Ephesians 4:25-29 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.”
1. What things here are we told we must put off?
2. What things here are we told that we must put on?
3. How do we accomplish these put offs and put ons?
4. Why is it essential that we do what this instructs us here to do?
Lies versus Truth
We who are followers of Jesus Christ are not to be liars. We are not even to tell what some people call “white lies”. And we are not to tell people half-truths, which are lies, if we do so knowing that what we are spreading are lies, and/or if we do so deliberately with the intention to deceive. And we are also not to give people false impressions, which are misimpressions, which are indirect lies. And we are not to be those who leave out pertinent information in order to mislead people to what we want them to believe.
For we who are followers of Christ are to be truth tellers. Now this is not saying that we have to spill out everything we know about everyone and everything. But withholding information from someone to whom it is due is a lie. For this is one of the big means of deception, which is to keep back information that is necessary to proper decision making, and especially as is pertinent to our salvation from sin and eternal life with God. We are to be people of God who speak the truth in love to one another, and not the lies.
Anger and Sin
The emotion of anger is not a sin. God gives us that emotion to move us to some kind of action. But it can be sinful if the anger is based in what is sinful. For example, if we get angry and lose our temper easily with others because we are selfish and prideful people, or because of bitterness and resentment and unforgiveness stored up in our hearts, or because we are living in sin and either we feel guilty or we are resentful towards those who are not walking in sin but who are walking in holiness and obedience to God.
For we are to be angry and sin not. We can feel anger, which may stem from the bad that is stored up in our hearts, which makes it sinful, or we can be angry more with a righteous indignation towards what we know is evil and is wrong and is harmful to others. Like God hates lies. I hate lies. I sometimes get angry when I am being lied to because lies are wrong and they are hurtful. But then I have a choice to forgive or to let it turn to resentment and bitterness and unforgiveness. So I choose to forgive, but not to approve.
Thieving versus Giving
We who are followers of Christ are not to be people who take from others what is not ours to take. Now this can be material possessions, or it can be the credit for things we did not do or write, or it can be the trust of other people, or the hearts and minds of people over whom we have influence. Or it can involve taking a wife or a husband from her or his spouse. For stealing isn’t just taking people’s physical possessions, but it is taking anything from them that is not ours to possess.
So, we are to be honest people who earn our own way, who are faithful and who are trustworthy and who do not cheat other people out of anything. And then we are to be generous with what God has provided for us with those who are in legitimate need. But this involves prayerful discernment since there are so many scam artists out there. Those of us with compassionate hearts are easy targets for the masses of liars and deceivers out there who are tricking people to give to something that is not legitimate.
Corruption versus Encouragement
Now “corrupting talk” is not just filthy language, but it is dishonest speech, and it has to do with altering and falsifying and manipulating and tampering with and perverting something. Its meaning is to cause to become morally depraved. It means to cause errors, to infect, to contaminate. And this is largely being done in the “church” via preachers who are diluting and altering the truth of the gospel in order to appease the flesh, and for the purpose to attract the ungodly of this world to their gatherings.
But this should not be! Instead, we are to be speaking the truth in love, one to the other, so that we are not led astray by these liars and deceivers in their craftiness, and cunningness, and deceitful scheming. And so we are not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And so that we don’t go astray, and so that we don’t fall into the devil’s traps. But so that we all grow to maturity in Christ as the body of Christ functions as God intended, with each part working properly according to the will of God for our lives.
Deception versus Grace
And this is so that we say to others what gives grace to those who hear. And what is God’s grace? It was Jesus dying on the cross, putting our sins to death with him so that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. And it was so that we would be raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And it is that we might now live for Christ and no longer for ourselves, and that we might now honor him with our lives.
[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]
God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, trains us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and fleshly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works, which are the works God prepared for us to walk in them (see Titus 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:10). For if sin is what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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