Ephesians 4:20-21

“You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.”

In verses 17 to 19, Paul describes the depravity of the Gentile unbelievers. living in darkness and ignorance, and therefore slaves to every form of sensuality with a lust for more.

now Paul says, ”You did not come to Christ that way.” In other words, their knowledge of Christ is the light that broke through their ignorance and changed their thinking and behaviour.

before we were saved, we may not have had any knowledge or interest in the person of Jesus Christ. His name, the Name above all names, may have just been a meaningless swear word. If we thought about Him in anyway, we might have assumed he was just a person like us.

but, Paul reminds us, Jesus was not a person just like everybody else. He certainly was not a person who lived in the depravity of thinking that Paul has described.

as we get to know Jesus, as we are taught in him, so our understanding of Jesus grows. We see a life lived in simplicity and holiness.

Paul now offers us a choice of two lifestyles - that of the unsaved Gentiles marked by sin and self-direction, or the life of Jesus marked by holiness and God- direction. These two diametrically opposed and cannot be mixed together .

to follow Jesus is not to adopt some kind of religious ideology or theory. Christianity must never be understood as merely a set of dogmas. Following Jesus or being “ in Christ” means that our lifestyle and worldview must undergo radical changes so that we live, speak, and think in a way that is consistent with the way of Christ.

to be “taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus” means firstly, a teaching of facts. The historic Creeds were an attempt to describe the basics of what Christians believe.

The facts, by themselves are not enough. We need to remember that we are following a person. This truth that is in Jesus must be seen in the words and actions of Jesus. in particular, we must absorb the reality of his death on the cross. The gospels show this clearly with each one describing incidents from the life of Jesus in the first half, and then moving to detailed descriptions of his trial, death, and resurrection in the second half.

to be a Christian, we must first know who Jesus is and why his death is important for us.

to follow Jesus we must also learn to have an ongoing personal relationship with him. This is the purpose of the Holy Spirit, given to us when we are born again.

christianity is about imitating Christ, becoming like the “Son of Man.” To do this, we need both the truth about who Jesus is and a personal connection with Him so that He can direct our daily walk.

key points in this verse:

• we did not come to know Jesus as a sinful person, but as the divine Son of God

• Christianity is more than a set of doctrines

• we need an ongoing personal relationship with Jesus in order to follow him.