Avoiding Pointless Living (Part 1 of 2)

Practical Christian Living from Ephesians 1-3

We're continuing to look at practical Christian living, taking the meaty portions from Ephesians 1 through 3 and seeing how they play out in our lives. Understanding predestination, being sealed with the Holy Spirit—these truths affect the way we live.

Recall last week's themes: the Word of God equips us through prophets, apostles, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers for the work of ministry. It's not my job or the elders' or teachers' to do the work of ministry—it's yours. The Scripture you've received equips you to minister to each other.

Ministry coincides with holiness. Sin hinders ministry, so we must diligently remove sin to be effective. Tonight, Paul shows what pointless living looks like and how to avoid it—not just in church or ministry, but in every area of life.

Paul, as an apostle and prisoner for our sake, is interested in the totality of our lives, even our minds, to make us more like Christ. He's not domineering; he wants every aspect conformed to Jesus for God's glory.

Yet we risk pointless activities leading to sinful living. Mundane, earthly living isn't Christian living. There's spiritual, heavenly, Christian living. Our text gives an extreme call, and praise God for Christ and grace to meet it.

This might leave us bored with the world, distracted by God's holiness—daydreaming about it at work or school. Concern for God's holiness excels in all areas for His glory. Instead of wandering to fashions, movies, or games, fix your mind on God's immensity, holiness, and pleasure in Christ. Paul even calls us to imitate God.

The Text: Ephesians 4:17-24

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Three Lifestyles: Two Bad, One Good

There are two bad lifestyles that merge into one: pointless living. People do purposeless, valueless, useless things providing no benefit. Pointless living leads to sinful living. Consistent pointlessness always results in sin.

The opposite is Christian living: purposeful, meaningful, valuable—avoiding sin. Imagine two people sliding down a cliff. The purposeful one grabs a branch to stop; the pointless one slides off cluelessly.

Equipped Christians build up the body toward maturity, stability, and avoidance of deceit and pointless living.

Illustration: Deceived by Pointless Living

When I was younger, I spilled Planters cheese balls in my mom's nasty van—full of sweaty soccer socks and teenage grime. I picked them up, contaminated with floor molecules, and put them back in the container. A friend ate some, unaware. Her face twisted in disgust when she learned the truth.

She was deceived, like a misleading commercial. Pointless activity deceives us into thinking it's pleasurable and good, but it's harmful—like those preserved cheese balls masking filth.

Characteristics of Pointless Living

Verse 18: Darkened in understanding—spiritually dense, lacking intelligence in kingdom matters. Alienated from the life of God Himself, not just godliness.

Hard-hearted, stubborn like Pharaoh amid plagues—ignoring right and wrong.

Verse 19: Callous—numb to sin, like a rough, unfeeling foot callus. They give themselves up to sensuality (license to sin), greedy for every impurity—unsatisfiable thirst clawing at sin.

Pointless living leads to giving up the fight against sin, craving it instead—like blind men groping for sin in Sodom.

Recognizing Pointless Living

Paul gives an example: Don't walk as the Gentiles do, in futility of mind. Examine if your life mirrors unbelievers' pointless activity. We're in the world but not of it—a distinct difference.

Too many Christians mimic the world in dating, church, relationships. Church shouldn't make non-Christians comfortable; the Word exposes sin as a mirror, making them feel like sinners—that's good, driving them to Christ.

Hiding sin isn't dealing with it—like pushing dirt under a rug. It only appears clean.

The Remedy: How You Learned Christ

Verse 20: This is not how you learned Christ. You didn't find Christ in pointless, worldly living or immorality. Every testimony is: God saved me from sin through the gospel—by prophets, apostles, preachers equipping saints.

If that's not how you learned Christ, don't live that way. Live Christ the way you learned Him: purposefully, for His glory.

