NEW TESTAMENT READING PLAN: John 14-16
SCRIPTURE READING
Eph 4:22-25 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is
corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and
to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and
holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with
his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
In these verses, Paul speaks of contrasts. There is an old nature and a new nature. One
is to be put off; the other is to be put on. One is corrupted; the other is created. The
corruption of the old agrees with desires of deceit. The creation of the new agrees with
God in the righteousness of truth. Note especially the word “created.” We do not produce
our new nature as Christians. We were dead in trespasses and sins (according to 2:1)
and were made alive by God’s sovereign grace (2:5). Our new nature is God’s creation,
God’s workmanship. It is a supernatural work of grace. But, we may ask, if my new life in
Christ is God’s creation and workmanship, then what is my task? Verses 23-24 give us the
answer; we are to put on this new nature. When God creates in us a new heart, he does
not cancel out our consciousness. We must constantly choose, hour by hour, to put on
the new self. The moral choices we face as a new creature in Christ are just as real and
crucial as the choices we faced before we were born again. Verse 25 tells us that lying is
part of the corrupt old nature therefore it should be stripped off with the old nature in all our
relationships. But especially in the church! As a church, let’s be known for not lying to each
other; let’s not have any hypocrisy, or duplicity, or deception, or evasiveness. Instead let’s
be candid with each other, and straightforward, and plain, and frank, and open, and real,
and truthful, and honest. Let’s walk in the light!
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Spend some time thanking God for making in us a new creation, commit to choosing,
hour by hour, to walk in His ways.
2. Ask the Lord to reveal any areas of hypocrisy, duplicity, deception or evasiveness in your
life. Confess these things as sin, asking God to forgive you. Then commit to walking in the
light!
