Bite 71: Two Groups Set in Opposition in Ephesians

Plan for Study

Of course, keeping the whole of context in mind is essential (keep reading the whole passage of Ephesians 4:17-5:2), but to tease out the meaning Paul had when he wrote this section, I’m zeroing in on these few sentences.

A Little More Observation

I’m going to share some of what I see here as relationships on these stickies as Paul laid it out for his audience. As you look them over, you could observe additional relationships. I’m sure there are dozens more.

• All Christ-followers had a former life. It looked like the Gentile sticky.
• Comparing minds between groups:
  • Gentiles have futility, darkness, ignorance
  • Christ-followers have to be renewed in mind and put on new self
• What is clearly observable about God from the natural world (Rom 1), Gentiles have rejected. The opposite of that is to hear, be taught truth of Christ and receive it and be re-created to look like God.

There is obviously a whole lot more there to sift through, but those are the first ones that I see.

Asking Questions of the Text

Do you remember that last time we got together, I told you I have a couple of questions for the text? One of those is do I put off and put on or does Someone Else?

Maybe you’re asking me, “Why does it matter?” It matters for me because if I need to do something, I want to want to do that thing. I want to be active. If Someone Else does the work, I want to want to let him do that thing. Perhaps passive but also cooperative. Or if there is another option that I can’t see, I want to have a heart preparing for that.

As it says right here in Ephesians 4:18-19, those who have rejected God have a hard heart and they are callous. The opposite as we move through the passage looks like this idea of renewing the spirit and mind. Since I don’t want to be callous of heart, is there an apostolic command present of which I should be aware?

Let’s Look at Grammar

I’m considering the three phrases that line up in Ephesians 4:22-24 that all begin with to. To put off your old self, to be renewed, and to put on the new self. Looking at the Greek morphology, I see that these phrases are all infinitives. Nifty. Except I don’t really know what that means. Not part of my daily vernacular and as we’ve already discussed, my education in the realm of grammar only happened in my adult years as I taught my children while homeschooling. Don’t remember anything about this infinitive business. Off to resources in order to ask the experts.

Tense Voice Mood

All the words make sense individually, but altogether, I’m not sure that illuminates. So I looked in another resource.

5795 Mood — Infinitive

The Greek infinitive mood in most cases corresponds to the English infinitive, which is basically the verb with “to” prefixed, as “to believe.”

Like the English infinitive, the Greek infinitive can be used like a noun phrase (“It is better to live than to die”), as well as to reflect purpose or result (“This was done to fulfil what the prophet said”).2

Ok, with it rephrased by L. Pierce here, I might have more understanding. Coming at it from different directions can be helpful. The grammatical reality that to put off/on is a noun phrase is not what I was expecting. I don’t DO nouns. What else do I need to understand here?

NET

The most enlightening resource for me has been the NET. There is a translator note for Ephesians 4:22-24. You have access to it there in that link if you’d like to read it for yourself. For the sake of brevity, I’m sharing only my observations of it.

To sum up in my own words, there seem to be three things (things are nouns!) that Paul wanted his audience to remember that they were taught. Those noun phrases could either be Things To Do or Things That Are. I will continue to investigate.

Next I Looked at a Cross Reference

As I try to keep my range of vision wide in my study, I darted very quickly over to Colossians 3:8-10 (in the NET) which is the parallel set of verses to our Ephesians section. We’ve talked before about how Colossians and Ephesians are closely related chronologically and content-wise so looking at both can help us understand the mind of our author better.

Since the NET was helpful in Ephesians 4:22-24, I went right over there again to see what the translators had to say about the companion section. You can check the sn (study note) for yourself here if you’re curious.

Why am I now only considering the off/on? What happened to the to be renewed? Good question. The construction (morphology) of the phrase was different in Greek for renewal, so I’m looking at that phrase separately. Next, actually.

Still Asking Questions of the Text

I’m rummaging around in these phrases wondering what the big picture idea is that Paul is trying to convey to his audience. In telling them that they were taught to be renewed in their spirit and minds, again I ask of the text “what is their role and what is God’s?” I had an exciting time of study over this phrase because it was influenced by study I’d done several years ago when I studied the book of Romans.

