Ephesians 4:25-32 ESV
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
When we believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-given faith
in him, it is supposed to change our lives. We don’t just “get saved” once and
now all our sins are forgiven, and heaven is secured us, regardless of how we
live our lives. Yet, that appears to be what the majority these days are
teaching. Yet even if some are teaching that we must repent and follow Jesus
with our lives, oftentimes it is more of a suggestion or a recommendation, but
the adherents to that faith are still convinced that heaven is still their
home, regardless of how they live. Very few, it seems, teach that our walks
matter for eternity.
We read in the Scriptures that Jesus died that we might die
with him to sin and live to his righteousness (1 Peter 2:24), and that we might
now live for him and no longer for ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:15). He shed his
blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our
sinful lifestyles so that we can now honor him with our lives (1 Corinthians
6:19-20). And Jesus said that if we are to come after him that we must deny
self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self), and follow (obey)
him (Luke 9:23-26).
So, when we read these verses here in Ephesians 4, these
teachings here are not mere suggestions and recommendations that we can choose
to adhere to or not. We can’t just gloss over them and say, “Yadda, yadda,
yadda,” believing that what is being said here is unimportant or not necessary
or not required of us at all. For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that
cross so that we will die with him to sin and live to him and to his
righteousness, and so that we will forsake our lives of sin to now walk in
obedience to his commands in living holy lives, pleasing to God.
Therefore, if we are liars by practice, we must stop lying,
and we must now be truth tellers, and we are to speak the truth in love to one
another. And if we get angry, via righteous indignation, or via our natural
human emotions over something that is not right, we must pray through that
anger and give those situations over the Lord, and do what God requires of us,
and not remain angry, for anger held on to is likely to turn to bitterness and
resentment, and therefore that gives the devil a foothold in our lives.
If we have been in the practice of taking from others what
is not ours to have, we must stop that practice, and now we must be generous in
giving to others as they have legitimate need. And stealing from others is not
confined merely to physical possessions. It can be stealing their time via
manipulation and deception and trickery away from what is most important, and
perhaps even away from following the Lord with their lives. Or it could be via adultery
that you are stealing the hearts of others to whom you are not married and who
are married to others, etc. All this must cease!
Now all that is evil and that is practiced comes from the heart
of human beings, and if our hearts do not change, and if our thinking and
mindsets do not change, we are most likely to continue on the same old paths we
followed before. That is where our hearts will lead us every time. And the only
way to have a heart change is to believe on the Lord Jesus, in truth, and to
die with him to sin daily, to daily deny our flesh, and to choose daily to walk
in holiness and in righteousness, and in obedience to our Lord, regardless of
our circumstances or what anyone else is doing to us.
Then such things as corrupting talk will not be what
naturally comes out of our mouths. But another word on this subject here is what
goes to that old saying, “garbage in, garbage out.” For we become what we take
into our eyes and minds and ears on a daily basis. Some of that we have no
control over, I know, but a lot of that we do, especially if we are the ones
making those choices. So, if you are trying to do the “put offs” and “put ons,”
and it isn’t working, likely it is because of what you are allowing to be fed
into your minds and hearts, and because of what is now still in your hearts.
So, we must stop taking in garbage. And all the garbage that
is stored up in our hearts, if this is our situation, must come out and be gotten
rid of. Sometimes it is required that we do a spiritual housecleaning if we
have gotten away from daily denying self and dying to sin. Sometimes we need
that spiritual renewal if we have gotten off course and if our minds and
lifestyles have drifted away from where we know we need to be. But if the old
is cleaned out, and if it is not replaced with the new, in practice, the old is
most likely to creep right back in and to take over.
So, how do we grieve the Holy Spirit? Well some of that should
be obvious. If we allow sinful attitudes and behaviors in our lives, and if what
we are storing up in our hearts and minds is of the devil, and not of God, and
if it is of this sinful flesh, and not of the Spirit, then, again, what is
stored up inside of us is what is going to be produced in how we live, and in
how we speak, and in our attitudes, and in how we treat others. For it is out
of our hearts that come evil thoughts, murder,
adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander (Luke 6:45; Matthew
15:17-20). That grieves the Spirit!
So, if necessary, do a spiritual inventory of your life.
Pray and ask the Lord to show you what needs to go and what needs to be there,
instead. And some of that should be obvious. Then do a spiritual house cleaning
and get rid of everything you know is leading you into sin, and then put the
right things into your minds and hearts and start saying “No!” to sin and “Yes!”
to God in the power of God’s Spirit living within you (see Titus 2:11-14). And
this is an everyday thing to deny self and to die to sin and then to follow our
Lord in obedience and in surrender to his will. And you have to be serious!
Put Offs and Put
Ons: [Matt 5:27-30; Matt 7:21-23; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co
6:9-10; Gal 5:16-24; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-11; 1 Thes 4:1-8; 1 Tim
4:7; Titus 2:11-14; Heb 12:1-17; 1 Pet 1:14; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn
2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
An Original Work / December 18, 2013
“About
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other
prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84
Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.
I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!
Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.
I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!
Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!
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