Jul 23, 2018
Self-improvement is a hot topic in our culture. Books and seminars abound on the topic and social media is rife with advertorials lauding the latest diet, exercise program, or business strategy designed to produce a new and improved you. And even within Christian circles, we hear a lot about the topic of self-improvement, from sermons that offer five keys to a better life to books that provide simple steps to increased spirituality. And while Paul was a big fan of spiritual self-improvement, he knew that the self had little to do with it. It was the work of the Spirit of God. So, in Ephesians 4:17-32 he encourages his readers to put off the old self and to put on the new self. He demands that they live differently and distinctively, in keeping with their new status as God’s children. But he also reminds them that the Holy Spirit is the key to their inner transformation and the power that makes possible any changes to their external behavior. He expected them to live dramatically different lives, but not based on self-effort. He was calling for complete reliance upon the Spirit of God so that they might live as sons and daughters of God.