 22, that you put off concerning the former conversation of the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust semicolon, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, semicolon, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

[John Weaver] So, in order to learn Jesus Christ, a third step must be taken. It's insufficient just to put off the old man. It's insufficient to put off the old man and just simply then have a renewed mind. If you really genuinely have a renewed mind, you will then put on a new godly obedient habit or conduct or thought pattern. In other words, you will learn to think biblically and scripturally.

[John Weaver] Now, again let me point out that verse 24 begins with the conjunction and. So these three truths are to be taken together. Put off the old man, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you put on the new man. Well, if the old man is what we are in Adam, what is the new man? It is what we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this new man, watch verse 24, that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. So when our minds have been renewed, we begin to understand the scriptural truth. We understand obedience and submission and godliness and holiness and sanctification. We understand that we have been set apart and we're to live differently. So we're not to act or think or walk the way the unsaved act, think or walk. Righteousness and true holiness are only found in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. Thus what we do we seek to bring our lives into conformity to His Word.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to hold Ephesians 4 but go back in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and I want you to look if you would please at verse 3. 2nd Corinthians 10 verse 3 Look what he says for though we walk in the flesh We do not war after the flesh Now you and I are walking around in the flesh And our flesh is just as wicked as it can be But although we're walking the flesh we're not warring after it. We're not trying to satisfy it and appease it but every sin in it that we can get, no. Watch what he says in verse 4, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

[John Weaver] Now your stronghold is your place of defense, it's how you protect yourself. Well what is man's stronghold? Look in verse 5, it's his mind. casting down imaginations and every high thing or every high thought that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. So here's my question. As a Christian, as a new man in Christ, how many ungodly, unholy, and wicked and sinful thoughts are you allowed? What's the answer? None. Because every thought is to be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to stop and think about this. You say, that's impossible. No, it's not impossible. It's not impossible. For instance, if I were to ask you, what do I have in my hand? You say, that's a bottle cap. Wonderful. If I ask you the color, you'd either say it's white or transparent. Now, if I ask you now what you saw, what do I have in my hand? And you say it's a cell phone. What color is it? Black.

[John Weaver] Now here's the interesting thing. While you were thinking about this cap, you were not thinking about this cell phone. When you were thinking about the cell phone, you were not thinking about the cap. You can't think about one thing at the time, no matter how hard you try. That's all. So what happens when an ungodly, unholy thought comes in your mind you have to stop and say, no, no I refuse that, that's the old man, I'm going to put it off, Lord I need to be renewed in my mind, and here is the biblical alternative, here is what I'm to think about, and that is what I'm to concentrate on. And you keep doing that over, and over, and over until you learn to do this instantaneously without even thinking, until it becomes absolutely second nature. So He's telling us basically how to put off and how to put on.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you a warning here. He tells us that we must put off, be renewed, and then we must put on. There are some people who say, well, I'm just going to put off. I'm going to quit smoking. I'm going to quit drinking. I'm going to quit running around. I'm going to quit this, quit that. And basically what they try to do is just simply reform themselves. And they're trying to reform themselves according to their thoughts, their dictates, and their desires.

[John Weaver] Now let me tell you, if you try to put off an old habit without putting a new godly habit in its place, inevitably that old habit is going to come back and it's going to come back with a vengeance and you're going to be worse off than when you started. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles. Hold Ephesians 4, but look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 12.

[John Weaver] Our Lord made this exceedingly clear. Matthew chapter 12. Notice if you would beginning there with the verse 43. Matthew 12 verse 43. Look what he said. Matthew 12 verse 43 when the unclean spirit is going out of a man He walketh through dry places seeking rest and finding none. So he's been cast out Then he said I will return into my house from whence I came out.

[John Weaver] I And when he is come, he findeth it empty, and swept, and garnished, all cleaned up. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself. And they enter in, and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also in this wicked generation." So, self-reformation does not work and will not work. The only thing that will work is when you learn to put off, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on.

[John Weaver] Now, I told you that what Paul does in verses 22 through 24, he gives us how to learn Christ in a capsule. The rest of this chapter, He explains exactly what he's going to teach us. He shows us and gives us illustrations of how to put off and how to put on. Let me tell you the list in verses 25 through 32 is not extensive, but it is illustrative. In other words, Paul could not enumerate every sin and every vice.

[John Weaver] If he listed them all we couldn't carry our Bibles. But what he does is he gives us the principle of how to deal with our sins, how to change our lives, how to learn Christ. So, I want you to see in the rest of this chapter, although the words may not necessarily be there, is still put off, put on. So, look in verse 25. He says,"...wherefore putting away lying," that is something you put off,"...wherefore putting away lying," here is what you put on,"...speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." So, lying then is a sin that has to be put off. Telling the truth is a godly habit that must be put on. So, in He tells us in the new man we are to speak the truth. However, we are to speak the truth in love. Look in Ephesians 4 and verse 15. He says it like this, but speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head even Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, you know you can tell the truth in several ways. You can speak the truth in such a way that folks will hate you and get angry with you and refuse to listen to you. speak the truth in love. And they may reject it. They still may get angry. It doesn't matter. But the truth is still truth. You understand that. But you're not purposefully trying to upset someone. Listen, I understand that truth hurts. I understand that truth is offensive. Jesus Christ is offensive. But the reality is, have to speak the truth no matter how much it hurts, or how much it offends.

[John Weaver] And here is what the Apostle says, wherefore putting away lying you put on speaking every man truth with his neighbor, for he remembers one another." In other words we owe the truth to each other. We owe the truth to each other. So if I have to tell you, or you have to tell me something that hurts you just have to say it. Say it as lovingly and as kindly as you can, but you have to say it. You follow that? So, we're to put off lying, we're to put on speaking the truth. Don't you just hate it, men, when your wife asks you, well, how does this dress look on me? Or do you like this dress? Well, sugar, you know. It's you. Well, probably it'd be better if you just say, well, sweetheart, I'll be honest, I don't really like that dress, but if you want to wear it, go ahead and wear it. Have I ever told you I didn't like your dress? Of course I have. And has she ever told me she didn't like what I had on?

[John Weaver] Yeah, she does. Weakly, she says. doesn't bother me at all. So, he says, put off lying, put on telling the truth. Watch verse 26. Oh, this one is a good one. Watch carefully. Verse 26-27, go together. Be ye angry in sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Now, what he is telling you in verse 26 is this, you put off a sinful anger, and you put on a righteous anger, that is be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Now, you say how in the world can I tell whether or not my anger is sinful or righteous? And by the way, I will tell you this right now, anger is an emotion and is not necessarily sinful in and of itself. Usually our anger is sinful anger. does not necessarily have to be sinful. And if you think it is well you need to deal with Mark chapter 3 because the Bible says, our Lord looked round about upon them with anger.

[John Weaver] He was angry with those people. But it was a righteous anger it was not a sinful anger. You say, well how do you explain the difference? Well here it is. Usually a sinful anger is expressed in one of two ways. sinful anger will either act like a volcano and just blow up and blow out and blow off. In other words, you just get so angry you cuss everybody out and tell them off and rip them up one side and down the other and you don't care who hears, you don't care who knows, you just getting it off your chest.

[John Weaver] You've heard that, you've seen that, you've probably done that. That is sinful anger. That is sinful anger. The other sinful anger is this. When Steve does something to me, I don't blow up and cuss him out. But I internalize it and I say as I smile, you just wait big boy, your time's coming. I will nail you in a few weeks. You just wait. And then it just eats me up inside. I think about it and I meditate on it and it just kills me. That's sinful anger.

[John Weaver] Do you know why we're to be angry? Righteous anger deals with the sin. and it seeks to resolve the sin. Now look what he said, be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. So I don't care whether you have a sinful anger or a righteous anger, God says it needs to be dealt with before the sun goes down. So husbands and wives should never go to bed angry with each other, it should be dealt with. Whatever it is, it should be dealt with.

[John Weaver] You say, well, it's not always like that in my house. Well, I understand that. That's why God put verse 27 there. Neither give place to the devil. So, that means this. When you refuse to deal with things on a daily basis before the sun goes down, you're inviting the devil into your life, into your house. And if you invite him in, guess what? He's coming in. You give him ground, he's going to take it. So God says, here's what you need to put off. You need to put off an unrighteous anger. You need to put on a righteous anger. And you need to resolve your problems before the sun goes down. Because if you don't, you're giving place to the devil. So you put off the unrighteous anger, you put on a righteous anger, and you put on a daily resolution of that anger. Watch verse 28, here we go.

[John Weaver] Let him that stole, steal no more. But rather let him labor, working with his hands a thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Now, let him that stole, steal no more. So we are to put off theft every aspect of theft. Do you realize that fraud, and deceit, and dishonesty, all of this is part and parcel of theft. It has to be put off.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look at this. He says, let him that stole steal no more. Is it sufficient just to quit stealing? No. There is a question, when is a thief not a thief? Think about this. When is the thief not a thief? It's not when he's not stealing. You can be a thief and not be stealing at the time. A thief would go into a store with the intent of stealing but see three or four cops walking around and he decides I better go somewhere else. He's still a thief. He's just not stealing at the moment. Got it? So watch let him that stole steal no more Stop stealing. Ah, but there's something else now.

[John Weaver] He says let him labor Working with his hands Hmm, that's good honest work But that's not all Then he may have to give to him that needeth In other words, he has to put on in the place of his covetousness He has to put on a generous and gracious and sacrificial heart Isn't that amazing? So he says, you put off all your theft, all the dishonesty, all the fraud, any of that, and you put on working, honest labor, and you put on a heart that is ready to sacrifice and to be generous. So, you put off and you put on.

[John Weaver] Now, watch if you would please verse 29. Here he says it again. let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers." So we are to put off all corrupt communication. We are to put on that communication which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Now, All corrupt communication must be put off. Corrupt communication is that which is bad, rotten, putrid, corrupted, not fit for use.

[John Weaver] It's language that is worthless and of poor quality. It's a waste of time and breath. Why would you even waste your time or breath speaking it if it's corrupt? God says what you're to put on is a quality communication. That which edifies, and the word edifies means to build up and to strengthen. So that means then that gossip and innuendo and slander and false accusation and libel and malicious implications are all forbidden in verse 29. And what we're to put on is where we're trying to build each other up. Encourage each other's growth in Christian wisdom piety holiness and happiness So put off put on now look at verse 30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you're sealed in the day of your redemption Now I'm going to come back to verse 30 So I wanted to skip down to verses 31 and 32. I Verse 31 is a total put off verse. Everything in verse 31 is to be put off. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.

[John Weaver] There is nothing in verse 31 for you to put off. Everything is to be put off. Everybody knows what clamor is? I'm sure you know What bitterness is and wrath and anger and evil speaking in malice? What's clamor? Clamor is useless and worthless noise Here's the individual that says we got a problem And I don't have the answer to the problem. I don't know how to work this thing out, but bless God I'm gonna put my two cents worth in any and he just has clamor It's useless, worthless noise. It's like when we say people are talking just to hear themselves talk. God says all that's to be put off. Well, what is to be put on in the place? You have to put something on if you want to put all that off. Well, verse 32, and be ye kind one to another. You put on kindness. Tenderhearted, Forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you now be kind one to another tender-hearted You know a good illustration of being tender-hearted is this If we had two pianos in this room And they were both tuned And if my wife went over and hit middle C on one

[John Weaver] Piano middle C on this piano would vibrate wouldn't necessarily play, but it would vibrate, because they are in tune. Being tender-hearted means if Gary comes to me crying and weeping, if I'm tender-hearted, I'm going to start crying and weeping with him before I ever find out why he's crying and weeping, because I know he's a brother and there's something that's really bothering him. On the other hand, if I see Pat jumping up in the air and clicking his heel together and saying, whoopee, praise the Lord, If I'm tender hearted, I'm going to start rejoicing with him before I ever find out why he's rejoicing. That's tender hearted.

[John Weaver] So, he says, you put that on. And then you put on, he says, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you.

