from here.
” And Jesus is saying, “Man, you don’t
Changing from the Inside Out – pt2
THE BIGGEST CHANGER – Ephesians 4:21-24
Taking off the old and putting on the new
1) The best way to change behavior is to let Christ ______________ it. (v.22-24)
Setting the stage for radical life change
1) Your ears are _____________________ to hear Jesus. (v.21)
2) You __________________ Jesus. (v.21)
3) You are _____________________ in truth. (v.21)
4) Your heart is made __________________! (Ez. 36:26-27; 2 Cor. 5:13-14)
You’re never going to change until you become crazy-obsessed with Jesus!
There are two critical errors in thinking I’d like
to address that people mistakenly think when
people come to Christ. The very first one is this: 1)
That God’s ongoing acceptance of us depends on
our successfulness in changing our lives. There are
people who think that that once we accept Christ…
you know… we need to try hard… change our
thinking… change our habits… and behavior… … …
and if we keep successfully DOING THAT… then
God’s continuing acceptance on our lives… STICKS.
We get into heaven… having died, fortunately with
enough warning to confess all remaining bad
things… and slip in a few right changes… to hang
on to His acceptance. (anyone see anything wrong
with that?)
That description misses two key truths about this
salvation: 1) It’s FREE! It’s ABSOLUTELY… AND
COMPLETELY… AND IN ALL OTHERWISE…
UNEARNABLE. You can’t do anything to EARN IT…
and so you can’t do anything to KEEP IT. And 2) It’s
ENOUGH! My accepting Christ as Savior… and then
thinking… there’s stuff left over… “I make up for
Jesus’ shortfall by being committed, sincere, and
successful in changing my life…” ……………… what
does that say about what Jesus did? The Cross was
a “leg-up”… “Thanks, Jesus, for the boost… I got it
get it!” “Let me say this once and for all… Who I
am… and what I have done… IS ENOUGH to make
you right before God.” (Q:1) Christianity… is
supposed to breed a CERTAINTY of salvation…
PRECISELY BECASUSE it’s NOT BASED ON ME and
MY PERFORMACE… it’s based on HIM and HIS!
That leads to the opposite critical error in thinking…
2) people take that truth and make Jesus solely a
promise of forgiveness and a ticket to heaven.
They PUT THEIR FAITH IN CHRIST… RECEIVE WHAT
HE OFFERS… and then live as a child of hell the rest
of their life… There’s NO CHANGE… They live… like
NOTHING’S CHANGED… ………… in fact, instead of
the grace of God setting them FREE FROM self-
indulging, self-centered, self-centered, self-directed
living… IT ENFLAMES IT! And that COMPLETELY fails
to recognize that when you COME TO
CHRIST…………… about a HUNDRED FUNDAMENTAL
THINGS CHANGE DEEP DOWN… Christianity is far
more than a promise of forgiveness and a ticket to
heaven! Through Christ… You are no longer who
you once were… so you must no longer live as you
once lived!
(Ill. Rob, struggling with failure to change - Did he
die… for your guilt? Was His death… enough… to
pay for all the things… you’ve done? <struggle…
no-no “yes… … … or no”> ………………Do you
know you are now no longer who you once were…,
you are NOT yourself… you are CHRIST living in
you… Gal. 2:20 Your life… … … … is now TOTALLY…
… … NEW. 2 Cor. 5:17 And now He works internally in
you… to shape you until every residual
reminder……………… of the old you…………… is
gone………… ALL YOU NEED… IS A HEART THAT IS
ALIVE TO HIM EVERY MOMENT… … … … and AS A
BELIEVER… … … … when GOD GIVES YOU THAT
NEW HEART… … … nothing you’ve done………………
or will do………… could ever stop you… … … from
changing.)
Here’s the truth in balance… Jesus DOES save us…
and through that personal encounter with Jesus…
the Spirit of God enters into a person into their
life………………………… gives you a new heart… and
you can never be the same! You’re on a permanent
path… of conformity to that internal change… to
conformity to the One who saved you!
And I know I’ve taken the long way round on
this to get to the first insight but it’s this. 1) The
best way to change behavior… is replace it. In
the passage today… Paul uses the picture of
changing clothes… as a way to describe the new
life… that “dresses”… the internal change! 22You
were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your
old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be
made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new
self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
(dirty clothes on – you believe – you put off the old –
you put on completely new!)
I want you to notice that the Scriptures don’t just
say, “Stop it!” “Cut it out!” “Knock it off!” They
tell us to REPLACE WRONG THINKING with THE
TRUTH! And REPLACE STUBBORNNESS with
RESPONSIVENESS. And REPLACE SELF-
CENTEREDNESS with COMPASSION. It’s not, “Just
STOP DOING BAD THINGS!”………… and let the
vacuum of behavior……………… fill up with
whatever! The illustration isn’t “Take your old
clothes off and go NAKED!” It’s “REPLACE YOUR
OLD CLOTHES… with ones that are suited to the
new you.” (illustrate right)
Unfortunately this is what many people do………
(Two jackets. One old – describe while putting on.
