Ephesians 4:15
"But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all
things, which is the head, [even] Christ:"
“Speaking the
truth in love” is a principle that applies to every aspect of
Christian life and ministry. The verb translated “speaking the
truth” is aletheuo, which means to speak, deal or act truthfully.
Authentic, mature believers whose lives are marked by “love” will
not be victims of false teaching, verse 14, but will be living
authentically and proclaiming the true gospel to a deceived and
deceiving world.
Evangelism is most
effective when the truth is proclaimed in love. This can be
accomplished only by the spiritually mature believer who is
thoroughly equipped in sound doctrine. Without maturity, the truth
can be cold and love little more that sentimentality.
“Grow up … into
him”: Christians are to be completely yielded and obedient to the
Lord’s will, subject to His controlling power and Christ like in
all areas of their lives (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:21). “The Head”:
Given the picture of the church as a body whose head is Christ,
“head” is used in the sense of authoritative leader, not
“source,” which would have required a different anatomical
picture. See 1:22; 5:23.
Christ is the source
of power for all functions. Human beings are declared officially dead
when the EKG is flat, signifying brain death. As the brain is the
control center of physical life, so the Lord Jesus Christ is the
organic source of life and power to His body, the church.
In the last lesson,
we were discussing how we must be grounded in the Word of God to keep
from being carried away by false doctrine. There never was a time
when more false doctrine has been flying around than now. I believe
the nearer we get to the end of the Gentile age and the coming of
Christ, the more the false doctrine will be widespread.
We are warned that
there will be false Christ’s who will bring all kinds of false
doctrine.
Mark 13:22 "For
false Christ’s and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs
and wonders, to seduce, if [it were] possible, even the elect."
As we said in the
previous lesson, the only way not to be taken in by all of this is to
study your Bible and know it well. Jesus Christ is the head of the
church. We Christians are the church. We should not believe a lie. We
should be grounded in Truth.
Jesus is the Way,
the Truth, and the Life. If we are truly in Him and Him in us, we
will know and speak the Truth. Notice that we are to grow up in our
Christian walk. We are not to stay a babe in Christ.
Ephesians 4:16
"From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by
that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working
in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love."
“From whom”:
This refers to the Lord. Power for producing mature, equipped
believers comes not from the effort of those believers alone but from
their Head, the Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 2:19). Christ holds the body
together and makes it function by that which every joint supply.
That is to say, the
joints are points of constant, the joining together or union where
the spiritual supply, resources and gifts of the Holy Spirit pass
from one member to another, providing the flow of ministry that
produces growth.
“Effectual working
… of every part”: Godly, biblical church growth results from
every member of the body fully using his spiritual gift, in
submission to the Holy Spirit and in cooperation with other believers
(Col. 2:19).
“Fitly joined
together and compacted:” As He unites Christians with Himself,
Christ also brings them into a harmonious relationship with one
another. This harmonious relationship is accomplished “by that
which every joint supplieth” or, “by every supporting ligament.”
The spiritual gifts mentioned in verses 7-15 are figuratively likened
to the various “ligaments” of a body.
Removing this
figure, Christ joins believers together and unites them by the
divinely ordained ministries of Christians who possess diverse
spiritual gifts, which are exercised and used among believers for the
common good. The church’s spiritual growth, then, comes from Christ
through the believers’ ministry to one another as they employ their
spiritual gifts.
The church is the
body of Christ. We can not all be an arm, some must be a leg or even
a big toe. God has chosen you to fit into the body at the place you
will be of the most use. I like to think of the church as a great big
board that a puzzle will fit into. Each part plays a vital part. The
puzzle will not be complete, until each part takes its rightful
place.
This is true of the
body of Christ spoken of here, as well. Until each part of the body
takes its rightful place, you cannot have a completed body. Can you
imagine what would happen if everyone wanted to be a hand? How could
you walk? Just as the physical body is made up of a variety of parts,
so is the body of Christ.
God chose each
person to fulfill a unique part of the body that no one else can
fill. You may not be the preacher, but what you do in the church is
just as important. The body, as a whole, is better off when each part
functions properly. We should all love each other very much, since we
are all part of the same body.
The proper working
of each individual part recalls the importance of each believer’s
gift (verse 7; 1 Cor. 12:12-27). The growth of the church is not a
result of cleaver methods but of every member of the Body fully using
his spiritual gift in close contact with other believers. The power
of the church flows from the Lord through individual believers and
relationships between believers.