[John Weaver] Now, how many of you heard people say, and you may have said it yourself, well, I'll forgive you, but I ain't forgetting. you don't forget then you are not forgiving. Because he says that we are to forgive each other even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. And when God forgave us He forgot our sins. So if Steve does something to me and I tell Steve, I forgive you. I don't have the power to eradicate that from my mind. I can't wipe it out of my mind. I may remember it ten years from now, but I do have the power never to speak of it again, and I do have the power never to use it against him, and to never bring it up. See, here's where so many people, especially husbands and wives, the wife will say, all right, honey, I forgive Two weeks later, you mess up. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I knew it. I knew you'd do it again.

[John Weaver] Why are you ladies laughing? Because you know, that's the way it goes. You never really forgave to begin with. Because if you did, you wouldn't be bringing up what happened two weeks ago. See? That's a fact. So, he tells us that we are to put off all bitterness, and anger, and wrath, and clamor, and evil speaking, and put on kindness, and tender heartedness, and forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us.

[John Weaver] Now, I told you that I would come back to verse 30. I want you to look at verse 30, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you were sealed under the day of your redemption. So, here is my question, In the context, how do you grieve the Holy Spirit? In the context, you grieve the Holy Spirit who, by the way, has regenerated us, converted us, indwells us, is the earnest of our inheritance. He has sealed us. How do you grieve Him?

[John Weaver] By not putting off the old man, by not being renewed in your mind, and by not putting on the new man. In the context, when we fail to do either of those three things, we're grieving the Spirit of God. Wow. So Paul tells us to walk differently. And the way we walk differently is we learn Christ. And the way we learn Christ is to put off, be renewed, and put on.

[John Weaver] Now let me make just two quick applications. The first one is this. Everyone knows the answer to this. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at the time. How do you build a house? One step at the time. You see, what we can do is we can sit here and say, oh, this is just so vast and there's so much in my life that is so wrong.

[John Weaver] How can I ever change? Well, you begin with one thing. One habit, one thought pattern, one conduct, one area, you change it. Once that old man is put off, you are renewed, you put on the Biblical alternative, then you go to the next. You heard the old saying, a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. If you do not take that first step you will never get to your destination. And if you do not begin today putting off, being renewed, and putting on you will never, ever experience Biblical change. You will never, ever learn Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] The second application is this. Your goal is to become something entirely different from that which you are by nature. Stop and think about that. When is a thief not a thief? Not when he's not stealing, but when he becomes an honest man working with his hands and generous and gracious and sacrificial. when he becomes something totally different. Same thing, when is a drunk not a drunk? Not just when he's sober, because drunks are sober occasionally, but they'll get drunk within the next day or so. It's when you become something entirely different. So your goal then is not just to quit doing things, but to become as godly and as holy and as obedient as you can be by the grace of God, by learning Jesus Christ and effecting biblical change in your life one step at a time. We must learn Christ. Where most people have messed up is they've never really learned Jesus Christ. Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray and ask for Your grace and Your mercy. We pray that You would teach us, that You would build us upon the most holy faith, and that You would indeed teach us, Lord, that we may learn Thee and change our lives and bring them into submission to Thee and conformity to Thy Word.

[John Weaver] In Thy blessed name we ask and pray. Amen. you you you you

Walking With The Lord - Part 8 - Learning Christ - Part 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	DgfMa6jZXmQ
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Walking With God
Genre	Sermon
Date	2016-04-08
Dictation Name
Book	Book 135: Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification - Volume 2 — Chapter 24
Source Timed Segments	76

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver introduces the sermon as part 8 of 'Walking with the Lord' and reads Ephesians 4:17-32, which describes how believers should not walk as the unsaved but have learned Christ differently.

Bibles into Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. And that's in the New Testament. Is that what you're telling him? Yeah, I'm teasing. Ephesians chapter 4, beginning there with verse 17. This is number 8 in Walking with the Lord, and I brought a subtitle, Learning Christ Part 2, because we dealt with that subject last week. So notice if you would, Ephesians 4 verse 17,

Scripture Reading — Ephesians 4:17-32

"This I say therefore and testify unto the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness

of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over into lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ. If so be that you have heard him and been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for he remembers one of another. Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands a thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed in the day of your redemption. bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

Review of Previous Messages

Weaver briefly reviews previous sermons on walking with the Lord, including Enoch, Abraham, and the call to walk worthily and differently, leading into the topic of learning Christ.

Now just for your recollection I will remind you that I have dealt with how Enoch walked with the Lord and how God told Abram, "Walk thou before me and be thou perfect." I showed you from Hebrews chapter 11 verses 5 and 6, the foundation is simply walking by faith, for without faith it is impossible to please God. And then in Ephesians chapter 4 we also looked where the Apostle Paul told us to walk worthily before the Lord, and there are three messages there. And then we got to verse 17 where the Apostle tells us to walk differently, and he tells us that we are not to walk as the unsaved walk. week I began dealing actually verses 20 and 21 on learning Jesus Christ. What he said in verse 20, "But you have not so learned Christ." In other words we must learn Christ but we don't learn Him in a way that teaches us to live in an ungodly manner. So what Paul is doing in this passage is this, he is teaching us how not to live. He is teaching us how to live. And he's also teaching us how to change our lives. So in essence, what he's doing is he is teaching us on how to learn Jesus Christ. Now, he informs us clearly in this passage how to learn Christ, but also how to discern whether or not we have learned Christ or are learning Christ. Jesus Christ, of course, does not teach us to live an ungodly, unholy, and unethical life.

The World and the Believer

Weaver explains that believers are in the world but not of it, citing 1 John 2:15-17 and Galatians 6:14 to show that Christ teaches us not to love the world and to mortify the deeds of the body.

We may be in the world, but we're not of the world. Now, let me just quote a few scriptures just to get us started today for you to think about. What I just said, we may be in the world, but we're not of the world. In 1 John chapter 2, verses 15 through 17, our Lord said it like this,

Scripture Reading — 1 John 2:15-17

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world."

Let me just stop right there. When he said, "Love not the world," He's not talking about his creation. He is talking about the world system and man and his corruption. For listen to what he said, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." And then he explains it like this, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

Scripture Reading — 1 John 2:15-17

" So when he is talking about the world here he is talking about the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. He is talking about the world or the realm of what you and I would call natural man or unsaved man. So the Apostle Paul said it like this in Galatians 6 and verse 14. He said, "

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Jesus Christ by whom I am crucified unto the world, and the world unto me."

So Jesus Christ then teaches us not to love the world nor the things that are in the world. And in that instance He also teaches us that we have been crucified to the world and the world to us. Now He goes a little bit further in Romans 8 and verse 13 because He teaches us about mortification. I'll show you this a little bit later in the scripture. To mortify literally means to make dead or to count dead. In Romans 8 in verse 13 he said,

Scripture Reading — Romans 8:13

"But if you live after the flesh you shall die, but if you through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body you shall live."

By the way we get the word mortician from mortify that means literally to make dead or someone who works with the dead. he said it like this in Colossians 3 and verse 5, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth." And listen to what he calls our members, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. Isn't that interesting how he says these things are our members?

The Simplicity and Struggle of Learning Christ

Weaver asserts that learning Christ is simple in concept but excruciatingly painful to the flesh, using the analogy of changing clothes to illustrate putting off and putting on.

Now, let me tell you something that should be very helpful and encouraging. Learning Christ is really simple. It is! It is easy and practical to apply. Although learning Christ is very simple, and although it is easy and practical to apply the truth, it is excruciatingly painful to our flesh. And our flesh will fight with every ounce of its fiber to stop us from learning Christ.

Now, Galatians 5 verses 16 and 17, listen carefully, "Then I say, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now listen, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit." And the word lusteth there means fights against. "For the flesh fights against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would." So, the Apostle is telling us here is our renewed Spirit, here is our flesh, and the flesh is fighting against the Spirit, and the Spirit is fighting against the flesh. They are two contrary principles. And that we cannot do what we would, that is we cannot act naturally, because if we act naturally we are acting according to the flesh.

Now, I just told you that learning Jesus Christ is very simple. It is. But what you are going to find is that our flesh will not lie as easily and as submissively and as readily upon the altar as did Isaac. Our flesh is going to fight, and scream, and groan, and moan, and wail. So, let me just try to show you how simple this really is. Let me ask you some questions. And you answer them in your minds. Don't answer them out loud because obviously I already know the answers. Okay? So here we go. Listen. How many of you go to sleep each night in your work clothes? How many of you get up each morning and go to work in your pajamas? Wow. What about this one? When your work clothes get dirty, I mean filthy, stinking dirty, and you have to go somewhere, how many of you just put on clean clothes over your dirty clothes? And when those clean clothes get dirty, you just put more clean clothes on over your dirty clothes.

And you keep doing that until all of a sudden you're like this and you can't move and you can't function. You have so many clothes on. You say, "Brother, we were that silly." No, it's not silly. I'm proving a point. The point I'm trying to prove is this: it's something that you have done all of your life since you have been able to understand. When you get through working during the day and you're ready to go to bed and when you take your bath, you put off your old clothes, your day clothes, and you put on your night clothes. And when you get up to go to work in the morning, you put off your night clothes, you put on your day clothes, or your work clothes. When you go to somewhere and your clothes are dirty, you put off the dirty clothes, you put on new clothes. I don't know if you've noticed this or not when I read Ephesians chapter 4, but if you read Ephesians chapter 4, and especially Colossians chapter 3, you're going to find two phrases that occur over and over, put off, put on, put off, put on.

The Three-Step Process: Put Off, Be Renewed, Put On

Weaver expounds Ephesians 4:22-24, explaining that learning Christ involves putting off the old man, being renewed in the spirit of the mind, and putting on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Now, I want you to note something if you would please before I go any further. I want you to notice at the end of verse 22 you have a semicolon. At the end of verse 23, you have a semicolon. The function of a semicolon is to connect two related sentences. Thus, verse 22 and verse 23 are related and they lead to the final truth that is mentioned in verse 24.

So here is what Paul is doing in verses 22, 23, and 24. He is giving us general instructions on how to learn Jesus Christ. And then from there he descends from the general to the particulars in verses 25-31. So let me say it another way. He encapsulates the principles for us in verses 22 through 24. And then he expands and illustrates those principles for us in verses 25 through 32.

So, let's go back and look at verse 22. So he says, if you've been taught by Christ, you have been taught, first of all, to put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. So our former conversation is simply our former conduct. It's how we lived. It's how we walked. It was our lifestyle. So our former conduct, that is before we were saved, is nothing less than an expression of the old man, which is absolutely corrupt. So Paul then refers to our old sinful nature as the old man. The old man is what we were and what we are in Adam.

It deals with original sin, it deals with imputed sin, and it deals with what you and I would call actual sin. Let me give you a quote, John Gill said it like this in talking about the old man, and he says, "By the old man is meant the corruption of nature, called a man because natural to men. It lives and dwells in them. It has spread itself over the whole man. It rules and governs in men and consists of various parts and members as a man does. It is called old because it is the poison of the old serpent with which man was infected by him from the beginning. It is derived from the first man that ever was. It is as old as the man is, in who it is, and it is likewise called so with respect to its duration and continuance. And in opposition to and contrary to distinction from the new man, or the principle of grace, it is called ours because continually to us it is in our nature, it cleaves to us, and abides in us."

The Old Man Crucified with Christ

Weaver turns to Romans 6:6-14 to show that the old man has been crucified with Christ, enabling believers to reckon themselves dead to sin and alive to God, and to not let sin reign in their mortal bodies.

He's talking about the old man. Now, let me show you something. I want you to hold Ephesians 4 and turn back in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. And the reason we are enabled by the grace of God to put off the old man is because that old man, what we were in Adam, has been crucified with Christ. So look in Romans 6 and verse 6. Paul says, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him."

