Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 247

__________________________________________________________________________
To subscribe or to read other bible studies go to: http://www.aibi.ph/eternity/
For MP3 audio files of these devotionals go to:  http://www.aibi.ph/eternity/audio/  
NOTE: We have 388 current subscribers. Tell your friends and make it 500 subscribers soon!
__________________________________________________________________________

Living In Christ – 8

PUTTING OFF THE OLD MAN

Ephesians 4:25-32
(25)  Therefore putting away lying, let each man speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
(26)  Be angry, and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down upon your wrath,
(27)  neither give place to the Devil.
(28)  Let him who stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, so that he may have something to give to him who needs.
(29)  Let not any filthy word go out of your mouth, but if any is good to building up in respect of need, that it may give grace to the ones hearing.
(30)  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed until the day of redemption.
(31)  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and tumult and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
(32)  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.

Since we are a new person in Christ, and since this new self is created by God, in righteousness and holiness – then unholy behavior is incompatible with who we really are and must not be engaged in.

Putting away lying (v.25) – Lying is incompatible with the new self that is formed in the truth.  We cannot tell lies for God or fib for evangelistic purposes. While a few bible verses seem not to condemn lying in war-time or when life is in danger, on the whole, the Scripture condemns falsehood. I am very concerned about some “undercover” ministries that require Christians to live double lives. This is spiritually damaging. We need to live in the truth, openly, but wisely, and not practice deception – even for a so-called “good cause”.  

In my opinion if an environment is so hostile that we cannot go there openly as a Christian then we should not go there. We either “wipe the dust off our feet” (which is the NT response to such hostility, since the workers are few) or go and suffer the consequences, or we find other means of evangelism such as radio, literature or the Internet. 

But most lies are just plain selfish – and have little to do with good causes. Whether it is lying on a tax-return, or lying about sexual behavior, or lying about qualifications or padding a resume, or lying in order to impress someone – it is evil.

Putting away wrath, malice and inappropriate anger (v. 26 & 31)  - Verse 26 makes it clear that we can be angry for a short-while and in a controlled manner, without abusive language (v.29) or cursing (which may be the meaning of “giving place to the Devil”) (V.27). We are not to let anger put us into a state of turmoil, tumult, wrath or malice. This is evil and only works evil.

James 1:19-20
(19)  Therefore, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
(20)  For the wrath of man does not work out the righteousness of God.

Putting away stealing (v28.) – There are many ways that Christians can steal. Underpaying Christian employees is stealing from your workers (James 5:4). According to the US Center for World Missions Global Missions Statistics (http://www.uscwm.org/mobilization_division/global_mission_statistics.html ) dishonest treasurers pilfer more from church coffers (18 billion) than is spent on world missions (17 billion). Pilfering and financial dishonesty cost Judas, Ananias and Sapphira very dearly and we need to realize that it is a common but very deadly sin. Instead of getting easy money through theft Christians are to be constructive contributors to others (v.28) working with their hands and earning their way.

Putting away filthy speech (v.29) and evil speaking with all malice (v. 31). We are never to speak words that are malicious, evil or filthy. They are not to “come out of our mouth”. It is not “cool” to swear, neither does it “make a point”. Abusiveness, swearing, filthy talk and crude jokes are never from the Holy Spirit.  Rather we are to work at speaking graciously, to build others up, not to tear them down or to defile them.

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” – base, vile and intemperate behavior grieves the Holy Spirit along with malice, ill-will, hatred and strife. The flesh and the Spirit are at war (Galatians 5;16-18) and God desires us for His own, so much so that the Spirit becomes jealous if we love the world and its ways (James 4:4,5) . This verse also tells us that God is personal and the Holy Spirit is more than a mere “force”, rather He is a divine Person, who is sensitive to our spiritual state and who is pained when we relish sin.

This Holy Spirit seals us until the day of redemption (v. 30). He is the mark upon our spirit that God recognizes, He is the seal upon the servants of God. God has put His mark on us, and that mark is a Spirit of holiness. Our distinctiveness is our purity, our righteousness our true identity. Therefore since we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and set aside for redemption by a holy God, then we should strive to live holy lives.

Finally the positives – we are “members of each other” (verse 25) – joined in a spiritual unity, so to tear down a Christian is to hurt ourselves. So we should tell the truth to each other as we would tell the truth to our own selves (verse 25) and to be tender-hearted, forgiving, kind, remembering that God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us, so we also ought to forgive others. (see Matthew 18:21-35)

The Holy Spirit is gentle and gracious and the God-indwelt life will be kind and loving, not harsh and demanding.

We must live as forgiven folk, soft in God, and glorying in the gospel and free from all angry tumult of self and the clamor of ego. The new life beckons, let us part with the old.

Blessings,

John Edmiston johned@aibi.ph

Were you blessed by Eternity Daily Bible Study?  To subscribe just send 
a blank email to: eternity-dbs-subscribe@strategicnetwork.org

Visit the Eternity Daily Bible Study Archives - 
http://www.aibi.ph/eternity/ 

Study at the Asian Internet Bible Institute- Free online non-formal, 
in-service, bible and ministry training: http://www.aibi.ph 

This ministry is supported by donations from those who have been blessed. To donate online go to: http://www.aibi.ph/aibi/donate.htm