The physical body
functions properly only as each member in union with every other
member responds to the direction of the head to do exactly what it
was designed to do.
Verses 17-19: In
these verses, Paul gives 4 characteristics of the ungodly lifestyles
which believers are to forsake.
Ephesians 4:17
"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye
henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their
mind,"
“Therefore”
joins the following passage with the preceding in a twofold manner.
First, it resumes the thought begun in verses 1-3 and continues to
spell out what constitutes a worthy walk.
Second, since each
Christian is divinely enabled with some spiritual gift, he must “walk
not as other Gentiles walk” lest his much-needed contribution to
the church’s growth be sorely missed. Unbelieving Gentiles live “in
the vanity of their mind,” without proper purpose, causing all
their efforts to obtain happiness to end in failure.
“Walk not as other
Gentiles”: “Walk” expresses daily conduct and refers back to
what Paul has said about the believer’s high calling in Christ
Jesus, verse 1. Because Christians are part of the body of Christ,
have been spiritually gifted by the Holy Spirit, and are edified
through other believers, they should not continue to live like the
rest of the ungodly (1 John 2:6). We cannot accomplish the glorious
work of Christ by continuing to live the way the world lives.
“Gentiles”: All
ungodly, unregenerate pagan persons (1 Thess. 4:5 which defines
them). Jews used the term in two common ways, first to distinguish
all other people from Jews and second to distinguish all religions
from Judaism. Gentiles therefore referred racially and ethnically to
all non Jews and religiously to all pagans.
Gentiles, here, is
speaking of Gentiles who have not received Jesus as their Savior.
Gentiles who have received Jesus as their Savior are really the
spiritual house of Israel. Christians {whether Jew or Gentile} are in
this world, but not of this world.
We are not to walk
in a worldly fashion. We have given up our worldly mind and taken on
the mind of Christ. Vanity of the mind should not be part of a
Christian. Because unbelievers and Christians think differently they
are therefore to act differently. As far as spiritual and moral
issues are concerned, an unbeliever cannot think straight. His
rational processes in those areas are warped and inadequate.
“The vanity of
their mind”: First, unbelievers are intellectually unproductive. As
far as spiritual and moral issues are concerned, their rational
processes are distorted and inadequate, inevitably failing to product
godly understanding or moral living. Their life is empty, vain and
without meaning. (Rom. 1:21-28; 1 Cor. 2:14; Col. 2:18). Because
man’s sinfulness flows out of his reprobate mind, the
transformation must begin with the mind.
Ephesians 4:18
"Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the
life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the
blindness of their heart:"
“Alienated from
the life of God”: Second, unbelievers are spiritually separated
from God, thus ignorant of God’s truth (1 Cor. 2:14), and their
willing spiritual darkness and moral blindness is the result (Rom. 1:
21-24; 2 Tim. 3:7). They are blind, or “hard” like a rock.
“The blindness of
their heart” refers to the hardness of their will. Gentiles’
obstinacy against the divine will has caused them to be separated
from God’s life. This characteristic of ungodly persons is
ignorance of God’s truth. Their thinking not only is futile but
spiritually uninformed. The cause of their darkness, ignorance and
separation from God is their willful determination to remain in sin.
Then God blinds their minds.
Jesus said; seeing
they do not see and hearing they do not hear. What He was really
saying, is they were hearing words without understanding what those
words meant. God has never been interested in a person accepting Him
as his Savior because he understood salvation with his mind.
God wants our heart.
We were walking through life in darkness, until the Light of Jesus
shone forth in our heart. His Light does away with all darkness. The
mind is an enemy of God, until it is converted into the mind of
Christ. Faith in God does not come by being able to see something
with your physical eyes.
Faith is believing
in your heart things you cannot see with your eyes. Look, with me, at
the next Scripture at a very good example of what happens to us when
we encounter the Light of Jesus.
2 Peter 1:19 "We
have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the
day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:"
We have a brand new
heart, stayed upon God when the blessed Light of Jesus shines in our
heart. We are like Paul when he encountered the Light of the world.
We are never the same when the Light of Jesus Christ shines in us and
on us.
When men choose to
petrify their hearts by constant rejection of the light (John
12:35-36), they became darkened in their understanding, excluded from
the life of God, because of the ignorance that’s in them, and of
the hardness of their heart. That is the unspeakable tragedy of
unbelief, the tragedy of the person who makes himself his own god.
