Suggestions for leading a study:
Nothing But the Truth
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
Discussion Questions
According to verse 17,
what caused the “gentiles” to live in wrong ways? What do you think it means for our thinking to be futile, or
vain?
The first phrase of verse
18 puts their problem in slightly different terms. What does it say? Putting these together, what sort of a
picture does it paint about where people were, intellectually?
According to verse 18, how does their intellectual
status effect their relationship to God? What does this have to say about the
notion that our relationship with God is just a “spiritual” thing, or exists
only at the level of subjective experience?
In Verse 19 we come to how
bad thinking effects behavior. What
happened to the people Paul is talking about?
Contrast verse 19 with
verses 20 and 21. What is the primary
characteristic of good teaching in these verses? Where does that characteristic reside?
Given what we just
discussed, do you think it is possible to know real truth outside of a
relationship with Jesus Christ?
In verses 22 and 23, what
is old and to be discarded, and what is new?
In
verse 24, how does the new attitude, or spirit of our minds relate to our
spiritual maturity process?
Verse 25 begins a series of behavioral changes we
should be able to make, given that we have managed to renew our way of
thinking. What is the first one? Do you think that is first on the list for a
reason, given what we have just discussed?
Leaders' Guide
This study is meant to convey the relationship between right thinking and
right behavior, specifically in regards to the truth.
According to verse 17, what caused the “gentiles” to live in wrong
ways? What do you think it means for
our thinking to be futile, or vain?
This introduces the idea that it is bad
thinking that leads to bad behavior.
This passage affirms the cognitive, or intellectual component of the
spiritual maturity process and begins with a description of what happens to
people when they fail to get this aspect of their lives in order. Here the term gentiles refers to unbelievers
rather than specifically to anyone who isn’t Jewish. We are not to live like they do, in the “futility of their
thinking” (NIV), or “vanity of their minds” (KJV)
The first phrase of verse 18 puts their problem in slightly different
terms. What does it say? Putting these
together, what sort of a picture does it paint about where people were,
intellectually?
Verse 18 describes their understanding as
being darkened. We began with thinking
that was futile, or vain. In other
words, didn’t work or function very well.
Here that thinking is unenlightened, in the dark. Together they paint a bleak picture of
people that really don’t get it.
According to verse 18, how does their intellectual status effect their
relationship to God? What does this have to say about the notion that our
relationship with God is just a “spiritual” thing, or exists only at the level
of subjective experience?
This verse makes it clear that it is their
ignorance that alienates them from God.
Clearly there is a significant intellectual component to being able to
relate to God. This is consistent with
how Paul approached his ministry, which was often characterized by argument and
debate. Discuss with your group whether
they have ever been tempted to think of religion as purely at the level of
subjective experience, or simply inner spirituality rather than based on
rational truth. This is a common misconception,
especially in post-enlightenment western culture; that spiritual experience can
somehow be divorced from the rational and scientific reality around us. The Bible refutes this notion very strongly.
In Verse 19 we come to how bad thinking effects behavior. What happened to the people Paul is talking
about?
The result of wrong
thinking in the lives of the people being discussed here was being given over
to whatever their bodies wanted. They
denied rational truth and were left with physical drives. The Bible is consistent in declaring that
our minds, bodies and spirits all must work be engaged together in developing
righteousness.
Contrast verse 19 with verses 20 and 21. What is the primary characteristic of good teaching in these
verses? Where does that characteristic
reside?
These verses speak of the good teaching that
the Ephesian Christians received as being “in accordance with the truth”
(NIV). Other translations such as the
NASB and KJV make it clear that good teaching is being compared to what is in
Christ, that is truth. The kind of
truth that is “in” Christ Jesus.
Given what we just discussed, do you think it is possible to know real
truth outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ?
Since good teaching is characterized by the
kind of truth that is “in” Christ Jesus, that raises the obvious question: can
you really know truth outside of a relationship with him. Obviously, you can know things that are
true, or factual. But clearly Paul is
talking about something deeper: the kind of truth that renews our minds, or
creates a framework within which we can determine the truth, or validity of
everything else.
In verses 22 and 23, what is old and to be discarded, and what is new?
We discard the former way of life, or the old
self. What is new is the attitude, or
spirit of our minds. We have a new way
of thinking. Another way to put that
would be that the Spirit gives us a Christian worldview, a right way of looking
at the world.
In verse 24, how does
the new attitude, or spirit of our minds relate to our spiritual maturity
process?
This new way of thinking is said to be something that causes us to be
re-made in the likeness of God, something that the Bible consistently affirms
is the goal of our spiritual maturity process. Another way it is spoken of is to make us more like Christ. Clearly we have to affirm the intellectual
component of the process of spiritual maturity.
Verse 25 begins a series of behavioral changes we should be able to
make, given that we have managed to renew our way of thinking. What is the first one? Do you think that is first on the list for a
reason, given what we have just discussed?
The first imperative that arises from
renewing our minds to a Christian worldview is that we speak the truth. There is no way to tell for sure from the
text, but it seems natural that this be the first on the list since the
previous discussion has been all about truth.
We should be taught the truth, Jesus is the truth, etc.
Complete this statement: We
have a new way of thinking because we have been taught the truth, and we know
Jesus who is the truth, therefore we______________________________
Speak the truth. Right behavior follows right thinking. Discuss with your group the importance of good teaching, study,
etc. and how that helps partner with the Spirit of God to help us behave
righteously.