Our Talk and our Walk Eph 4:25-32
Our Talk and Our Walk - Eph 4:25-32
I A Converted Character (4:25–26)
2. A Converted Disposition (4:25–26)
a. A Transformed Tongue (4:25)
“Putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”
Complete deliverance from the old nature is expressed in a converted disposition—including a transformed tongue, which James said no man can tame. In Ephesians 4:25 Paul moved from principles of the faith to the practice of the faith. He started spelling things out, giving specific examples of what happens when we put off the old nature and put on the new nature.
It seems incredible that Paul should have had to tell Christians not to lie. Yet we are all surprised sometimes at “the hidden things of darkness” that lurk in our souls (1 Corinthians 4:5). How easy it is in an unguarded moment when someone asks an awkward question to take refuge in a lie. But a lie on the lips of a Christian instantly grieves the Holy Spirit, who describes Himself as “the Spirit of truth” (John 15:26). Nothing short of confession and an application of the blood of Christ can erase that sin. We are to discard all falsehood.
God is truth, unchanged and unchanging. The lie is the idiom of Satan’s language. Lies are the evil one’s common currency of speech. He, above all else, is “the father of lies” (John 8:44).
Zechariah wrote, “Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour” (Zechariah 8:16). (Paul was quoting him in Ephesians 4:25.) Zechariah was a postexilic prophet. One of his great burdens was to urge the restored Jewish remnant not to repeat the sins that had made their exile necessary. Throughout chapter 8, Zechariah reiterated the phrase, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts,” as the Lord contrasted His former acts of government and His present acts of grace. One of the fundamentals for staying in the land, the Lord said, was to speak the truth. How significant and sad that centuries later the Jewish people ended up hiring false witnesses against the Lord. They paid for this sin when they were exiled again for nearly two thousand years.
Paul picked up Zechariah’s warning and addressed it to Christian believers. But there are some fundamental differences between the restored Jewish remnant and Christian believers. For instance, we are not in the land; we are in the Lord. Our position is not in Canaan; our position is in Christ. We are not concerned with a place; we are concerned with the person of Christ. Israel could lose its position—and it did; we cannot lose our position in Christ.
We have something Israel did not have. Israel had the divine statute, but we have the Holy Spirit! If Israel needed to put away lying, how much more should we. All deceit grieves the Holy Spirit and consequently leaves us bereft of joy, peace, and power.
There is something particularly deceitful about lying to a fellow member of the body of Christ, but all lying is destructive. We are to have a transformed tongue, one that speaks the truth in love.
b. A Transformed Temper (4:26)
“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.”
The Greek orgizō, translated here as “Be ye angry,” is imperative; it is a positive command. There is nothing wrong with being angry for a righteous cause. Anger can be wholesome. There are times when we should be angry. Anger can be kindled by the fire of Hell or by the fire from the altar of God. Anger kindled by the old man is always sinful, destructive, and devilish. Anger kindled by the Holy Spirit at the sight of some injustice, some great depravity, or some monstrous iniquity, is intended to give those who are engaging in the sinful activity reason to fear. The person who cannot get angry at the seduction of an innocent girl, at the corrupting of a child, at those who practice and propagate perversion and pornography, must either be spineless or wholly without moral conviction.
Jesus was angry when He drove the moneychangers out of the temple. A beautiful children’s hymn written long ago embodies a lovely prayer, but begins with a wholly false concept of the Lord Jesus:
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child,
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to thee.
(Charles Wesley)
Is Jesus gentle? Yes. Is Jesus meek? Yes, indeed. Is Jesus mild? A thousand times NO! Surely Charles Wesley used that word only because he could think of no other word to rhyme with child.
Jesus was anything but mild, bland, soft, and passive. There was nothing mild about Him when He denounced the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and called them a “generation of vipers” (Matthew 3:7). There was nothing mild about Him when, whip in hand, He strode into the temple (Matthew 21:12–13). Jesus was angry, but he did not sin. He also wept over the Christ-rejecting city of Jerusalem and its people in view of its impending doom (Luke 19:40–44; Matthew 23:34–39).
The Greek word translated “sin” in Ephesians 4:26 is hamartanō, which literally means “to miss the mark.” Paul was saying, “Be angry, but don’t miss the mark. Control your anger.” The apostle was quoting from Psalm 4:4, which in the Septuagint version reads, “Tremble and sin not.” Concentrated anger is powerful enough to produce trembling.
We should note carefully how Ephesians 4:26 is positioned in the text. Its neighbor is the tongue (4:25) because it is all too easy for us to say wrong things when we are angry. Its other neighbor is the devil (4:27), because Satan is swift to take advantage of powerful emotions.
We should also note that the Holy Spirit added this caution to Ephesians 4:26: “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” The word translated “wrath,” parorgismos, communicates the idea of provocation. If you have to be angry—if the cause is righteous, the provocation severe—then let the storm burst but make sure the expression of your anger is not promiscuous or prolonged. Let calm follow the storm and be sure that your fellowship with God is not broken. Do not let the day end without quieting your spirit and making sure you have not grieved the Holy Spirit. You must not nurse anger. A converted disposition includes a transformed temper.
