Ephesians 4:17-32 — Holiness: The Expression of Spiritual Maturity

Ephesians 4:17-32 — Holiness: The Expression of Spiritual Maturity

In Chapters One, Two, and Three, the Apostle Paul told the Ephesians that they had every spiritual blessing (Chapter 1); that they are now alive to God (Ephesians 2); that they are being built up into the temple; and that they are God's own household (Ephesians 2). Then, in the first half of Chapter Four, he told them to walk in unity. He gave them the seven elements of the Christian unity and admonished them to safeguard the Christian unity by using their spiritual gifts to edify one another. The result is spiritual maturity.

In the second half of Chapter four, the Apostle Paul is going to admonish the Ephesians, as an expression of and because of their spiritual maturity, to walk in holiness. As God's own household and His people, Believers are told to be holy for God is holy (1 Peter 1:16). This means that, as image bearers, we ought to reflect God's character. However, how can the believer, whose every aspect of his nature has been corrupted by sin, reflect the infinite, eternal, holy God? God’s holiness, His essence and central characteristic, not only expresses His separateness from His creation including us, but also His moral purity and perfection. Therefore, this quest to image the Infinite ought to give us pause.

God’s holiness is both attractive—because of His love and beauty—and repulsive—because it comes with severe punishment and wrath which flows from His righteousness (cf. Leviticus
9-10, Act 5). Getting but a glimpse of God’s holiness helps us to understand why sin wreaks havoc on our relationship with God. Sin, an offense to God, separates us from God and is not how things ought to be between us and Him. The severity of sin brings all kinds of horror, pain, and anguish in this world. Sin is destructive. It is a corruption, a perversion, a pollution, a disintegration, a parasitic masquerade that has dire consequences.

The Apostle Paul outlines three consequences of sin in verses 18-19. He says that sin causes one's understanding to be "darkened" (Ephesians 4:18a). It causes alienation from God (Ephesians 4:18b). Sin also causes the person to become callous ("past feeling") (Ephesians 4:19).
So, how can the believers walk in holiness? The Apostle Paul offers the solution, which is:

1. To put off the old man (Ephesians 4:22).
2. To be renewed in the spirit (Ephesians 4:23).
3. Finally, to put on the new man (Ephesians 4:24).

By doing so, the believer can demonstrate spiritual maturity through his walk of holiness, reflecting the holiness of his Heavenly Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus.