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Ephesians 1:1—4:16 presents profound and mysterious aspects of Christ for our experience and enjoyment, whereas the rest of the Epistle presents practical and fine aspects of Christ for our experience.
In Ephesians 4:17-32 we see that Christ is the reality and grace for the living of the new man. In the Gospel of John, grace and reality are a pair. John 1:14 says that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality, and verse 17 says that grace and reality came through Jesus Christ. This indicates that when God in Christ was incarnated as a man, He came with grace and reality; that is, when Christ came, grace and reality came with Him. Here we see that grace and reality are personified in Jesus Christ; grace and reality refer to a person, the Triune God incarnated and expressed in humanity.
Ephesians presents reality and grace as a pair for the living of the new man. Ephesians 2:15 tells us that Christ created the one new man; the new man is on the earth today. Ephesians 4:17-32 goes on to reveal that the way for the new man to live is by reality and grace.
In Ephesians 4:17-21 and 24, Paul presents the reality in Jesus for a walk that is no longer in the vanity of the mind.
Verse 21 says, “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus.” Here Paul does not say that the reality is in Christ; rather, he says that the reality is in Jesus. The reason for this is that when the Lord Jesus lived on earth as a man, in Him there was always the reality. In Jesus, that is, in His human living and His daily walk — whether He worked as a carpenter or carried out His ministry — there was the reality at all times. In order to understand the reality expressed in the living of Jesus as a man on earth, we need to read verse 17, where Paul exhorts the believers no longer to “walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind.” Here we see a contrast between the reality in Jesus and the vanity of the Gentiles’ mind. In the human living of Jesus there was no vanity but only the reality; however, in our godless society there is nothing but vanity of vanities. Using a phrase from John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, we may say that, as a whole, today’s world is a “vanity fair.” Wealth, fame, position, entertainment, and material possessions in today’s world are all vanities, but everything in the daily living of the man Jesus is the reality. Whatever He did in His human living is the reality; not one of His words was vain (cf. 1 Pet. 2:22).
Christ is not only life to us but also an example (John 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:21). In His life on earth He set up a pattern, as revealed in the Gospels. Then He was crucified and resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit that He might enter into us to be our life. We learn from Him (Matt. 11:29) according to His example, not by our natural life but by Him as our life in resurrection. To learn Christ is simply to be molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
The expression the reality is in Jesus refers to the actual condition of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels. In the godless walk of the nations, the fallen people, there is vanity, but in the godly life of Jesus there is the reality. Jesus lived a life in which He did everything in God, with God, and for God. God was in His living, and He was one with God. This is what is meant by the reality is in Jesus. We, the believers, who are regenerated with Christ as our life and are taught in Him, learn from Him as the reality is in Jesus.
In His daily walk the man Jesus was not only great but also very fine. For example, when He fed five thousand men with five loaves and two fish, He was not so ecstatic over this miracle that He forgot the broken pieces which were left over after the people had eaten. Rather, He instructed His disciples to gather the broken pieces left over that nothing may be lost, which amounted to twelve handbaskets full (John 6:12-13). The four Gospels reveal that in every detail of the Lord’s daily living, there is no vanity but only the reality. Moreover, in nearly every page of the four Gospels, we see a striking contrast between the reality in the godly living of Jesus and the vanity in the living of others around Him, such as His opposers as well as His disciples.
In His thirty-three and a half years on earth, the Lord Jesus formed the mold, the pattern, to which all those who believe in Him are to be conformed. According to the record of the four Gospels, the life of the Lord Jesus was a life of reality. Reality is the shining of light. Light is the source, and reality is its expression. As Hebrews 1:3 says, the Lord Jesus is the effulgence of God’s glory. This means that He is the shining of God who is light. Because in every aspect of the Lord’s living on earth there was the shining of light, His life was a life of reality, a life of the shining of God Himself. That life of reality was the expression of God. For this reason Paul says that we learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus. In other words, we learn Christ according to the mold of the life of Jesus, which is the reality.