3. A Conquered Devil (4:27)
“Neither give place to the devil.”
The author of the bad behavior described in Ephesians 4:17–19, 22, 25 is unmasked in verse 27. It is the devil. The mother of all sin is lust, and the father of sin is the devil. James said that when lust has conceived, it brings forth death (James 1:15). Sin did not begin on earth; it began in Heaven. Sin did not begin in the human heart but in the soul of Lucifer, the highest anointed cherub in glory. Sin was already hoary with antiquity before the fallen Lucifer introduced it into this planet.
Satan does not like people. He hates us with a hatred that beggars description. His sole interest in Adam’s race is to deceive us, degrade us, distress us, and then destroy us. Since man was made in the image and likeness of God, the more Satan can deface that image, distort it, and turn it into a mere caricature, the more his distorted soul is satisfied. He constantly opposes us, even more so when we have been born again and the image of God has been restored in us.
Regenerated believers are no longer the devil’s dupes; they are his deadly enemies. He fears as well as hates us. From the moment of our salvation right down to the gates of death, he keeps up the pressure of his opposition. But we must not give in. Paul said, “Neither give place to the devil.” It is not that the devil is afraid of us personally. Rather, he is desperately afraid of the Holy Spirit who indwells us. Satan never knows when we will enter into all that is available to us—when we will become filled with the Spirit and triumphantly wage battle in his realm. Paul expected that we will live triumphant lives. We are not to give place, ground, or opportunity to the devil.
Note where Ephesians 4:27 finds its home in the text. Its immediate neighbors are temper (4:26) and theft (4:28). The devil lurks between anger and dishonesty, waiting to exploit them to ruin our testimonies and dishonor the Lord’s name.
4. A Conspicuous Difference (4:28–29)
a. In Conduct (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.”
What greater proof of a changed heart and life could there be than for a former thief to seek honest employment, become concerned about those unable to work, and give of his own wages to alleviate the problems of the poor? The idea that a Christian can continue stealing is ludicrous.
One reason for the low ethical standards all too common among professing Christians today is that some leaders no longer preach repentance as a prerequisite to regeneration. They foster an “easy believism” that makes no moral demands on the conscience of the new convert. Yet the very word conversion implies a change of belief and behavior. It seems incredible that the Holy Spirit should have to spell it out: “Now that you’re saved, don’t steal. Go to work.” But there it is in Ephesians 4:28. It is a sad commentary on our moral decay that the Bible must be so specific about what should be an obvious fact.
The verse also tells the former thief to work with his hands. There is nothing dishonorable about manual labor, although our society tends to esteem white-collar workers more. When Jesus came, He forever glorified manual labor by becoming a village carpenter. Paul was not ashamed to ply his trade of tentmaking when funds were low. He not only covered his own expenses, but also helped supply the material needs of fellow laborers. Among the Jews it was common practice for all men to learn a trade, even if they intended to become rabbis and teachers. Indeed, more often than not, the local rabbi was expected to earn his living.
b. In Conversation (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.”
Paul went back to the fountainhead: if the heart is right, character will be right, conduct will be right, and conversation will be right. No corrupt communication will flow out.
The Greek word translated “corrupt” here literally means “bad, rotten, putrid.” The word is used to describe decaying animal or vegetable matter. Corrupt language, unbecoming in any person, is unthinkable in a Christian. Nothing will destroy a testimony more swiftly.
Think of Peter’s words when Jesus was on trial. The people who gathered around the fire in the courtyard of the high priest’s house accused Peter of being a disciple. They said, “Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee” (Matthew 26:73). The comment was astute, but when Peter began to curse and to swear, his accusers held their peace. They had been skeptical of his denials, but now they were convinced he was telling the truth. No follower of the Lord Jesus would curse and swear.
The conversation of Christians should be edifying and directed toward the spiritual welfare of others. Our speech should be marked by grace. Yet rare is the dinner table where conversation promotes godliness. Our guests should leave more edified, uplifted, and ennobled than they were when they came. Surely we should cultivate the habit of wholesome and enriching conversation.
One wonders if some of the parents who weep over erring sons and daughters sowed seeds of disinterest in godliness at the family table. Perhaps the conversation at dinner consisted of gossip and criticism of the fellowship, leaders, decisions, and spiritual temperature of the church. A constant diet of dissecting the message, depreciating the messenger, and constantly undermining what is sacred and spiritual, cannot fail to leave its mark. Let us determine before God that henceforth we will allow no corrupting comments in our homes. Rather, let us direct all our conversation toward positive ends.
5. A Christlike Demeanor (4:30–32)
a. An Ungrieved Holy Spirit (4:30)
(1) Who He Is (4:30a)
“Grieve not the holy Spirit of God.”
