Ephesians 4:13–24

¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, ⁿgrowing into a mature man with a stature ^omeasured by Christ’s fullness. ¹⁴Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, ^pby human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head ^q—Christ. ¹⁶From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together ^rby every supporting ligament, promotes the growth ^sof the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.

Living the New Life

¹⁷Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity ^twith a desire for more and more. ^u

²⁰But that is not how you learned about the Messiah, ²¹assuming you heard about Him and were taught by Him, because the truth ^vis in Jesus. ²²You took off ^wxyour former way of life, ^ythe old self ^zathat is corrupted by deceitful desires; ²³you are being renewed ^bin the spirit ^cof your minds; ²⁴you put on ^dethe new self, the one created ^faccording to God’s likeness ^gin righteousness and purity of the truth.