4:20\u00a0<\/b>But that is not the way you learned Christ!\u2014<\/b><\/p>\n

I remember as a child often hearing three phrases from my parents. One was, “You know better than that.” The second was , “I expect more from you than that”. The third was simply, “You better not ever let me catch you doing that.” Most often these challenges were mentioned when an observation was made of another person’s sinful actions, and a reinforcement of God’s and their expectation of my conduct. This standard of high expectations comes to mind when reading Ephesians 4:20. There is a new standard that should be considered.<\/p>\n

In essence, Paul is a spiritual father or mentor to the Ephesian church. After a long discourse in the moral depravity of the Gentile community, Paul reminds the recent converts of the challenge and expectation to live a life that is dependent on Christ, and reflects Him to the world.<\/p>\n

Take note of the word “learned”. Jesus even said Himself in Matthew 11:29 that we should learn from Him. While regeneration is a single act, there is a process to sanctification. The verb tense used in this verse suggest more of a specific time of change, rather than a process. While it is reasonable to recognize the process of maturing toward a healthy state of being “in the world but not of it”, it is critical to note the change that takes place in a person’s life when they give their heart to Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that a new man has been born. As believers we must recognize that God expects more from us, and that “we should know better than that”.<\/p>\n

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version<\/i><\/a>. (2016). (Eph 4:20). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4:20\u00a0But that is not the way you learned Christ!\u2014 I remember as a child often hearing three phrases from my parents. One was, “You know better than that.” The second was , “I expect more from you than that”. The third was simply, “You better not ever let me catch you doing that.” Most often […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6,20,8,5],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":398,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396\/revisions\/398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}