After Christ established this mold, He passed through death and resurrection, and in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit. As such a Spirit, He comes into us to be our life. When we believed in Christ and were baptized, God put us into Him as the mold, just as dough is placed into a mold. By being put into the mold we learn the mold. This means that by being put into Christ, we learn Christ. On the one hand, God put us into Christ; on the other hand, Christ has come into us to be our life. Now we may live by Him according to the mold in which we have been placed by God. We are in Christ as the mold, and He is in us as our life. In this way we learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
Paul’s exhortation is to “no longer walk as the Gentiles... walk in the vanity of their mind” (Eph. 4:17). The Gentiles are the fallen people, who become vain in their reasonings (Rom. 1:21). They walk without God in the vanity of their mind, being controlled and directed by their vain thoughts. Whatever they do according to their fallen mind is vanity, void of reality. Moreover, Paul’s exhortation in Ephesians 4:17 suggests that we the believers, who once walked in the vanity of the mind before we were saved, may continue to do so after we are saved. Even religious activities and practices among Christians which do not express God — such as Christmas and Easter — are superstition, falsehood, deception, and vanity. As believers, we should no longer walk in the vanity of the mind. Instead, we should allow the new man to live out God; every detail of the living of the new man must be God expressed in our living. This is to no longer walk in the vanity of the mind but to live the life of the new man as the reality is in Jesus.
In verse 29 Paul says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for building up, according to the need, that it may give grace to those who hear.” The Greek word for corrupt signifies what is noxious, offensive, or worthless. Our conversation should not corrupt others but should build them up. The church and every member of the church need the proper building up. This building up is accomplished primarily by our speaking. What proceeds out of our mouth should be that which is good for the building up of the church and all the saints. Furthermore, the word out of our mouth should give grace to those who hear. Grace is God embodied in Christ as our enjoyment and supply. Our word should convey such grace to others. The word that builds up others always ministers grace to the hearer. Our word should communicate God in Christ as enjoyment, imparting Christ to others as their life supply.
In verse 29 we see that Christ is the grace ministered to others for their building up. Our mouth should be filled with words of grace. Words that give grace to the hearers are the overflow of the enjoyment of Christ whom we have experienced. Every word that proceeds out of our mouth should be the Christ whom we enjoy as grace. When we enjoy Christ in a rich way, every word that proceeds out of our mouth ministers grace to the hearers and builds them up.
In contrast to words that minister grace, gossip defiles our mind and our mouth. When we hear evil rumors and gossips, we must bury them and wash our mind and mouth. We enjoy gossiping because we are short of grace. If we are filled with grace, we will not seek satisfaction in gossiping; on the contrary, we will be content with the satisfaction that is in Christ. Instead of gossiping, murmuring, and reasoning (Phil. 2:14), we should speak words that give grace to those who hear, for only such words edify and build up the hearers. What proceeds out of our mouth should be the words of grace that are the overflow of our enjoyment of Christ, whom we love and experience.
The basic elements in the learning of Christ are reality and grace. In contrast to the Gospel of John where grace precedes reality, in Ephesians 4 before Paul mentions grace, that is, the supply, he presents the reality, that is, the principle, the pattern, and the standard. The reality is the shining of light; as members of the Body of Christ under the Head, we should learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus. Yet in order to live out this standard of the reality, we must have grace. In verse 29 Paul relates grace to our speaking. This indicates that we need grace for the details of our daily life, not merely for what we regard as important matters. We may have grace in big matters but not in small matters. For instance, in our daily conversation we may be devoid of grace. In no area of our daily life do we require grace more than in our conversation. If we have grace in this aspect of our living, we will have grace in every other aspect. In all things we need grace to live a life according to the reality that is in Jesus. Grace is our rich supply and enjoyment. If we have this supply and enjoyment, we will be able to live according to the standard of the reality.
