When the Old Clothes Don’t Fit Anymore

Ephesians 4:17–32

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to try to live the Christian life without actually living from the new heart Christ has given us.

In Ephesians 4, Paul says something that’s been pressing deeply on my own heart: “Put off your old self… be renewed in the spirit of your minds… and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God.” This is more than just behavior change. It’s transformation from the inside out. And it’s not casual—it’s costly. It’s a call to die to what was and live in what’s now true of us in Christ.

But here’s the thing—I still reach for the old clothes sometimes. The old reactions, old attitudes, old ways of self-protection or self-promotion. Maybe you do too. And the truth is, they don’t fit anymore. They feel familiar, but they’ve grown stiff, heavy, and lifeless. Christ has given me something new. A new heart. A new identity. A new way of being human.

And yet—I can’t walk in this new life by willpower alone. I need grace. Real grace. Not just to forgive, but to transform. Not just to save me from sin, but to teach me how to live free. Titus 2 says that grace trains us—it’s like a patient parent, showing us how to walk, how to stand, how to become who we already are in Christ.

This is our invitation: not to live pressured by rules, but drawn by love. To put off the old because Jesus is better. To speak truth, pursue peace, forgive boldly, and build up the church—not because we’re trying to earn anything, but because we’ve already been given everything in Christ. We live from it.

There’s grace for today. Grace to walk in the new. Grace to lay down what doesn’t belong anymore. Grace to live out of our new hearts. Grace to experience His presence and receive new affections.

(based on a sermon I preached at Bridgeway Church on July 27th, 2025)