Ephesians 4:17-24

[5.

Practical Exhortation (Ephesians 4:17).

(1) THE NEW LIFE; first, taught in Christ and learning Christ; and secondly, regenerate in Him to the image of God (Ephesians 4:17).

(2) HENCE THE POWER OF CONQUEST OF SIN GENERALLY —

(a)

Falsehood (Ephesians 4:25);

(b)

Passionate anger (Ephesians 4:26);

(c)

Dishonesty (Ephesians 4:28);

(d)

Foulness of word (Ephesians 4:29);

(3) HENCE ITS POWER AGAINST THE SPECIAL BESETTING SINS OF —

(a)

Bitterness and malice, unworthy of the love of Christ (Ephesians 4:31, and Ephesians 5:1);

(b)

Fornication and lust, unworthy of the light of Christ (Ephesians 5:3);

(c)

Recklessness and drunken excitement (Ephesians 5:15).]

(1) In Ephesians 4:17 we enter on the practical section of the Epistle, which, indeed, appears to begin in Ephesians 4:1, but is broken in upon by the magnificent digression of the doctrinal summary of Ephesians 4:4. It opens with a striking contrast of the past and the present — the life of the heathen in its “vanity,” with the two-fold result of blindness and callousness of soul; and the Christian life, which has in learning Christ found the secret of regeneration.