Out with the Old: New Year's Sermon 2023
Introduction
Today is New Year’s Day. Most people begin their new year with goals and resolutions this year. Some people pick a word of the year or a phrase to define their aspirations. The biggest critique I have for this is people generally think about personal growth only this time of year instead of all the time.
So, as some of your write down your goals for the year, I want to encourage you to grow and mature as a Christians this year.
The Text
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:17–24
Summary of Text
Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians out of love for Christ and His church. In the first three chapters, Paul lays out God’s blessings for the church. In chapters 4 through 6, Paul explains our practice in God’s blessing. In verses 1 through 16, of chapter 4, Paul explains how Christian unity works in the life of the local church. He then moves to the passage we read today where he instructs Christians in the church to pursue maturity personally. In Christian theology, you cannot have corporate unity without individual responsibility.
Paul, tells the church not to live like the Gentiles (v.17). They live in futility of their mind (v.17b) or put another way, they focus on absurd things with no purpose. They also have darkened understanding (v.18a). Because they start from faulty presuppositions, they cannot reason. They are ignorant and hard-hearted (v.18b). They are excluded from the life of God, but because of their ignorance and hard-heartedness, they don’t realize they should desire it. Finally, they are callus, numb, and insensitive because they pursue sin (v.19).
Christians, should live differently. Paul says, we should lay aside the former way of life (v.22) and put on the new self (v. 24). The old life was lived by me and filled with lust and deceit (v. 22) while the new life was created by God for righteousness, and holiness in the truth.
Paul’s point is stop living like an unchristian pagan and start living like someone God saved. Let’s look a little more on what this means, then we will look at how to apply this.
New Life, New Living
Paul says if we truly learned Christ, we will not live like the pagans (vv. 20-21). Unbelievers want to do good works to prove or earn forgiveness. Christians want to do good works because they are forgiven. In order to grow spiritually, we must first be spiritually alive. Just like you know an apple tree by the apples hanging on the tree, you also know Christians by the spiritual fruit evident in their life (Matthew 7:16; Galatians 5:16-26).
Christians know we become spiritually alive through Christ. Jesus said He was the way, truth, and the life (John 14:6). God the father sent Him into the world to give eternal life (John 3:16). But we should also remember that eternal spiritual life is a resurrected life. It’s a life that dies first.
For Jesus to walk out of the grave alive, He was first placed in there as a dead man. For Jesus to give new life, He must first destroy the old life. When you become a Christian, you no longer live for yourself. Yes, you live a life of faith and trust in Jesus. But that faith and trust looks like giving Jesus a signed but blank check. Or to put another way, your faith in Christ looks like the faith and trust you have in a doctor who has to remove your heart from your chest as you lie on the operating table.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11
Daily, we both die to the old and live for the new. We take off the old like taking off an old, ruined, tattered shirt and put on a new royal robe. But how do you do this?
Out with the Old
We should all be well aware of the sins we want rid of in our life. But how do we get rid of them? How do we take off the old? Here are four steps to help you fight your sin this year.
First, Confess your sins.
He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. Proverbs 28:13
Some Christians stop growing spiritually because they treat their sins against God like personal vices. For example, God hates the sin of gluttony (Proverbs 23:20-21; Philippians 3:18-19). God gives us the good gift of food, but we worship the gift over the giver. Gluttony seeks satisfaction in over-eating and seeks peace through anxious eating. But we treat gluttony as a personal flaw or weakness like a stutter or near-sightedness. We take God out of the picture entirely and act shocked when He isn’t there when we want Him. We only take our sins seriously when the consequences pile up and begin hurting our well-being. But the reason the consequences pile up is because we live like the prodigal son. When we sin, we run away from our Father and His provision. But when we confess, we run toward a father who was already running toward us.
So, get in the habit of confessing your sins regularly to God. Be specific. Say, “Father, I just lost my temper and lashed out in anger (Ephesians 4:26; Psalm 37:8). “
Second, Ask God to Forgive your sin. The fifth petition in the Lord’s prayer is “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12).” Jesus commands us when we pray to regularly ask for forgiveness. God deigned the Christian life to run on grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). So, after you confess your sin to God, ask Him to forgive you. We know that He will (1 John 1:9).
Third, Stop Making Excuses for your Sin. Sometimes our confession doesn’t get very far before we begin confessing other people’s sin. “Lord, please forgive me for my anger. You know how my wife gets on my nerves. If she would just stop complaining all the time, then I would be in a better mood. . .” We need to stop making excuses. Husbands, stop blaming your wife for your sinful attitude. Wives, stop blaming your husbands for yours. Kids, stop blaming your parents. Parents, stop blaming your children.
If I could encourage each of us to make one resolution this year, it would be stop making excuses to God and to men. I would even say don’t make an excuse even if you have a good one. You could have left home half-an-hour earlier than normal but because of a traffic jam on 385, you were late. Even then, don’t make an excuse. As our culture makes excuses and exceptions for everything, let us be exceptional by taking responsibility for everything we can.
Fourth, Forsake your sin. Notice in Proverb 28:13, he who confesses and forsakes his sin will find compassion. One way Scripture talks about this is with the image of fleeing or running away (1 Corinthians 6:18; 10:13-14). We should flee youthful passions (2 Timothy2:22) and resist the devil (James 4:7). Christians run. We run from sin because sin kills.
I simply summarized the basics of Christian repentance. If you find that you’re having difficulty with one of the steps, please talk to me or set up a meeting and I’d love to help.
In with the New
We should not only take off the old, but also put on the new. We should not only run away from sin but pursue righteousness. Some of us may have a more difficult time with choosing what to grow in.
First, put on the new life. I recommend reading Galatians 5:22-23 (the fruit of the Spirit) and choosing one of the fruits of the Spirit you notice lacking in your life. As you begin applying “joy” or “peace” or “self-control” to your life, you will notice the other fruit growing as well. That’s because the fruit of the Spirit is all of these traits.
Second, live by faith.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6
If you trust God’s word, then you’re already on good footing. Since God said, be at peace with one another (Romans 12:18), when you seek peace with that annoying person, you are living by faith because you’re trusting and obeying God.
We continue applying this by faith when we pray at all times (1 Thessalonians 5:17). “Lord, help me be more joyful.” We can also apply the principles we learned with taking off the old. “Lord, please forgive me for not living joyfully.”
Third, Just Keep doing it. Diligence is another forgotten virtue in our day. I rarely hear people talk about it. Diligence simply means constantly working toward a goal.
For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity. Proverbs 24:16
You will fail. When you do, confess, ask God to forgive you, get up and get going again.
Remember, Slow Works better than Fast.
A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished. Proverbs 28:20
Research shows daily repetition lasts longer and works better than a crash-course. It’s better to read two chapters per day in the Bible each year than skimming the New Testament once on a weekend. It’s better to spend 10 mins with your kids each day teaching them about the Lord, than them spending an hour at Sunday School.
Conclusion
Remember for the time being, we as Christians live with two natures. One nature comes from Adam. It pursues laziness, selfishness, and rebellion. The other comes from Christ. It pursues righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Let 2023 be a year where Christians look more and more like Christ