Get dressed

On Pentecost we remember how Jesus Christ gave us the Holy Spirit and formed the Church. The Holy Spirit sets our hearts on Jesus and empowers us to become more and more like Him. The best way to honour the Holy Spirit is to honour Jesus Christ by trusting in Him, surrendering our lives to His purpose and then striving to keep our minds and hearts set on His will rather than our own. We cannot fulfil the purpose for which God created us if we don’t trust in His power and exercise His power in our lives.

Scripture

Ephesians 4:20-24 ESV But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Bible Study Questions

The learning that changes everything

Believers are not said to have learned about Jesus Christ, but rather that we have learned Him. It’s a point in time where something happened to change us forever, what does it mean to learn Christ?

Ephesians 4:20-24 ESV But that is not the way you learned Christ!—

Galatians 2:20 ESV I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Hearing Jesus Christ and being taught in Him

Before we learn Christ we are ignorant and controlled by a hard heart which alienates us from God. What happens when we truly hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Ephesians 4:21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,

Ephesians 4:18 ESV They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

John 11:43-44 ESV When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

John 10:27-28 ESV My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Take off the grave clothes, they don’t suit you

The process that stems from a hard heart, leads to following the pursuit of greedy, immoral and impure pleasure. Our old clothes can be taken off once we have heard Jesus and have followed Him. What are these old clothes which belong to our old way of life?

Ephesians 4:22 ESV to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

Ephesians 4:19 ESV They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

How to get rid of the old

Being given the God empowered ability to leave our old corrupt ways is one thing, but we must actually exercise that ability. How do we exercise that ability and how does God help us to do so?

Ephesians 4:23 ESV and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

John 14:25-26 ESV “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Romans 12:2 ESV Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Colossians 3:1-2 ESV If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Dressed by works

When the Holy Spirit changes us and directs our thoughts and desires we can be who we truly are. Dressing can’t change who we are, but it can reflect who we are. When God has saved us and recreated us in Christ, how are our good works and behaviour like new clean clothing?

Ephesians 4:24 ESV and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Revelation 18:4-5 ESV Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

Don’t get tangled up in trivial pursuit

Working consistently as a Christian is hard, we get tired and when we’re tired we can fall for distractions. These distractions can lead us backwards instead of forwards. How can we be careful not to be distracted?

2 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

Be on your guard

Distractions and temptations keep us from doing the work that God has created us to do. How can we be vigilant and in what practical ways can we recognise the distractions and temptations and act on them?

Proverbs 4:23 ESV Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.