[5.
Practical Exhortation (Ephesians 4:17-21).
(1) THE NEW LIFE; first, taught in Christ and learning Christ; and secondly, regenerate in Him to the image of God (Ephesians 4:17-24).
(2) HENCE THE POWER OF CONQUEST OF SIN GENERALLY —
(a)
Falsehood (Ephesians 4:25);
(b)
Passionate anger (Ephesians 4:26-27);
(c)
Dishonesty (Ephesians 4:28);
(d)
Foulness of word (Ephesians 4:29-30);
(3) HENCE ITS POWER AGAINST THE SPECIAL BESETTING SINS OF —
(a)
Bitterness and malice, unworthy of the love of Christ (Ephesians 4:31-32, and Ephesians 5:1-2);
(b)
Fornication and lust, unworthy of the light of Christ (Ephesians 5:3-14);
(c)
Recklessness and drunken excitement (Ephesians 5:15-21).]
(1) In Ephesians 4:17-24 we enter on the practical section of the Epistle, which, indeed, appears to begin in Ephesians 4:1, but is broken in upon by the magnificent digression of the doctrinal summary of Ephesians 4:4-16. It opens with a striking contrast of the past and the present — the life of the heathen in its “vanity,” with the two-fold result of blindness and callousness of soul; and the Christian life, which has in learning Christ found the secret of regeneration.