Ephesians 4:18 tells us that the Gentiles have been alienated from the life of God. This indicates that the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind because they do not have the life of God. In contrast to the Gentiles, we are not strangers to the life of God. Instead of being alienated from the life of God, we are attached to the source of life. The life of God has become a fountain within our being. We now possess the divine life, and the life of God has become our life (Col. 3:4). Therefore, we should no longer live by our natural life; rather, we should live by the life of God. The reality in Jesus, grace in our mouth, and the life of God pave the way for the new man to live on earth.
Reality and grace are both of life. The divine, eternal, uncreated life of God is the essence of reality and grace. Life is God Himself; that is, life is the being of the Triune God (John 1:4; 11:25; 14:6; Rom. 8:2). When God dispenses Himself into us, we have life. This life is not only our grace for our enjoyment but also our reality for us to live a life full of reality.
The life of God in Ephesians 4:18 is the uncreated, eternal life of God, which man did not have at the time of creation. After being created, man with the created human life was placed before the tree of life (Gen. 2:8-9) that he might receive the uncreated divine life. But man fell into the vanity of his mind and became darkened in his understanding. Now, in such a fallen condition man is unable to touch the life of God until he repents (has his mind turned to God) and believes in the Lord Jesus to receive God’s eternal life (Acts 11:18; John 3:16).
God’s intention in His creation of man was that man would partake of the fruit of the tree of life and thereby receive the eternal life of God. Yet in the fall, Satan’s evil nature was injected into man. As a result, man had to be barred from the tree of life. According to Genesis 3:24, the Lord “drove the man out, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.” Thus, man was alienated from the life of God. The cherubim, the flame, and the sword signify God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness. These three things kept sinful man from receiving eternal life. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He fulfilled all the requirements of God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness. Therefore, through the redemption of the Lord Jesus, the way has been opened for us to contact the tree of life once more. This is the reason Hebrews 10:19 says that we have “boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus.” The tree of life is in the Holy of Holies. As believers in Christ, we have been brought back to the tree of life. Now the divine life in the Holy of Holies may be our daily enjoyment.
Ephesians 4:30 says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption.” To be sealed is to be sealed in the Holy Spirit as the element. We were sealed in the element of the Holy Spirit. This indicates that God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit as the sealing element. Here the sealing of the Spirit may be considered synonymous to the anointing, which is the moving and working of the indwelling Spirit (1 John 2:20). From the time that we are saved, the Holy Spirit as the seal in us seals us continually with the element of God that we may be transformed in nature until our body is completely transfigured and redeemed. Hence, verse 30 says that we were sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the day of the redemption of our body.
To grieve the sealing Spirit is to displease Him. The sealing Spirit abides in us forever (John 14:16-17), never leaving us. Hence, He is grieved when we do not walk according to Him (Rom. 8:4), that is, when we do not live according to the principle of reality with grace in the details of our daily walk.
For the sealing Spirit to be grieved means that He is not happy with us. Often when we feel unhappy, that feeling of unhappiness is actually the feeling of the sealing Spirit. However, when He feels happy within us, we are happy also. A proper life according to reality and in grace will always make the sealing Spirit happy and give us the joy of the Spirit.
The life of God, the reality in Jesus, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit are the three sources of the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. Life is of God the Father. This life must become the reality in our daily living (as it was the reality in the daily living of Jesus, the Son of God), and this reality as the practical living out of the Father’s life is the essence of the sealing Spirit. The elements of the sealing Spirit are the life of God and the human living of Jesus. As the sealing Spirit saturates and permeates us with the divine life and the reality in Jesus, He is making us a duplication of Jesus in His human living, which is the practical living out of the Father’s life. As believers, we have the life of the Father in us; we have a model, the life of Jesus in His human living; and we have the sealing Spirit constituted with the divine life and the human living of Jesus. This sealing Spirit is permeating us to enable us to have a daily life that is suitable for the living of the new man.
