Ephesians 4:24 – 5:11 Bible Teaching

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Ephesians 4.24-5.11
November 10th 2019
Milk
Okay, we left off with

22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

If I could summarize that last line with any words of advice it would be – make this a life’s goal as a Christian – to be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Because the effects of such truly assist is getting us through the human experience as His children focused on Him and His will and not our own.

So, after writing, and be renewed in the Spirit of your mind, Paul continues with our text for today, and for next week.

I mean he really hit this subject hard, and directly explains what he expects a Christian to be and what he expects a Christian to avoid. So I want to read the whole thing, in fact I’ve written it out on the board to show you that Paul had expectations of how believers in that day were to live.

So let’s read them – there are sixteen admonitions – some warnings against evil and some advice on what to replace these evil deeds with in the Lord.

Remember, that word renew is not remodel, but restore, renovate.

So there is the taking away of the former eroded or decrepit things and the installation of replacement alternatives. This is that Paul provides in the next number of verses.

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

This is the goal – the foundation of everything he will now write, that believers . . .

“. . .be renewed in the spirit of your mind
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

And so now Paul goes on and says:

25 “Wherefore” putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
26 If you are angry, sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
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.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
CHAPTER 5
5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But fornication and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting among saints.
4 Let there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting; but instead let there be thanksgiving.
5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not associate with them,
8 for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light
9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
10 and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret;
13 but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.
14 Therefore it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.”
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,
16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit,
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,
20 always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.

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So again, he lays the foundation for the Saints to

“. . . be renewed in the spirit of your mind

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

And he tells us how to do it through a number of bits of advice to his audience then, adding:

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25 Wherefore putting away lying,

Lying is interesting because it is a direct affront to Christ who is the Truth. How? Lying is “an intentional violation of the truth.”

In the scripture Satan is called the Father of lies and simultaneously the Prince of Darkness and so we find a commonality – where there are lies, there is the obfuscation or hiding of the truth, and therefore the creation of darkness.

But if there is anything more natural to the carnal man, I don’t know what is more present than lying.

At the heart of lying is the avoidance of pain with typically a built in desire to cover, or create dark.

It is REALLY hard to always tell the truth – but I would strongly suggest the practice when possible.

While lies and lying are condemned in scripture – emphatically even, and while we know that God cannot lie, the scripture reveals that some of the most favored Characters of the Bible were guilty of telling them including

Abraham Ge 12:12-13; 20:2
Isaac Ge 26:7 and Jacob Ge 27:24

Exodus 1:15 -19 described the Hebrew midwives as lying and of course David, a man after God’s own heart, lied.

In the New Testament Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for lying, and so we understand the serious nature of it in the life of Man.

Interesting, in the description of those who are NOT in the New Jerusalem but outside the walls, it specifically says:

Revelation 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Then again, in the next and last chapter we read:

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

(So what do we replace the lies we tell with? Go to the TOP)

2a
But Paul adds

“speak every man truth with his neighbor” (and his justification for this advice) “for we are members one of another.”

Paul probably borrowed this from
Zechariah 8:16 which says:

“These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.”

At verse 15 here in chapter four Paul wrote

“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:”

And he adds in Colossians 3:9 “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;”

Which brings us again to the whole purpose and point of Paul writing this – to help his reader put off the former old person and the ways the she or he operated.

So the next thing he says (which comprises verse 26-27):
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26 Be ye angry,

This is an interesting passage because it seems to allow for anger – even encourage it depending on how you read it.

Looking at the Greek, the words are in the “permissive imperative,” and are not a command to be angry. The case is really, if you happen to get angry, that is okay, but be careful that you do not let anger settle into your heart and mood.

Hence the phrase from Psalm 4:4

“Let not the sun go down upon your
wrath.”

That is why Paul adds: (go to top)

27 Neither give place to the devil.

When we choose to let anger seeth within us, and we don’t solve it in the day that it occurs, we have the tendency to get angrier and angrier, and more driven to retribution and retaliation – which is what I think Paul is referring to when he says:

Neither give place to the devil.