The Holy Spirit can be resisted (Acts 7:51). Resisting the Spirit is a sin of the unsaved, especially those who have had many opportunities to hear and heed the gospel. This sin is not dispensational, like blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31). Only people who saw Jesus perform mighty miracles and attributed them to Satan, could blaspheme the Holy Spirit. People in all ages can resist the Holy Spirit. In Noah’s day, for instance, God warned, “My spirit shall not always strive with man” (Genesis 6:3).
The Holy Spirit can be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Quenching the Spirit is a sin of the church. Paul warned the infant Thessalonian church about this sin right after he taught them about the rapture. His warning was part of his closing, pithy remarks to that church.
Many local churches today are going nowhere, winning no one, making no impact, losing numbers, and moving in ever-smaller circles because they have quenched the Holy Spirit. Their fellowship is undisciplined, inconsiderate, quarrelsome, prayerless, unhappy, unthankful, critical of the preacher, and slack on matters of faith and morals, and as a result the Spirit is quenched. (See the context of 1 Thessalonians 5:19.) The members often try to solve these problems by firing the preacher, streamlining the machinery, livening up the music, buying more advertising, getting on the radio and television, or imitating the methods of “successful” churches. But none of these tactics will work. The results, if any, will be disappointing. Instead of genuine conversions, there will be false professions because “that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). There will be conversions without repentance, programs without power, and religion without the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). This is a sin of the individual believer. The word “grieve” is a love word. You cannot grieve someone who does not love you. You might annoy, upset, infuriate, or disappoint him, but you cannot grieve him. You can only grieve someone who loves you. You can grieve the Holy Spirit.
The word translated “grieve” in Ephesians 4:30 is in the active voice and means “to cause pain or sorrow.” We grieve the Holy Spirit (we cause Him pain) by doing and saying things that are contrary to His character. In the Bible the Spirit of God reveals Himself as the Holy Spirit. Because He is holy, the kind of ungoverned behavior that Paul described in the context of this verse must cause Him indescribable pain and sorrow. We are commanded not to grieve Him because of who He is—the Holy Spirit.
(2) What He Does (4:30b)
“Whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
Paul had already told the Ephesians that the seal of the Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13–14). A seal indicated ownership and possession.
One of the Holy Spirit’s ministries is to keep us safe and secure from the wiles of the devil, the weaknesses of the flesh, and the wickedness of the world until we are “saved to sin no more”—until “the day of redemption.” That glorious day is coming when the sons of God will come into their own (Romans 8:19), when the saints of God will be displayed to the universe as the exhibit of God’s marvelous grace (2 Thessalonians 1:10). We must not make the Holy Spirit’s work harder. We must not grieve Him by refusing to cooperate with Him in His maturing, molding work in our lives.
b. An Ungrudging Human Spirit (4:31–32)
(1) Things to Be Discarded (4:31)
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.”
This is a typical Pauline list. What an ugly accumulation of human characteristics! They sour our lives, scald our brethren, stain our characters, spoil our testimonies, and sadden the Holy Spirit.
Nothing could be more grieving to the Holy Spirit than a bitter, resentful spirit. Bitterness soured the soul of Simon Magus (Acts 8:23) when Philip preached Christ in Samaria, and showed that Simon’s profession of faith was utterly false.
The Greek word translated “anger” in Ephesians 4:31 is the same word used for legitimate anger in verse 26. Anger is listed as an evil that grieves the Holy Spirit because it can easily get out of control. “Wrath” is a translation of a different Greek word that means “a violent outbreak of anger.” Wrath boils up and subsides again just as swiftly, but leaves behind all kinds of scars. That kind of anger grieves the Holy Spirit of grace.
The word translated “evil speaking” is blasphēmia, from which we derive our word “blasphemy.” Blasphēmia refers to slanderous, injurious talk and to railing (1 Timothy 6:4). The word is used to describe the mockery of the multitudes who reviled Christ when He was on the cross (Mark 15:29).
“Malice” is a translation of kakia, the usual Greek word for depravity, which denotes a vicious disposition. This kind of disposition, so contrary to the Spirit of Christ, undermines character, grieves the Holy Spirit, and produces the crop of noxious weeds listed in Ephesians 4:31. These characteristics have no place in the life of a child of the King. They are to be put away.
(2) Things to Be Displayed (4:32)
“Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Here Paul emphasized the positive. He told us we must display spiritual graces instead of soul-destroying grudges. How can we do less? We must forgive others, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as God has forgiven us for what we did to Him, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Wuest translated the beginning of this verse as, “And be becoming kind.” We might not be able to achieve the kind of total revolution of inner disposition demanded by the Holy Spirit all at once. God is reasonable. He knows our frame. He makes allowance for us to learn and practice, even though we already have the indwelling Holy Spirit to provide the energizing power needed for change. But God does demand that here and now—right away—we start putting away the old nature and putting on the new.