Bible Mastery - Ephesians 4:18-20

Thanks for listening to the Bible Mastery Podcast, brought to you by Teleios. In this episode, William and Jeanette Stewart will cover Ephesians 4:16-17.

The Bible Mastery Podcast brings you verse-by-verse teaching that’s clear, grounded, and life-changing. We take the Bible at its word—interpreting it in a normal, literal way—so you can uncover its deep truths about salvation, spiritual well-being, and daily living. Our goal is simple: to help you understand Scripture and equip you with the tools to interpret it confidently, without getting lost in noise or speculation.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello, and welcome to the Bible Mastery Podcast, sponsored by Telehost and hosted by co-founders Bill and Jeanette Stewart. Here, we give you verse-by-verse teaching from the truth of scripture that's clear, grounded, and life-changing. Our goal is to help you understand the Bible and equip you with tools to interpret it yourself confidently and correctly. Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Hi, I'm William Stewart, co-founder of Teleos, here with my other co-founder, Jeanette, my wife.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

Hello, everybody. Nice to be with you, Bill. I'm with our viewers and listeners. Great to be back in Ephesians.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Yes, what a joy to talk about Ephesians. So just as a reminder, um, please go to our website, look at our disclaimer, who we are, like us if you can, leave a note, ask questions. Oh, having said all that, let's talk about context, which we do every week. And remember, we're at the book of Ephesians, which is an epistle telling us directions, admonishments, commands to the church. This is what the epistles are for. This epistle is a very efficient epistle, power-packed with information about salvation, Christ, and the Christian life. We're in the Christian life section. We've just gotten through the introduction in verse or chapter four, verses one to 16 of our Christian life, the fact that it's based on our unity and salvation and God's word. And we just started the last video talking about the first set of commands, abonishments for our Christian life, starting out with a group of negative commands. Why do you think Paul started in the negative?

SPEAKER_03 2:01

That's a good question. I think it's correction. So he wants to get them thinking correctly, uh, so then he can give the positive commands.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Yeah, maybe it's a reminder. You know, we've just heard about who they are based in the church and a reminder, a correction, as you said, of who they aren't. So um, yeah, usually people you think would start in the positive, he's starting uh, in a sense, in the negative. So um, but you know, he's the boss. Let's go to scripture. You're starting with verse 18.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

Yes, and so again in verse 17, Paul's reminding them that they shouldn't live uh with the way they used to, basically. He goes, You used to live like gentiles, they are futile in how they think. Don't do that.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

And now he's describing sorry, since you're you mentioned gentiles. What do you mean by gentiles here? Just as a reminder.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

Ah, so here in this context, Gentiles would mean non-believers.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Yeah, not non-Jews, non-believers, which both it can be used both ways, side by context. Okay, please.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Thank you for pointing that out. That's great. And now in verse 18, he's going to describe how those unbelievers actually live. So he says, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. Oh my goodness, that doesn't sound like nice things, does it? So the idea that we often see in New Testament scripture of contrasting darkness and light, you know, believers are light, uh, Christ is light, and unbelievers are darkened. So their understanding, their minds basically is what it's talking about, with their thinking, uh, is dark. And they're alienated. Well, I don't know about you, but I don't like to be alienated in any of my relationships. It's not a nice thing. And he's basically not like when you put me in timeout. No, I think it's when you do it to me. So, you know, we always want to have harmonious relationships, and alienated is kind of a strong word here. Um, and he says they are basically um estranged, they're alienated, they're outside of the life of God. And you know, we know, of course, as believers, we're regenerated to new life, and this really, I think he's basically saying they're alienated from salvation. And then he says it comes through ignorance. So this I love this Greek word actually. So it is agnoia. So when you see an A on the front of something, it means without and basically gnosis knowledge. So when someone brags and says, Oh, I'm agnostic, they're basically bragging that they're without knowledge. And that's what he's saying here. So they're ignorant, they're without knowledge, and their hearts, again, talking about their inner core, their beliefs, are blinded. And the word actually means hardened, um, insensitive, callous, maybe is a good word. So this is not a nice description, and this is what he's describing the life of unbelievers to be, and he's telling them, don't do this. So, Bill, next verse.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Well, you know, of course, I have comments and questions over this one.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

Oh, really? I can't what a surprise.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

This uh does sound terrible, just as you say. How does this function? Why are these people outside this uh community of Christ?

