Take Off the Old, Put On the New — Ephesians 4:17–32 | Season 2, Episode 10

Have you ever felt like two different people? The person you want to be — and the person who shows up when life gets hard, when you react without thinking, when the old you just walks back in like it never left?

Paul has language for that. And in this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast, host Matt Dawson works through Ephesians 4:17–32 where Paul gets specific about what sanctification actually looks like in everyday life.

The imagery is simple but powerful: throw off the old nature like a cloak you no longer need, and put on the new. Not once — continually. This is the middle ground between justification and glorification, and it plays out in the most ordinary moments of any given day. The lies you tell. The anger you hold onto. The words you let fly. The bitterness you've been carrying for months.

Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt walks through Paul's practical list — stop lying, don't let anger give the devil a foothold, quit stealing, let your words encourage rather than tear down, don't grieve the Holy Spirit — and ties it all back to the same thread running through the whole letter: it's not about your effort. It's about Christ in you, giving you the power to choose differently every single day.

This Ephesians Bible study is for anyone who is tired of being surprised by their old self — and ready to understand what putting on the new nature actually looks like.

In this episode:

• What Paul means by throwing off the old nature and putting on the new
• Justification, sanctification, and glorification explained in plain language
• Why anger gives the devil a foothold — and what to do about it
• What it means to grieve the Holy Spirit through everyday choices
• The summary verse: kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiving as Christ forgave
• A closing prayer for the Holy Spirit's conviction and power to live worthy of the calling

📖 Passage: Ephesians 4:17–32 (New Living Translation)

