On the Move: From Ignorant to Disciple
Ephesians 4:17-20
“So I say this, and affirm in the Lord, that you are to no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their minds, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves up to indecent behavior for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way.”
Remember what we have been discussing the last few weeks. When God saved us, He moved us. We are people on the move. He moved us from being in Adam to being in Christ. He moved us from being paupers to heirs of God, from being orphans to sons and daughters and He moved us from being lone rangers to fellow members of Christ’s Body, the church!
Consider with me today another way God moved us. He moved us from being ignorant to being disciples. Now this is going to take some explanation but once we get it, we see the beauty of Christ’s work.
If I had to give a title to Ephesians 4:17 - 32, it would be “Walking in Holiness!” In these verses, the apostle Paul tells us to walk in the holy life of God. Remember that this holiness is not something we have attained or acquired. It is a gift of God and part of God’s blessing of salvation. Ephesians 1:3 - 4 says it this way, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” Clearly from this passage, we see that holiness is a part of the salvation blessings of God.
It is God who makes us holy and blameless; it is not something that we do or accomplish ourselves. So along with salvation, God makes us holy and we find in Ephesians 4:17 - 20 a description of the life of a person without God.
We Were Ignorant
These verses describe a person who does not know God. And notice what the Bible says, they are ignorant. In describing the life of a person who is not saved, the Bible says their life is characterized by ignorance. Now let’s not be confused about this word. The word ignorance does not mean stupidity. The Bible is not insulting someone or calling a person stupid. The idea of ignorance means spiritual darkness and, therefore, lacking an understanding of spiritual truth. Simply put, the person without Christ is in spiritual darkness and cannot understand God or spiritual things. Therefore, their life is ignorant of Biblical truth.
Friend that is exactly what you and I were before God saved us. We lived in darkness with our minds darkened to the life of God. The apostle Paul tells believers in Christ not to walk in darkness or live in darkness. But, instead, we are to walk in the holiness of God.
We Are Now Disciples
Once we believe, we are no longer ignorant; we become disciples. Verse 20 says, “But you did not learn Christ this way.” When God saved us, He moved us from being ignorant to being disciples, which means we became learners. The word disciple is used in two primary ways.
Followship
Jesus’s disciples whom we read about in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were called followers. The very words Jesus used to call them were, “Follow Me.” But that did not mean only a physical following Christ, it meant following Christ to learn something new, the life of God!
Learning
When you trusted Christ for salvation, you began a tremendous adventure of learning. God opened your eyes to spiritual truth and with that, you began a life of following Christ by learning His ways. He moved you from being ignorant to being a learner, that is, a disciple.
Gina and I have six grandchildren. Our two oldest are now reading. It is incredible to watch them learn words and phrases, put them all together, and read. They read street signs when we are driving, they read their Bibles and they read other books. They have become learners because they have been taught to read. Similarly, that is what happens to us when we are saved. We begin to learn the life of God.
How to Walk in Holiness?
So how do we walk in the holiness of God? First of all remember, God has blessed us with this holiness. We cannot attain it or earn it. It is God’s blessing. Second, we are now moved to being learners and disciples.
So as a learner, get into God’s Word and learn the life of God, the ways of God, and the will of God.
Enjoy the blessing of being moved from being spiritually ignorant to being a spiritual learner. Live like a disciple, one learning the life of Christ.