"that the body of sin might be destroyed, and henceforth we should not serve sin." Now note if you would the Bible tells us that here is something that we should know. Our old man, what we were in Adam has been crucified with Christ. We were crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not be the servants or the slaves of sin. Now, skip down to verse 11. Watch this, here is the application of this truth. He says, "Likewise reckon, or count, or impute, likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now watch, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you."

"For you are not under the law, that is as a means of justification, but are under grace." Now, go back to verse 11, look what he says, "Likewise reckon, count, or impute yourself to be dead indeed unto sin." So, here is a man that is a drunk. He died a drunk and he's lying in the casket dead and I walk up and I take a fifth of whiskey and I wave it in front of his face and I say, "Here you old boy, would you like to have a swig?" What's he gonna say? What's he going to do? Nothing. He's dead. In other words if you are dead, what does sin have to do with you? This is what he is saying, you have to reckon, you have to count, you have to impute yourself dead indeed unto sin. But on the other hand you have to reckon, and count, and impute yourself alive unto God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, watch verse 12 he says, "Let not therefore sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lusts thereof."

He did not say, let not sin therefore be in your mortal bodies. Sin is in us. We are sinners. But he said sin is not to reign. Sin is not to have control. Sin is not our Lord. It does not have the authority to demand that we obey it if we are Christians. He said, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body." And then he says, watch here is the practical application, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin." In other words we don't have to obey sin. But he says, "Yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." So obviously if we reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin and sin is not to reign in us then we are to be yielding our bodies unto Jesus Christ through God our Heavenly Father.

The Deceitfulness of Sin

Weaver discusses the deceitful nature of sin, referencing Jeremiah 17:9, James 1:13-15, and Hebrews 3:12-13, and illustrates how sin entices through lust and leads to death.

Now, the Apostle Paul said it like this in Colossians 3 verse 9, let me just quote it,

Scripture Reading — Colossians 3:9

"Lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds."

So this old man then that has been crucified now has to be put off. Now, I want you to go back to Ephesians 4 and look again at verse 22. He says, "That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust." So, our former life that is as unsaved is here described under the analogy not only of an old man but corruption. It is also said to be corrupt, listen carefully, according to deceitful lusts. Deceitful lusts. Now, I want to put two things together for you. Jeremiah 17 verse 9 the Bible says this, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" Now, if we have a deceitful heart that is desperately wicked above all things, and now you have the deceitful lusts, what does that mean? It means in an unsaved man, there is no soundness.

There is no common sense. There is no rationality. And there can't possibly be in anyone that is motivated by a deceitful heart and also deceitful lust. What is he telling us? That the unsaved by nature are governed by their passions and by their pleasures. Sin dominates them. Sin rules over them. Sin manipulates them. Sin seduces them. Sin always promises happiness, excitement, gratification, and pleasure, but it always produces death.

For instance, if you ever watch commercials on television, and you see a certain alcoholic beverage that is advertised, and I know that sin is not alcohol. Sin is not in anything material. Sin is in the human heart, okay? But have you ever noticed that when the advertisers for whatever liquor they are going to advertise, they never show an old drunk lying in the gutter, filthy, wallowing in his own vomit. Have you ever noticed that? They'll always show a beautiful young woman and a handsome young man sitting there and sipping and just having a grand old time. So the implication is, well, if you want to be happy, if you want to be successful, you just sip our liquor, and that's the way it'll work out, you know?

It's the same thing when you see all the trash on TV, on the soap operas, and all this kind of stuff, and somebody's slipping around on his wife, or some woman's slipping around on her husband. They never show you the divorces. They never show you the broken homes and the children. Sin deceives. Let me put it to you like this. In James 1 verses 13-15, here is what the Bible says, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted, neither tempteth he any man."

Now listen carefully, "But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And when the Bible says then, when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." Now, He said that every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. So let me put it to you like this, when there is something on the outside of me that promises to fulfill a desire that I have on the inside, then I'm being enticed. I'm being seduced. See, here's an easy way to explain this. I go fishing and here's a rock ledge and there's a big old bass safe in that water under that rock ledge. I can't get him. Even if I jumped in the water, I still couldn't catch him. Even if I knew exactly where he was. And so what do I do? I get me a fishing pole and I get a hook and line and I put a big old fat juicy worm on there and I drop it right down in front of him.

Now all of a sudden there is something appearing outside of him that promises to satisfy a desire on the inside of him. He comes out from the safety of that rock, bites that worm, that hook hooks him and I have fish for dinner. Now, that's exactly what God is saying. Every man is drawn away and enticed of his own lust. And when lust hath conceived, it produces sin. And sin, when it is finished, it brings forth death.

Now, I'm just pointing out the fact He's talking about the old man that is corrupt according to his deceitful lust. Let me show you something else. Look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 3. Let me show you how deceitful this really is. Hebrews chapter 3, let's begin reading there in verse 12. Just to show you that we are talking about brethren, we are talking about believers, we are talking about Christians. So in Hebrews 3 and verse 12 he says, "Take heed brethren." So we are talking about believers. "Take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened, watch through the deceitfulness of sin." If we allow it, sin will deceive us as well. Sin is exceedingly deceitful. So, if you'll go back to verse 22, Ephesians chapter 4 he says that you put off, you undress, you take this rascal off. You put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust.

Renewal of the Mind

Weaver explains that being renewed in the spirit of the mind is a command, accomplished by Christ, and cites Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 2:5, and 1 Peter 4:1 to emphasize the need for a transformed, Christ-like mind.

Secondly, in verse 23, "and be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Now, it's impossible to be renewed in the spirits of our mind as long as we are hanging on to the old man which is corrupt according to his deceitful lust. That has to be put off. Now the word renewed is the Greek word ana-ana-eo and it literally is a present passive infinitive. It is here asserting an obligation and it is literally treated as a command. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. So literally we are commanded here to have a renewed mind. Now the renewal is not a self renewal. In this instance, the renewal is accomplished on us and not by us. I'll explain that in some instances it is to be accomplished by us but in this instance it is to be accomplished on us and not by us. In other words we're to be constantly and continually renewed in our minds by Jesus Christ. So, he says you put off the old man and then you are renewed in your minds by Jesus Christ.

Now, there are specific commands given to us in the Bible concerning the mind. Watch this one, Romans 12, 1 and 2.

Scripture Reading — Romans 12:1-2

"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed, how? By the renewing of your mind, that you might prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God."

He said that we're to be transformed. How are we to be transformed? By the renewing of our mind. The word transformed is a very interesting word. It is where we get our English word metamorphosis. It's literally to go through changes like a butterfly, the cocoon, the larva, the butterfly. He literally says be metamorphosized, how? By the renewing of your mind. Now, when you get in Philippians 2 in verse 5, he says it like this, "Let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus." So we're to have the mind of Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 4 verse 1 he says it like this, "Forasmuch then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind." In other words we are to have exactly the mind of Jesus Christ.

Over and over he tells us we are to be renewed. Watch. Look if you would please at verse 22, 23 and then verse 24. Watch carefully. Verse 22, "that you put off concerning the former conversation of the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust" semicolon, "and be renewed in the spirit of your mind," semicolon, "and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

Putting On the New Man

Weaver describes the new man as what believers are in Christ, created in righteousness and true holiness, and stresses that putting on involves bringing every thought into captivity to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

So, in order to learn Jesus Christ, a third step must be taken. It's insufficient just to put off the old man. It's insufficient to put off the old man and just simply then have a renewed mind. If you really genuinely have a renewed mind, you will then put on a new godly obedient habit or conduct or thought pattern. In other words, you will learn to think biblically and scripturally.

Now, again let me point out that verse 24 begins with the conjunction and. So these three truths are to be taken together. Put off the old man, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you put on the new man. Well, if the old man is what we are in Adam, what is the new man? It is what we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this new man, watch verse 24, "that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." So when our minds have been renewed, we begin to understand the scriptural truth. We understand obedience and submission and godliness and holiness and sanctification. We understand that we have been set apart and we're to live differently. So we're not to act or think or walk the way the unsaved act, think or walk. Righteousness and true holiness are only found in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. Thus what we do we seek to bring our lives into conformity to His Word.

Now, I want you to hold Ephesians 4 but go back in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and I want you to look if you would please at verse 3. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 3. Look what he says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh." Now you and I are walking around in the flesh. And our flesh is just as wicked as it can be. But although we're walking in the flesh we're not warring after it. We're not trying to satisfy it and appease it but every sin in it that we can get, no. Watch what he says in verse 4, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds."

Now your stronghold is your place of defense, it's how you protect yourself. Well what is man's stronghold? Look in verse 5, it's his mind. "Casting down imaginations and every high thing or every high thought that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." So here's my question. As a Christian, as a new man in Christ, how many ungodly, unholy, and wicked and sinful thoughts are you allowed? What's the answer? None. Because every thought is to be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ.

Now, I want you to stop and think about this. You say, that's impossible. No, it's not impossible. It's not impossible. For instance, if I were to ask you, what do I have in my hand? You say, that's a bottle cap. Wonderful. If I ask you the color, you'd either say it's white or transparent. Now, if I ask you now what you saw, what do I have in my hand? And you say it's a cell phone. What color is it? Black.

Practical Illustrations of Put Off/Put On

Weaver walks through Ephesians 4:25-32, showing how each command follows the put off/put on pattern: lying vs. truth, sinful anger vs. righteous anger, theft vs. honest labor and generosity, corrupt communication vs. edifying speech, and bitterness vs. kindness and forgiveness.

If he listed them all we couldn't carry our Bibles. But what he does is he gives us the principle of how to deal with our sins, how to change our lives, how to learn Christ. So, I want you to see in the rest of this chapter, although the words may not necessarily be there, it is still put off, put on. So, look in verse 25. He says, "Wherefore putting away lying," that is something you put off, "wherefore putting away lying," here is what you put on, "speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." So, lying then is a sin that has to be put off. Telling the truth is a godly habit that must be put on. So, He tells us in the new man we are to speak the truth. However, we are to speak the truth in love. Look in Ephesians 4 and verse 15. He says it like this, "But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head even Christ."

Now, you know you can tell the truth in several ways. You can speak the truth in such a way that folks will hate you and get angry with you and refuse to listen to you. But you can speak the truth in love. And they may reject it. They still may get angry. It doesn't matter. But the truth is still truth. You understand that. But you're not purposefully trying to upset someone. Listen, I understand that truth hurts. I understand that truth is offensive. Jesus Christ is offensive. But the reality is, we have to speak the truth no matter how much it hurts, or how much it offends.

And here is what the Apostle says, "Wherefore putting away lying you put on speaking every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." In other words we owe the truth to each other. We owe the truth to each other. So if I have to tell you, or you have to tell me something that hurts you just have to say it. Say it as lovingly and as kindly as you can, but you have to say it. You follow that? So, we're to put off lying, we're to put on speaking the truth. Don't you just hate it, men, when your wife asks you, well, how does this dress look on me? Or do you like this dress? Well, sugar, you know. It's you. Well, probably it'd be better if you just say, well, sweetheart, I'll be honest, I don't really like that dress, but if you want to wear it, go ahead and wear it. Have I ever told you I didn't like your dress? Of course I have. And has she ever told me she didn't like what I had on?

Yeah, she does. Weekly, she says. It doesn't bother me at all. So, he says, put off lying, put on telling the truth. Watch verse 26. Oh, this one is a good one. Watch carefully. Verses 26-27 go together. "Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil." Now, what he is telling you in verse 26 is this, you put off a sinful anger, and you put on a righteous anger, that is be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Now, you say how in the world can I tell whether or not my anger is sinful or righteous? And by the way, I will tell you this right now, anger is an emotion and is not necessarily sinful in and of itself. Usually our anger is sinful anger. It does not necessarily have to be sinful. And if you think it is well you need to deal with Mark chapter 3 because the Bible says, our Lord looked round about upon them with anger.

