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When reading through the Old Testament, it becomes clear that there are many different people groups and cultures. There are the people of Israel, but also the Philistines, Moabites, Babylonians, and many, many more. Later in the New Testament, there are only two different people groups. A person was either a Jew, or a Gentile. Any individual from a nation or culture that wasn’t of Jewish decent was a Gentile.
But when the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 4:17, Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused, he is not focused primarily on one’s culture. Instead, he is simply differentiating between (1) the people of God (Christians), and (2) the ‘Gentiles’ (non-Christians).
The main point Paul was making is pretty clear. This was one of many instances in which he noted that as followers of Christ, we now think and live very differently than those who have not professed faith in Christ. As people of God, we now live as children of light. As people of God, we don’t harden our hearts against God. As people of God, we live in Christ, with our hearts open to His encouragement, care, and instruction.
READING & PRAYERS:
What are 2-3 ways you now think much differently than you did before you placed your faith in Christ?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, today I desire to simply rest in the truth that You are good, and in Your goodness You are shaping me into the person You have made me to be. Continue to remove the impurities in my life so that I may present my life as pure to the world around me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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