December 17 2025

Wednesday December 17

Therefore, We Live Differently

Ephesians 4:17-19

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Today we’re continuing our study of Ephesians 4:17–19. In these verses, the Apostle Paul shows us the difference between a saved person and a lost person—between someone who is on their way to heaven and someone who is still on the path to condemnation and an eternity without Jesus Christ, a terrible place called hell. There is a difference, and that difference should be evident in our lives.

Jesus made this clear when He spoke to the church at Laodicea. He said, “I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15–16). God wants us to be hot Christians—not cold, and certainly not lukewarm. In other words, God would rather someone not claim to be a believer at all than to claim Christ and fail to live like it. That kind of profession qualifies a person as a hypocrite and turns others away from the gospel of Jesus Christ. God desires honesty and wholehearted devotion. He wants us to be either hot or cold. My friend, when you are hot for God—when you are truly following after Him—you live a different kind of life.

That is why Paul, after describing the wonderful blessings we have as believers in Christ in chapters 1 through 3 and the first part of chapter 4, now says, “That ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk” (Ephesians 4:17). He is saying, “Don’t live the way you used to live. Walk and live differently, because now you can think differently.” Remember in verses 17 through 19, Paul focused on the mind. He explains that the lost person’s “understanding [is] darkened” and that they are “alienated from the life of God” (Ephesians 4:18).

As believers, we now think differently because we have been enlightened by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have come to know the truth of who Jesus really is. We now see life from a completely different perspective, and our desire is no longer to please self or Satan, but to please the Lord. Paul goes on to say that the lost person walks “in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17). Their life is empty and without purpose. It is vain—lacking true meaning.

Their understanding is darkened. Proverbs 4:19 says, “The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.” What a tragedy that is—to walk through life in darkness, never realizing what you’re stumbling over. Paul explains that this condition exists “because of the ignorance that is in them” (Ephesians 4:18). The lost person cannot see the truth. They are blind to the Word of God because they are still living in spiritual darkness.

Jesus addressed this clearly in John 3. He said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Then He went on to say: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:19–21).

In other words, the lost person lives in darkness. He is spiritually blind. 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” It is not that they cannot believe—it is that they choose not to believe. They choose self, the world, the flesh, and sin over what God desires for them. Their hearts do not desire to do what pleases God. So we see the terrible condition of a lost person. Their understanding is darkened. They are alienated from the life of God. Because of the ignorance that is in them, they have no true knowledge of spiritual truth—they cannot see it.

It is the hardness of the heart that keeps a person from opening their eyes to see who God really is. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” When we live without God, our hearts are blinded by sin and by Satan. We walk in darkness, not realizing what we stumble over. We begin to value what doesn’t truly matter. We focus on things that are temporal and passing away. We simply don’t understand—until we are born again and our lives are changed.

Jesus said it plainly: those who are born again can now see the kingdom of God. The Bible opens up. Spiritual truth becomes clear. Everything is different. My friend, this is what God desires for you and for me. I trust that today your eyes have been opened to see who Jesus really is—and that you are no longer walking as the Gentiles walk, no longer living as the lost live, but living differently.

God bless!