He was angry with those people. But it was a righteous anger it was not a sinful anger. You say, well how do you explain the difference? Well here it is. Usually a sinful anger is expressed in one of two ways. A sinful anger will either act like a volcano and just blow up and blow out and blow off. In other words, you just get so angry you cuss everybody out and tell them off and rip them up one side and down the other and you don't care who hears, you don't care who knows, you just getting it off your chest.

You've heard that, you've seen that, you've probably done that. That is sinful anger. That is sinful anger. The other sinful anger is this. When Steve does something to me, I don't blow up and cuss him out. But I internalize it and I say as I smile, you just wait big boy, your time's coming. I will nail you in a few weeks. You just wait. And then it just eats me up inside. I think about it and I meditate on it and it just kills me. That's sinful anger.

Do you know why we're to be angry? Righteous anger deals with the sin. And it seeks to resolve the sin. Now look what he said, "Be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." So I don't care whether you have a sinful anger or a righteous anger, God says it needs to be dealt with before the sun goes down. So husbands and wives should never go to bed angry with each other, it should be dealt with. Whatever it is, it should be dealt with.

You say, well, it's not always like that in my house. Well, I understand that. That's why God put verse 27 there. "Neither give place to the devil." So, that means this. When you refuse to deal with things on a daily basis before the sun goes down, you're inviting the devil into your life, into your house. And if you invite him in, guess what? He's coming in. You give him ground, he's going to take it. So God says, here's what you need to put off. You need to put off an unrighteous anger. You need to put on a righteous anger. And you need to resolve your problems before the sun goes down. Because if you don't, you're giving place to the devil. So you put off the unrighteous anger, you put on a righteous anger, and you put on a daily resolution of that anger. Watch verse 28, here we go.

"Let him that stole, steal no more. But rather let him labor, working with his hands a thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." Now, let him that stole, steal no more. So we are to put off theft, every aspect of theft. Do you realize that fraud, and deceit, and dishonesty, all of this is part and parcel of theft. It has to be put off.

Now, I want you to look at this. He says, "Let him that stole steal no more." Is it sufficient just to quit stealing? No. There is a question, when is a thief not a thief? Think about this. When is the thief not a thief? It's not when he's not stealing. You can be a thief and not be stealing at the time. A thief would go into a store with the intent of stealing but see three or four cops walking around and he decides I better go somewhere else. He's still a thief. He's just not stealing at the moment. Got it? So watch, "Let him that stole steal no more." Stop stealing. Ah, but there's something else now.

He says, "Let him labor, working with his hands." Hmm, that's good honest work. But that's not all. "Then he may have to give to him that needeth." In other words, he has to put on in the place of his covetousness, he has to put on a generous and gracious and sacrificial heart. Isn't that amazing? So he says, you put off all your theft, all the dishonesty, all the fraud, any of that, and you put on working, honest labor, and you put on a heart that is ready to sacrifice and to be generous. So, you put off and you put on.

Now, watch if you would please verse 29. Here he says it again. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers." So we are to put off all corrupt communication. We are to put on that communication which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Now, all corrupt communication must be put off. Corrupt communication is that which is bad, rotten, putrid, corrupted, not fit for use. It's language that is worthless and of poor quality. It's a waste of time and breath. Why would you even waste your time or breath speaking it if it's corrupt? God says what you're to put on is a quality communication. That which edifies, and the word edifies means to build up and to strengthen. So that means then that gossip and innuendo and slander and false accusation and libel and malicious implications are all forbidden in verse 29. And what we're to put on is where we're trying to build each other up. Encourage each other's growth in Christian wisdom, piety, holiness, and happiness. So put off, put on. Now look at verse 30. "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you're sealed in the day of your redemption." Now I'm going to come back to verse 30. So I wanted to skip down to verses 31 and 32. Verse 31 is a total put off verse. Everything in verse 31 is to be put off. "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice."

There is nothing in verse 31 for you to put off. Everything is to be put off. Everybody knows what clamor is? I'm sure you know what bitterness is and wrath and anger and evil speaking and malice. What's clamor? Clamor is useless and worthless noise. Here's the individual that says we got a problem. And I don't have the answer to the problem. I don't know how to work this thing out, but bless God I'm gonna put my two cents worth in any and he just has clamor. It's useless, worthless noise. It's like when we say people are talking just to hear themselves talk. God says all that's to be put off. Well, what is to be put on in the place? You have to put something on if you want to put all that off. Well, verse 32, "And be ye kind one to another." You put on kindness. "Tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Now be kind one to another, tender-hearted. You know a good illustration of being tender-hearted is this. If we had two pianos in this room, and they were both tuned, and if my wife went over and hit middle C on one

piano, middle C on this piano would vibrate. It wouldn't necessarily play, but it would vibrate, because they are in tune. Being tender-hearted means if Gary comes to me crying and weeping, if I'm tender-hearted, I'm going to start crying and weeping with him before I ever find out why he's crying and weeping, because I know he's a brother and there's something that's really bothering him. On the other hand, if I see Pat jumping up in the air and clicking his heel together and saying, "Whoopee, praise the Lord," if I'm tender hearted, I'm going to start rejoicing with him before I ever find out why he's rejoicing. That's tender hearted.

So, he says, you put that on. And then you put on, he says, "forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." Now, how many of you heard people say, and you may have said it yourself, "Well, I'll forgive you, but I ain't forgetting." If you don't forget then you are not forgiving. Because he says that we are to forgive each other even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. And when God forgave us He forgot our sins. So if Steve does something to me and I tell Steve, "I forgive you." I don't have the power to eradicate that from my mind. I can't wipe it out of my mind. I may remember it ten years from now, but I do have the power never to speak of it again, and I do have the power never to use it against him, and to never bring it up. See, here's where so many people, especially husbands and wives, the wife will say, "All right, honey, I forgive you." Two weeks later, you mess up. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I knew it. I knew you'd do it again."

Why are you ladies laughing? Because you know, that's the way it goes. You never really forgave to begin with. Because if you did, you wouldn't be bringing up what happened two weeks ago. See? That's a fact. So, he tells us that we are to put off all bitterness, and anger, and wrath, and clamor, and evil speaking, and put on kindness, and tender heartedness, and forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us.

Grieving the Holy Spirit

Weaver explains that grieving the Holy Spirit (v. 30) occurs when believers fail to put off the old man, be renewed in mind, and put on the new man.

Now, I told you that I would come back to verse 30. I want you to look at verse 30, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you were sealed unto the day of your redemption." So, here is my question, in the context, how do you grieve the Holy Spirit? In the context, you grieve the Holy Spirit who, by the way, has regenerated us, converted us, indwells us, is the earnest of our inheritance. He has sealed us. How do you grieve Him? By not putting off the old man, by not being renewed in your mind, and by not putting on the new man. In the context, when we fail to do either of those three things, we're grieving the Spirit of God. Wow. So Paul tells us to walk differently. And the way we walk differently is we learn Christ. And the way we learn Christ is to put off, be renewed, and put on.

Applications and Conclusion

Weaver applies the message by urging believers to start with one area of change, taking it one step at a time, and to aim for becoming something entirely different from their natural selves, concluding with a prayer.

Now let me make just two quick applications. The first one is this. Everyone knows the answer to this. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you build a house? One step at a time. You see, what we can do is we can sit here and say, oh, this is just so vast and there's so much in my life that is so wrong.

How can I ever change? Well, you begin with one thing. One habit, one thought pattern, one conduct, one area, you change it. Once that old man is put off, you are renewed, you put on the Biblical alternative, then you go to the next. You heard the old saying, a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. If you do not take that first step you will never get to your destination. And if you do not begin today putting off, being renewed, and putting on you will never, ever experience Biblical change. You will never, ever learn Jesus Christ.

The second application is this. Your goal is to become something entirely different from that which you are by nature. Stop and think about that. When is a thief not a thief? Not when he's not stealing, but when he becomes an honest man working with his hands and generous and gracious and sacrificial. When he becomes something totally different. Same thing, when is a drunk not a drunk? Not just when he's sober, because drunks are sober occasionally, but they'll get drunk within the next day or so. It's when you become something entirely different. So your goal then is not just to quit doing things, but to become as godly and as holy and as obedient as you can be by the grace of God, by learning Jesus Christ and effecting biblical change in your life one step at a time. We must learn Christ. Where most people have messed up is they've never really learned Jesus Christ. Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray and ask for Your grace and Your mercy. We pray that You would teach us, that You would build us upon the most holy faith, and that You would indeed teach us, Lord, that we may learn Thee and change our lives and bring them into submission to Thee and conformity to Thy Word.

In Thy blessed name we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Learning Christ through a three-step process

Summary: The core of the sermon is that learning Christ involves putting off the old man, being renewed in the spirit of the mind, and putting on the new man.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'So here is what Paul is doing in verses 22, 23, and 24. He is giving us general instructions on how to learn Jesus Christ.'

The necessity of replacement, not just removal

Summary: Weaver emphasizes that it is insufficient to merely stop sinful behaviors; they must be replaced with godly alternatives, or the old habits will return worse than before.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'if you try to put off an old habit without putting a new godly habit in its place, inevitably that old habit is going to come back and it's going to come back with a vengeance.'

The deceitfulness of sin and the old man

Summary: Sin is portrayed as deceitful, promising pleasure but producing death, and the old man is corrupt according to deceitful lusts.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'Sin always promises happiness, excitement, gratification, and pleasure, but it always produces death.'

The believer's new identity in Christ

Summary: Believers are called to live out their new identity as the new man, created in righteousness and true holiness, and to reckon themselves dead to sin.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'if the old man is what we are in Adam, what is the new man? It is what we are in the Lord Jesus Christ.'

The role of the mind in transformation

Summary: Renewal of the mind is essential for transformation, involving bringing every thought captive to Christ and thinking biblically.

Evidence: Weaver cites 2 Corinthians 10:5 and says, 'every thought is to be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ.'

Practical Christian living in community

Summary: The put off/put on commands in Ephesians 4:25-32 are applied to relationships, emphasizing truth-telling, righteous anger, honest work, edifying speech, kindness, and forgiveness.

Evidence: Weaver illustrates each command, such as 'put off lying, put on telling the truth' and 'put off all bitterness... put on kindness.'

Key Arguments

Learning Christ is simple but opposed by the flesh

Summary: Weaver argues that the process of learning Christ is straightforward—like changing clothes—but the flesh fights against it, making it painful.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Learning Christ is really simple. It is! It is easy and practical to apply. Although learning Christ is very simple... it is excruciatingly painful to our flesh.'

Self-reformation is futile without replacement

Summary: Weaver argues that trying to reform oneself by merely stopping sin leads to worse bondage, using Matthew 12:43-45 as proof.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'self-reformation does not work and will not work. The only thing that will work is when you learn to put off, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on.'

The old man has been crucified with Christ, enabling believers to overcome sin

Summary: Weaver argues from Romans 6 that because the old man was crucified with Christ, believers can reckon themselves dead to sin and not let sin reign.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'our old man, what we were in Adam has been crucified with Christ. We were crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed.'

Grieving the Holy Spirit is directly linked to failing in the put off/put on process

Summary: Weaver argues that in the context of Ephesians 4, grieving the Spirit happens when believers do not put off the old man, be renewed, and put on the new man.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'in the context, when we fail to do either of those three things, we're grieving the Spirit of God.'

True change means becoming something entirely different, not just ceasing a behavior

Summary: Weaver argues that a thief is not a thief only when he becomes an honest, generous worker; similarly, a drunk is not a drunk only when he becomes something entirely different.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'When is a thief not a thief? Not when he's not stealing, but when he becomes an honest man working with his hands and generous and gracious and sacrificial.'

Scripture References

Ephesians 4:17-32

Context: The primary passage of the sermon, read at the beginning and expounded throughout, describing the walk of the believer and the put off/put on process.

1 John 2:15-17

Context: Cited to show that believers are not to love the world or the things in the world, defining the world as the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.

Galatians 6:14

Context: Quoted to emphasize that believers are crucified to the world through the cross of Christ.

Romans 8:13

Context: Cited to introduce the concept of mortification—putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit.

Colossians 3:5

Context: Quoted to list the members to be mortified: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness.

Galatians 5:16-17

Context: Cited to explain the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, showing why learning Christ is a struggle.

Romans 6:6-14

Context: Used to show that the old man was crucified with Christ, and believers are to reckon themselves dead to sin and alive to God, not letting sin reign.

Colossians 3:9

Context: Quoted to reinforce that believers have put off the old man with his deeds.

Jeremiah 17:9

Context: Cited to illustrate the deceitfulness of the heart, connecting to deceitful lusts.

James 1:13-15

Context: Used to explain the process of temptation: drawn away by lust, lust conceives and brings forth sin, and sin brings forth death.

Hebrews 3:12-13

Context: Cited to warn believers about the deceitfulness of sin and the need for daily exhortation.

Romans 12:1-2

Context: Quoted to command transformation by the renewing of the mind, not being conformed to the world.

Philippians 2:5

Context: Cited to encourage having the mind of Christ.

1 Peter 4:1

Context: Cited to arm ourselves with the same mind as Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Context: Used to show that spiritual warfare involves bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Matthew 12:43-45

Context: Cited to illustrate the danger of self-reformation without replacement, where an unclean spirit returns with seven others worse.

Ephesians 4:15

Context: Quoted to emphasize speaking the truth in love.

Mark 3

Context: Referenced to show that Jesus experienced righteous anger, indicating anger itself is not sinful.

Historical References

John Gill

Context: Weaver quotes John Gill's description of the old man as the corruption of nature, called a man because it is natural, lives in men, and is derived from the first man.

Important Quotes

Learning Christ is really simple. It is! It is easy and practical to apply. Although learning Christ is very simple, and although it is easy and practical to apply the truth, it is excruciatingly painful to our flesh.

Significance: This quote captures the central tension of the sermon: the process is simple in concept but fiercely opposed by the sinful nature.

if you try to put off an old habit without putting a new godly habit in its place, inevitably that old habit is going to come back and it's going to come back with a vengeance and you're going to be worse off than when you started.

Significance: This emphasizes the necessity of replacement in sanctification, a key argument of the sermon.

When is a thief not a thief? Not when he's not stealing, but when he becomes an honest man working with his hands and generous and gracious and sacrificial. When he becomes something totally different.

Significance: This illustrates the goal of Christian change: not mere cessation of sin but transformation into a new kind of person.

in the context, when we fail to do either of those three things, we're grieving the Spirit of God.

Significance: This directly links the put off/put on process to the command not to grieve the Holy Spirit, showing the seriousness of the matter.

Sin always promises happiness, excitement, gratification, and pleasure, but it always produces death.

Significance: This succinctly states the deceitful nature of sin, a major theme in the sermon.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to 'learn Christ' according to Ephesians 4:20-24, and how is this different from merely learning about Christ?

Context: Weaver explains that learning Christ involves a transformative process of putting off the old man, being renewed in mind, and putting on the new man.

Why is it insufficient to simply stop a sinful habit without replacing it with a godly one?

Context: Weaver uses Matthew 12:43-45 to illustrate that self-reformation leads to worse bondage, and emphasizes the need for replacement.

How does the analogy of changing clothes help us understand the put off/put on process in daily life?

Context: Weaver uses the everyday practice of changing clothes to illustrate how natural and necessary it is to put off old behaviors and put on new ones.

In what ways does sin deceive us, and how can we guard against its deceitfulness?

Context: Weaver discusses the deceitfulness of sin using Jeremiah 17:9, James 1:13-15, and Hebrews 3:12-13.

What does it mean to be 'renewed in the spirit of your mind,' and what practical steps can we take to experience this renewal?

Context: Weaver explains that renewal is a command accomplished by Christ, and cites Romans 12:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 10:5 about bringing thoughts captive.

How does failing to put off the old man, be renewed, and put on the new man grieve the Holy Spirit?

Context: Weaver directly connects verse 30 to the preceding context, stating that grieving the Spirit occurs when we neglect these three steps.

What does it look like to 'become something entirely different' rather than just ceasing a sinful behavior?

Context: Weaver uses the examples of a thief and a drunk to illustrate that true change involves a transformation of character, not just abstinence.

Applications

Begin change one step at a time

Summary: Weaver encourages believers to start with one habit, thought pattern, or area of conduct, and apply the put off/put on process to it before moving to the next.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'you begin with one thing. One habit, one thought pattern, one conduct, one area, you change it.'

Aim for total transformation, not just behavior modification

Summary: Weaver urges believers to set their goal on becoming something entirely different from their natural selves, not merely quitting sins.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Your goal is to become something entirely different from that which you are by nature.'

Replace sinful habits with godly alternatives

Summary: Weaver applies the put off/put on principle by instructing believers to actively replace lying with truth-telling, theft with honest work and generosity, corrupt speech with edifying words, and bitterness with kindness and forgiveness.

Evidence: Weaver walks through Ephesians 4:25-32, giving specific replacements for each sin mentioned.

Resolve anger daily to avoid giving place to the devil

Summary: Weaver applies Ephesians 4:26-27 by urging believers to deal with anger before the sun goes down, whether it is sinful or righteous, to prevent the devil from gaining a foothold.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God says it needs to be dealt with before the sun goes down. So husbands and wives should never go to bed angry with each other.'

Forgive others as God has forgiven you

Summary: Weaver applies verse 32 by teaching that true forgiveness means not bringing up past offenses again, mirroring God's forgiveness which forgets sins.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'if you did, you wouldn't be bringing up what happened two weeks ago.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T23:45:55Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T14:36:16Z

