So I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; 18 darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance, because of their hardness of heart, 19 they have become callous and have handed themselves over to licentiousness for the practice of every kind of impurity to excess. 20 That is not how you learned Christ, 21 assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, 22 that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.
This passage emphasizes the need for a complete renewal of mind and heart, grounded in the truth and holiness that come from a life in union with Jesus. Paul draws a sharp contrast between the life of the Gentiles and the life of those who have come to know Christ. He calls on the Christian community to embrace a profound transformation in how they live, urging them to reject their former ways and reflect their new identity in Christ.
Paul tells the Christians in Ephesus that his words carry divine weight as he speaks not just as an individual but with the authority of an apostle delivering a message from God. Many of them came from a pagan environment, where they had once lived without knowledge of the true God and followed idolatrous, worldly practices. Paul urges them to abandon their former way of life, characterized by ignorance and estrangement from God. Their previous ignorance led to a willful rejection of God's truth and their hardened hearts (a biblical metaphor for obstinacy and resistance to God) prevented them from being open to God's will, as seen in the referenced passages from Exodus (4:21) and Mark (3:5). The result of their spiritual blindness and resistance to God was a reckless lifestyle marked by pervasive moral corruption, where they surrendered themselves to vice and unrestrained desires.
Paul contrasts the previous description of Gentile immorality with the way Christians have been taught. He assumes that the Ephesians, to whom his letter is addressed, have been instructed in the truth of Jesus Christ as the truth of God is fully manifested in Jesus (Jn. 14:6). He exhorts them to put away their former sinful nature characterized by corruption brought about by “deceitful desires,” and be renewed internally where they are continually and progressively transformed more to the will of God in their thinking and attitudes. Paul encourages them to “put on” the new identity they have in Christ, created according to God’s design, marked by righteousness and holiness.
Almighty God, help us to put off our old selves and be renewed in the spirit of our minds. Grant us the grace to live in righteousness and holiness, reflecting the new life we have in Christ. May we turn away from worldly ways and fully embrace the truth found in Your Son, walking daily in the light of Your will. This we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen!
References
- McSorley, Joseph. An Outline History of the Church by Centuries (From St. Peter to Pius XII). 2nd ed., B. Herder Book Co., 1944.
- Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
- Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
- Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990.
- Charpentier, Etienne. How to Read the Old Testament. Translated by John Bowden, 1981.
- Komonchak, Joseph, et al., editors. The New Dictionary of Theology.
- McKenzie, John. Dictionary of the Bible. Collier Books, 1965.
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