This is why quick forgiveness is so important, as Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 2:10

“To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

Then we come to number four

3a
and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

This advice is taken in all probability from Psalm, both

Psalm 4:4 which says, “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.”

and

Psalm 37:8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any
Wise to do evil.

Because of these references, and because Paul begins the next line with “Neither,” I think that what he says next is related to his advice (in verse 27) on not giving “place to the devil.”

How so?
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28 Let him that stole steal no more:

That is pretty self-explanatory. But what begs some attention is his advice that follows as Paul says:
(GO TO 4a Top)

4a

“but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

This single sentence in this passage friends is LOADED with insights from the Apostle and causes us to ask ourselves some questions:

First of all, what’s with the phrase, “labor with your own hands?” This is not the first and only time Paul uses it.

In 1st Thessalonians 4:11 we read:

“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;”

Its pretty obvious that all that is meant by it is for a person to work – themselves – and that it is NOT a literal demand for only doing manual labor. Unless you are a biblical literalist.

Do your own work and do not expect others to labor on your behalf is the directive.

Paul says that this is good and then he explains why it is good saying:

“that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

This was Paul’s sole reason Paul gives for a person laboring with their own hands – that he could give to those who are in need.

I really think we have to see this advice in the framework of that age. And while this might have some application to us today, it was certainly pressing for the Saints to labor and share their earnings with other saints to survive.

I’m not so sure that this remains the primary purpose for working a job today, in this world and its demands.

I mean we work to eat, to put a roof over our head, to pay for health benefits, to save for college, and yes to assist others but this is the sole reason Paul gives here – and obviously it has contextual application relative to the age.

Same with his advice on not marrying. It was given in the face of the age and the coming of Christ for His bride.

For this reason I think Jesus also said:

Luke 3:11 He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.

And Luke reported Paul saying in Acts 20

Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Paul speaks more directly to the idea of work to believers in 2nd Thessalonians 3, saying at verse 6:

“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
7 For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;
8 Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:
9 Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.
10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
13 But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

All good advice for the believer today but we must look carefully at context as a means to really understand application today.

And this brings us to verse 29 where he says

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29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,

Which is good advices, and we could talk for a day about the tongue and its power in the world and then he adds

5a
but (let this proceed out of your mouth) that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

In other words, encourage, build up, enlighten, illuminate – edify, so that you can administer grace unto the hearers.

And he adds at verse 30 our 6th insight saying

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30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God

If the Holy Spirit is in and with us, can we grieve it? And what exactly does this mean?

The Greek word translated “grieve” (lupeo) means to distress, to made sad, of course to cause grief and sorrow and to make something heavy.

Note that Paul says to not grieve “the Holy Spirit of God” – meaning it is His Spirit, sent to man, and we do not purposely cause it grief or distress.

Paul mentions another action he forbids against the Holy Spirit in
1st Thessalonians 5:19, which says

Quench not the Spirit.

Which means, “don’t extinquish it.
As a fire, don’t put it out.”

And then Paul adds (go to the TOP):

6a
“whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

What do you notice about this line? Was it the fact that they were not redeemed at that point but were sealed up “unto the day of redemption.”

Which was when?
First, let’s as which is what? What is this day of redemption that Paul is talking about?

Turning to Romans 8:23 Paul says

“even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

And then in Ephesians 1:13, speaking of Christ we read:

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

This day was expected by the apostles and the Saints in that day to arrive, where the earnest (or down-payment) of the Spirit promised them that their faith would pay off – and pay off soon – with their being saved, redeemed and taken up to their inheritance in resurrected bodies.

Before that time, they only had the promise and expectation of such.

If these Saints in that age are still waiting for this time we are met with all sorts of chronological problems.

1st It didn’t come to them as promised.

2nd, they have gone to heaven (absent from the body, present with the Lord) and are enjoying paradise while they wait, and then once the second coming happens, they will THEN experience the Great White Throne Judgement, and then, if their names are not written in the Lambs book of Life, they will be throw in the lake of Fire with that resurrected body that God has first gifted them with!