Clean Transcript

Walking With The Lord - Part 8 - Learning Christ - Part 2

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Bibles into Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. And that's in the New Testament. Is that what you're telling him? Yeah, I'm teasing. Ephesians chapter 4, beginning there with verse 17. This is number 8 in Walking with the Lord, and I brought a subtitle, Learning Christ Part 2, because we dealt with that subject last week. So notice if you would, Ephesians 4 verse 17, "This I say therefore and testify unto the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness
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of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over into lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ. If so be that you have heard him and been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man,
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which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for he remembers one of another. Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands a thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed in the day of your redemption. bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
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Now just for your recollection I will remind you that I have dealt with how Enoch walked with the Lord and how God told Abram, "Walk thou before me and be thou perfect." I showed you from Hebrews chapter 11 verses 5 and 6, the foundation is simply walking by faith, for without faith it is impossible to please God. And then in Ephesians chapter 4 we also looked where the Apostle Paul told us to walk worthily before the Lord, and there are three messages there. And then we got to verse 17 where the Apostle tells us to walk differently, and he tells us that we are not to walk as the unsaved walk. week I began dealing actually verses 20 and 21 on learning Jesus Christ. What he said in verse 20, "But you have not so learned Christ."
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In other words we must learn Christ but we don't learn Him in a way that teaches us to live in an ungodly manner. So what Paul is doing in this passage is this, he is teaching us how not to live. He is teaching us how to live. And he's also teaching us how to change our lives. So in essence, what he's doing is he is teaching us on how to learn Jesus Christ. Now, he informs us clearly in this passage how to learn Christ, but also how to discern whether or not we have learned Christ or are learning Christ. Jesus Christ, of course, does not teach us to live an ungodly, unholy, and unethical life.
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We may be in the world, but we're not of the world. Now, let me just quote a few scriptures just to get us started today for you to think about. What I just said, we may be in the world, but we're not of the world. In 1 John chapter 2, verses 15 through 17, our Lord said it like this, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." Let me just stop right there. When he said, "Love not the world,"
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He's not talking about his creation. He is talking about the world system and man and his corruption. For listen to what he said, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." And then he explains it like this, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." So when he is talking about the world here he is talking about the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. He is talking about the world or the realm of what you and I would call natural man or unsaved man. So the Apostle Paul said it like this in Galatians 6 and verse 14. He said, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Jesus Christ by whom I am crucified unto the world, and the world unto me."
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So Jesus Christ then teaches us not to love the world nor the things that are in the world. And in that instance He also teaches us that we have been crucified to the world and the world to us.
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Now He goes a little bit further in Romans 8 and verse 13 because He teaches us about mortification. I'll show you this a little bit later in the scripture. To mortify literally means to make dead or to count dead. In Romans 8 in verse 13 he said, "But if you live after the flesh you shall die, but if you through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body you shall live." By the way we get the word mortician from mortify that means literally to make dead or someone who works with the dead. he said it like this in Colossians 3 and verse 5, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth." And listen to what he calls our members, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. Isn't that interesting how he says these things are our members?
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Now, the question automatically arises how do we know to not love the world? And how do we know to mortify the deeds of the body? Well the answer is very simple, Christ teaches us to love not the world and He teaches us to mortify the deeds of the body because these truths are explicitly taught clearly in His Word. But even a more profound question and provocative question would be this, how do we accomplish that? How do we accomplish in our lives not loving the world and mortifying the deeds of our body? Well, I want you to look closely at verse 21. He says in verse 20, let's go to verse 20. He says, "But you have not so learned Christ." Now verse 21, "If so be that you have heard Him and have been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus." Now, I want to call your attention, if you would please, to verse 21. He said, "If so be that you have heard Him and have been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus."
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Now, if you'll notice at the end of verse 21 you have a colon, that is those two dots. One of the main functions of a colon is emphasis. So here is basically what he is saying, watch if you would in verse 21, "If so be that you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus," then the colon. The colon means hold on, wait a second, pay attention, the most important thing is about to follow. Now if you will notice the sentence that is begun in verse 20 does not end until you get to verse 24. Because in verse 20, you have a semi-colon, then a colon, then a semi-colon, then a semi-colon, and then finally a period in verse 24. So, you have one sentence then from verse 20 through verse 24.
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Now, what Paul is going to do is he's going to teach us basically how to learn Christ. He's going to teach us how to be a good student and a good disciple.
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Now, let me tell you something that should be very helpful and encouraging. Learning Christ is really simple. It is! It is easy and practical to apply. Although learning Christ is very simple, and although it is easy and practical to apply the truth, it is excruciatingly painful to our flesh. And our flesh will fight with every ounce of its fiber to stop us from learning Christ.
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Now, Galatians 5 verses 16 and 17, listen carefully, "Then I say, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now listen, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit." And the word lusteth there means fights against. "For the flesh fights against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would." So, the Apostle is telling us here is our renewed Spirit, here is our flesh, and the flesh is fighting against the Spirit, and the Spirit is fighting against the flesh. They are two contrary principles. And that we cannot do what we would, that is we cannot act naturally, because if we act naturally we are acting according to the flesh.
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Now, I just told you that learning Jesus Christ is very simple. It is. But what you are going to find is that our flesh will not lie as easily and as submissively and as readily upon the altar as did Isaac. Our flesh is going to fight, and scream, and groan, and moan, and wail. So, let me just try to show you how simple this really is. Let me ask you some questions.
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And you answer them in your minds. Don't answer them out loud because obviously I already know the answers. Okay? So here we go. Listen. How many of you go to sleep each night in your work clothes? How many of you get up each morning and go to work in your pajamas? Wow. What about this one? When your work clothes get dirty, I mean filthy, stinking dirty, and you have to go somewhere, how many of you just put on clean clothes over your dirty clothes? And when those clean clothes get dirty, you just put more clean clothes on over your dirty clothes.
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And you keep doing that until all of a sudden you're like this and you can't move and you can't function. You have so many clothes on. You say, "Brother, we were that silly." No, it's not silly. I'm proving a point. The point I'm trying to prove is this: it's something that you have done all of your life since you have been able to understand. When you get through working during the day and you're ready to go to bed and when you take your bath, you put off your old clothes, your day clothes, and you put on your night clothes. And when you get up to go to work in the morning, you put off your night clothes, you put on your day clothes, or your work clothes. When you go to somewhere and your clothes are dirty, you put off the dirty clothes, you put on new clothes. I don't know if you've noticed this or not when I read Ephesians chapter 4, but if you read Ephesians chapter 4, and especially Colossians chapter 3, you're going to find two phrases that occur over and over, put off, put on, put off, put on.
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What happens in the natural physical realm is also that which happens in the biblical and spiritual realm. So, I want you to notice Ephesians 4 and verse 21. He says, "If so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus," here's why he says, hold on, wait a minute, get ready for this, this is coming. Here's what our Lord teaches us, "that you put off concerning the former conversation or conduct of the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust."
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Now, I want you to note something if you would please before I go any further. I want you to notice at the end of verse 22 you have a semicolon. At the end of verse 23, you have a semicolon. The function of a semicolon is to connect two related sentences. Thus, verse 22 and verse 23 are related and they lead to the final truth that is mentioned in verse 24.
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So here is what Paul is doing in verses 22, 23, and 24. He is giving us general instructions on how to learn Jesus Christ. And then from there he descends from the general to the particulars in verses 25-31. So let me say it another way. He encapsulates the principles for us in verses 22 through 24. And then he expands and illustrates those principles for us in verses 25 through 32.
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So, let's go back and look at verse 22. So he says, if you've been taught by Christ, you have been taught, first of all, to put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. So our former conversation is simply our former conduct. It's how we lived. It's how we walked. It was our lifestyle. So our former conduct, that is before we were saved, is nothing less than an expression of the old man, which is absolutely corrupt. So Paul then refers to our old sinful nature as the old man. The old man is what we were and what we are in Adam.
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It deals with original sin, it deals with imputed sin, and it deals with what you and I would call actual sin. Let me give you a quote, John Gill said it like this in talking about the old man, and he says, "By the old man is meant the corruption of nature, called a man because natural to men. It lives and dwells in them. It has spread itself over the whole man. It rules and governs in men and consists of various parts and members as a man does. It is called old because it is the poison of the old serpent with which man was infected by him from the beginning. It is derived from the first man that ever was. It is as old as the man is, in who it is, and it is likewise called so with respect to its duration and continuance. And in opposition to and contrary to distinction from the new man, or the principle of grace, it is called ours because continually to us it is in our nature, it cleaves to us, and abides in us."
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He's talking about the old man. Now, let me show you something. I want you to hold Ephesians 4 and turn back in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. And the reason we are enabled by the grace of God to put off the old man is because that old man, what we were in Adam, has been crucified with Christ. So look in Romans 6 and verse 6. Paul says, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him."
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"that the body of sin might be destroyed, and henceforth we should not serve sin." Now note if you would the Bible tells us that here is something that we should know. Our old man, what we were in Adam has been crucified with Christ. We were crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not be the servants or the slaves of sin.
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Now, skip down to verse 11. Watch this, here is the application of this truth. He says, "Likewise reckon, or count, or impute, likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now watch, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you."
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"For you are not under the law, that is as a means of justification, but are under grace." Now, go back to verse 11, look what he says, "Likewise reckon, count, or impute yourself to be dead indeed unto sin." So, here is a man that is a drunk. He died a drunk and he's lying in the casket dead and I walk up and I take a fifth of whiskey and I wave it in front of his face and I say, "Here you old boy, would you like to have a swig?" What's he gonna say? What's he going to do? Nothing. He's dead. In other words if you are dead, what does sin have to do with you? This is what he is saying, you have to reckon, you have to count, you have to impute yourself dead indeed unto sin. But on the other hand you have to reckon, and count, and impute yourself alive unto God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, watch verse 12 he says, "Let not therefore sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lusts thereof."
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He did not say, let not sin therefore be in your mortal bodies. Sin is in us. We are sinners. But he said sin is not to reign. Sin is not to have control. Sin is not our Lord. It does not have the authority to demand that we obey it if we are Christians. He said, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body." And then he says, watch here is the practical application, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin." In other words we don't have to obey sin. But he says, "Yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." So obviously if we reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin and sin is not to reign in us then we are to be yielding our bodies unto Jesus Christ through God our Heavenly Father.
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Now, the Apostle Paul said it like this in Colossians 3 verse 9, let me just quote it, "Lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds." So this old man then that has been crucified now has to be put off. Now, I want you to go back to Ephesians 4 and look again at verse 22. He says, "That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust." So, our former life that is as unsaved is here described under the analogy not only of an old man but corruption. It is also said to be corrupt, listen carefully, according to deceitful lusts. Deceitful lusts. Now, I want to put two things together for you. Jeremiah 17 verse 9 the Bible says this, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" Now, if we have a deceitful heart that is desperately wicked above all things, and now you have the deceitful lusts, what does that mean? It means in an unsaved man, there is no soundness.
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There is no common sense. There is no rationality. And there can't possibly be in anyone that is motivated by a deceitful heart and also deceitful lust. What is he telling us? That the unsaved by nature are governed by their passions and by their pleasures. Sin dominates them. Sin rules over them. Sin manipulates them. Sin seduces them. Sin always promises happiness, excitement, gratification, and pleasure, but it always produces death.
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For instance, if you ever watch commercials on television, and you see a certain alcoholic beverage that is advertised, and I know that sin is not alcohol. Sin is not in anything material. Sin is in the human heart, okay? But have you ever noticed that when the advertisers for whatever liquor they are going to advertise, they never show an old drunk lying in the gutter, filthy, wallowing in his own vomit. Have you ever noticed that? They'll always show a beautiful young woman and a handsome young man sitting there and sipping and just having a grand old time. So the implication is, well, if you want to be happy, if you want to be successful, you just sip our liquor, and that's the way it'll work out, you know?
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It's the same thing when you see all the trash on TV, on the soap operas, and all this kind of stuff, and somebody's slipping around on his wife, or some woman's slipping around on her husband. They never show you the divorces. They never show you the broken homes and the children. Sin deceives. Let me put it to you like this. In James 1 verses 13-15, here is what the Bible says, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted, neither tempteth he any man."
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Now listen carefully, "But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And when the Bible says then, when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." Now, He said that every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. So let me put it to you like this, when there is something on the outside of me that promises to fulfill a desire that I have on the inside, then I'm being enticed. I'm being seduced.
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See, here's an easy way to explain this. I go fishing and here's a rock ledge and there's a big old bass safe in that water under that rock ledge. I can't get him. Even if I jumped in the water, I still couldn't catch him. Even if I knew exactly where he was. And so what do I do? I get me a fishing pole and I get a hook and line and I put a big old fat juicy worm on there and I drop it right down in front of him.
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Now all of a sudden there is something appearing outside of him that promises to satisfy a desire on the inside of him. He comes out from the safety of that rock, bites that worm, that hook hooks him and I have fish for dinner.
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Now, that's exactly what God is saying. Every man is drawn away and enticed of his own lust. And when lust hath conceived, it produces sin. And sin, when it is finished, it brings forth death.
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Now, I'm just pointing out the fact He's talking about the old man that is corrupt according to his deceitful lust. Let me show you something else. Look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 3. Let me show you how deceitful this really is. Hebrews chapter 3, let's begin reading there in verse 12. Just to show you that we are talking about brethren, we are talking about believers, we are talking about Christians. So in Hebrews 3 and verse 12 he says, "Take heed brethren." So we are talking about believers. "Take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened, watch through the deceitfulness of sin." If we allow it, sin will deceive us as well. Sin is exceedingly deceitful. So, if you'll go back to verse 22, Ephesians chapter 4 he says that you put off, you undress, you take this rascal off. You put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust.
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Now, I want to show you something. Notice if you would please verse 22 ends with a semicolon. Verse 23 begins with a conjunction, the word and, A-N-D. So the semicolon shows you that these two thoughts are related. And certainly since it begins with the conjunction and it says, yes, you better take this together. So here's what God is saying. First of all, we put off the old man, which is corrupt.
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Secondly, in verse 23, "and be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Now, it's impossible to be renewed in the spirits of our mind as long as we are hanging on to the old man which is corrupt according to his deceitful lust. That has to be put off.
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Now the word renewed is the Greek word ana-ana-eo and it literally is a present passive infinitive. It is here asserting an obligation and it is literally treated as a command. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. So literally we are commanded here to have a renewed mind. Now the renewal is not a self renewal. In this instance, the renewal is accomplished on us and not by us. I'll explain that in some instances it is to be accomplished by us but in this instance it is to be accomplished on us and not by us. In other words we're to be constantly and continually renewed in our minds by Jesus Christ. So, he says you put off the old man and then you are renewed in your minds by Jesus Christ.
