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.

Ephesians 4:17-24

Paul begins this section by telling his reader not to walk as the Gentiles do.  Now, this may be a bit confusing since we don't really refer to Jews and Gentiles anymore.  It is also confusing because many of us are Gentiles and some of us Gentiles are followers of Jesus and wouldn't be doing the things Paul describes the Gentiles to be doing.  However, AMP adds a distinction in their translation, "that you must no longer live as the [unbelieving] Gentiles live".  Now, this makes a little more sense to me because I'd assume that for the most part, believing Gentiles do not live like these Gentiles that Paul is describing here.  Though it is true that we all sin, followers of Jesus live differently.

Beginning to read here starting in verse 18, I am reminded by what Paul has mentioned earlier in this letter.  Talking about the depravity of unbelieving Gentiles is similar to the previous lives of followers of Jesus in chapter 2.  They really are lost and moving in a direction that is opposed to God rather than for him.  This way is different from the way that believers learned about Christ.  The teaching about Christ is in opposition to the way unbelieving Gentiles live.  Paul lays out what the teaching of Christ consists of: "to put off your old self", "to be renewed in the spirit of your minds", and "to put on the new self".  It is very clear that those who desire those things the unbelieving Gentiles do are not following the way of Jesus.  Even more so is the fact professing followers of Jesus who live like unbelieving Gentiles are in opposition to the initial (and core?) teaching that they first learned about Christ.