New Man (Ephesians 4:17-24 NLT)

17 With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that isn't what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God--truly righteous and holy.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Apostle Paul write to his readers under the Lord's authority? (v.17a)
2) Why are some gentiles confused? (v.17b-19)
3) What does the apostle write concerning the disciples of Christ? (v.20-21)
4) What does Paul encourage his readers to do instead? (v.22-23)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have you "thrown off" the old man and put on the "new nature"? If so, how do you know?
6) Do you personally know of any professing believer who is overcome by the darkness within him/her/them? If so, what, if anything do you do to help him/her/them?

LIFE LESSONS
7) Putting off the "old" nature and putting on the "new" nature can only be done through the grace of God and in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.

Saved by Grace (Ephesians 2:1-10 NLT)

1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil--the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.


OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) How does the Apostle Paul describe our condition before we were saved and why we were in that condition? (v.1-3)
2) What did God do for us when we were still dead in our sins? Why? (v.4-7)
3) Who is responsible for our becoming new creations in Christ? (v.8-10)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) How do you know that God brought you out of darkness into His marvelous light?

LIFE LESSONS
5) After the Lord has saved us there is an undeniable and noteworthy change within us that cannot be attributed to human effort or willpower.