Bible Text: Ephesians 4:17-24 | Pastor: Pastor Steve | Series: Ephesians: Engaging the Power of God’s Amazing Grace

God Specializes In Healing Broken And Injured Lives Making Them Whole!
Ephesians 4:17-24 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.  Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
What Are We Afraid Of?
Contemptuous Attitudes
People tend to DISMISS God and act as though He DOES NOT exist or at least act as if it doesn’t matter whether or not we known Him or that He knows us.

It is not dangerous to commit ourselves to Christ!  In truth it is more dangerous to NOT commit our lives to the Lord.
Challenging Questions
What would life be like if the Lord had never shown Himself to us?  What would we become if the Lord had not given us the written word (Bible)?
Darkened Minds + Darkened Hearts = Darkened Behavior!
Ephesians 4:19-20 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.
By God’s Grace Our Brains Are Re-wired!

New minds: you were taught . . . to be renewed in the spirit of your minds.
New hearts: put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.
New behavior: Clothe yourselves with the new self…

Throw off…Put on
Ephesians 4:21-24 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
The Tug-Of-War: Good Versus Evil
We need to repair and restore our conscience

The Lord will help us rebuild and reboot our CONSCIENCE SYSTEM. But if we choose to DISENGAGE this system then we will find ourselves vulnerable to moral failure and sinful behaviors.
Believers In Jesus Are Renewed In The Spirit Of [their] Minds By:

Living heathy lifestyles that renew our minds (Philippians 4:8-9)
Committing to live Godly standards and attitudes. To not live as secular believers (Romans 12:2)
Studying, integrating and applying God’s Word and allowing the Word and Spirit to change the inner person (2 Timothy 3:15-16)