Ephesians 4:17-24
17 “So I say this, and affirm in the Lord, that you are to no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their minds, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves up to indecent behavior for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Excluded from the life of God: As universal as the Gospel offer is, according to Paul, salvation itself is not forced on anyone. All who reject Christ are excluded from eternal life. When we believe God replaces our hard heart with a new, righteous heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
But you did not learn Christ in this way: Believers are new and have been rescued from their former way of life. Our old selves were crucified with Christ, and we are now new creations (Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:21). This is what Paul has in mind when he speaks of laying aside the old self. The Greek verb “to lay aside” is an infinitive. Infinitives do not have a tense, so the tense needs to be derived from the previous part of the phrase. Paul speaks of these Christians as having learned, past tense, about Christ. Therefore, the verb “to lay” is referring to a past-tense event. The Ephesian Christians had already laid aside their old selves when they believed the Gospel.
Created in righteousness: The new self is righteous to the core. This is why Paul says elsewhere that Christians are slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18). Christians possess an innate and natural holiness.