Ephesians 4:19
"Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto
lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness."
“Being past
feeling”: Third, unbelievers are morally insensitive. As they
continue to sin and turn away from God, they becomes still more
apathetic about moral and spiritual things (Romans 1:32). They reject
all standards of righteousness and do not care about the consequences
of their unrighteous thoughts and actions.
“Lasciviousness …
uncleanness”: (the absence of all moral restraint, especially in
the area of sexual sins). Unbelievers are behaviorally depraved
(Romans 1:28). As they willingly keep succumbing to sensuality and
licentiousness, they increasingly lose moral restraint, especially in
the area of sexual sins.
Impurity is
inseparable from greediness, which is a form of idolatry (5:5; Col
3:5). That some souls may not reach the extremes of verses 17-19 is
due only to God’s common grace and the restraining influence of the
Holy Spirit.
“Being past
feeling” means “having become calloused.” These unbelievers
have gone so deep in sin that they are insensitive to moral right and
wrong.
People who live in
the world are living in darkness. They are lost. Those, who do not
allow the Light of Jesus to transform them, are walking in darkness.
There is no hope for them. They are caught up in the darkness
committing every type of vile sin.
These hideous sins,
mentioned here, are exactly what our society is caught up in today. A
sin sick people are caught up in the sins mentioned. They are in
darkness, and are not even aware there is a Light.
Those who are dying
are desensitized to that which is killing them – because they
choose it that way. Even when held up shamefully in full view of the
world, their sins are not recognized as sinful or as the cause of
increasing meaninglessness, hopelessness and despair (Romans 1:32).
Man is made for God
and designed according to His standards. When he rejects God and His
standards he destroys himself in the process due to the result of
personal choices based on principles that are specifically and
purposely against God and His way.
The only cure for
any of this is to repent of their sin and seek Jesus Christ the Light
of the world. The only thing that does away with darkness is the
Light. The things, here mentioned, are filthy sins. There is no cure
for sin, except the Savior.
Verses 20-21:
Learned … heard … taught”: Three figurative descriptions of
salvation, the new birth.
Ephesians 4:20
"But ye have not so learned Christ;"
To learn “Christ”
means to learn Christian teaching and is a direct reference to
salvation. To learn Christ is to be saved. Christian doctrine has
instructed the readers not to “so” live as do unbelievers
described in verses 17-19.
“The one who says,
‘I have come to know Him’ and does not keep His commandments is a
liar and the truth in not in Him.” And “If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:4, 15).
The ways of God and
the ways of the world are not compatible. The idea, promoted by some
who claim to be evangelicals, that a Christians does not have to give
up anything or change anything when he becomes a Christian is nothing
less that diabolical.
That notion, under
the pretense of elevating God’s grace and of protecting the gospel
from works righteousness, will do nothing but send many confidently
down the broad way that Jesus said leads to destruction (Matthew
7:13).
To hold on to sin is
to refuse God, to scorn His grace and to nullify faith. No Christian
is totally free from the presence of sin in this life, but in Christ
he is willingly freed from his orientation to sin. He slips and falls
many times, but the determined direction of his life is away from
sin.
This scripture, in
just a few words, says it all. Christ is the answer, and they have
not learned of Him.
Ephesians 4:21
"If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him,
as the truth is in Jesus:"
“As the truth is
in Jesus”: The truth about salvation leads to the fullness of truth
about God, man, creation, history, life, purpose, relationships,
heaven, hell, judgment and everything else that is truly important.
John summed this up in 1 John 5:20.
Instead of being
ignorant of God’s truth, the Christian has heard Christ and is
taught in Him. In this context referring to the time when the readers
were taught and came to believe the gospel, here called the truth …
in Jesus. These moments describe the moment of salvation-conversion.
When a person receives Christ as Savior and Lord, he comes into God’s
truth.
To know Jesus and
believe the Truth in Him sets you free from the desire to sin.
Verses 22-24:
Christianity taught the addressees to
1.
“Put off … the old man,” to renounce their
pre-conversion life and sins;
2.
“Be renewed in … your mind,” to be constantly changed,
being brought more and more in line with God’s own viewpoint; and
3.
“Put on the new man,” that is, to assume a new nature
(character) and conduct (life) at conversion.
Ephesians 4:22
"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man,
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;"
“Put off”: To
strip away, as in taking off old, filthy clothes. This describes
repentance from sin and submission to God at the point of salvation.
These are not human works required for divine salvation but inherent
elements of the divine work of salvation. Paul’s terms here are
basically a description of repentance from sin and submission to God,
so often taught as elements of regeneration.
This is in contrast
to the unregenerate persons who continually resists and rejects God
and lives in the sphere of dominating sin (the former manner of
life), the Christian has heard the call to lay aside the old self.
“The old man”:
The worn out, useless and unconverted sinful nature corrupted by
deceit. Salvation is a spiritual union with Jesus Christ that is
described as the death plus burial of the old self and the
resurrection of the new self walking in newness of life. This
transformation is Paul’s theme in Romans 6:2-8.
The flesh of man and
the desires thereof is where the problem arises. That old man of
flesh has to be crucified (put to death) that the man of the Spirit
may live. The Baptist said, you must be born again, and it is a true
statement.
John 3:5-6 "Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of
water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit."
We must bury that
old man of flesh and the filthy lust of the flesh and live in the
Spirit, if we are Christ's. The gospel invitation is to lay the old
self aside in repentance from sin that includes not just sorrow about
sin but a turning from sin to God.
Ephesians 4:23
"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;"
“Be renewed in the
spirit of your mind”: Salvation involves the mind, which is the
center of thought, understanding and belief, as well as of motive and
action (Col. 3:1-2, 10). When a person becomes a Christian, God gives
him a completely new spiritual and moral capability that a mind apart
from Christ could never achieve. (1 Cor. 2:9-16).
This is just saying,
get rid of that old carnal mind and take on the mind of Christ. God
is a Spirit. The mind of Christ is Spirit. The mind of Christ that we
take on is Spirit.
The renewed spirit
of the believer’s mind is a corollary to putting on the new self,
which is the new creation made in the very likeness of God and has
been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. That which
was once darkened, ignorant, hardened, calloused, sensual, impure and
greedy is now enlightened, learned in the truth, sensitive to sin,
pure and generous.
A computer can bring
out only what you program into it. The mind is a giant computer.
Erase all of those bad things in your mind by washing them away in
the blood of Jesus. Reprogram your mind with the things of God. Fill
your mind with the Word of God.
Ephesians 4:24
"And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness."
“Put on the new
man”: The renewal of the mind in salvation brings not simply a
renovation of character, but transformation of the old to the new
self (2 Cor. 5:17).
“Righteousness”
relates to our fellow men and reflects the second table of the law
(Exodus 20: 12-17).
“Holiness”
(sacred observance of all duties to God) relates to God and reflects
the first table (Exodus 20: 3-11).
There is still sin
in the believer’s unredeemed human flesh, but he now possesses a
new nature, a new self, a holy and righteous inner person fit for the
presence of God. This is the believer’s truest self.
“Which after God
is created”: In Christ, the old self no longer exists as it had in
the past; the new self is created in the very likeness of God (Gal.
2:20).
When you receive
Christ as your Savior, and are baptized, you bury that old man in the
watery grave, and rise a new creature in Christ Jesus.
You are washed in
the blood of the Lamb, and are wearing His righteousness. He took
your sin on His body on the cross, and clothed you in His
righteousness.
We are new, but not
yet all new. We are righteous and holy, but not yet perfectly
righteous and holy. But understanding the genuine reality of our
transforming salvation is essential if we are to know how to live as
Christians in the Body of Christ to which we belong.
Verses 4:25 –
5:2: This section gives practical guidelines as to how “the old
man”, verse 22, can be laid aside and how “the new man”, verse
24, can be assumed in daily living. The passage specifies five sins
to be discarded, the virtues that are to replace them, and the motive
for such an exchange:
1.
Lying is to be replaced by truth telling, since Christians are
fellow members, verse 25.
2.
Sinful anger is to be replaced by (briefly held) righteous
indignation, that the Devil may not be given opportunity, verses 26,
27.
3.
Theft is to be replaced by honest work, in order that one may
have the means to meet the needs of others, verse 28.
4.
Foul language is to be replaced by gracious speech, that it
may edify others and not grieve the Spirit, verses 29-30.
5.
Resentment and wrath are to give way to kindness and
forgiveness, since God has forgiven us, verses 31-32.
Ephesians 4:25
"Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his
neighbour: for we are members one of another."