🔍 Keywords: Ephesians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome to the set free, stay free Bible study podcast. I'm your host, Matt Dawson. We're glad you're tuned in. We are actually in episode 10 on the back half of studying the book of Ephesians that Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus. I want to start with this question. Have you ever considered yourself to be maybe two different people, right? The person who you want to be, the person who you're trying to live like, and the person you want to maybe act a certain way and say certain things. And then every once in a while, another person seems to show up. Maybe you consider that the old you, or maybe it's the person that shows up when you respond to something or when you react to something in the moment, or when you're just feeling a little overwhelmed and you're like, where'd that person come from? Sometimes we say, Well, where'd that come from? Well, Paul, and again, this is in chapter four of Ephesians, he's going to talk a little bit about what that looks like, and he's going to give some language around that, especially to those who are followers of Christ. Don't forget to have your copy of God's word in front of you. If you're watching us on YouTube, I'll put a little screenshot of mine. We're using the soap method framework to go through and study scripture. That's scripture, observation, application, prayer. I put a little video together that talks about how you can read God's Word every day and enjoy it. And if you would like the resource, there's a free download resource. You can follow the QR code. You can DM me or email me at info at the info at Matt Dawson TV, and I'll be happy to get you this free resource to help you study and soap through God's Word on your own. We're actually in chapter four, and we are going to pick up in verse 17 for the study today. 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 that God gives, because they have closed their minds and they've 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 learned about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, it says, 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 the new nature, created to be like God, truly righteous and holy. I'm going to pause there for just a minute, just because I want to talk a little bit about the language that Paul is using and giving to us, okay, for this study. He's talking about this idea. Now, I want you to know, up to this point, he hasn't really addressed directly what the Gentiles look like when they live a certain way. So he's kind of talking a little bit more in depth, and he's going to get a little bit more in detail about look, this is what Gentiles do. Okay, hold on. I'm going to pause that and start over. He goes on to say, this is what Gentiles do. They really, in terms of not living for God, they they pull away from God. They're not living the life that He's given them, uh, that He's blessed them with. They live for their own pleasures. He's talking a little bit more about that, and he's going to get a little bit more of a contrast in terms of what of what Gentiles do and what he says was your old life. And then he gives the language of this isn't what you learned about Christ. What you learned about Christ was this idea. And he paints a picture using the Greek word uh to put on. Okay, so uh the language that we would you know best attribute this would be like a cloak or something that sort of covers all of us, okay? So the putting on, when he says, I want you to put on your new nature, right? He says, I want you to put on this, he first he says, throw off your old sinful nature. So that's actually part one. He says, throw off your old sinful nature, and he says, What does that look like? It's your former way of life. It's your former way of thinking about things, it's your former way of reacting to things, it's your former way of responding to things, it's your former way of processing things and living for all the things that you used to live for. He says, I want you to take that off, as if it, you know, as if he's giving us the picture that it is a cloak we could just, oh, and just throw that away. And he says, then I want you to put on, right? Put on the new nature. And that new nature is to is you are created to be like God. Don't hear that in a weird kind of like idolatry way. You're created, he'll say later on, to imitate God, right? It's it's to be truly righteous and holy. Now, immediately some people think, oh, I'm that's not me. I can't do that. I've never been righteous and holy. Okay, our righteousness and holiness does not come from us, it comes from Christ. And he's saying specifically, in Christ, you've learned about this with Christ, you put on that new nature because of what Christ has done, because the life he gave for you. Now, this in theological terms and in the world of the church, there's a word for it called sanctification. All right. Justification is the idea that we are made right with God. That is justification, okay? Because of what Jesus has done, not what we have done. Glorification, sorry, I'm gonna go over here. Glorification is when we are gonna be with him eternally. Okay, we are gonna be glorified. We get a new body, we get a new life. This is the old saying, the sinner's prayer when you're a kid, I don't want to die and go to hell, I want to go be with Jesus in heaven. That's what he's talking about. It's glorification, which hasn't happened yet if you're still here watching this. In the middle between justification and glorification is this thing called sanctification. And it is the process, as Paul's getting ready to talk about, of taking off the old and putting on the new. Okay, just understand because people will immediately be like, well, I just don't feel like that, I'm that way all the time. I struggle with being like this. Paul understands. He's trying to help them get some language around when you see that old man or you see that other person show up, that's just your old cloak. That's your old nature. And he says, there's this intentionality to say, no, no, no, I want to take that off and I want to put on my new nature. And trust me, it is not a one-time thing. We're not talking about salvation in this moment. We're talking about sanctification. It is a continual process. And here's why he's gonna break this down over the next several verses, starting in verse, I believe it's 25. Okay, starting in verse 25, I just want you to see some of the examples that he gives of the old nature versus the new nature. You ready? He says, so stop telling lies. That would be kind of a no-brainer, right? Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are now all parts of the same body. See, he's going back to the verses uh we read last episode about uh the church and equipping the church because we're all part of one body. He goes earlier in chapter four talking about we're all one in Christ, one baptism, one Lord, one savior. So he's gonna come back to this unification of who we are because of now Jesus. We put on the new nature, and he says, So we stop telling lies. We tell our neighbors the truth. We are parts of the same body. And don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while you're still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. And don't bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember that he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Go to keep going to verse 31. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. That feels very summary, right? Like all encompassing. