Eph 4:22-24    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; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

  

These verses put Paul's teaching in a nutshell: think new, be new! However, there are actually three parts to these verses about the teaching of the early church. To be able to ‘think new' means having an awareness that the old life which was self-centred and motivated by wrong desires has to be put away. We can't think new and be new unless we first recognise that the old life was like Paul described it and could no longer be even a part of the new.

 

Our new way of thinking must not only realise truth for our new lives but also be aware of and reject the ways of our old lives. Our new thinking leads to new behaviour, to a new life being lived out – and this is where it gets amazing – lives that are designed to be like God! But if we wonder what that means, Paul tells us. To be like God means to be righteous in God's sight, doing what is right – which is following Jesus – and being holy, utterly different from the people around you. The Bible describes God as both ‘love' and ‘good'. We are to stand out in the world because our lives also, are characterised by love and goodness. Now love involves having a good attitude towards all others and as we express that good attitude we will also be expressing goodness. As we are led by God's Holy Spirit, so we will be led to be like this, living out these utterly new lives.