“Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with
his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and
yet do not sin; do not let the sun
go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals
must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands
what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is
good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give
grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:25–29, NASB95)
Continuing from the last post we are continuing to look at
Paul’s practical examples of putting off activities reflecting our old self as
we come to understand how we are to live, and then putting on those new and
right practices which reflect who we are in Christ. Last time we focused on
telling the truth and dealing with our anger. This time we move on to look at
the issue of stealing and our speech in general.
The third very practical example is found in verse 28, “He
who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his
own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who
has need.” Stealing is to have no place in the life of the believer. It is a
basic principle that was clearly laid out in the Ten Commandments. “You shall
not steal.” (Exodus 20:15, NASB95) Therefore, as Christians we are not to
steal, and if we have a pattern of stealing then we are to stop it. God’s
answer for what to do in response is for us to put our nose to our work and
focus on how we can use what He has given us to bless others in return.
For many this is easier said than done. Living on the edge
is a difficult thing to do, but God is faithful even to those edges. When we
are tempted we have His truth to direct our steps and to encourage our hearts.
We see this in verses such as 1 Corinthians 10:13 where we read, “No temptation
has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will
not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation
will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (1
Corinthians 10:13, NASB95) God never minimizes our struggles, but compared to
His infinite power all of our struggles pale in comparison to His power to
help. He calls us to trust Him to get us through. How this works itself out may
vary and even vary in intensity, but God will get us through, remembering that
the outcome of the situation is often an aside to the outcome of what God does
on the inside.
It may be that the situation does not get resolved to our
expectations, but God proves His ability to bring us through. It may mean that
He shows us a way to an answer. And, in may even turn out that in getting us
through that He might even come to our aid through another who has followed
this principle of “performing works with His own hands what is good, so that he
will have something to share with one who has need.” The same Spirit works in all
of us, and our God knows how to move His people for His glory and our best. The
principle here is that rather than taking “short cuts” and stealing that which
is not ours, we are to keep our eyes on God and do what He has set before us
such that we might even be a blessing to others.
The fourth “Put off-Put on” is found in verse 29 where we
read, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as
is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will
give grace to those who hear.” I think we’ve all been in situations where
cutting words have been said, and I know that I have been guilty of them
myself. James called the tongue a “restless evil.” We read in chapter 3 of his
letter, “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of
deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men,
who have been made in the likeness of this way.” (James 3:8–10, NASB95)
Apart from Christ it might seem like a pretty hopeless
statement to say that “no one can tame the tongue,” but this statement is
restricted to the power of man. Christ in us does amazing things. The core of
who we are is changed at the moment of our salvation. We have a new identity,
and as we grow in Christ our actions are to be conformed more and more to Him.
This means that there is hope for this restless evil, and that help is found in
practicing the very instructions that we have in passages such as here in Ephesians
4:29 where we put off unwholesome words. The King James, New King James, and
English Standard translations use a stronger word than “unwholesome.” They use
“corrupt” or “corrupting.” The Greek word is ‘sapros,’ which is best
represented by these other translations. When something is corrupted it no
longer reflects the original. It becomes defective, unusable, and worthless.
For those who have owned and used a computer you are probably familiar with
what a corrupted hard drive does to the computer. It makes the whole computer
worthless. Angry words are very destructive, and according to James these words
should not come out of the mouth of anyone who professes to bless the Lord.
Rather, we are to put off those words and put on words that
build up rather than tear down, words that encourage and bless rather
discourage and condemn. Paul said we are to speak “only such a word as is good
for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace
to those who hear.” Returning once again to James 1:19 we are to be quick to
look to God for our response, respond with words that are building up for the
moment, and look to the grace that will be shown to those who hear rather than
the anger that comes from an otherwise quick and rash response.
In every single one of these we see a change in focus. As we
take our eyes off of ourselves and protecting our own desires to focus on the
good of others we change the way we act. Being a Christian means being
continually changed for God’s glory and the building up of others.
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