Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for October 20, 2019

Dressing for Spiritual Success

Ephesians 4:17-5:4

I. Review

• 4:1-16: called to unity
• 4:17-5:4: called to purity
• Since God calls us to be a holy people, we must cultivate a lifestyle of purity.

II. Take off the Old Clothes (4:17-19)

• vain
• dark
• alienated
• insensitive
• unrestrained

III. Put on the New Clothes (4: 20-24)

• Christ: learned…heard…taught
• continual mind-renewal
• put off/put on

IV. Seven Concrete Examples (4:25-5:4)

• don’t lie…speak the truth
• don’t sin in your anger…avoid exploitation
• don’t steal…work and give
• don’t use your mouth for evil…use it for good
• don’t grieve the Holy Spirit…be sensitive to Him
• don’t be unkind and bitter…be kind and loving
• don’t joke about sex…give thanks for it

V. So What?

• objective: integration of Christian experience (what we are), Christian theology (what we believe) and Christian ethics (how we behave)
• “Holiness is not a condition into which we drift.” (Stott)
• passive spectator or active participant?