Ephesians 4:17-32 | Walking in Freedom

Easter Invites

Today we conclude our two-part sermon series titled, “Breaking Chains: The Freedom of Forgiveness.”

Forgiveness is freedom! On the other hand, unforgiveness is a prison where people are constantly tortured.

Good news:

John 8:36 “36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

John 10:10 “10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

How do we experience walking in freedom? Understanding and applying the gospel.

The passage read came from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Understanding the gospel.

An Overview of Ephesians

Two sections:

Chapters 1-3

Emphasis: Vertical relationship with God

"He chose us in Him" (1:4)

(Identity) Who you are in Christ

Chapters 4-6

Emphasis: Horizontal relationship with others

"Walk in a manner worthy of the calling" (4:1)

Live it out!

Outline of Ephesians

Seated (1-3). You have been seated with Christ: You are forgiven.

Walk (4-6:9). Walk worthy of the calling: Forgiven people forgive others.

Stand (6:10-24). Stand firm against spiritual opposition (an unforgiving spirit).

A closer look at each and they help us walk in freedom:

Seated. You have been seated with Christ: You are forgiven.

Seated (a place of honor and authority)

“In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, ....and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:4–6)

Walk. Walk worthy of the calling: Forgiven people forgive others.

“...walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1)

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.” (Ephesians 4:17)

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us...” (Ephesians 4:32–5:2)

“for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8)

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15–16)

Stand. Stand firm against spiritual opposition (an unforgiving spirit).

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:26–27)

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:11,13)

Applying the gospel

Forgiveness is freedom! On the other hand, unforgiveness is a prison where people are constantly tortured.

Sometimes people are afraid to forgive because they misunderstand what forgiveness is.

Dr. Gary Barnes (Professor of Counseling Ministries, DTS) exposes the following myths about forgiveness.

Myth 1. Forgiveness = Forgetting

Often times we hear the phrase, “forgive and forget” but the fact is that the more serious the offense, the harder it is to forget.

Perhaps a better way to put it would be, “Since forgiveness is releasing a person from the obligation of repaying what is owed, therefore I will not continue to hold you liable for the offense.”

That’s how God handles our offenses.

Hebrews 8:12 “12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.””

Micah 7:19 “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

His mercy is more by Matt Papa.

What love could remember no wrongs we have done Omniscient, all knowing, He counts not their sum Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

God remembers our sins no more in the sense that when we ask for forgiveness, he forgives us and doesn’t bring those sins against us.

Myth 2. Forgiveness = No consequences

The truth is that you can forgive someone and that person would still face the consequences for his or her actions.

A parent might say to his teenage child who has lied about his cell phone usage, “I forgive you, but you will be without a cell phone for 3 weeks.”

An employer might say to his employee “I forgive you, but after my third warning about how you treat your co-workers you can no longer work here.”

So that we are clear, God offers unlimited forgiveness, but we might have to deal with the consequences of our actions. i.e. liver damage from years of alcohol abuse.

Myth 3. Forgiveness = Pretending it’s no problem

There are times when overlooking an offense is the right course of action.

Proverbs 19:11 “11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”

However, there are times when the offense needs to be addressed and talk about how it affected and is affecting the relationship instead of saying, “Oh it’s no biggie!” “Just forget it, it was nothing.”

Instead of pretending it’s not a problem, let’s be honest about the nature of the offense.

Myth 4. Forgiveness = Finished grieving

You can forgive someone and still struggle with feelings of anger when you see a person who betrayed you. Some people feel guilty when they have those feelings of anger/sadness.

The truth is, while forgiveness is a personal choice to release someone from the debt, it might take time to heal from the wound the damaged caused.

A church member once asked his pastor, “Pastor, I forgave someone who hurt me, but I still struggle with feelings of anger and sadness. I thought I had fully forgave that person. Why do I feel this way?”

The pastor pointed to the church bell and said, “you see that church bell. It requires for someone to pull a big, long rope in order for the bell to go ding-dong, ding-dong. Even when the person lets go of the rope, the bell doesn’t stop immediately. It takes time. The same thing happens when we forgive someone. We let go of the rope, but the emotions inside of us are still healing. They are still going ding-dong until one day it will fully stop and heal.

