A great rallying cry for this section of Scriptures would be, “Off with the old! On with the new!” Off with the old clothes of godless living and on with the new wardrobe befitting our new identity in Christ.
This can apply to a whole array of behaviors. The behaviors listed in Eph. 4:25-32 can fall into four categories. Let’s look at each one.
1. Your Speech
Paul refers to 3 different aspects of our speech we’re to put off.
- Falsehood - pseudos(vs. 25)Lying always costs. It undermines trust. And it threatens unity. That’s why we’re to put off falsehood. Instead, we’re to speak truthfully to one another.
- Unwholesome talk - sapros(vs. 29) The word used here describes rotten fruit or putrefying meat. Applied to language, it can refer to profanity, cursing, vulgar phrases, or crude jokes. But it can also describe cutting words that tear a person down.
- Slander - blasphemia (vs. 31) Slander is the ongoing defamation of someone that rises from a bitter heart. It’s the gossip about a person with the intent of putting them in a bad light. It’s the innuendo that fuels suspicion and compromises a person’s reputation.
2. Your Temper.
- Anger - parorgismos (vs. 26) This is a conviction that something is terribly wrong and directed in the right way at the right thing, it can be even righteous. However, if not used correctly, it can turn to bitterness, resentment, and self-righteousness. Consequently, Paul says, “…don’t let the sun go down on your anger and do not give the devil a foothold.”
- Rage - thumos (vs. 31) This is a wild outburst. When a person “loses it.”
- Anger (orge) (vs. 31) speaks of an internal smoldering hatred.
3. Your Ethics.
- Steal – klepto(vs. 28) Stealing is when you take that which you have no right to take – from man or God.
4. Your Relationships.
- Kind - chrestos(vs 32) Gentleness is tenderness displayed to those who are weak. Kindness puts that into action.
- Compassionate - eusplagchnos(vs 32) Compassion is a warmth of sympathy that comes from deep inside for those are suffering.
- Forgiving – charizomenoi(vs 32) The root of this word is charis – which means “grace.” To forgive is to offer grace to those who are hurtful, whether they deserve it or not. And why should we do that? Because that’s how God treats us.
So, off with the old! On with the new!
- Living the new you starts with a fresh realization of your identity.
- Living the new you continues with ongoingly presenting yourself to the Holy Spirit.
- Living the new you is maintained by being in a community that will offer accountability.
Text: Ephesians 4:25-32
Originally recorded on May 15, 2016, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN.
