John Calvin Commentary Ephesians 4:17

"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind," — Ephesians 4:17 (ASV)

This I say therefore. The government which Christ has appointed for the edification of his church has now been considered. He next inquires what fruits the doctrine of the gospel ought to yield in the lives of Christians; or, if you prefer, he begins to explain minutely the nature of that edification that ought to follow doctrine.

That you from now on do not walk in vanity. He first exhorts them to renounce the vanity of unbelievers, arguing from its inconsistency with their present views. That those who have been taught in the school of Christ, and enlightened by the doctrine of salvation, should follow vanity, and in no respect differ from those unbelieving and blind nations on whom no light of truth has ever shone, would be singularly foolish. On this ground he very properly calls upon them to demonstrate, by their life, that they had gained some advantage by becoming the disciples of Christ. To impart to his exhortation the greater earnestness, he beseeches them by the name of God—this I say and testify in the Lord,—reminding them that if they despised this instruction, they must one day give an account.

As other Gentiles walk. He means those who had not yet been converted to Christ. But at the same time, he reminds the Ephesians how necessary it was that they should repent, since by nature they resembled lost and condemned men. The miserable and shocking condition of other nations is presented as the motive for a change of disposition. He asserts that believers differ from unbelievers, and points out, as we shall see, the causes of this difference. With regard to the former, he accuses their mind of vanity: and let us remember that he speaks generally of all who have not been renewed by the Spirit of Christ.

In the vanity of their mind. Now, the mind holds the highest rank in the human constitution, is the seat of reason, presides over the will, and restrains sinful desires, so that our theologians of the Sorbonne are in the habit of calling her the Queen. But Paul makes the mind to consist of nothing but vanity; and, as if he had not expressed his meaning strongly enough, he gives no better title to her daughter, the understanding.

Such is my interpretation of the word διανοία; for, though it signifies the thought, yet, as it is in the singular number, it refers to the thinking faculty. Plato, about the close of his Sixth Book on a Republic, assigns to διανοία an intermediate place between νόησις and πίστις, but his observations are so entirely confined to geometrical subjects as not to admit of application to this passage.

Having formerly asserted that men see nothing, Paul now adds that they are blind in reasoning, even on the most important subjects.

Let men now go and be proud of free will, whose guidance is here marked by such deep disgrace. But experience, we will be told, is openly at variance with this opinion, for men are not so blind as to be incapable of seeing anything, nor so vain as to be incapable of forming any judgment.

I answer that, with respect to the kingdom of God and all that relates to the spiritual life, the light of human reason differs little from darkness. For before it has pointed out the road, it is extinguished; and its power of perception is little more than blindness, for before it has reached the fruit, it is gone.

The true principles held by the human mind resemble sparks, but these are choked by the depravity of our nature before they have been applied to their proper use.

All men know, for instance, that there is a God and that it is our duty to worship him. But such is the power of sin and ignorance that from this confused knowledge, we pass all at once to an idol and worship it in the place of God. And even in the worship of God, this leads to great errors, particularly in the first table of the law.

As to the second objection, our judgment does indeed agree with the law of God regarding mere outward actions, but sinful desire, which is the source of all evil, escapes our notice.

Besides, Paul does not speak merely of the natural blindness which we brought with us from the womb, but refers also to a still deeper blindness by which, as we will afterwards see, God punishes former transgressions.

We conclude by observing that the reason and understanding which men naturally possess make them inexcusable in the sight of God. However, as long as they allow themselves to live according to their natural disposition, they can only wander, and fall, and stumble in their purposes and actions.

Hence, it appears what estimation and value false worship must have in the sight of God when it proceeds from the gulf of vanity and the maze of ignorance.