Ephesians 4:18-24 English Standard Version (ESV)
18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Key to verse 21 is “assuming that you have heard”. It is critical to understand that we have to do our own hearing of the Spirit of Truth. Others can only assume we hear, they cannot do that for us. One of the most telling statements heard in bible study is “I don’t get it!” That is a confession that they are having a difficult time hearing the Spirit of Truth.
The reason we assume others have heard is because when we accept Jesus into our hearts and make Him the Lord of our lives, the Father sends the Holy Spirit. We are mindful that He wants to be heard, He wants to lead us in truth. He also knows how best to reach each and every one of us in a way we are willing to accept. He will not force Himself on us. We need to be willing recipients. We do not know what is blocking anyone else’s ability to hear with those spiritual ears.
One blocker could be a wall of lies so ingrained in the mind that those walls need to be torn down brick by brick. Pink Floyd in the album The Wall identifies those bricks as thought control. They weren’t wrong.