As believers, we can experience and enjoy Christ as the reality and grace for the living of the new man through the renewing in the spirit of our mind. In Ephesians 4:23 Paul says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Our being renewed is for our transformation into the image of Christ (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). The spirit here is the regenerated spirit of the believers, which is mingled with the indwelling Spirit of God. Such a mingled spirit spreads into our mind, thus becoming the spirit of our mind. It is in such a spirit that we are renewed for our transformation. This, of course, implies a process of metabolic transformation. As this process takes place, the mingled spirit enters our mind, takes over our mind, and becomes the spirit of our mind.
When our human spirit is regenerated by and thus mingled with the Spirit of God, it becomes the mingled spirit. When our regenerated spirit is gradually enlightened, motivated, inspired, and occupied by the Spirit of God, the mingled spirit spreads into our mind and becomes the spirit of our mind. At the time of regeneration the mingled spirit is only in the realm of our spirit; through renewing, this mingled spirit progressively moves into the territory of our mind to become the spirit of our mind. It is by the spirit spreading into our mind that we are renewed in order that the new man would live on earth.
Our mind needs to be saturated with the mingled spirit and come under the control and direction of the mingled spirit. Our mind should not be the main factor that rules us; rather, the spirit of our mind should be the main factor that rules, reigns, and directs us in all things. We may walk in the vanity of our mind as the Gentiles do. As those who love Christ, we should not have vanity in our mind; instead, we should have the spirit in our mind. Our mind should no longer be full of vanity; rather, it should be saturated with the mingled spirit.
For us to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, we need to pray and read the Word. It is by the teaching of the holy Word and the enlightening of the Holy Spirit that we become renewed in our mind. As we daily pray and read the Word, the Spirit will enlighten us and guide us so that we may be renewed in the spirit of our mind.
By the spirit of the mind we are renewed to fulfill in experience what was accomplished in the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man. The putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man are accomplished facts. Now we must experience and realize these facts by being renewed in the spirit of our mind. As these facts are realized in experience, we live a life that corresponds to the life of Jesus. This means that we live a life of the reality, a life in the shining of light and in the expression of God. When we are renewed in the spirit of our mind to execute the fact of having put off the old man and having put on the new man, we live a life according to the reality that is in Jesus.
In Ephesians 4:22 Paul says, “You put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit.” In verse 24 Paul goes on to say, “Put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.” It is based upon our having put off the old man and having put on the new man that we can enjoy Christ as the reality and grace for the living of the new man. In our experience, we should cooperate with the Triune God to put off the old man, which He terminated on the cross; we should also cooperate with the Triune God to put on the new man, which He created through Christ’s death and resurrection.
Verse 22 says that we have put off, as regards the former manner of life, the old man. The former manner of life was a walk in the vanity of the mind. Such a manner of life has been terminated and put away. Verse 22 also says that the old man “is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit.” The old man is of Adam, who was created by God but fallen through sin. The article before the word deceit is emphatic and indicates that the deceit is personified. Hence, deceit here refers to the deceiver, the devil, from whom are the lusts of the corrupted old man. The old man is corrupted according to the lusts of the devil, the deceiving one. Outwardly, the manner of life of the old man is a walk in the vanity of the mind. Inwardly, the old man is corrupted according to the lusts of the devil, the lusts of the deceit. This old man was crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6) and was buried in baptism (v. 4). We should praise the Lord that we have put off the old man in baptism.
In Ephesians 4:24 Paul says, “Put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.” It was in baptism that we put on the new man (Rom. 6:4b). The new man is the practical church life, which is Christ as the life-giving Spirit mingled with our spirit in a corporate way. To put on the church life as the new man is to put on this entity produced by the mingling of the divine Spirit with the human spirit.
Ephesians 4:24 tells us that the new man was created according to God. The old man was created according to the image of God outwardly, without God’s life and nature (Gen. 1:26-27), but the new man was created according to God Himself inwardly, with God’s life and nature (Col. 3:10).
