In the first phrase of verse 17, there is a word that beckons to focus our attention backward. It is the word “therefore.” Anytime you see “therefore” in the Bible, you should stop and see what it is “there for.”
This word calls our minds back to what Paul has been teaching us about our high calling in Christ Jesus. Because we have been given all the benefits mentioned in verses 1-16, we are not to be like the lost, pagan Gentiles who live around us. What benefits is Paul talking about?
- Our calling to “salvation by grace” through faith, vv. 1-3.
- Our unity in the body of Christ, vv. 3-6.
- Our unique gifting by the Holy Spirit to serve the Lord and His church for His glory, vv. 7-10.
- Our being built up through the ministries of gifted individuals in the church, vv. 11-16.
Because we have been given all these advantages, and made the partaker of such gifts from God, we are to walk in a manner that is different from the world around us.
In the verses that are before us today, we are called to A New Walk For A New Life. Paul issues some very specific challenges for all those who are saved. These challenges teach us how we are to walk, and how we are to be different from those who have not been saved.
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