The only reliable
evidence of a person being saved is not a past experience of
receiving Christ but a present life that reflects Christ. New
creatures act like new creatures. God is not progressively making new
creations out of believers; believers are those whom He has already
made new creations. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature;
the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor.
5:17).
Although God
sovereignty makes us new creatures, He also commands us in the
strength of the Spirit to subdue our unredeemed humanness (1 Cor.
9:27), which still resides in us, and to live as new creatures in
submission to Christ our new Master. The new paradox of the Christian
life is that both God’s sovereignty and man’s will are at work.
The faithful believer responds positively to God’s sovereign
declarations and commands.
“Putting away
lying”: More than simply telling direct falsehoods, lying also
includes exaggeration and adding fabrications to something that is
true. Cheating, making foolish promises, betraying a confidence, and
making false excuses are all forms of lying, with which Christians
should have no part (John 8:44; 1 Cor. 6:9; Rev. 21:8).
“Speak truth …
with his neighbor”: Quoted from Zech. 8:16, God’s work in the
world is based on truth and neither the church nor individual
believers can be fit instruments for the Lord to use if they are not
truthful.
Satan is the Father
of lies. To be a liar would indicate that you belonged to Satan. God
is Truth. We would not want to deceive members of our own body. Liars
will not inherit the kingdom of God.
A believer can fall
into lying just as he can fall into any sin, but if his life is a
habitual flow of lies that proceed from a heart that seeks to
deceive, he has no biblical basis for believing he is a Christian.
The person who continually lies as a regular part of his daily living
shows himself to be a child of Satan not of God (John 8:44).
Ever since the fall,
lying has been a common characteristic of unregenerate mankind. Our
society today is so dependent on lying that if it suddenly turned to
telling the truth our way of life would collapse. If world leaders
began speaking only the truth, World War III would certainly ensue.
Cheating in school
and on income tax returns is a form of lying. Making foolish
promises, betraying a confidence, flattery and making excuses are all
forms of lying. When a person becomes a believer he steps out of the
domain of falsehood into the domain of truth, and every form of lying
is utterly inconsistent with his new self.
God’s economy if
based on truth, and His people, either as individual believers or as
the corporate church, cannot be fit instruments for His work unless
they live in truthfulness. We are to speak truth to everyone and in
every situation, but we have a special motive to be truthful with
other believers, because we are fellow members of Christ’s body,
the church, and therefore members of one another.
Ephesians 4:26
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your
wrath:"
“Be ye angry …
and sin not”: Quoted from Psalm 4:4. By New Testament standards,
anger can be either good or bad, depending on motive and purpose.
Paul may have been sanctioning righteous indignation, anger at evil.
This type of anger hates injustice, immorality, ungodliness and every
other sin.
When such anger is
unselfish and based on love for God and others, it not only is
permissible but commanded. Jesus express this righteous anger (see
Matthew 21:12; Mark 3:5; John 2:15).
Even Jesus got
angry; the sin is not in the anger. Do not be angry without a cause.
We must not hold a grudge. We must forgive. If we were still angry at
the end of the day, it would indicate that we were holding a grudge.
We must be quick to forgive.
Jesus was always
angered when the Father was maligned or when others were mistreated,
but He was never selfishly angry at what was done against Him. That
is the measure of righteous anger.
Anger is sin, is
anger that is self defensive and self serving, on the other hand,
that is resentful of what is done against oneself. It is the anger
that leads to murder and to God’s judgment (Matthew 5:21-22).
Anger that is
selfish, undisciplined and vindictive is sinful and has no place even
temporarily in the Christian life. But anger that is unselfish and is
based on love for God and concern for others not only is permissible
by commanded. Genuine love cannot help being angered at that which
injures the object of that love.
God will not forgive
us, if we do not forgive our fellowman. If we do not quickly forgive,
we will become bitter. Bitterness is a sin.
The church cannot
function properly if its members shade the truth with one another or
fail to work together honestly and lovingly. We cannot effectively
minister to each other or with each other if we do not speak “the
truth in love” (Eph. 4:15), especially among our fellow believers.
“Sun go down”:
Even righteous anger can turn to bitterness, so it should be set
aside by the end of each day. If anger is prolonged, it may become
hostile and violate the instruction of Romans 12:17-21. Even the best
motivated anger can sour, and we are therefore to put it aside at the
end of the day.
