Ephesians 4:25-32

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.

 

The formula of “put off,” renew the mind and, “put on” is illustrated in five different areas of sin with which we are likely to struggle.  A sin that needs to be “put off” is identified.  A virtue that needs to be “put on” in the place of that sin is encouraged.  Finally, a renewed way of thinking explains why we should “put off” sin and “put on” the corresponding virtue.  This, by no means, is a complete list.  Rather, it is a sampling of a few different areas that should serve as a model for all the other different areas.

 

LYING: Speaking falsehood is something that believers must “put off” in their lives.  There are many motives for telling lies.  Most commonly we tell lies to protect or promote ourselves.  As believers, our priority must be the glory of God.  We are called to put others ahead of ourselves as well.  Telling the truth is a basic commitment of following Christ we should “put on.”  We are to be considered as people of the truth.  We love and defend the truth of Scripture and we strive to have the truth always coming from our mouths. The new thinking that should encourage truth telling is the fact that we are members of one another.  Because we are part of the same body, lying to others is like lying to ourselves.  Our love and commitment to one another is what should motivate us to tell the truth.

 

ANGER: Sinful anger is the habit that we are called to “put off.”  Not all anger is sin.  When the name of God is blasphemed or when the will of God is ignored in this fallen world; we are to respond with godly anger.  However, when we become angry simply because we are not getting our own way; our anger becomes sinful.  Instead of allowing anger to brood in our lives, we are to “put on” an attitude of resolving our conflicts in short order.  We should not carry offenses from one day to the next because they will always have a tendency to grow and become harder to resolve with time.  We must be mindful that anger is a foothold for the devil to worm his way into our hearts and relationships in a way that will draw us away from fellowship with God and one another. 

 

STEALING: A basic principle of integrity is for us to not take things that don’t belong to us.  We must “put off” stealing by simply stopping this self-centered activity that brings harm to others.  In place of stealing, we must “put on” a work ethic that is willing to do honest labor to provide for our own needs.  Laziness will almost always lead to some form of stealing.  Even those who are employed can be guilty of stealing from their employers when they don’t do the work they were hired to accomplish.  The new thinking that promotes faithful labor in the place of lazy theft is a desire to contribute to the needs of others.  God is powerful to take a person from serving themselves by stealing from others to working hard to be able to help others. 

 

GOSSIPING: Corrupt talking covers any number of forms of speech that believers are called to “put off.” Gossip, sarcasm, criticism, and many other corrupt forms of communication must be abandoned.  Controlling our tongue is one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult, aspect of the Christian walk.  What we are called to “put on” in the place of this sinful speech are words that are edifying and encouraging.  We should use gracious words that help others grow closer to the Lord.  Sometimes that may require difficult, confrontational, and words of reproof.  However, whether the words are negative or positive in nature, they should be motivated by love for and the benefit of others.  The renewed thinking that promotes this type of edifying speech and prevents corrupt communication is a desire to prevent grieving the Holy Spirit.  Our corrupt communication can hinder or limit the work of God’s Spirit in our lives.  When we couple this with the previous result of anger giving the devil a foothold it leaves us in a very vulnerable position.

 

BITTERNESS: Paul uses a list of words to describe speech that is motivated by anger and resentment that must be “put off.”  This demonstrates the result of not resolving conflict quickly and letting the “sun go down on our anger.”  Unresolved anger leads to bitterness and all kinds of broken relationships.  The virtues we are to “put on” in place of these sins are those of kindness and forgiveness.  God wants us to be quick to forgive, sensitive to the needs of others and to treat one another with love and gentleness.  The change of thinking that allows a believer to respond in this way even in the face of injustice and personal hurt is the love and forgiveness of Christ on our behalf.  When we consider all He has done for us, it makes it much easier for us to respond in kind.

 

APPLICATION: We can observe that all of the issues Paul addresses in his examples, except for stealing, have to do with our speech in one way or another.  We must intentionally work on controlling our tongue and replace sinful words with gracious, forgiving words that will help other become more like Christ.  Work on the way we think so we can “put off” and “put on” these and other issues in our lives.