This is part 11 of an sermon series on Ephesians. Each of Paul’s letters is a mix of theology and practical tips for living every day life as a Christian. Typically, the first part of each letter is filled with theology:
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith (Eph 2:8)
The Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body (Eph 3:6)
The second part of each letter is filled with advice and exhortations for everyday living:
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up (Eph 4:12)
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph 5:21)
Fathers, do not exasperate your children (Eph 6:4)
These verses today are the turning point in Ephesians—the place where Paul begins to shift from theology to practical advice.
Commentary
The New King James Version is probably the best, and most literal, translation of this passage. Paul begins this passage by calling it his witness, which the NIV translates as “insist.” However, when we ask others to change how they live, we do not insist. Rather, we are bear witness to what we have seen God do when we change. The NKJV also correctly calls the way we live our “walk.” There are nuanced stylistic differences that make the NKJV better here, but I always encourage you to read from a variety of translations to get a better sense of what’s being said. (Even preachers should do that!)
v17 Regardless of our previous lifestyle, we should not continue to live as we did before we became Christians. There is so much of our former lifestyles that gets between us and God. Our former thinking is called futile—more literally vanity (as the NKJV says). Remember Biblical vanity is not so much conceit or pride as it is trusting in something that is insubstantial. We used to trust in things that failed to deliver—God’s promise is that he will never fail.
v18 The origin of our vanity is revealed. Hardening (or dulling) of the heart leads to ignorance of how to live. Ignorance then leads to darkness of intellect and separation from God. As bad as ignorance, darkness, and separation are, they proceed from a dulled heart. Enlightenment is not the answer; spending more time in church, or prayer, or Bible reading trying to get near to God is not the answer; knowledge is not the answer. Until our heart changes—and only God, with our permission and help, can change our heart—nothing can change.
v19 Dullness of heart is a vicious cycle, as the loss of sensitivity leads ever further away from God. See in v17-19 a snapshot of human descent into depravity illustrated by Paul in Rom. 1:18-32.
v22-24 In these three verses, Paul gives us a picture of repentance. Remorse is not a Biblical definition of repentance. Remorse alone changes nothing. Rather, Biblical repentance involves a change of thought followed by a change of action; so one takes off an old way of thinking and acting and adopts a new way of thinking and acting. Again, until our heart changes—and only God can change our heart—new thoughts and new actions will have little effect.
Application
To what should I compare the kingdom of God in you? You are like a common onion, where the old self is dry, brown, flaky, and not very fun to taste. It is peeled off and thrown into the fire. The layer beneath is whiter, moister, more pungent; however, it is still mottled. It is peeled off as well and thrown into the fire. The layer beneath is whiter, moister, more fragrant still; it looks good, but what if we leave the onion like this? In a very short time it will darken, dry up, rot, and lose its wholesomeness. It will need to be peeled as well and thrown into the fire. Each layer is better than the one before, but it is not the one; it must be peeled and burned eventually.
Your worldly nature is like that outer layer. Whether you have followed Jesus all your life and have never followed him at all, there are those parts of you that have made accommodations to the world—what you say, or don’t say; what you love, or what you hate; what you chase after—and those parts continually need to be set aside. Refuse to trust in the old ways any longer. Ask Jesus to show you a different way to think, and act. That is repentance: taking off the old, the rotten, the dried out ... and searching out the new, the fresh, the wholesome—Spirit-filled life that the Spirit of Christ is laboring to bring to life in you. The new you is just below the surface, [1] waiting for the old you to be taken away forever.
You are like an onion, but you are not an onion. Herein lies the difference, herein lies the mystery of the kingdom of God in you: the more the onion is peeled away, the less of the onion there is, but the more you are peeled away, the more you there is underneath: whiter, more fragrant, more pleasing, more wholesome, more a child of God.
Points to Ponder
Reading what the commentary says about the Biblical definition of vanity being trust in something insubstantial (something that will fail to deliver) how does that understanding of vanity play into the conventional definition of vanity, i.e. conceit or pride in oneself? Consider current news stories: what other vanities call to us—what other things call us to trust in them?
The parable of the onion suggests that repentance is an ongoing process—that there is always something more that needs to be peeled away for the sake of something better that God is trying to bring into our lives. Where have you seen this ongoing process at work in your life? [2]
Have you ever known Christians that just seemed to stop growing in their faith? It’s as if they peeled away enough layers of their onion that they got down to something they felt was “good enough” and stopped trying after that. What happened to those Christians? Could they, like the Gentiles, be accused of futile [vain] thinking?
What’s the next layer of your onion?
End Notes
1 - Jesus tells the Pharisees, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21).
2 - Consider Simon Peter who takes off the old self of unforgiveness; he nevertheless has to take off the self that knows forgiveness in favor a newer self that forgives continually and unconditionally. Don’t believe it? Read Matthew 18:21-22.
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