Ephesians 4:27
"Neither give place to the devil."
Even righteous anger
can easily turn to bitterness, resentment, and self righteousness.
Consequently, Paul goes on to say, do not let the sun go down on your
anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.
Even the best
motivated anger can sour, and we are therefore to put it aside at the
end of the day. Taken to bed, it is likely to give the devil an
opportunity to use it for his purposes. If anger is prolonged, one
may begin to seek vengeance and thereby violate the principle taught
in Romans 12:17-21.
This is just saying;
do not allow the devil to use you. Do not give him any room in your
life at all. Do not allow him to consume your thoughts. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you.
Ephesians 4:28
"Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour,
working with [his] hands the thing which is good, that he may have to
give to him that needeth."
“Steal no more”:
Stealing in any form is a sin and has no part in the life of a
Christian. Rather, let him work, producing what is beneficial (Exodus
20:15). The alternative to stealing is to provide for oneself, one’s
family, and others what is God honoring through honest, honorable
means (2 Thess. 3:10-11; 1 Tim. 5:8).
Grand larceny, petty
theft, taking some of your dad’s money off the dresser, reneging on
a debt, not paying fair wages or pocketing what a clerk overpays in
change are all stealing. There is simply no end to ways we can steal,
and whatever the ways are and whatever the chances for being caught,
stealing is sin and has no part in the new walk of the new man in
Christ.
“Give to him that
needeth”: A Christian not only should harm no one but should
continually endeavor to help those who are in need, See Luke
14:13-14; Acts 20:33-35. a Christian’s desire to earn more should
be for the purpose of being able to give more and help more. Beyond
providing for his own and family basic needs, he gains so he can
give.
The alternative to
stealing is to labor, in order to share with him who has need. It is
God’s plan for everyone to work who is able to do so. “If anyone
will not work, neither let him eat. For we hear that some among you
are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all” (2 Thess.
3:10-11).
The Christian who
does not work and “provide for his own, and especially for those of
his household, has denied the faith, and is worse that an unbeliever”
(1 Tim. 5:8).
It is very
disturbing to me to see someone who proclaims Christianity, who is
not honest in his business dealings. Stealing is a sin. We should
have lost the desire to steal, when we buried the old man of flesh.
The new man, in Christ, has no desire to steal or commit any sin.
A Christian should
never be involved in a job, profession, work or business that demands
compromise of God’s standards, that dishonors Him, violates His
holy commands, or misleads or harms others in any way.
The Scripture above
says to get you an honest job and make a living working and not by
stealing.
Ephesians 4:29
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but
that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace
unto the hearers."
“Corrupt
communication”: (or unwholesome communication) the word for
unwholesome refers to that which is foul or rotten, such as spoiled
fruit or putrid meat. Foul language of any sort should never pass a
Christian’s lips, because it is totally out of character with his
new life in Christ (see Col. 3:8; James 3:6-8; Psalm 141:3).
Off color jokes,
profanity, dirty stories, vulgarity, double entendre, and every other
form of corrupt talk should never cross our lips.
“Good to the use
of edifying”: The Christian’s speech should be instructive,
encouraging, uplifting, (even if it must be corrective), and suited
for the moment (Prov. 15:23; 25:11; 24:26).
“Grace unto the
hearers”: (Col. 4:6). Because believers have been saved by grace
and kept by grace, they should live and speak with grace. Our Lord
set the standard (Luke 4:22).
Out of the issue of
the heart, the mouth speaketh. If evil communication comes out of
your mouth, you have an evil heart. A heart stayed upon God will say
good things that will build up the person you are speaking to, and
not tear them down.
The tongue is
exceedingly difficult to control. It is “a fire,” James says,
“the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as
that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of
our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and
birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed, and has been
tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a
restless evil and full of deadly poison” (James 3:6-8).
A powerful
motivation for putting off unwholesome talk is that not to do so will
grieve the Holy Spirit of God. All sin is painful to God, but sin in
His children breaks His heart. When His children refuse to change the
ways of the old life for the ways of the new, God grieves. The Holy
Spirit of God weeps, as it were, when he sees Christians lying
instead of speaking the truth, becoming unrighteously rather than
righteously angry, stealing instead of sharing and speaking corrupt
instead of uplifting and gracious words.
Let Jesus wash your
heart in His blood and cleanse you. Christians must speak things that
build up Christ and the one they are speaking to.
