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.”
Ephesians 4:17 ESV
Today’s verse parallels Romans 1:18-24, with emphasis on verse 21, which reads;
“For although they knew God they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
The Helps Word Studies from the Dictionary Bible gives us good insight into the condition and meaning of futile ~
Cognate: 3153 mataiótēs (a noun) – aimlessness because lacking purpose or any meaningful end; nonsense because transitory. See 3152 (mátaios).
3152 mátaios (an adjective, derived from 3155/mátēn, "without purpose or ground") – properly, aimless (vain), without purpose; (figuratively) without profit or basis – hence fleeting (transitory), ineffectual ("groundless").
3152/mataios ("aimless") emphasizes the "absence of purpose or failure to attain any true purpose" (Moulton and Milligan). 3152 (mataios) refers to what is "vain, unreal, ineffectual, unproductive" (Souter).
3152/mataios ("futile because aimless") is the opposite of what is intelligent. It describes someone who builds their house on sand – "chasing the wind" ("pursuing one's own shadow") (so Gregory of Nyssa). 3152 (mataios) is used in the LXX to translate "vanity" in Ecclesiastes (Heb hebel) – i.e. what is empty (amounts to "zero") because it is not fruitful.
Reading in context with these two portions of scripture, Ephesians 4:17-32 and Romans 1:18-24, we learn about the lies that enter through the lusts one carries. Hardness of heart ultimately produces impurities that lead to a wrong worship of our own vanities, instead of a worship of our Creator. What we worship, we serve. What we serve, we worship.
Ephesians describes it as the old self, which belongs to our former life (before Jesus), and describes it as corrupt through deceitful desires.
The Apostle Paul writes to the Romans, emphasizing that honouring God and giving Him thanks keeps one free from deception. Ephesians tells us we have been taught and learned Christ, as the truth is in Jesus, and must be renewed in the ‘spirit of our mind’. There is a mindset we are to hold, ‘let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,’ Phil 2:5.
The only one that has the power to change my mind is the Holy Spirit, illuminating the word. This always begins with a choice. I must believe that the word is true and hold a desire to be taught the truth. Falsehood, from Ephesians 4:25-32, begins a litany of the fruit that comes from futile thinking.
You can then understand the verses from 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ~
“If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Any place of unbelief has the potential to lead us away from God, but a love for the truth will keep us in peace, holding a sound mind, Hebrews 3:12; Isaiah 26:3; 2 Timothy 1:7.
In a day where culture holds a value for 'every man doing right in his own eyes’, how much greater is the need for His church to be so rooted and grounded in His truth that they are able to boldly live and proclaim truth in the midst of hostilities.
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.”