Furthermore, the new man was created in righteousness and holiness of the reality. Righteousness is to be right with God and with man according to God’s righteous way, and holiness is godliness and devoutness before God. Righteousness refers to the outward acts, whereas holiness refers to the inward nature. Outwardly, everything related to the new man is righteous; inwardly, everything related to the new man is holy. Righteousness is mainly toward men, and holiness is mainly toward God.
The righteousness and holiness of the new man are of the reality. The article before reality in Ephesians 4:24 is emphatic. As the deceit in verse 22, related to the old man, is the personification of Satan, so the reality here, related to the new man, is the personification of God. This reality was exhibited in the life of Jesus, as mentioned in verse 21. In the life of Jesus righteousness and holiness of the reality were continuously manifested. It was in the righteousness and holiness of this reality, which is God realized and expressed, that the new man was created.
The deceit is the devil, and the reality is God. The old man is according to the lusts of the devil, but the new man is in the righteousness and holiness of God. Holiness here is the holiness of the divine person. The new man was created according to God in the righteousness and holiness of God Himself. In order that we might learn Christ, Paul presents a sharp contrast between the old man and the new man, between the devil and God, and between lusts, on the one hand, and righteousness and holiness, on the other. We have been taught that we have already put off the old man and have put on the new man. This means we have put off the lusts and the falsehood of the devil and have put on the righteousness and holiness of God. This God is the reality, and this reality is seen in the living of Jesus on earth. The human living of Jesus was according to the reality, that is, according to God Himself, full of righteousness and holiness. We should praise the Lord that we have learned Christ as the reality is in Jesus. If we learn Christ by putting off the old man and by putting on the new man, we will be in the church life, for the new man actually is the church. If we learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus, then we can have a genuine, proper, and practical church life.
In verses 17 through 24 we have the principle of our renewed daily living for the learning of Christ. This principle is the reality, the living of the Lord Jesus when He was on earth. The Lord’s living was that of always putting off His own life and of putting on the Father’s life. This is the life of Jesus, and this life is the reality that is the principle of a life of learning Christ. According to this principle, we have put off the old man and have put on the new man.
Every aspect of our daily living should be governed by this principle, not by a standard of ethics. For example, our conversation should be governed not by a standard of ethics but by the New Testament principle of having put off the old man and of having put on the new man. Even how much we laugh or cry should be determined by the principle of having put off the old man and of having put on the new man. This principle is much higher than any ethical standard.
In baptism we put off the old man and put on the new man, which is the church life. Now our daily living in the church life is to be according to the principle of the reality, according to the pattern of the life of reality set up by the living of the Lord Jesus. We have been taught according to this principle as the reality is in Jesus.
The new man, a new corporate person, should live a life like that which Jesus lived on earth, that is, a life of reality that expresses God and causes God to be realized by man as the reality. The new man must live as the reality is in Jesus. Since God is the reality, to live as the reality is in Jesus is to live as God is in Jesus. The new man is the expression of God. What the new man lives out must be the expression of God.
In brief, the new man can live and become a living reality by the believers’ enjoyment of Christ in the practical and fine points revealed in Ephesians 4:17-32. The apostle’s exhortation in verses 17 through 32 not only takes grace and reality (vv. 21, 24, 29) as its basic elements but also takes the life of God (v. 18) and the Spirit of God as its basic factors. It is by the life of God in the Spirit of God that we can live a life full of grace and reality, as the Lord Jesus did. The apostle wanted us to live a life full of grace and reality (John 1:14, 17); such a life of Jesus should be our life today in the church. The living of the new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus. The way Jesus lived on earth is the way the new man should live today. Grace is God given to us for our enjoyment, and reality is God revealed to us as our reality. When we live and speak reality (Eph. 4:21, 24), we express God as our reality, and others receive God as grace for their enjoyment (v. 29). May we pursue the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the reality in Jesus and grace in our mouth for the living of the new man.