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Now, there are specific commands given to us in the Bible concerning the mind. Watch this one, Romans 12, 1 and 2. "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed, how? By the renewing of your mind, that you might prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God." He said that we're to be transformed. How are we to be transformed? By the renewing of our mind. The word transformed is a very interesting word. It is where we get our English word metamorphosis. It's literally to go through changes like a butterfly, the cocoon, the larva, the butterfly. He literally says be metamorphosized, how? By the renewing of your mind. Now, when you get in Philippians 2 in verse 5, he says it like this, "Let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus." So we're to have the mind of Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 4 verse 1 he says it like this, "Forasmuch then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind." In other words we are to have exactly the mind of Jesus Christ.
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Over and over he tells us we are to be renewed. Watch. Look if you would please at verse 22, 23 and then verse 24. Watch carefully. Verse 22, "that you put off concerning the former conversation of the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust" semicolon, "and be renewed in the spirit of your mind," semicolon, "and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
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So, in order to learn Jesus Christ, a third step must be taken. It's insufficient just to put off the old man. It's insufficient to put off the old man and just simply then have a renewed mind. If you really genuinely have a renewed mind, you will then put on a new godly obedient habit or conduct or thought pattern. In other words, you will learn to think biblically and scripturally.
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Now, again let me point out that verse 24 begins with the conjunction and. So these three truths are to be taken together. Put off the old man, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you put on the new man. Well, if the old man is what we are in Adam, what is the new man? It is what we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this new man, watch verse 24, "that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." So when our minds have been renewed, we begin to understand the scriptural truth. We understand obedience and submission and godliness and holiness and sanctification. We understand that we have been set apart and we're to live differently. So we're not to act or think or walk the way the unsaved act, think or walk. Righteousness and true holiness are only found in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. Thus what we do we seek to bring our lives into conformity to His Word.
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Now, I want you to hold Ephesians 4 but go back in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and I want you to look if you would please at verse 3. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 3. Look what he says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh." Now you and I are walking around in the flesh. And our flesh is just as wicked as it can be. But although we're walking in the flesh we're not warring after it. We're not trying to satisfy it and appease it but every sin in it that we can get, no. Watch what he says in verse 4, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds."
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Now your stronghold is your place of defense, it's how you protect yourself. Well what is man's stronghold? Look in verse 5, it's his mind. "Casting down imaginations and every high thing or every high thought that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." So here's my question. As a Christian, as a new man in Christ, how many ungodly, unholy, and wicked and sinful thoughts are you allowed? What's the answer? None. Because every thought is to be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ.
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Now, I want you to stop and think about this. You say, that's impossible. No, it's not impossible. It's not impossible. For instance, if I were to ask you, what do I have in my hand? You say, that's a bottle cap. Wonderful. If I ask you the color, you'd either say it's white or transparent. Now, if I ask you now what you saw, what do I have in my hand? And you say it's a cell phone. What color is it? Black.
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Now here's the interesting thing. While you were thinking about this cap, you were not thinking about this cell phone. When you were thinking about the cell phone, you were not thinking about the cap. You can't think about two things at the same time, no matter how hard you try. That's all. So what happens when an ungodly, unholy thought comes in your mind? You have to stop and say, no, no I refuse that, that's the old man, I'm going to put it off, Lord I need to be renewed in my mind, and here is the biblical alternative, here is what I'm to think about, and that is what I'm to concentrate on. And you keep doing that over, and over, and over until you learn to do this instantaneously without even thinking, until it becomes absolutely second nature. So He's telling us basically how to put off and how to put on.
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Now, let me give you a warning here. He tells us that we must put off, be renewed, and then we must put on. There are some people who say, well, I'm just going to put off. I'm going to quit smoking. I'm going to quit drinking. I'm going to quit running around. I'm going to quit this, quit that. And basically what they try to do is just simply reform themselves. And they're trying to reform themselves according to their thoughts, their dictates, and their desires.
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Now let me tell you, if you try to put off an old habit without putting a new godly habit in its place, inevitably that old habit is going to come back and it's going to come back with a vengeance and you're going to be worse off than when you started. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles. Hold Ephesians 4, but look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 12.
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Our Lord made this exceedingly clear. Matthew chapter 12. Notice if you would beginning there with the verse 43. Matthew 12 verse 43. Look what he said. Matthew 12 verse 43, "When the unclean spirit is going out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest and finding none. So he's been cast out. Then he said, I will return into my house from whence I came out."
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And when he is come, he findeth it empty, and swept, and garnished, all cleaned up. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself. And they enter in, and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also in this wicked generation." So, self-reformation does not work and will not work. The only thing that will work is when you learn to put off, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on.
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Now, I told you that what Paul does in verses 22 through 24, he gives us how to learn Christ in a capsule. The rest of this chapter, He explains exactly what he's going to teach us. He shows us and gives us illustrations of how to put off and how to put on. Let me tell you the list in verses 25 through 32 is not extensive, but it is illustrative. In other words, Paul could not enumerate every sin and every vice.
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If he listed them all we couldn't carry our Bibles. But what he does is he gives us the principle of how to deal with our sins, how to change our lives, how to learn Christ. So, I want you to see in the rest of this chapter, although the words may not necessarily be there, it is still put off, put on. So, look in verse 25. He says, "Wherefore putting away lying," that is something you put off, "wherefore putting away lying," here is what you put on, "speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." So, lying then is a sin that has to be put off. Telling the truth is a godly habit that must be put on. So, He tells us in the new man we are to speak the truth. However, we are to speak the truth in love. Look in Ephesians 4 and verse 15. He says it like this, "But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head even Christ."
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Now, you know you can tell the truth in several ways. You can speak the truth in such a way that folks will hate you and get angry with you and refuse to listen to you. But you can speak the truth in love. And they may reject it. They still may get angry. It doesn't matter. But the truth is still truth. You understand that. But you're not purposefully trying to upset someone. Listen, I understand that truth hurts. I understand that truth is offensive. Jesus Christ is offensive. But the reality is, we have to speak the truth no matter how much it hurts, or how much it offends.
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And here is what the Apostle says, "Wherefore putting away lying you put on speaking every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." In other words we owe the truth to each other. We owe the truth to each other. So if I have to tell you, or you have to tell me something that hurts you just have to say it. Say it as lovingly and as kindly as you can, but you have to say it. You follow that? So, we're to put off lying, we're to put on speaking the truth. Don't you just hate it, men, when your wife asks you, well, how does this dress look on me? Or do you like this dress? Well, sugar, you know. It's you. Well, probably it'd be better if you just say, well, sweetheart, I'll be honest, I don't really like that dress, but if you want to wear it, go ahead and wear it. Have I ever told you I didn't like your dress? Of course I have. And has she ever told me she didn't like what I had on?
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Yeah, she does. Weekly, she says. It doesn't bother me at all. So, he says, put off lying, put on telling the truth. Watch verse 26. Oh, this one is a good one. Watch carefully. Verses 26-27 go together. "Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil." Now, what he is telling you in verse 26 is this, you put off a sinful anger, and you put on a righteous anger, that is be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Now, you say how in the world can I tell whether or not my anger is sinful or righteous? And by the way, I will tell you this right now, anger is an emotion and is not necessarily sinful in and of itself. Usually our anger is sinful anger. It does not necessarily have to be sinful. And if you think it is well you need to deal with Mark chapter 3 because the Bible says, our Lord looked round about upon them with anger.
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He was angry with those people. But it was a righteous anger it was not a sinful anger. You say, well how do you explain the difference? Well here it is. Usually a sinful anger is expressed in one of two ways. A sinful anger will either act like a volcano and just blow up and blow out and blow off. In other words, you just get so angry you cuss everybody out and tell them off and rip them up one side and down the other and you don't care who hears, you don't care who knows, you just getting it off your chest.
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You've heard that, you've seen that, you've probably done that. That is sinful anger. That is sinful anger. The other sinful anger is this. When Steve does something to me, I don't blow up and cuss him out. But I internalize it and I say as I smile, you just wait big boy, your time's coming. I will nail you in a few weeks. You just wait. And then it just eats me up inside. I think about it and I meditate on it and it just kills me. That's sinful anger.
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Do you know why we're to be angry? Righteous anger deals with the sin. And it seeks to resolve the sin. Now look what he said, "Be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." So I don't care whether you have a sinful anger or a righteous anger, God says it needs to be dealt with before the sun goes down. So husbands and wives should never go to bed angry with each other, it should be dealt with. Whatever it is, it should be dealt with.
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You say, well, it's not always like that in my house. Well, I understand that. That's why God put verse 27 there. "Neither give place to the devil." So, that means this. When you refuse to deal with things on a daily basis before the sun goes down, you're inviting the devil into your life, into your house. And if you invite him in, guess what? He's coming in. You give him ground, he's going to take it. So God says, here's what you need to put off. You need to put off an unrighteous anger. You need to put on a righteous anger. And you need to resolve your problems before the sun goes down. Because if you don't, you're giving place to the devil. So you put off the unrighteous anger, you put on a righteous anger, and you put on a daily resolution of that anger. Watch verse 28, here we go.
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"Let him that stole, steal no more. But rather let him labor, working with his hands a thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." Now, let him that stole, steal no more. So we are to put off theft, every aspect of theft. Do you realize that fraud, and deceit, and dishonesty, all of this is part and parcel of theft. It has to be put off.
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Now, I want you to look at this. He says, "Let him that stole steal no more." Is it sufficient just to quit stealing? No. There is a question, when is a thief not a thief? Think about this. When is the thief not a thief? It's not when he's not stealing. You can be a thief and not be stealing at the time. A thief would go into a store with the intent of stealing but see three or four cops walking around and he decides I better go somewhere else. He's still a thief. He's just not stealing at the moment. Got it? So watch, "Let him that stole steal no more." Stop stealing. Ah, but there's something else now.
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He says, "Let him labor, working with his hands." Hmm, that's good honest work. But that's not all. "Then he may have to give to him that needeth." In other words, he has to put on in the place of his covetousness, he has to put on a generous and gracious and sacrificial heart. Isn't that amazing? So he says, you put off all your theft, all the dishonesty, all the fraud, any of that, and you put on working, honest labor, and you put on a heart that is ready to sacrifice and to be generous. So, you put off and you put on.
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Now, watch if you would please verse 29. Here he says it again. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers." So we are to put off all corrupt communication. We are to put on that communication which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Now, all corrupt communication must be put off. Corrupt communication is that which is bad, rotten, putrid, corrupted, not fit for use.
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It's language that is worthless and of poor quality. It's a waste of time and breath. Why would you even waste your time or breath speaking it if it's corrupt? God says what you're to put on is a quality communication. That which edifies, and the word edifies means to build up and to strengthen. So that means then that gossip and innuendo and slander and false accusation and libel and malicious implications are all forbidden in verse 29. And what we're to put on is where we're trying to build each other up. Encourage each other's growth in Christian wisdom, piety, holiness, and happiness. So put off, put on. Now look at verse 30. "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you're sealed in the day of your redemption." Now I'm going to come back to verse 30. So I wanted to skip down to verses 31 and 32. Verse 31 is a total put off verse. Everything in verse 31 is to be put off. "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice."
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There is nothing in verse 31 for you to put off. Everything is to be put off. Everybody knows what clamor is? I'm sure you know what bitterness is and wrath and anger and evil speaking and malice. What's clamor? Clamor is useless and worthless noise. Here's the individual that says we got a problem. And I don't have the answer to the problem. I don't know how to work this thing out, but bless God I'm gonna put my two cents worth in any and he just has clamor. It's useless, worthless noise. It's like when we say people are talking just to hear themselves talk. God says all that's to be put off. Well, what is to be put on in the place? You have to put something on if you want to put all that off. Well, verse 32, "And be ye kind one to another." You put on kindness. "Tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Now be kind one to another, tender-hearted. You know a good illustration of being tender-hearted is this. If we had two pianos in this room, and they were both tuned, and if my wife went over and hit middle C on one
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piano, middle C on this piano would vibrate. It wouldn't necessarily play, but it would vibrate, because they are in tune. Being tender-hearted means if Gary comes to me crying and weeping, if I'm tender-hearted, I'm going to start crying and weeping with him before I ever find out why he's crying and weeping, because I know he's a brother and there's something that's really bothering him. On the other hand, if I see Pat jumping up in the air and clicking his heel together and saying, "Whoopee, praise the Lord," if I'm tender hearted, I'm going to start rejoicing with him before I ever find out why he's rejoicing. That's tender hearted.
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So, he says, you put that on. And then you put on, he says, "forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you."
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Now, how many of you heard people say, and you may have said it yourself, "Well, I'll forgive you, but I ain't forgetting." If you don't forget then you are not forgiving. Because he says that we are to forgive each other even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. And when God forgave us He forgot our sins. So if Steve does something to me and I tell Steve, "I forgive you." I don't have the power to eradicate that from my mind. I can't wipe it out of my mind. I may remember it ten years from now, but I do have the power never to speak of it again, and I do have the power never to use it against him, and to never bring it up. See, here's where so many people, especially husbands and wives, the wife will say, "All right, honey, I forgive you." Two weeks later, you mess up. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I knew it. I knew you'd do it again."
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Why are you ladies laughing? Because you know, that's the way it goes. You never really forgave to begin with. Because if you did, you wouldn't be bringing up what happened two weeks ago. See? That's a fact. So, he tells us that we are to put off all bitterness, and anger, and wrath, and clamor, and evil speaking, and put on kindness, and tender heartedness, and forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us.
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Now, I told you that I would come back to verse 30. I want you to look at verse 30, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you were sealed unto the day of your redemption." So, here is my question, in the context, how do you grieve the Holy Spirit? In the context, you grieve the Holy Spirit who, by the way, has regenerated us, converted us, indwells us, is the earnest of our inheritance. He has sealed us. How do you grieve Him?
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By not putting off the old man, by not being renewed in your mind, and by not putting on the new man. In the context, when we fail to do either of those three things, we're grieving the Spirit of God. Wow. So Paul tells us to walk differently. And the way we walk differently is we learn Christ. And the way we learn Christ is to put off, be renewed, and put on.
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Now let me make just two quick applications. The first one is this. Everyone knows the answer to this. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you build a house? One step at a time. You see, what we can do is we can sit here and say, oh, this is just so vast and there's so much in my life that is so wrong.
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How can I ever change? Well, you begin with one thing. One habit, one thought pattern, one conduct, one area, you change it. Once that old man is put off, you are renewed, you put on the Biblical alternative, then you go to the next. You heard the old saying, a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. If you do not take that first step you will never get to your destination. And if you do not begin today putting off, being renewed, and putting on you will never, ever experience Biblical change. You will never, ever learn Jesus Christ.
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The second application is this. Your goal is to become something entirely different from that which you are by nature. Stop and think about that. When is a thief not a thief? Not when he's not stealing, but when he becomes an honest man working with his hands and generous and gracious and sacrificial. When he becomes something totally different. Same thing, when is a drunk not a drunk? Not just when he's sober, because drunks are sober occasionally, but they'll get drunk within the next day or so. It's when you become something entirely different. So your goal then is not just to quit doing things, but to become as godly and as holy and as obedient as you can be by the grace of God, by learning Jesus Christ and effecting biblical change in your life one step at a time. We must learn Christ. Where most people have messed up is they've never really learned Jesus Christ. Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray and ask for Your grace and Your mercy. We pray that You would teach us, that You would build us upon the most holy faith, and that You would indeed teach us, Lord, that we may learn Thee and change our lives and bring them into submission to Thee and conformity to Thy Word.
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In Thy blessed name we ask and pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T23:45:55Z

