So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
My Understanding: As I prayerfully read through this passage of scripture, the Lord had me see that this second half of this chapter could be divided into three main sections:
• Where we were outside of Christ
• What it means to truly come to know Christ
• How the Christian life is to be lived out on a day-to-day basis
Where we were outside of Christ
This group of verses begins with an instruction to us to no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. Back in Bible times, before Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, there were Jews, who were God’s people, and there were Gentiles, who comprised all those who were non-Jews (not God’s people). Now God’s people are true believers in Jesus Christ, so Gentiles would, thus, be a term synonymous with non-believers (includes non-believing Jews). So, this could be paraphrased, thus, to read, “You must no longer live as non-believers do…”
So, we are not to live like we did before we believed in Jesus Christ, i.e. in futile (useless; pointless; fruitless) thinking, darkened (absence of light and truth; sinful; evil) understanding (insight; comprehension; awareness), and with hardened (cynical; unresponsive) hearts that turn away from God, separating us from the fruitful life in Christ Jesus we could have had, and separating us from true fellowship with God the Father. When we were non-believers in Jesus Christ, we (collectively) gave ourselves over to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. Now that we have come to know Christ, we should no longer live like we did when we were non-believers in Jesus.
What it means to truly come to know Christ
Next, this passage states that “You, however, did not come to know Christ that way.” What way? - The way spoken of in the previous paragraph. So, this could be paraphrased to read, “We did not come to know Christ by remaining in the dark spiritually, through hardened hearts that decide to live our own way, and through continuing to indulge in the sinful nature with a continual lust for more and more ways to sin against God.” So, how did we come to know Christ, then, if truly we do know him and are known by him?
We come to know Christ by 1) putting off our old selves and our former sinful ways of life, 2) by being made new in the attitude of our minds, and 3) by putting on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. This fits perfectly with an illustration the Lord gave me the other day of a stop sign, which means, “Stop, yield the right-of-way, then go in safety.” The Lord said to me that is what it is like to become a Christian, i.e. “Stop living a sinful lifestyle, yield the right-of-way to God in your life by making him your Lord, then go forward in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit living within and through your life.” “No!” some would protest, and would claim this is works-based salvation. So, let us look at other passages of scripture on this topic.
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Rom. 6:6-7).
“In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:11-12).
Notice this last verse says “done by Christ.” This is a working of Jesus Christ, of God the Father and of the Spirit of God in crucifying us and our sinful nature with Christ and then raising us up to new life in Christ Jesus. It is by grace we are saved through faith, and it is through our faith in the power of God to do this work of grace, and this work of putting off the sinful nature and being raised to new life in Christ Jesus, that we are saved. Thus, true faith has teeth to it, i.e. true faith is not just an intellectual assent or a prayer we pray at an altar or a set of religious rituals that we go through. True faith allows this working of the Holy Spirit within us in this putting off of our old selves and sin nature, in this being made new in the attitudes of our minds, and in this putting on of the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. So, one way of looking at this is that true faith means cooperating with God in allowing God to exert his power and authority in our lives in this process of transforming our lives from ones that live to please ourselves to ones that live to please God. This is a work of God’s grace, as we, by faith, appropriate it to our lives.
How the Christian life is to be lived out on a day-to-day basis
Ok, now that we have come to know Christ in the right way, i.e. in the way of putting off the old sin nature, being made new in the attitudes of our minds, and by putting on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, i.e. by his work of grace, power and authority over sin in our lives, and through genuine faith that appropriates that grace to our lives, we must continually allow God’s grace to crucify sin in our flesh and to transform us into his likeness on a day-to-day basis. Thus, this passage in Ephesians shows us the kinds of things we must put off, in Christ’s strength and power at work within us, and what kinds of things we must put on through that same working of God’s grace within us.
When I first learned the principles set forth in this 4th chapter of Ephesians, it was revolutionary for me. I had struggled with certain sin habits in my life, had confessed, repented, confessed, repented, etc. over and over again, but had never gained complete victory. It seemed as though I was at the altar on a regular basis. Then, I learned what this passage teaches with regard to sin, and in particular with regard to sinful habits. If I repent of a sin, and I genuinely in my heart determine not to do that sin again, but I never replace that sin habit with a godly habit, then, when trials and testings come, the “default” settings on my computer brain will kick back in to gear, and I am most likely to automatically respond with the old sinful way of responding. So, if all I ever do is stop sinning, and I don’t yield the right-of-way to God by making him Lord (Master) of my life, and I don’t walk daily in faith and fellowship with him in his power and strength within my life, then I am just a thief between jobs. When “the rubber meets the road,” I’ll just accept a “new job.”
This passage, thus, teaches us that if our sin is lying, that we must stop lying and we must tell the truth (we must become truth tellers). If our sin is speaking in a distasteful, offensive, hateful, disgusting and/or nasty manner that is harmful to others, then we need to stop speaking that way and instead we need to say what is helpful for building others up (encouraging) according to their needs (necessities; essentials), that it may benefit (help; assist) those who listen. If our sin is stealing, we should stop stealing, we should work, doing something useful, so that we may have the opportunity to share with those in need. In place of bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice, we must be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave us. And, in so doing, we will not grieve (sadden; afflict pain; distress) the Holy Spirit of God, whose desire for us is that we live free from the control of and bondage to sin, because sin hurts us and it hurts others and when we hurt, God hurts for us. Jesus died to set us free, so we don’t have to live according to the flesh any longer.
The passage also says, “In your anger do not sin.” Yet, it lists “anger” as one of the sins, so there must be anger that is not sin, but could lead to sin, and there must be sinful anger, too, that is the result of un-dealt-with sin within us. I have always been taught that emotions (not our responses to our emotions) are A-moral, i.e. they are neither good nor bad. That is why the scripture tells us to be angry but not to sin. Anger is an emotion given to us by God to let us know that something is wrong that needs to be addressed. It is how we respond to that initial emotion of anger that makes it a sin or not a sin.
I feel anger in my heart because of something that is in my heart, which can be righteousness getting angry with injustice, cruelty, and hypocritical and harsh treatment of other people, etc., i.e. the same things that Jesus got angry about. Thus, the emotion of anger is to bring this injustice to my attention so that I can pray over it and ask God for direction in what he would have me do about it. Or, I can feel anger in my heart due to my own selfishness, pride, unforgiveness, bitterness, false expectations, etc. If the root of my emotion of anger is rooted in my own sin, I must repent of my sin and turn from it. Then, the emotion of anger served its purpose in pointing out to me a sin root that needed to be uprooted. Yet, if my response to the anger is to further sin, then I must repent of that, too.
Yet, in all these things, we must realize that it is the working of God’s grace and the Holy Spirit within us that does the transforming by his power at work within us as we yield the right-of-way to God in making him Lord (Master) and by allowing him to do his work.
Were It Not for Grace / Larnelle Harris
Were it not for grace
I can tell you where I’d be
Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running but losing this race
Were it not for grace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkASXisY9hQ
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