One new – describe and then say, “Wow! That’s
great! And so… I… put it on!” (over the old) Do you
see any problem with this?) ………there’s a reason
why… Christians sometime say……… “Eh, I TRIED
THAT. It DIDN’T WORK FOR ME!” (Really?) “Yeah,
all that… ‘loving other people’… and ‘giving’… ‘all
that garbage about serving others and praying’…
and you know…………… IT DOESN’T FIT INTO MY
SCHEDULE! It always seemed to……………… I don’t
know…………… FEEL AWKWARD! I couldn’t LIVE
that way… it wasn’t…………… ME! All the time I
couldn’t seem to FIGURE OUT…………… WHAT I
WAS DOING WRONG?” (Anybody have an IDEA?
What do I NEED TO DO?)
Take off both – put on new – “Boy, I am just
DONE………… with my old life…………… JUST DONE!
I’ve REPLACED IT……………… with ALL THINGS
NEW!” (Leadership – you must be prepared to give
up something. You cannot ADD the life God had in
mind……… and give up… or change… nothing.
“unless a person gives ALL……… he cannot be my disciple.”) The
new life fits a lot better… if you abandon the old.
So the question now is……… okay what
EXACLTY………… changes? I’m just going to go
through this very quickly. In the coming weeks…
we’re going to get away from these more abstract,
changes, like your heart, your attitude, your
openness to God and stuff like that and get DEEP
into the more PRACTICAL changes like truthfulness,
what you do with your mouth, your anger and
things like that. But again, these are the INTERNAL
CHANGES that set the stage for those practical
behavioral changes. 1) Your ears are
receptive to hear Jesus. 21Surely you… heard… of him
It’s saying more than you heard a RUMOR about
JESUS… it’s implying the moment you heard the
GOOD NEWS… and your mind and heart were
RECEPTIVE to it… the Spirit of God OPENED your
mind and you heard JESUS! (in the flesh!) So the
CHANGE that happened when yo believed is…
“You…………… heard!” That’s a HUGE change! And it
DOESN’T STOP once you’ve heard! Your EARS
REMAIN NOW ATUNED TO HIS VOICE! John 10:27
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
The fact is that the moment you trust in Christ…
YOU… ARE… MADE… NEW! YOUR EARS ARE
OPENED! YOU HEAR! AND WHAT BEGINS IN A
MIRACULOUS EVENT OF DIVINE HEARING …
PERSISTS! (or it’s supposed to!) The person
continues to remain open and receptive! You SEEK
OUT the voice of Christ in your life! You get
accustomed to what He sounds like. And you follow
when you hear Him!
THAT’S A HUGE DIFFERENCE! You are now OPEN
AND RECEPTIVE rather than CLOSED and
RESISTENT (<[I am so frustrated at the Spirit of
Unresponsiveness – consider assaulting the spiritual stronghold
over believers right here]>)
And then it says 2) You understand Jesus. It
says, you were taught in him That just means the lights
turned on! You connected the dots! Not only He
made sense but He helped you make sense of
everything! You said, “OKAY! Now I’m finally
playing with a full deck!” and “My life, my
orientation, my reality and everything else orbits
around my relationship with JESUS!” And I know
how OBSESSIVE this sounds, but it is ABSOLUTELY
REAL in EVERY SENSE………………………… JESUS IS
THE HUB of EVERY SPOKE OF UNDERSTANDING IN
OUR LIVES! ……………Life is about reigning in every
loose end in our lives and orbiting it around HIM!
He’s the key to understanding LIFE… …
RELATIONSHIPS… … … PURPOSE… … … my
EMOTIONS… … … my HABITS … … … my
STRUGGLES … … … my JOYS… … … my
PRIORITIES… … … my SCHEDULE… … … my
POSSESSIONS. (I can trust Him to unlock the
understanding behind EVERYTHING ABOUT ME
because He KNOWS EVERYTHING THERE IS TO
KNOW ABOUT ME! WWID if Jesus was coming to dinner?)
And when you encounter Jesus, PERSONALLY…
when He FLIPS THE LIGHT ON… you finally say, “I
GET IT!” (City Slickers) “I CAN’T LIVE LIFE
APART FROM CHRIST… … NOT FOR ONE
SECOND!” Life makes no sense… without Jesus!
Third 3) You’re grounded in truth. It says
you were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in
Jesus. It’s not saying that, “You know, there’s truth in
being a Democrat and there’s truth in being a
Republican. There’s truth in science and there’s
truth in psychology… and, you know, there’s also
truth in Jesus” That’s not what it’s saying! No… the
grammar here is VERY SPECIFIC! PAUL is saying,
“That all truth is not in a philosophy or a field of
study but all truth is ultimately in a PERSON!”