SPEAKER_03 5:54

Well, I think as we've talked about, as regenerated people, we are new individuals, we're recreated, born again to new life. And so you're either regenerated or you're not. And if you're not, then you really can't have fellowship with, you can't have things in common with. Remember, you talked about unity, there's nothing in common. You're basically from a different tribe to use a current modern term.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

Yeah, I like that. I think also I would just add that people who don't know Christ are depraved, otherwise, they have their personal sin, but they are all also the end of themselves sin. In the Garden of Eden, Adam sinned, and we fell and um became sin itself. And Adam passed these sin genes or or whatever uh the mechanism is, generation to generation of us. So we became sin and we act this way naturally. And I think sometimes Christians want to reason with unbelievers, uh, and uh they can't, because a non-believer is sin and they have to justify themselves, as Bill Carnegie said about people that it's never their fault. And so we become the problem as Christians and Christ, they hate us and um disregard without knowledge, you know, and that's the reason why they don't have knowledge about seeking it. Uh, Romans 3, 10 to 12, and uh disregard it out of hand because they have to. This is who they are. Um comment on that.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

No, I agree, and I think the verse really describes how they think or how they can't think, um, and then the consequences are coming, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Yeah, it also is more this. I just this just struck me as you were giving an ice overview and chose always have more to learn. The word for alienate sort of integrates with I think it's uh Ephesians 2, 10, and probably you thought of that already, where the Gentiles, this time the non-Jews were alienated from God in the Old Testament. Here, any unbeliever who don't does not accept Christ is alienated, Jew and Gentile. So nice update. So uh and just uh another point here, too, as I keep going on, that I think this is an important topic. I think this actually brings us into A2L.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

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SPEAKER_02 9:01

I'll read this, having the understanding, excuse me, that's lighting, sorry, who in past feeling, being past feeling, otherwise the inability to feel, have given themselves over to what shippiousness, don't this unfilthiness, sexual immorality. To work all the uncleanliness with readiness. So it's describing um an unbeliever. And it it's interesting. The uh oftentimes in the Bible talks about sin, and I think this is important for Christians to realize, you know, they look at these uh sins and go, Well, I was unclean just yesterday, and um you know, so I maybe I'm alienated from God. And they they struggle with that, and Christians all struggle with sin. I think the epistles recognize this in 1 John 2 1. If we have a if we do sin, we have an advocate in Christ with the Father, completes our case because we are forgiven. So it's when the Bible talks about the former life of sin, uh then you are um then it's really chronic sin. I think this is best described in 1 John 3 verses like 3 to 7. It's a lifestock of sin over and over again, to pray person. They're just you're not struggling with it, you're not trying to repeat it. Because people can struggle for sin for decades sometimes. And but the but a true Christian who is regenerated, as you said, will struggle with that sin and ultimately be in fellowship and they're seeking after God, not so in unbeliever. Chronically, these sins will characterize them. And that that's it's not talking about believers here, it's not talking about believers' sin, it's talking about how they used to live before belief. How how would you add to that?

SPEAKER_03 11:05

Not much to add. I I agree. You know, I I think again, verse 18 is you know, saying the distinct difference between unbelievers and believers, and this is how unbelievers think. And then I think verse 19, this is how they act. And you know, it's interesting, it says they work all uncleanness with greediness. You know, it's like doesn't miss anything out, they don't have the ability to do things that are uh in keeping with what God would have.