Ephesians 4:30
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed
unto the day of redemption."
“Grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God”: God is grieved when His children refuse to
change the old ways of sin for those righteous ways of the new life.
It should be noted that such responses by the Holy Spirit indicate He
is a person.
Paul asks, in
effect, “How can we do that which is so displeasing to the One by
whom we have been sealed for the day of redemption?” The Holy
Spirit is God’s personal mark of authenticity on us, His stamp of
divine approval.
How can we grieve
the One who is our Helper, Comforter, Teacher, advocate, Divine
Resident of our hearts and guarantor of our eternal redemption? How
can we ungraciously grieve God’s infinitely gracious Holy Spirit?
He has done so much for us that, out of gratitude, we ought not to
grieve Him.
His personhood is
also indicated by personal pronouns (John 14:17; 16:13), His personal
care of believers (John 14:16, 26; 15:26), His intellect (1
Corinthians 2:11), feelings (Romans 8:27), will (1 Cor. 12:11)
speaking (Acts 13:2), convicting (John 16:8-11), interceding (Romans
8:26), guiding (John 16:13), glorifying Christ (John 16:14), and
serving God (Acts 16:6-7).
“Sealed unto the
day of redemption”: The Holy Spirit is the guarantor of eternal
redemption in Christ for those who believe in Him.
We must first figure
out what would grieve the Holy Spirit. It seems to me that to commit
sin, after the Holy Spirit has taken up His abode in you, would be
including the Holy Spirit in your sin. I, also, believe that the Holy
Spirit teaches us all Truth.
To reject Truth and
believe a lie, then would grieve Him. We know that the Holy Spirit is
the earnest of the Spirit, until the redemption of our body. To turn
loose of the salvation that we received would be something that would
grieve Him terribly. To turn away from God would be the ultimate
thing to grieve Him.
Verses 31-32:
These verses summarize the changes in the life of a believer
mentioned in verses 17-30. “Bitterness” reflects a smoldering
resentment. “Wrath” has to do with rage, the passion of a moment.
“Anger” is a more internal, deep hostility. “Clamor” is the
outcry of strife out of control. “Slander” is evil speaking.
“Malice” is the general Greek term for evil, the root of all
vices.
Ephesians 4:31
"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil
speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:"
The final change
Paul mentions is from natural vices to supernatural virtues and
amount to a summary of the other changes. Man’s natural tendency is
to sin and the natural tendency of sin is to grow into greater sin.
And a Christian’s sin will grow just like that of an unbeliever. If
not checked, our inner sins of bitterness and wrath and anger will
inevitably lead to the outwards sins of clamor, slander and other
such manifestations of malice.
“Bitterness”
reflects a smoldering resentment, a brooding grudge filled attitude.
It is the spirit of irritability that keeps a person in perpetual
animosity, making him sour and venomous.
Anger is a more
internal smoldering. Clamor is the shout or outcry of strife and
reflects the public outburst that reveals loss of control. Slander
(blasphemia), from which we get blasphemy) is the ongoing defamation
of someone that rises from a bitter heart. Malice is the general term
for evil that is the root of all vices. All of these, he says, must
be put away from you.
These particular
sins involve conflict between person and person, believer and
unbeliever and worst still, between believer and believer. These are
the sins that break fellowship and destroy relationships that weaken
the church and mar its testimony before the world.
All of the above
mentioned things are attributes of those who are still operating in
the flesh. We must get the flesh and all of its bitterness, anger,
clamor, and evil speaking under the control of the Spirit of God.
Ephesians 4:32
"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
“God demonstrates
His own love toward us, in that we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the
death of His Son” (Romans 5:8, 10). If God is so gracious to us,
how much more, then, should we be kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving
to fellow sinners, especially to one another.
In this, we see the
actions of someone who has gotten rid of the sin of the flesh and is
living for God. We might even say, allowed God to live through him.
These things, in verse 32, are signs that follow those who are dead
to the flesh and alive to the spirit.
“Even as God for
Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”: Those who have been forgiven so
much by God should, of all people, forgive the relatively small
offenses against them by others. The most graphic illustration of
this truth is the parable of Matthew 18:21-35
If we expect God to
forgive our trespasses, we must forgive one another. We must pattern
our life after Christ, if we are His followers. As He is
tenderhearted, therefore we must be tenderhearted. Do it for Christ.
