Ephesians 4:20-24
But that is not the way you learned Christ!- [21] assuming that you have heard him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, [22] having put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, [23] and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, [24] and having put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Just previous to these verses Paul was admonishing the Christians in Ephesus to stop behaving like lost people behave. Paul adamantly declares in verse twenty, “that is not the way you learned Christ!” Notice that Paul didn’t say it was not the way they learned “about” Christ. Christianity isn’t so much a journey of discovering more about Christ as it is a journey of discovering Christ. I know that sounds like an issue of semantics, and in a lot of ways it is, but unfortunately, many believers gain more information about Jesus as time goes by instead of a growing revelation of Jesus who has joined Himself to their humanity. You see, Christianity isn’t just about loving Jesus; it’s about the living Jesus being the source, not the object of your walk with God. In 4:21, Paul said that he was assuming that they had heard Christ (not just heard about Christ) and had been taught “in Him,” and not just taught “about” Him. In other words, Paul is assuming that they had been experiencing Jesus; learning from Him about life in union with Him. The truth about the Christian life is Jesus. This is how we are “renewed in the spirit of our minds,” and the transformation that is the maturing which belongs to the fullness of Christ – Ephesians 4:13. The renewing of the mind Romans 12:1 speaks is an ever-growing consciousness that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” This is the reality of the “new self,” and the new self (that you that is in union with Christ) has been created in true righteousness and holiness. Trying your best to live a righteous and holy life is a false righteousness and holiness that only results in a life that hides behind religious veils, in hidden defeat, frustration and condemnation. True righteousness and holiness is Christ Himself being Himself in and through us.