Dr. Greg Gifford embarks on a new series called “The Process of Change”. This series is designed to build off of his previous series, “How Do We Change?”, which you can find on The Master’s University Online website. Today, Dr. Gifford begins his series in Ephesians 4, the biblical passage that offers the clearest articulation of the process of change.
The Context
Paul wrote Ephesians to the church in Ephesus. He affirms the church as believers, but takes time in his letter to remind them of a few different truths. In Chapter One, he speaks about the many blessings that a believer receives through their relationship with Christ. Then, in Chapter Two, he reminds the Ephesians of their salvation, how they became Christians. In Chapter Three, he speaks on how the Gentiles are now fellow heirs with the Jews.
This set him up for Chapter 4, where Paul addresses the body of Christ. Verses 11-14 show how the maturity of the body of Christ is predicated by believers speaking the truth in love to bring about the result of the body of Christ growing up to look like Jesus, who is the head.
Before Christ
In verse 17, Paul transitions to articulating the process of change clearly for the church of Ephesus. In light of the body of Christ building itself up and ordaining spiritual leadership, the church is called to no longer walk as the Gentiles do. This is not referring to ethnic Gentiles, as the mystery of the gospel makes it clear that Gentiles are fellow heirs, but rather it is referring to those who do not know the LORD.
Specifically, the Ephesians must not walk in the way of the Gentiles in the futility of their minds. To have a darkened or calloused mind is a mark of an unbeliever, because at the moment of conversion, the LORD regenerates us so that we can have a mind that can be renewed. The mind of a Gentile is characterized by vanity and emptiness, rather than true spiritual knowledge. As believers, our knowledge is genuine, not darkened. We have the faculty to know the world as it really is, such as how we got here and what our purpose is.
Verses 17-19 depict the life of an unbeliever. But in verse 20, Paul declares, “But you did not learn Christ in this way” (LSB). At this point, the passage shifts into talking about true born-again believers. In the next episode, Dr. Gifford will pick up in verse 21 and following, looking at the process of change.
This blog post captures the essence of Dr. Greg Gifford’s series on the process of change. You may click on the video above to hear more insightful details about not just how we change, but the process of that change. Dr. Gifford is the Chair of the Undergraduate School of Biblical Counseling as well as a Biblical Counseling Professor for The Master’s University traditional on-campus program.
