If so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus. Ephesians 4:21 KJV
If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus. Ephesians 4:21 NASB
To say that Paul has employed very unusual terminology would be an understatement. First, his employment of the name “Jesus” is done sparingly and always with great purpose. But then he speaks of being taught by Him, learning of Him, and of His being the truth.
Conversion is certainly in view here as the verse earlier he speaks of us “learning Christ.” But more than conversion is in view, as he is talking about the “walk” or manner of life of the believer (4:17).
It may help to look at the background of the verse to gain some insight into the intention of the Spirit of God in directing Paul to so write. In verse 19 he concludes the dark past of our lives by telling us that the result of minds and lives apart from God can be summed up in three words: lasciviousness, uncleanness, greediness. We were marked by the indecent, impure, and insatiable. The sequence of events leading to this tragic sordid life begins in verse 17 with the statement that we walked in the “vanity of our minds.” It ends with the condition at which we are now looking.
Against this background, we are told of the dramatic change which has occurred with conversion. The truth we have come to know was embodied in a life lived down here amongst men. That life was the life of Jesus.
Everything about Him contrasts with what is given in verses 17-19. His was a mind that was selfless in every way (Phil 2); There was no hardness of heart or insensitivity to others. But it is the final three to which I would draw your attention – the indecency, impurity, and greediness with which all was pursued by natural man.
In Him, there was nothing indecent. His sensitivity caused Him to bow His head and not look upon the shamed woman in John 8. His sense of mercy did not confront the woman at the well immediately with her sin but patiently worked with her until she owned it herself. He embodied the principle highlighted by Paul in v15, “speaking the truth in love.”
There was never impurity in His ways or motives. He did not do good that it might be returned to Him. All that He did took character from His virtues. He was pure within and without; no spot externally, no blemish exposing inward corruption. The eye of men saw nothing impure and the eye of God, peering within saw only beauty.
The greediness condemned in verse 19 is an insatiable desire for more indecency and impurity. Listen to the inspired record and learn what He “greedily” ran after: “Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity” (Heb 1:9). “I will run in the way of Thy commandments” (Ps 119:32). Truth has been displayed in one life and one life alone: “the truth in Jesus.” He is the Theme, Teacher, and Truth.
Consider:
Look through Ephesians and see the varied places where the Lord Jesus is the standard or example for our lives and relationships.