To Be Renewed

Beginning again, I looked at the morphology of this translated phrase. In Greek, the “phrase” is required in English because originally it’s one word which is, as Paul uses it here, a verb, present, passive, infinitive. Remember that earlier, we noticed that renewed is a different tense that the surrounding infinitives? It’s in the present tense as opposed to the others being in aorist. Let’s ask our local expert what’s going on.

To try and illustrate the distinction here for myself, I compare the present tense with the other main tenses (aorist and perfect).

• As I understand aorist, it is a tense that indicates an undefined action, usually translated as happening in the past. “I was renewed.”
• The perfect is a completed action with ongoing implications, which does not have an exact counterpart in English, as Dr. Mounce says.⁴ “I am renewed.” Which conveys the past action, but doesn’t convey the ongoing implications. It’s as close as English gets.

We will discuss the applications of the present tense of being renewed later. I will cogitate on what it means, though, as we keep moving.

Cross Reference

When I saw this cross reference to Romans 12:2, I recognized this passage as one I’ve studied previously and still recall some of what I learned about the tense of the verb behind transformed. The verb morphology is present, passive, imperative. Stop and think about that for a second.

Passive describes basically no action on the part of the subject. Imperative is a command for the subject. Is it A or B? Well, that isn’t the right question. It’s both. This was what I found as memorable and fascinating.

When I was studying Romans, there was a NET translator note that described this situation. I’d never heard of such a thing before.

What’s the Connection?

The point of contact between Romans and Ephesians? Paul uses this phrase renewal of the mind in both places. How does the Roman audience become transformed? Going back to Romans 12:2, I read that the remedy is by the renewal of your minds. But what does that mean? Renewed how?

Continuing with the context in Romans 12, Paul has a definition for the recipients, “by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.⁵“

Colossians 3:10

An expansion of the definition can be found if we travel over to the companion letter of Colossians once more where in Colossians 3:10 also speaks of put off/on. Let’s bring that section here and see it with a little context around it.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.6

From this cross reference, we gain insight into a number of phrases. Lining up related terms, you can see what I mean.

Comparing these two passages, we get a fuller picture of what was rolling around in the mind of our author as he wrote both of these letters in succession. How were the recipients to renew their minds? Gain knowledge of their creator. Where do they gain such knowledge? In their context, the OT. From the mouths or quills of the apostles. Which is the same as for us: attending to the Word of God.

Reflection

Reflection is not equivalent to application, though it is related. For myself, the concepts on which I reflect are the ones that I take on my bike rides with me and mull over.

Indicative or Imperative?

At the beginning, I had a question about do I put on/off or does God? In studying, I compared the two companion letters of Ephesians and Colossians. The NET translators said that it’s plausible for the Ephesians passage to be either indicative or imperative, but that the Colossians passage would be better to be taken semantically as an indicative. Without clear direction in Ephesians, I will interpret both passages with the more clear (to the translators) Colossian passage.

The Ephesian audience was taught by Paul that when they learned about Christ, they were taught that their old selves were taken off and their new selves were put on. Done deal. It happened.

I can ruminate on this piece of interpretation. How does it apply? As I consider the rest of the book, how does it all fit together?

Permissive Passive

NET’s phrase “consciousness of conformity” from the note in Romans 12 has interested me enough that I remember encountering the concept a couple of years ago. I give permission to the world to influence me, either consciously or subconsciously. Whether I know what my heart is doing or not, I’m responsible for it. It isn’t like a child that I’ve trained and then that child wanders off to do whatever he or she will do: that is another person’s heart.

Whether or not I’m aware of the training that is occurring, I’m responsible for the appetites of my heart and what I do with them. How do I train those appetites? Can I train them? Do I even always know the training is going on?

An Example in My Life

About four years ago, I was out riding my mountain bike. It wasn’t even the sketchy part of the trail, but I crashed and tore my ACL and my meniscus on my right knee. Freaky thing to see: my knee rotated 90° from its correct rotation when I landed. Fortunately, I had cell service in my immediate area so I called Jeremy to tell him that I’d gotten myself into trouble. Eventually, with the help of EMS and volunteer rescue folk, I got out.