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. So let's just look at that list real quick. Because again, there's so many things we can observe. We've read the scripture, this is the parts we're observing now. Don't tell lies, duh, right? But but he's saying the reason we don't tell lies is because we're really part of the same body. Why would you want to do anything that would cause distance or trouble when you're a part of one body? The same thing goes with anger. He says, Don't let anger control you. That's that's something that a lot of people don't usually think about, is that anger is a little bit of the tail that wags the dog, right? Like when you get angry and you let angry sort of overcome you, you are then controlled by your anger. You make decisions based out of angry. Yeah, I remember seeing a t-shirt that said, Don't uh please forgive me for when I was hungry or angry or whatever the case, hangry, I think is the word. Forgive me what I said because I was hangry. It's like you're controlled by that. And he actually says that anger gives the devil a foothold, meaning that when you when you stay angry, you're leaving a part of that old person on you, and it gives the devil opportunity to do something in your life and to use that against you, really is what he's saying. Now, obviously, the quit stealing was a part of that. Hey, use your hands for good work, right? Use your hands for uh serving others and make money and give generously and those kinds of things. These are all, again, just this picture he wants to give of taking it off and putting it on. Take off the you know, the stealing, put on the working hard, take off uh your your um your stinginess and put on generosity, right? Don't use foul and abusive language. Like he says, when anyone hears you speak, they should be encouraged, right? And I don't even know. That's a great thing to filter everything we say, right? Like, is what I'm saying going to encourage somebody? Maybe you're a naturally critical person. So in your mind, you're like, well, I'm just talking. I mean, just yeah, I'm just uh sometimes I have to verbally process things. Yeah, but everything that comes out of your mouth is dog water. Everything that comes out of your mouth is horrible. It's not encouraging to anybody. So it's like, pay attention to what you're saying. You may not even think it's it's pointed at anybody, but it's like, are the words out of your mouth going to be encouraging to those who hear them? And then he says this, which is interesting. He says, Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. That's actually from the King James and from, I believe, the NIV or ESV. He says, Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. And and the NLT, which I read, says, Don't bring sorrow to the Holy Spirit, just by the way you live. So he's talking about your everyday lives. He's like, don't grieve the Holy Spirit because of the choices that you make every day. And he goes on to say, look, it's the Holy Spirit that has identified you because Christ is now with you. He says, He's sealed you. That's actually the word language used in the NIV that I remember. It's like he has sealed you for the day of redemption, for glorification. So you have, now that you've from justification, you now have the Holy Spirit living in you. He's the power of God. We've talked about this on this podcast. He's the power of God in you. And he's like, but you still have the choice to remain in your old nature. Hear that. Right? Like every day you live, even though you are a child of God, he's reminding you. You have to take off that old nature to put on the new, to put on this desire to live a way that would please God, to live a way that you would serve God, to live a way that, again, all these things. No lie, don't cheat, do all that. And so he says, but it's it's still on you. So don't leave that nature, that old nature on you. Don't continue to let the devil have a foothold in your life because of choices that you make that are going to grieve the Holy Spirit. Right? And then this is where he gives the final, like, I would call it the summary verse in verse 31. All bitterness, rage, anger, right, harsh words, slander, evil behavior, right? Let's be kind to one another. Let's be tender-hearted to one another. A huge one. Forgiving one another. We've talked a little bit about the idea of forgiving that we think we talked about it in earlier chapter four. He said we're going to make allowances for each other's faults. And here he kind of lays down the fact that look, you've been forgiven by God, so you're going to need to forgive others because Christ has forgiven you. It's not, it's not because they deserve it. It's not because that they've earned it. It's not because they still are not at fault. It's not because they, I mean, it's it just continues to come back. And we're going to see this more and more and more as we get through chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6. All of the things he's calling us to do is because of Christ in us. Not because of even who we are. We're the people with the old cloak and the old nature. That's who we are. When he says no, but because of Christ now, you can take that off and become more of an imitator of Christ, to follow his example and his guidelines. So I'm going to close it here because there's another great section that we're going to read in the next episode. Hopefully you'll tune in for that. But I want us to pray about how we can apply what we've read today together. I mean, just the idea that maybe, maybe sometimes you get really, you struggle. Because when you react, when you respond, when that old nature shows up, when it's so blatantly obvious that you are not living in the Spirit, you're not walking with the Spirit, as we, Galatians 5, we read that, Galatians 5.25. We're not walking step by step with the Spirit. We're choosing our own way. And when that happens, I think we we the feelings we get is because we know that the Holy Spirit is grieved. And again, it's not to condemn us. Or sorry, it's not to guilt us or to condemn us. It's the conviction that we receive from the Holy Spirit to help us remember. You're a child of God. Put on your new nature. Tomorrow's a new day. Okay? Maybe maybe you're watching this in the early morning. Hey, today's a new day, right? Today's a new day. We want to put on that new nature to be like Christ, to be more and more like Him. That's part of what sanctification means. So as I pray through even some of this on the list, I don't know. I mean, again, I don't think maybe stealing is your problem. I'm not sure if lying is your problem. I'm not sure if anger is your problem. I mean, we just read through about nine things. I don't know. But I want to pray that we would let the Holy Spirit speak to each of us individually to help us apply what we've read. Let's do that together. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this letter that Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus and just the way it challenges us. And today, even just this section, as we've observed so many things, thank you for the thank you for the language and the imagery that Paul gives the church and us by the His Word gives us the picture of the cloak, of the, of the putting on and the taking off of the old man and the new man and the old nature versus the new nature. Thank you that that's clear for us so we can see it, so we can understand that it's not just a list of things. Don't lie, don't cheat, don't be angry. It really is like, hey, there's this drive within you, there's this old life within us that wants to do all those things. It doesn't want to follow you. And yet, God, we have the choice because of Christ. We have the power because of your Holy Spirit to take off that old nature and to put on the new every day, every moment of every day to continue to live and honor you. And so, God, I pray that what we've read today, your spirit would remind us of, would prompt us with, and that we would live lives, again, as we said in earlier chapter four, worthy of the call you've placed on our life. We pray all of this in your name, Jesus. Amen. Again, thank you again for tuning in. If you're tuning into our podcast, thank you so much for listening. Please rate and review the podcast no matter how you listen to it. It helps us get in front of other people. If you're watching this with YouTube at Matt Dawson TV, YouTube at Matt Dawson TV, if you're watching the podcast, um, I please I would encourage you just engage with us, comment on this, like, share this podcast with someone else. You can share any of these episodes with somebody, and and they might find that and go, oh, I want to go back to the beginning and go back to those earlier episodes and do my own study and Bible study and walk through uh Galatians and now walk through Ephesians as well. Love you guys. Hopefully, I'll see you and talk with you again in the next episode.