Isaiah 48:12-50:11
Ephesians 4:17-32
Psalm 69:1-18
Proverbs 24:5-6
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You Have Not So Learned Christ
Have you ever come in from working outside with dirt all over your clothes? You would not put a clean shirt over the dirty one and call yourself clean. You take off what is filthy before putting on what is clean. Paul uses that kind of picture in Ephesians 4. The Christian life is not the old life with a little religion laid over the top. Paul speaks of something to put off, something to be renewed, and something to put on.
He tells believers that they should “henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17). He describes their understanding as darkened and says they are “alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:18). Paul does not begin with outward habits. He goes to the mind and heart.
Then he draws a sharp line: “But ye have not so learned Christ” (Ephesians 4:20). The life Paul has just described does not fit what they have learned in Christ. He continues, “If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21).
Paul then says, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).
That picture is important. Paul does not merely say, “Stop doing bad things.” He speaks of putting off the old man and putting on the new man, with the mind being renewed between the two. The change reaches deeper than outward behavior.
Then Paul shows what that looks like in ordinary life. “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25). If the old life lied, the new life speaks truth.
He does the same thing with stealing: “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28). The change is striking. The hand that once took from somebody else now works so it can give to somebody in need.
Paul also addresses speech: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). Our words are not harmless simply because they leave our mouths quickly. Paul tells believers to consider whether their speech corrupts or builds up.
He speaks plainly about anger as well: “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). The text does not say every instance of anger is itself sin, because it says, “Be ye angry, and sin not.” But anger is given no permission to become a doorway into sin. James adds, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (James 1:20).
Then Paul says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). Our conduct matters before God. Paul immediately names what should be put away: “all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking… with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31). In their place he says, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).
A man can change his shirt without changing his heart. Paul is describing something deeper. The truth that is in Jesus changes the way a believer thinks, speaks, works, handles anger, treats others, and forgives.
The question is not simply whether we know Christian language. The question is whether the life we are living agrees with the Christ we say we have learned.
The God Who Leads His People
Isaiah 48 begins this portion with the Lord declaring who He is: “I am he; I am the first, I also am the last” (Isaiah 48:12). He says, “Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens” (Isaiah 48:13). Before the passage tells Israel where to go, it establishes the authority of the One speaking.
Then the Lord says, “I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go” (Isaiah 48:17).
That is followed immediately by words of sorrow over Israel’s failure to listen: “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea” (Isaiah 48:18). Their problem was not that God had failed to speak. He had spoken. They had not hearkened.
Verse 20 then commands, “Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans,” and tells them to declare, “The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.” Yet the chapter closes with the warning, “There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22).
Isaiah 49 then speaks of the servant whom the Lord called. In verse 6 the Lord says, “I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” The New Testament itself quotes this language in Acts 13:47, so the connection does not have to be invented.
Later Zion says, “The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14). God answers, “Can a woman forget her sucking child… yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee” (Isaiah 49:15).
Zion felt forgotten. God said she was not forgotten. Her feelings did not determine what was true. God’s word did.
Isaiah 50 confronts Israel’s sin directly: “Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves” (Isaiah 50:1). Then God asks, “Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver?” (Isaiah 50:2). The problem was never a lack of power in God.
Later the servant says, “The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back” (Isaiah 50:5). He continues, “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). Yet he also says, “For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded” (Isaiah 50:7).
The passage closes this reading with a striking contrast. Isaiah 50:10 speaks to the one who fears the Lord but “walketh in darkness, and hath no light,” telling him, “let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.” Verse 11 then warns those who kindle their own fire and walk in the light of their own sparks.
There is a difference between walking through darkness while trusting God and making our own light because we refuse to trust Him. One says, “I cannot see, but I will stay upon my God.” The other tries to manufacture its own way.
Scripture tells us where safety is found.
When the Waters Come Into the Soul
Psalm 69 opens with no attempt to make trouble sound smaller than it is: “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul” (Psalm 69:1).
David says, “I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me” (Psalm 69:2). Anyone who has stepped into deep mud understands the picture. When there is nothing solid beneath your feet, struggling can make you feel even more helpless.
David does not pretend to be unaffected. “I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God” (Psalm 69:3). Yet while he waits, he keeps praying.
He also acknowledges that God knows him completely: “O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee” (Psalm 69:5). At the same time, verse 4 speaks of those who hate him “without a cause.” Both statements belong in the passage, and both should be allowed to stand.
Verse 9 says, “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” The New Testament explicitly uses both parts. John 2:17 applies “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” to Jesus, and Romans 15:3 quotes, “The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.”
David returns to the deep-water picture when he prays, “Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink” (Psalm 69:14). Then he appeals to God’s character: “Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies” (Psalm 69:16). He ends this portion by praying, “Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it” (Psalm 69:18).
David’s answer to deep water was not to pretend the water was shallow. He cried to the God who could deliver him.
Sometimes faith is not standing on the shore talking about how strong God is. Sometimes faith is crying from the mire, “Draw nigh unto my soul,” while continuing to wait for Him.
Strength That Comes From Wisdom
Proverbs 24:5 says, “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.”
Scripture puts wisdom and strength together. The strongest person in the room is not necessarily the person who can overpower everyone else. There is strength in knowing what to do, when to act, and when not to act.
Verse 6 makes the setting specific: “For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.”
A man who refuses wise counsel may think independence makes him strong, but Proverbs says there is safety in a multitude of counsellors. Proverbs 11:14 states the same principle: “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”
That does not mean every person’s advice is wise. Proverbs 24:6 specifically says “wise counsel.” Counsel still has to agree with what God has said.
Real strength is willing to listen to wisdom.
Bringing It Together
These passages all deal, in different ways, with what directs a person’s life.
Ephesians 4 tells believers not to continue in the old walk, but to put off the old man, be renewed in the spirit of the mind, and put on the new man. Isaiah shows the Lord as the One who teaches His people “the way that thou shouldest go,” while warning against walking by the light of our own fire. Psalm 69 shows David in deep trouble still crying to God. Proverbs reminds us that wisdom and wise counsel increase strength.
The Bible is not describing a life that simply adds God to whatever direction we were already going. It describes a changed walk.
Paul says, “But ye have not so learned Christ” (Ephesians 4:20). That sentence reaches into our speech, our anger, our work, our relationships, our forgiveness, and the things we allow to remain in our hearts.
And when we cannot see the road clearly, Isaiah 50:10 gives this instruction: “let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.”
We do not need to manufacture our own light when God has already told us where to stay.
Discussion question: Is there an area of your life where your walk does not yet agree with what Scripture says you have learned in Christ?
Overview: Ephesians – Click Here
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