25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 5
1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Dig Deeper
I was a young, first-year college basketball player and one of the seniors on the team asked us all to sign up to be big brothers. How could we say ‘no’? Kenny was the team captain and a highly respected senior veteran, point-guard on the team. He also worked at the local Boy’s and Girl’s Club during his free-time. Through them, he was in charge of recruiting volunteers for the big brother program. Pretty much everyone on the team signed up, including me. A few days later we went through a training session and were given the numbers of the young men to call their mothers and set things up. The problem was, I never called. In fact, virtually none of the other players called their boys either. After about three months of having completely forgotten all about it, Kenny called a meeting with all of the guys who had signed up. We all thought he was really going to give it to us and call us lazy and irresponsible, and he did briefly, but that was not by far the heart of what he told us. What he did was to call us to the standard of being men of our word. What was really memorable, though, was when he calmly described all of the good that we could have done in the lives of these young men and did not. The bad aspects of the character we had displayed was one thing, but the good things we could have done in the lives of those young men was far more important and long-lasting.
Up to this point, Paul has talked quite a bit about the life in Christ and what it looks like in theory. In this section, Paul really gives some ethical direction and practical advice on what that might look like. What might be surprising, however, is that Paul does not simply launch into a list of don’ts and do’s, although it is easy to read it like that, and many have over the years. The true thrust of this passage is a vision of what the Christian community in Christ is supposed to be and the good they can accomplish when acting that way. It would certainly be a shame for the people who have been freed from the slavery of sin to continue to live darkened lives, but far more devastating would be the failure to do the good that those who are walking in step with the Spirit in their Christian life can do. It has become quite popular these days for people to engage in whatever behavior they want and justify it as "being free and being themselves," but that is in direct opposition to the life of Christ to which believers are called. Rather than being free and going with the flow of whatever we are feeling at the moment, we are really, usually using excuses for lazy thinking and selfish behavior. Even worse, though, is we miss out on all the positive benefits for ourselves and others that could be accomplished.
Those in Christ, then, should not just discontinue in the behavior of lying because it is a new rule. There are several problems beside the act of it being a sin that arise when God’s people lie to one another. When we lie we demonstrate that we completely miss the point of the unified life of Christ. First, when people lie to other humans, we demonstrate that we fear their opinion more than God’s. Second, lying to others in the Christian community shows that we really don’t grasp the concept of unity in the body of Christ, if we did we would realize that lying to one another is like lying to ourselves. Thus, it is important not just to not lie, but to engage in and enjoy the benefits of living a community that speaks and lives truthfully and can trust one another. When people trust one another there is a whole other world of good things like trust, comfort, unity, compassion, empathy, support, and so many other things that can flower. We should note that in verse 25, Paul quotes from Zechariah 8:16, a passage which promises that God will restore and renew his people. Living in a community that speaks truthfully and lives truthfully is one of the ways that will happen.
In your anger, Paul says, do not sin. Anger is a natural and God-given emotion, but it must be controlled. Trying to pretend that we don’t get angry is a form of lying. Like any other sins associated with the old man, then, we must learn to recognize the steps that lead us into sin and eliminate them. Thus, we must train ourselves to recognize our anger and get rid of it quickly, or as Paul says before the sun goes down. If we don’t, we open ourselves up and give the devil a foothold. Again, the real problem in anger is not only that it leads to so many other sins, but it keeps us from enjoying so much benefit. If we spend 3 or 4 hours even, being angry with someone, that is 3 or 4 hours of untold good and benefit that are lost to Satan. We lose the good of what we could have done as well as the benefit of learning to control our anger.
The one who has supported himself by stealing needs to stop because that is obviously inconsistent with a Christian life, but once again, there is more to it than that. The one who has been stealing in his old life, needs to turn that around and work, making use of the hands and abilities that God has given him. That would even be one thing, but Paul goes one more incredible step. He says that those in Christ who had been stealing should work so that he may have something to share with those in need. The thief should, in Christ, become a philanthropist. Stealing is bad enough in itself, but we often miss all of the incredible benefits that can come from hard work and sharing with others that is lost when someone steals. Thus, the life of Christ is not just about no longer sinning, but it has everything to do with engaging in the exponential good that can be done when one lives out the true life of the Messiah.
Next, Paul turns to unwholesome talk. The term actually comes from a word that means "stones that crumble." It speaks of any language which is destructive of others. Instead, believers should build others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Every time we open our mouths in the presence of other believers we have an opportunity to build up God’s kingdom in them or tear it down (certainly this same principle also applies to non-believers as well) in them. What a shame it is when we use the tongue destructively, because we not only tear down, we miss an opportunity to build up. Once again, we see the principle that Paul is describing at work. Evil is exponentially increased in the good that is not done that could have been. To do evil and not good, especially when it comes to using our tongue, grieves the Holy Spirit, with whom all believers are sealed for the day of redemption. The language of grieving the Spirit comes from Isaiah 63:10, which describes Israel’s rebellion. Not using our tongues to build others up is a sort of rebellion, then, against God.
Believers, Paul continues to say, should get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. The obvious implication is that doing so comes from proper thinking and is at least in part, our responsibility. Rather than wasting time in those activities that do no one anyone good, we should engage in behavior more consistent with the life of Christ. We should be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Forgiveness is a key component of the life in Christ because it demonstrates that we truly grasp the forgiveness that has been granted us in Christ.
In doing all of this, we will become imitators of God. Why would we want to become imitators of God? Because we are dearly loved children in our status in the Messiah. Being an imitator of God is a great way to sum up the entire preceding passage. This passage brings forth echoes of other passages that call us to imitate the character of God such as Leviticus 19 and Matthew 5:43-48. The point of living as an imitator of God is the same thing that allows us to do so: The fact that Christ gave his life for us so that we might enter into his life, should be our motivation to similarly die to our old lives and take his up. Anything less would be unthinkable for the one who truly understands our life in Christ.
Devotional Thought
It actually makes the Spirit grieve when we don’t live lives that reflect the nature, image, and life of God. As those in Christ, we are called to and enabled by the Spirit to live in ways that do reflect the life of the Messiah. In what ways do you embrace the life of the Messiah? In what areas do you still resist that life?
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