Note: healing it’s different for everyone. Don’t compare your healing journey to someone else’s.

Myth 5. Forgiveness = Trust

The truth is that you can completely forgive a person but that doesn’t mean the person who committed the offense can automatically trusted. Forgiveness and restoring trust are related but they are two separate processes.

“Why don’t you trust me. I thought you had forgiven me.”

Trust is earned. It takes time.

The deeper the offense, the more time it takes to build the trust.

Myth 6. Forgiveness = Reconciliation

Related to the previous one. The forgiveness is the first step towards reconciliation but they are not the same.

It takes two to reconcile but only one to forgive.

How do I apply the gospel so I can walk in freedom?

In our passage they are two verbs that help us apply the gospel: put of and put on.

As I already mentioned earlier, Paul challenges the Ephesians (4:1) to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they were called. A few verses later (v.17) he instructs them that they, must no longer embrace the lifestyle of those living in sin and darkness.

Why?

Ephesians 4:20–24 “20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Put Off

Unresolved anger.

Ephesians 4:26–27 “26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.”

Be angry.

Paul is quoting from Psalm 4:4. What? I thought Christians are not supposed to be angry? Christians ought to use anger as the appropriate response to injustice and evil. We would call this righteous anger.

“There is a great need in the contemporary world for more Christian anger.… In the face of blatant evil we should be indignant not tolerant, angry not apathetic. If God hates sin, his people should hate it too. If evil arouses his anger, it should arouse ours also.” John Stott

However, the second command is:

Do not sin. There is also sinful anger (James 1:19). This anger comes from sinful desires resulting in sinful behavior (slander-murder)

Paul gives two more commands to help us understand the danger of unresolved anger.

Do not let the sun go down on your anger.

Does that mean we have to address the anger and resolve the conflict literally before the sun goes down? It can’t mean literally before the sun goes down. Some places in Alaska would get three months in the summer until the sun went down again.

The main point of the passage is to address the conflict instead of letting if fester. However, sometimes is good to take a time out and HALT (hungry, angry, lonely & tired).

And give no opportunity to the devil.

Forgiveness is spiritual warfare. The enemy is going to try to use unresolved anger, bitterness, resentment and anything similar as part of his schemes.

Do not give the devil an opportunity. The term opportunity lit. means “place.” It’s the word I would use to ask a friend if I could stay with them at their place. When we allow anger, bitterness and resentment to fester, we are basically putting the welcome out for Satan and his demons to come into our house, that is our heart, and allow him to inhabit a room.

2 Corinthians 2:10–11 “10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.”

Corrupt Talk

Ephesians 4:29 “29 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.”

The term could be also used to describe that which is spoiled or rotten. When it comes to walking in freedom, we want to use our words for building up. Once you forgive someone, you commit to no longer

No longer bring it up to the person you forgave

No longer bring it up to others

No longer bring it up to yourself

Bitterness

Ephesians 4:31 “31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”

Forgiveness removes the destructive power of the root of bitterness so that it has no opportunity to flourish. If you don’t remove the root of bitterness, you will only be dealing with the symptoms and not the root problem.

Put On

Spiritual Humility

Ephesians 4:32 “32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Spiritual Humility

Colossians 3:12–13 “12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

We need to bring into perspective the debt that we owed God compared to the debt that others owe us.

“Deal with people the same way way God has dealt with you. “ Kindness - tenderheart - forgiveness.

Conclusion:

Ephesians 4:30 “30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

What happens when I harbor anger and bitterness in my heart?

Your relationship with God is deeply affected. Why?

The Holy Spirit is a person -it’s a relationship.

It grieves me that you gave the enemy an opportunity to work.

It grieves me that you speak truth without love

It grieves that you speak like that about people because they are created in the image of God.

It grieves me that rotten corrupted words are a hindrance to my fruit, the fruit of the Spirit.

It grieves me that your words and actions brings further division rather than unity to the body.

It grieves me that you lie to get what you want

It grieves me that you talk behind people’s back to slander their character

It grieves me that you are willing to do whatever it takes to get what you want.

The good news: repentance. Confess