All of that to say, I was out of the saddle for at least 4 months. Honestly, I’m a terrible patient. It was supposed to be 6 months or more, but….Leading up to this crash, for the previous few months, Jeremy and I had been discussing, practicing, watching YouTube videos for the technique of managing larger ledges and climbing up them. It involves unweighting the front tire as you hit the ledge, and then right away leaning forward to unweight the back tire to allow it to roll through. Not altogether an easy movement to master.

Unexpected Result

Then I wrecked my knee and I was off the bike for a long time. Fast forward through physical therapy, then surgery, and more physical therapy until I felt strong enough to ride again. When I encountered my first ledge after getting back into the saddle? I rode up it like a pro. There wasn’t even a flinch. My body knew how.

HOW? Because in the back of my mind, through the process of rehabbing my knee, I was thinking about riding. There were mental visualizations, I still watched how-to videos, we still occasionally discussed the technique. Although that was usually followed by tears and “how will I ever ride again?” laments. But present in my world was a training of my mind. A renewal, if you will, of my mind. Because originally, I would ride up to a log or a 6″ ledge and stop. How is it possible to climb up such an obstacle?

While I was not riding, I was still riding. Within my mind. What I allowed into my mind re-shaped how I responded to a situation.

An Example from Someone Else’s Life

I’m not alone in this experience. Last year, on our anniversary trip, we listened to a book by Josh Waitzkin called The Art of Learning. My ears could not believe it when I heard my experience mirroring his when he injured his arm right before a martial arts competition. I thought I was unique in what had happened. And crazy for thinking such things. How can I fundamentally change how I respond in a situation only by what rolls around in my head?

The How of Renewing the Mind

What is my responsibility in renewing my mind? With the author having painted this image in Ephesians, Colossians, and Romans, all with the same brush-strokes of words: put off (or the more extreme put to death), put on, and renew, we can tell Paul’s heart about this for his spirit-children. Repetition indicates weight and importance.

In each letter, being renewed is passive. However, we can with confidence say that sleeping with a Bible for a pillow is not the passivity that Paul is encouraging. Proximity does not provide benefit in itself. So what is Paul instructing his audiences to do?

Still wondering about that put on from our passage…

Hah! Which actually is what Paul is telling the early church to do. Test. Discern. Know the creator. Positioning myself to encounter truth will shape my heart. Studying it and being knowledgeable about my creator will allow me to train my heart. What I absorb (whether it’s the culture’s new norms, mountain bike videos, or whatever) will conform me in some way.

Tense of Renewal

Do you remember that Mounce defined the present tense as indicating a continuous action? I’m wondering if this also plays a role in understanding the how of renewal. Being renewed is an ongoing process. It isn’t like the perfect where the action has taken place once for all and has continuing implications. The renewal of the mind needs to happen and happen. Isn’t that something to chew on for a while?

Wrap Up

There was a lot going on in this Bite as we investigated the contrast between Gentiles and Christ-followers. Our Bible Study Bite today is to remember that lists can be helpful. I can’t emphasize that enough. Even if making them seems mundane, laying out the data and comparing will clarify and help us to slow down enough to consider Paul’s words.

For example, when Paul tells us that Christ-followers had a former life, what life was that? Specifically? When we have written out a list of the non-Christ-follower that clearly defines what we once were, does that change our opinions of ourselves? And then when we remember that we aren’t living that life now because we’ve heard about Christ, were taught in Christ, and now are part of a different group, how is there a swagger in our spirits?

Especially when we keep the whole letter in mind and remember that it wasn’t our doing that took us from the one group and inserted us into the other. Lists give us a way to tangibly interact with the text. Try it! See if it’s true.

Thanks for studying with me today. If you find our time together valuable, please sign up for emails to be notified of new articles and please share with your fellow students of the Word. It would help me out.

1. William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan 2003), p 299.
2. Pierce, L. (n.d.). Tense Voice Mood. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
3. William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan 2003), p 299.
4. William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan 2003), p 225.
5. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 12:2). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
6. Colossians 3:5–10 (ESV)