… in true righteousness and holiness.
Summary: Today’s passage marks the end of the beginning. In the beginning of Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul lays out a seven point plan culminating in living a life that is “true righteousness and holiness.”
So far, Paul’s ‘Seven Steps to Spiritual Success’ reads something like this:
- Recognize that life without God leads to death. (Eph 2:1-3)
- Believe in God and his Son, Jesus Christ. (Eph 1:13)
- Receive God’s gift of his Holy Spirit (ibid)
- Allow God to give you a new attitude of mind. (Eph 4:23, see also Romans 12:2)
- Put off the “old self” that leads to death. (Eph 4:22)
- Put on the “new self” that leads to life. (Eph 4:24a)
- Live in “true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:24b)
Paul doesn’t tell us how fast this process is supposed to happen. In my personal experience, I have seen this process occur very fast in some people and very slow in others. Yet the steps outlined by Paul are consistent with everyone I know who has accepted Christ.
At some point, we realize that life without God doesn’t work. Accepting that God is God changes everything. To discover God’s Son, Jesus, opens the doors of our hearts and minds to the possibility of forgiveness and restoration. To feel the presence of the Holy Spirit is to feel the presence of the Living God himself.
Then we get to the question of how we will live our lives going forward. Do we continue to do the same self-centered things that got us in trouble in the first place?
No! We want something better. That is why we turned to God. So we engage with God by reading his Holy Word every day. We share our concerns and questions with God through prayer. We listen for his answers in his Word and through his Spirit.
Then, as Paul explains, we put off our “old self,” meaning we reject the patterns of thinking that lead to death, and we put on our “new self,” meaning we adopt thinking and behaviors that please God.
The result of this transformation is “true righteousness and holiness.”
Jesus explains this to the woman at the well:
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 23-24)
Paul is saying that the time is now. Now that Jesus has risen from the dead, now that the Holy Spirit is available to people who believe in Jesus, now it is possible to live as Jesus prophesied about, “in the Spirit and in truth.”
Is it possible to live in “true righteousness and holiness”? Paul says that it is. More than that, we are told to live that way. The rest of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is all about what it means to live a righteous life.
Application: Strive to live a life of true righteousness and holiness.
Food for Thought: Do you agree with this post? Why or why not?
Let me start by saying I do agree.
The 7 steps: The 7 steps you summarized are very succinct and accurate to my understanding of Gods love and plan, Christ’s sacrifice and victory, and the Holy Spirits working in my life.
The narrative: I do agree that our relationship with God is led by the Spirit. I tried it the other way, it didnt work. The other way meaning me trying to “do” in order to have a relationship with God instead of submitting in humility, and allowing the Spirit to work in my life.
One thought: What you wrote speaks to a big picture. A big circle if you will. I believe that big circle is full of smaller circles that go through the same sort of process. There are areas of our lives, sins in our past, attitudes, desires, and needs that all need to be redeemed. In each area one has to recognize the path to destruction, give it to Christ so He can redeem it to the Glory of God, allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to the path of life in it, allow our minds to be transformed about it, decide to turn from unrightousness to rightousness in it, and then live in that rightousness. That, to me, is the embodiment of the Walk. Step by step, with Jesus, along the road you chose at the big fork some time ago.
Redeemed. That word just means so much to me. It gives me hope, comfort, peace. I just have no words to describe how deeply that reaches down into my soul.
Thank you, Chris!
I appreciate your thoughts on this. You are right that we cannot reach God on our own. We need him to reach out to us.
Your point about “big circles” and “little circles” is well made. The cleansing process oft times feels like it is repeated in an endless cycle. Yet our God is endlessly patient.
And yes … “redeemed” is a very special word. Thank you for pointing that out. 🙂
07-13-2023, Do you agree with this post? Why or why not?
Well said Jeff, and I agree with comments by CH.
What I have come to learn during my 46 years with Christ as my Lord is this 7 step process, my transformation is never going to be complete during this lifetime on earth. Instead the Holy Spirit is repeatedly reviewing His work and in His time, directing my attention to areas needing improvement, and I am making little circles as He is refining me according to His plan for my life. It’s a great life filled with peace as we experience an increasing separation from this world, and life in our Lord who will complete this work when I join Him.
Philippians 1:6, I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that
He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return]. Amplified Version
Thank you, Ron!
It is encouraging to hear how God is working in you and in others, as well as in myself. It is a circular process… wash, rinse, dry, repeat. Yet each time we wash another part of ourselves in the blood of Jesus, we are cleaner, lighter, brighter, and better able to shine God’s light in the world. It may be a lifelong process but it is a very rewarding one!
Great add on summary!
Ron
I agree with the steps, however I believe the seven steps are a daily battle. Some days I fail…. some days at step 7, some days at step 1. Some days I do all the steps but step 6…. 🫣
Every day is a gift, every day His mercies are new.
Yes, I, too, feel like I’m out of step. I hear my inner voice saying, “Step it up!” I wonder if what I am thinking is just another lame excuse. What I really need some days is a kick in the you-know-what! 🙂
Psalm 37:23-24
Nice!
Thank you!
Proverbs 16:9
Very Nice!!! 🙂