NIV Application study says of this verse – “Find Jesus
and you find truth. Find truth and you find Jesus. Truth does not
exist outside of Jesus.” This is one of the most NARROW
TEACHINGS THAT WILL PROBABLY GET YOU INTO
MORE TROUBLE THAN ANY OTHER TEACHING IN
SCRIPTURE… AS TIMES AND SOCIETY MOVE
FARTHER AND FARTHER AWAY FROM GOD. Here it
is: “JESUS… ALONE… IS THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF
ABSOLUTE TRUTH?” (How narrow can you be?
repeat) Well, people who have personally
experienced Jesus… … will say… … “Yep!” And
won’t even flinch.
There is no understanding… there is no
knowledge… there is no truth… apart from Jesus.
Now there’s a LOT of things I still don’t
understand… but in Jesus, the pieces of the puzzle
fall divinely into place. Because He’s TRUTH!
Lastly 4) Your heart is alive! Conversion
BEGINS by getting our HEADS RIGHT… And when by
God’s power makes THE HEART COME ALIVE…
THEN THE SHAPING BEGINS… and it’s NOT
SUPPOSED TO END! And the REASON SHAPING
STARTS AND DOESN’T STOP IS our hearts are
PERMANENTLY responsive. It was God’s promise
and plan to us through Ezekiel from the very
beginning. People striving to live up to God’s
perfection said, “I’m TIRED of doing what God
expects me to do! WHY is PLEASING GOD ALWAYS
THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WANT TO DO?!? I’m
DONE doing FAKE THINGS that I KNOW MEAN
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO ME OR HIM!” And God
said, “You know what? …………I’ve been WAITING
FOR YOU TO SAY THAT, Me too! For this divine
relationship to even have a CHANCE between you
and me… it’s going to take a MIRACLE ON MY PART
at the DEEPEST LEVEL of your LIFE… So HERE’S
WHAT I’M GOING TO DO!” Ezekiel 36:26-27 26 I will… give
you a new heart… and put a new spirit in you…; I will… remove
from you your heart of stone… and give you a heart of
flesh…. 27 And I will… put my Spirit in you and move you to
follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws…. Your
heart… will come ALIVE! JESUS… DOES THAT!
That’s why when you see a believer in Jesus living
distinctively from the inside out REALLY turns
heads! In fact it’s SO DISTINCTIVE (hear Jesus,
understand world, truth wrapped up in Jesus) you
get accused of being out of your
MINDCRAZYBUTTHEFUNNYTHINGISYOU’RENOT! IN
FACT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE YOU’RE
COMPLETELYSANE! BUT TO A CONFUSED WORLD…
SANITY… … … LOOKS CRAZY! 2 Cor. 5:13-14 13If we
are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God;… (Hey, It’s not me! I
know my life LOOKS crazy to you because it’s THROUGH AND
THROUGH… INSIDE OUT… and in EVERY WHICH WAY… ENTIRELY
WRAPPED UP IN JESUS… but there’s a COMPLETELY SANE REASON
BEHIND IT AND IT’S THIS:…) 14For Christ's love compels us, (I… …
… have a loving… … SAVIOR) …that those who live should no
longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was
raised again.
:. As a believer… I am no longer the person I once
was so I must not live as I once lived. “Why…
would I EVER… stay in those old clothes… for one
more second?”
HAS GOD THROUGH THESE SCRIPTURES PUT HIS
FINGER DOWN ON ANY PART OF YOUR LIFE… Ask
Him!… I WONDER if He’s shown you… and DO YOU
SEE… PRECISELY WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO TAKE
OFF… and DO YOU SEE… WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO
PUT ON?
This is the experience for me… When I accepted
Jesus into my heart… 4) Jesus personally came into
my life and made my heart ALIVE to God… 3) He’s
made SENSE of EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE… 1) HE
MADE EVERYTHING GOD WANTS FOR ME…
EVERYTHING I WANT. And the NEW HEART HE’S
GIVEN ME… I COFESS… I’M CRAZY OBSESSED…
with JESUS… … … I’M OBSESSED… with making MY
LIFE GLISTEN AND SPARKE AND SHINE… because of
Jesus… my life goal is “to make heaven smile.” (S.M.
Lockridege… Want to <change> right before your very eyes… get
crazy-obsessed w/ Jesus.)

See, because of Jesus in my life I have this GREAT

PROBLEM… My life isn’t FLAWLESS but because I
heard Jesus… and know Him… my heart now is
ALIVE TO GOD… and through UPS and DOWNS it
DOES ratchet closer and closer toward HIS
HOLINESS… (formed to the image of the One who
saved me). Sure, perfection may be impossible…
and God’s acceptance… does not depend… on my
successfulness. But because of Jesus… here’s my
GREAT PROBLEM… though perfection may be
impossible… I’LL NEVER STRIVE FOR LESS. Because
of Jesus… I’m OBSESSED… with making heaven
smile… I’m addicted… to everything God wants for
me… and as much as I can help it… in the Spirit’s
strength… I’m NEVER… … … EVER… … … EVER…
putting on those OLD CLOTHES AGAIN!
Wanna change? How crazy are you… about Jesus?