SPEAKER_02 11:35

And and that's just an important point that we cannot expect non-believers to act like Christians. You know, we expect them to be out the a law, made of a law. So there's order in society, and and that can be punished. But believers are not going to act like unbelievers are not gonna act like believers. It's interesting you look at the Puritans who believe that you still believed in it that you implemented Old Testament uh uh laws into the Christian church. And so they read that to the nation of Israel, and they out of a good heart, I'm sure, wanted to build a Christian society as they came over to Massachusetts. But what they created, they they expected it was just a totalitarian regime, expecting unbelievers to behave just like them. And that's just not gonna happen, you know. Our job is to tell them the gospel. That's exactly by God's grace, they might be converted. So that's uh important things to realize here. So, okay, so we have positions. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 12:45

Then we go to verse 20. And we'll go to verse 20.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Great.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

Great verse. Uh please proceed.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

Sorry, please proceed.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Oh, okay, great. It says, but ye have not so learned Christ. Okay, so we have the little uh particle day. So this is telling us uh this is the opposite, okay. You and remember, he's writing now to believers here in this context. He's saying, This is not how you learned Christ. And the idea here is to learn and understand. So he's basically saying, How could you even think about adopting the behaviors of unbelievers when you have life in Christ? You're a regenerated person. He's really saying this is totally absurd. You should not even contemplate living like them because that's not how you learned Christ. Just such a great verse.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

So, what what do you perceive the learning is here? What aspect of Christ?

SPEAKER_03 13:49

I think it's salvation for sure. And then I think also the um the you know, the fact that we're regenerated and changed people, that salvation produces in us the ability to do good works and you know, to obey and and obey scripture.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Yeah, I agree with you. It's primarily salvation added into that is the fact learned here is in this eras tense in the original Greek, which is a one-time plotilar, completed action, which is used a lot, and it differs from the present tense where that's a continuous tense, it's going all the time. Now, that may seem like a bit of petty chatting about the Greek just to frustrate the listeners and confuse them, and um, maybe it is. Uh, but anyway, I'm just trying to show off. But I think it's theologically important. And again, this is controversial, like so much of what we say. People disagree. But interestingly, when when the epistles talk about salvation, what happens at salvation, like regeneration, uh the filling in the spirit or the ceiling of the spirit, it uses its one-time coctilar error tense, which we don't have in Western European languages. It's in excuse me, Russian and Polish and modern Greek. But um, and which means it's completed. I think that's theologically important. So this is a completed action in how we learn twice to salvation, meaning it's a maybe we maybe we would say one and done. One and done, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:33

One and done, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

So in our Christian walk or life, Paul uses in the Peter verbs in the present tense, meaning it's continuous, it's how we continuously live. Once we're one and done with salvation, we don't go back, right? But saved, always saved. We are preserved in Christ, and um we thus live continuously to be fully and obedient before God. So, yes, I think all that to say you're right, I think, that primarily this is focused on how we learn to come salvation verse 20, so we would not be verse 18 and verse 19. Okay, so what do we learn today? So we've talked about unbelievers, the prior life of Christians, and as Christians, we shouldn't live that way. And as Jeanette mentioned nicely, we cannot live, we can have the power not to live that way because we have this regeneration. We're a new person that understands and has the power and dwelt with the Holy Spirit to serve God. Read Romans uh 6 verses 12 to 16. This is key. So we don't care we are characterizing our lives by our prior selves. And um, you know, these people, as you get to know them, become obvious and how they live and faith. And then he contrasts this with how we learn Christ into salvation, we live a different way. That brings us to a good great point, a break point because we get into these positive commands next time, finally, after all these verses in chapter four. So thanks for your patience.

SPEAKER_03 17:18

That's reason to come back, right?

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Yes, thank you, Jeanette. Um, God's word is so uh life-giving, and uh thank you for listeners, and we'll look forward to seeing you on the next video.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Thank you. Bye.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Bible Mastery Podcast. Join us next week for another exciting episode.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

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