Ephesians 4.25-The Contents of Ephesians 4.25 is a Strong Inference from the Contents of Ephesians 4.17-24
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday September 25, 2025
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:25-The Contents of Ephesians 4:25 is a Strong Inference from the Contents of Ephesians 4:17-24
Lesson # 282
Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, because each and every one of you as a corporate unit have laid aside that which characterized by falsehood, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of speaking truth with his neighbor for each and every one of us as a corporate unit are members of one another. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 4:25 is composed of the following:
(1) causal participial clause: apothemenoi to pseudos (ἀποθέμενοι τὸ ψεῦδος), “because each and every one of you as a corporate unit have laid aside that which is characterized by falsehood” (Lecturer’s translation).
(2) command: laleite alētheian hekastos meta tou plēsion autou (λαλεῖτε ἀλήθειαν ἕκαστος μετὰ τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ), “each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of speaking truth with his neighbor” (Lecturer’s translation).
(3) Hoti causal clause: hoti esmen allēlōn melē (ὅτι ἐσμὲν ἀλλήλων μέλη), “for each and every one of us as a corporate unit are members of one another” (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 4:25 is a strong inferential statement, which is indicated by the fact that it presents a strong inference from the apostle’s assertions in Ephesians 4:17-24.
By way of review, we noted that Ephesians 4:17-19 discusses the ungodly mindset and conduct of unregenerate humanity and specifically, the unregenerate Gentile community.
Ephesians 4:20-22 discusses the post-justification education of the recipients of this epistle, who were Gentile church age believers in the Roman province of Asia, and which education was regarding their union and identification with Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 4:23-24 exhorts the believer to lay aside the old Adamic sin nature and instead put on the new nature of Christ they received through regeneration at the moment of justification.
In Ephesians 4:17, Paul makes a solemn and earnest request of the recipients of this letter, which was based upon the Lord’s sovereign authority and required that they no longer make it their habit of conducting their lives as in fact unregenerate Gentiles were conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by their thinking.
This request is an inference from the contents of Ephesians 4:7-16.
Therefore, the request in Ephesians 4:17 is derived from the spiritual truths presented in the contents of Ephesians 4:7-16.
Thus, Paul’s solemn and earnest request is based upon the fact that the communication gifts were given to the church in order that the individual members of the body of Christ could grow to spiritual maturity with the result that this body would grow to spiritual maturity as a corporate unit.
The implication is that by reverting back to their preconversion lifestyle would hinder their spiritual growth as individuals and as a corporate unit and which spiritual growth is one of the purposes for which the Lord generously gave them the communication gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching.
Then, in Ephesians 4:18, Paul elaborates on the assertion that unregenerate Gentiles are conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by their thinking.
He states that they conduct their lives in this manner because they are darkened with respect to their understanding (of the three-fold revelation of the triune God).
Consequently, they are alienated from the life, which originates uniquely in the character and nature of the one and only God because of the ignorance, which is a characteristic within them because of the hardness, which is produced by the function unique to their hearts.
In Ephesians 4:19, Paul asserts that these unregenerate Gentiles have given themselves over to self-indulgence for the purpose of practicing every type of sexual immorality in an inordinate and insatiable manner because they are characterized as insensitive (to God and His will and ways).
Ephesians 4:20-24 describes the godly Christ-like mindset of the Gentle Christian community and their resultant Christ-like conduct, which manifested the fact that they possessed an experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ.
These verses present a contrast with the contents of Ephesians 4:17-19, which we noted describes the ungodly mindset and resultant ungodly lifestyle of the unregenerate Gentile community.
Therefore, the contrast between Ephesians 4:17-19 and 4:20-24 is the ungodly mindset and conduct of the unregenerate Gentile community in relation to the godly, Christ-like mindset and resultant conduct of the regenerate Gentile Christian community.
In Ephesians 4:20, he reminds the recipients of this letter that by no means whatsoever did they learn about the one and only Christ through experience in the manner in which the unregenerate Gentile community conduct their lives.
In verse 21, Paul affirms and thus reminds them that they were in fact conformed to an experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ.
In other words, they were taught about Jesus Christ through personal experience because obedience to the truth corresponds to an experiential knowledge of Jesus.
Next, in Ephesians 4:22, Paul affirms and thus reminds them that they were taught with reference to their former lifestyle to lay aside the old man’s sinful desires, which are being corrupted in accordance with deceitful lust patterns.
In Ephesians 4:23, he affirms and thus reminds them that they were taught to make it their habit of replenishing their human spirit, which is their regenerate mind.
Lastly, in verse 24, he defines the previous affirmation by asserting that they were taught to clothe themselves with the new man.
Thus, he is reminding them of this teaching.
He describes this new man as having been created in conformity with God’s image by the one and only truth exemplifying righteousness, indeed by exemplifying a holy righteousness and which truth is a reference to Jesus Christ.
Now, in Ephesians 4:25, the conjunction dio (διό) introduces the reminder that the recipients of this epistle have laid aside that which is characterized by falsehood, which serves as the basis for the command that each of them speak truth with each other for they are members of one another.
This command serves as a strong inference from the assertions in Ephesians 4:17-24.
This laying aside of falsehood took place at the moment of justification through the baptism of the Spirit, which identified them with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the Father’s right hand.
Consequently, this identification gave the church age believer victory over their old indwelling Adamic sin nature in a positional sense.
It also gave them the power to withstand the temptations that originate from the desires of this old Adamic sin nature.
They would experience this victory of their sin nature and divine omnipotence by appropriating by faith their union and identification with Christ by considering themselves has having been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Jesus Christ at the Father’s right hand.
Therefore, we can see that the apostle Paul issues a command here in Ephesians 4:25, which presents an inference from the contents of Ephesians 4:17-24.
This command required that the Christian community continue to make it their habit of speaking truth with each other.
This command is modified by a participle clause and a hoti clause.
Both present the basis for this command.
The participial clause asserts that they were to obey this command because they have laid aside that which is characterized by falsehood, which refers to the old indwelling Adamic sin nature.
The hoti clause asserts that they were to obey this command because they were members of each other.
Therefore, this verse teaches that the basis for obeying this command is two-fold: (1) They have laid aside that which is characterized by falsehood, i.e., the sin nature. (2) They are members of each other.