Walking With The Lord - Part 8 - Learning Christ - Part 2

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this sermon, Pastor John Weaver continues his series on walking with the Lord by focusing on how believers learn Christ. He expounds Ephesians 4:17-32, emphasizing that learning Christ involves a three-step process: putting off the old man (the corrupt sinful nature), being renewed in the spirit of the mind, and putting on the new man (created in righteousness and true holiness). Weaver illustrates this principle with practical examples from the passage, such as putting off lying and putting on truth-telling, putting off sinful anger and putting on righteous anger, and putting off theft and putting on honest labor and generosity. He stresses that self-reformation is insufficient; true change requires replacing old sinful habits with new godly ones. The sermon concludes with applications to begin change one step at a time and to aim for becoming something entirely different from one's natural self.

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver introduces the sermon as part 8 of 'Walking with the Lord' and reads Ephesians 4:17-32, which describes how believers should not walk as the unsaved but have learned Christ differently.

Scripture Reading — Ephesians 4:17-32

"This I say therefore and testify unto the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness

Review of Previous Messages

Weaver briefly reviews previous sermons on walking with the Lord, including Enoch, Abraham, and the call to walk worthily and differently, leading into the topic of learning Christ.

The World and the Believer

Weaver explains that believers are in the world but not of it, citing 1 John 2:15-17 and Galatians 6:14 to show that Christ teaches us not to love the world and to mortify the deeds of the body.

Scripture Reading — 1 John 2:15-17

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world."

Scripture Reading — 1 John 2:15-17

" So when he is talking about the world here he is talking about the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. He is talking about the world or the realm of what you and I would call natural man or unsaved man. So the Apostle Paul said it like this in Galatians 6 and verse 14. He said, "

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Jesus Christ by whom I am crucified unto the world, and the world unto me."

Scripture Reading — Romans 8:13

"But if you live after the flesh you shall die, but if you through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body you shall live."

The Simplicity and Struggle of Learning Christ

Weaver asserts that learning Christ is simple in concept but excruciatingly painful to the flesh, using the analogy of changing clothes to illustrate putting off and putting on.

The Three-Step Process: Put Off, Be Renewed, Put On

The Old Man Crucified with Christ

The Deceitfulness of Sin

Weaver discusses the deceitful nature of sin, referencing Jeremiah 17:9, James 1:13-15, and Hebrews 3:12-13, and illustrates how sin entices through lust and leads to death.

Now, the Apostle Paul said it like this in Colossians 3 verse 9, let me just quote it,

Scripture Reading — Colossians 3:9

"Lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds."

Renewal of the Mind

Now, there are specific commands given to us in the Bible concerning the mind. Watch this one, Romans 12, 1 and 2.

Scripture Reading — Romans 12:1-2

"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed, how? By the renewing of your mind, that you might prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God."

Putting On the New Man

Practical Illustrations of Put Off/Put On

Grieving the Holy Spirit

Weaver explains that grieving the Holy Spirit (v. 30) occurs when believers fail to put off the old man, be renewed in mind, and put on the new man.

Applications and Conclusion

In Thy blessed name we ask and pray. Amen.

Walking With The Lord - Part 8 - Learning Christ - Part 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	DgfMa6jZXmQ
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Walking With God
Genre	Sermon
Date	2016-04-08
Dictation Name
Book	Book 135: Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification - Volume 2 — Chapter 24
Source Timed Segments	76

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Scripture Reading: Weaver introduces the sermon as part 8 of 'Walking with the Lord' and reads Ephesians 4:17-32, which describes how believers should not walk as the unsaved but have learned Christ differently.
Review of Previous Messages: Weaver briefly reviews previous sermons on walking with the Lord, including Enoch, Abraham, and the call to walk worthily and differently, leading into the topic of learning Christ.
The World and the Believer: Weaver explains that believers are in the world but not of it, citing 1 John 2:15-17 and Galatians 6:14 to show that Christ teaches us not to love the world and to mortify the deeds of the body.
The Simplicity and Struggle of Learning Christ: Weaver asserts that learning Christ is simple in concept but excruciatingly painful to the flesh, using the analogy of changing clothes to illustrate putting off and putting on.
The Three-Step Process: Put Off, Be Renewed, Put On: Weaver expounds Ephesians 4:22-24, explaining that learning Christ involves putting off the old man, being renewed in the spirit of the mind, and putting on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness.
The Old Man Crucified with Christ: Weaver turns to Romans 6:6-14 to show that the old man has been crucified with Christ, enabling believers to reckon themselves dead to sin and alive to God, and to not let sin reign in their mortal bodies.
The Deceitfulness of Sin: Weaver discusses the deceitful nature of sin, referencing Jeremiah 17:9, James 1:13-15, and Hebrews 3:12-13, and illustrates how sin entices through lust and leads to death.
Renewal of the Mind: Weaver explains that being renewed in the spirit of the mind is a command, accomplished by Christ, and cites Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 2:5, and 1 Peter 4:1 to emphasize the need for a transformed, Christ-like mind.
Putting On the New Man: Weaver describes the new man as what believers are in Christ, created in righteousness and true holiness, and stresses that putting on involves bringing every thought into captivity to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
Practical Illustrations of Put Off/Put On: Weaver walks through Ephesians 4:25-32, showing how each command follows the put off/put on pattern: lying vs. truth, sinful anger vs. righteous anger, theft vs. honest labor and generosity, corrupt communication vs. edifying speech, and bitterness vs. kindness and forgiveness.
Grieving the Holy Spirit: Weaver explains that grieving the Holy Spirit (v. 30) occurs when believers fail to put off the old man, be renewed in mind, and put on the new man.
Applications and Conclusion: Weaver applies the message by urging believers to start with one area of change, taking it one step at a time, and to aim for becoming something entirely different from their natural selves, concluding with a prayer.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Learning Christ is simple but opposed by the flesh

Weaver argues that the process of learning Christ is straightforward—like changing clothes—but the flesh fights against it, making it painful.

Weaver says, 'Learning Christ is really simple. It is! It is easy and practical to apply. Although learning Christ is very simple... it is excruciatingly painful to our flesh.'

Self-reformation is futile without replacement

Weaver argues that trying to reform oneself by merely stopping sin leads to worse bondage, using Matthew 12:43-45 as proof.

Weaver says, 'self-reformation does not work and will not work. The only thing that will work is when you learn to put off, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on.'

The old man has been crucified with Christ, enabling believers to overcome sin

Weaver argues from Romans 6 that because the old man was crucified with Christ, believers can reckon themselves dead to sin and not let sin reign.

Weaver says, 'our old man, what we were in Adam has been crucified with Christ. We were crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed.'

Grieving the Holy Spirit is directly linked to failing in the put off/put on process

Weaver argues that in the context of Ephesians 4, grieving the Spirit happens when believers do not put off the old man, be renewed, and put on the new man.

Weaver says, 'in the context, when we fail to do either of those three things, we're grieving the Spirit of God.'

True change means becoming something entirely different, not just ceasing a behavior

Weaver argues that a thief is not a thief only when he becomes an honest, generous worker; similarly, a drunk is not a drunk only when he becomes something entirely different.

Weaver says, 'When is a thief not a thief? Not when he's not stealing, but when he becomes an honest man working with his hands and generous and gracious and sacrificial.'

Scripture References

Ephesians 4:17-32: The primary passage of the sermon, read at the beginning and expounded throughout, describing the walk of the believer and the put off/put on process.
1 John 2:15-17: Cited to show that believers are not to love the world or the things in the world, defining the world as the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.
Galatians 6:14: Quoted to emphasize that believers are crucified to the world through the cross of Christ.
Romans 8:13: Cited to introduce the concept of mortification—putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit.
Colossians 3:5: Quoted to list the members to be mortified: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness.
Galatians 5:16-17: Cited to explain the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, showing why learning Christ is a struggle.
Romans 6:6-14: Used to show that the old man was crucified with Christ, and believers are to reckon themselves dead to sin and alive to God, not letting sin reign.
Colossians 3:9: Quoted to reinforce that believers have put off the old man with his deeds.
Jeremiah 17:9: Cited to illustrate the deceitfulness of the heart, connecting to deceitful lusts.
James 1:13-15: Used to explain the process of temptation: drawn away by lust, lust conceives and brings forth sin, and sin brings forth death.
Hebrews 3:12-13: Cited to warn believers about the deceitfulness of sin and the need for daily exhortation.
Romans 12:1-2: Quoted to command transformation by the renewing of the mind, not being conformed to the world.
Philippians 2:5: Cited to encourage having the mind of Christ.
1 Peter 4:1: Cited to arm ourselves with the same mind as Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5: Used to show that spiritual warfare involves bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
Matthew 12:43-45: Cited to illustrate the danger of self-reformation without replacement, where an unclean spirit returns with seven others worse.
Ephesians 4:15: Quoted to emphasize speaking the truth in love.
Mark 3: Referenced to show that Jesus experienced righteous anger, indicating anger itself is not sinful.

Historical References

John Gill: Weaver quotes John Gill's description of the old man as the corruption of nature, called a man because it is natural, lives in men, and is derived from the first man.

Important Quotes

Learning Christ is really simple. It is! It is easy and practical to apply. Although learning Christ is very simple, and although it is easy and practical to apply the truth, it is excruciatingly painful to our flesh.

This quote captures the central tension of the sermon: the process is simple in concept but fiercely opposed by the sinful nature.

if you try to put off an old habit without putting a new godly habit in its place, inevitably that old habit is going to come back and it's going to come back with a vengeance and you're going to be worse off than when you started.

This emphasizes the necessity of replacement in sanctification, a key argument of the sermon.

When is a thief not a thief? Not when he's not stealing, but when he becomes an honest man working with his hands and generous and gracious and sacrificial. When he becomes something totally different.

This illustrates the goal of Christian change: not mere cessation of sin but transformation into a new kind of person.

in the context, when we fail to do either of those three things, we're grieving the Spirit of God.

This directly links the put off/put on process to the command not to grieve the Holy Spirit, showing the seriousness of the matter.

Sin always promises happiness, excitement, gratification, and pleasure, but it always produces death.

This succinctly states the deceitful nature of sin, a major theme in the sermon.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean to 'learn Christ' according to Ephesians 4:20-24, and how is this different from merely learning about Christ?

[Context]

Weaver explains that learning Christ involves a transformative process of putting off the old man, being renewed in mind, and putting on the new man.

[Question]

Why is it insufficient to simply stop a sinful habit without replacing it with a godly one?

[Context]

Weaver uses Matthew 12:43-45 to illustrate that self-reformation leads to worse bondage, and emphasizes the need for replacement.

[Question]

How does the analogy of changing clothes help us understand the put off/put on process in daily life?

[Context]

Weaver uses the everyday practice of changing clothes to illustrate how natural and necessary it is to put off old behaviors and put on new ones.

[Question]

In what ways does sin deceive us, and how can we guard against its deceitfulness?

[Context]

Weaver discusses the deceitfulness of sin using Jeremiah 17:9, James 1:13-15, and Hebrews 3:12-13.

[Question]

What does it mean to be 'renewed in the spirit of your mind,' and what practical steps can we take to experience this renewal?

[Context]

Weaver explains that renewal is a command accomplished by Christ, and cites Romans 12:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 10:5 about bringing thoughts captive.

[Question]

How does failing to put off the old man, be renewed, and put on the new man grieve the Holy Spirit?

[Context]

Weaver directly connects verse 30 to the preceding context, stating that grieving the Spirit occurs when we neglect these three steps.

[Question]

What does it look like to 'become something entirely different' rather than just ceasing a sinful behavior?

[Context]

Weaver uses the examples of a thief and a drunk to illustrate that true change involves a transformation of character, not just abstinence.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T14:36:16Z