Understanding Salvation and the Gospel's Call to Change

It’s difficult for us to grasp that it wasn’t compelling circumstances in sin that brought us to Christ, but the sovereign grace of God. Through pointless living, we may misunderstand the circumstances of our salvation, resorting to talking about things that are ultimately pointless. Christ teaches us the gospel, and that’s how we become Christians. In learning the gospel, several things take place.

Christ teaches us in the gospel not to continue living the way we were. A common misunderstanding today is that God loves us as we are, with no need to change. People say He’s a loving God, not confrontational—a gentleman—who saves us while it’s okay to remain as we are. That’s not the gospel if you’ve truly heard about Christ. The Jesus who saves gives us an entirely new way of life—completely changed, a total renovation.

With that gospel, He teaches us to stop the old way of life, put off the old self, and put on the new self. We are to be renewed, grow, and move away from pointless, sinful living that is unsatisfying and depressing. That’s what the gospel teaches. Salvation is Christ saying, “Come out of the tomb like Lazarus—stop living as a dead person and start living as a live person.”

Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New

In verse 22, Paul says, “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt according to the deceitful desires.” The old life is corrupt, full of deceitful desires—like planters cheese balls on the floor of a van. It’s all a problem.

Ephesians 4:22 – “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt according to the deceitful desires.”

Verse 24 says, “put on the new self.” Verse 23 bridges them: “be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” Change the way you think. This has huge implications for our free time and every area of life. In moments with nothing to do, put off old desires and thinking. Start thinking like the new self—like the equipped Christian. You have the mind of Christ now, the ability to think Christ-like.

There’s gospel motivation here: Christ died because of your old way of life, so your new way could be His way.

Practical Steps: You Already Have the New You

This passage beautifully states that you already have the new you. You don’t need to do something to get it—you have it now in your wardrobe. Every morning, you wake up and put on the old you, living pointlessly. But there’s another outfit: the new you, for purposeful, meaningful, valuable living.

Are you excited to see the new you? What would you look like in it? There’s continual action—putting off the old self every day and putting on the new. We know the old self’s pointlessness through experience and theology. But the new you offers something enjoyable and satisfying every day, pleasing to God. The spoiler: the new you looks a lot more like Christ.

The old you is unsatisfied, sinful, pointless. The new you experiences more of the sinless Son of God, whom the Father is well pleased with—permanent joy as He endured hostility from sinners to save you. Christ endured worse torture than in movies like Unbroken, yet with joy. That’s yours in the life of Christ.

Putting Off and Putting On in Daily Life

Much of this will be detailed next week, but consider these: Engaging in no spiritual activity guarantees pointless living. Ignoring Scripture leads there. Many call activities “purposeful” or “spiritual,” but they have no biblical point.

No consistent prayer, no scripture reading, memorization, or loving Scripture—not just reading, but chewing on it like spiritual food, savoring it. Without that, you end up in pointless living.

You were an amazing sinner—a professional at it. Righteous living? We don’t know how yet. That’s why we need equipping—to cease professional sinning and learn to be professional Christians.

Ask in any circumstance: What’s the point? It may make you seem snooty or super-spiritual, but ask anyway—even bug your parents. Why go to them all? Why watch that movie or TV show? Why surf the internet? Why vacation? It’s extreme, but is it problematic to enter eternity having missed out? God won’t say you missed the season premiere.

I’m not saying don’t have fun—ask why, find purpose. Is this renewing your mind or degrading it? Reverting to the old you, or engaging as the new? Can you make Christ famous through it, or is He pushed out because you don’t want His conviction?

On Sunday, you sing, “Where you go, I’ll go; who you love, I’ll love.” But some activities have no spiritual point for the new you—but out.

Don’t Get Discouraged: Continuation of Christian Living

Don’t get discouraged. Paul assumes Christians have ceased walking like the world and will continue. Verse 17—“now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do”—is not a command but a statement: This is what it’s like to be a Christian. It’s present tense—you’re starting to look like Christians. Being renewed in your mind, you’ll continue becoming less like them. Next week, more specific Pauline examples.