I call that all sorts of confusion. However, if the day of redemption was headed their way with Jesus promised return, then they WOULD have received their redemption and their inheritance at that time and all the rest (who died without faith in the destruction) would have would have joined the souls in sheol, come out with their lesser resurrected body, gone before the great white throne, been judged with some of them taking a trip to the house of pain also known as the lake of fire.

Bottom line, I think we all individually have a day of redemption today – and it is respectively at our own death, where God bestows upon us a resurrected body (according to His own pleasure) and we either enter into the New Heavenly Jerusalem or we remain outside of it.

Verse 31

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31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Look at that list:

Let all . . .

Bitterness
Wrath
Anger
Clamor
Evil Speaking be put away from you, along with all malice

And then the replacement materials for our soulish renovation? (See above)

7a

32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

These “things” (above) work in opposition to those things (next door)!

Okay, now chapter five continues on this same course, saying:

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(CHAPTER 5 Opens with some really sobering and humbling words if we think about them with respect to the Christian walk (which we discussed last week. Listen now as Paul writes):

5:1 Therefore, (in the face of all of this) be imitators of God, as beloved children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Children who love and respect their fathers try to imitate them. Here Paul says, therefore in the face of all I have said, “be imitators of God AS (presumably HIS) beloved Children.”

The Greek term is mimaytace, where we get the word MIMIC.
“MIMIC GOD as His belovbed Children.”

In this we see the wisdom in the scriptures that to know God and Christ our Lord is life eternal. Why? Because to really know them, who they genuinely are, is to genuinely love them. And when we genuinely love our god – whether the true and living or an idol – we will mimic or imitate them.

To imitate the actual real and living God, is to mimic love, and for a person to mimic love, that is life eternal.

I have to wonder about the God’s of hate and meaness that some choose to see, believe and then mimic? Is there life eternal in such
a relationship? I wonder.

But Paul doesn’t stop there. In addition to telling his reader to mimic God as His beloved Children, he adds:

2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

And in this we have another great insight into the love that Paul is talking about because he writes to also walk in love (how?)

As CHRIST loved us AND gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

This reminds me that I contest that true AGAPE love, for God and Man, is always sacrificial. Otherwise I think it can be categorized under one of the other many expressions of love.

But Godly love is always sacrificial. Think about it. God is perfect without blame or error or darkness or shadow and yet he loves us – which means His love toward us failing creatures is always Him giving up something for our benefit.

So after these two beautiful passages, Paul returns to his admonitions on how to walk and says
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3 But fornication and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting among saints.

Verses 1-2 are all about God and Christ and love – no mixing in with any warnings.

And then in verse 3 its all about the fleshly ways with no mixing in of admonitions.

Verse 1-2 are just: Do this.

And Verse 3 is just: Don’t do this.

But then we get to verse four and Paul goes back to the mixing, saying (read all of verse 4):

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4 Let there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting;

For those of you have ever been in an LDS temple you will recognize that in the rituals people covenant to avoid

“lightmindedness, loud laughter and evil speaking of the Lord’s anointed.”

This passage from Paul sounds similar with the use of levity and silly talk.

Does he mean this? He does as the Greek words are pretty dead on – don’t engage in “foolish talking” and “jesting with witticisms.”

Perhaps what he offers in exchange will help us understand what he means. And so after saying

4 Let there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting
he adds:

10a
“but instead let there be thanksgiving.”

In the face of this Paul seems to be describing a scenario where the believers were to spend their time in deep gratitude for what God has done for them through Christ and that they ought to spend their time praising and thanking him rather than telling stupid jokes and goofing around.

Is there a time for jesting? Do you notice that we don’t have Jesus or the apostles cracking any real jokes in scripture?

But I would definitely assign this too to the age and the seriousness of it in light of it all coming down on their heads.

I don’t see us in the same age or scenario and so I am not so sure that we ought to take these words literally.
Besides I think that the Spirit does a really good job of keeping conversations at an even keel and there is no need to establish rules of conduct or covenants to keep the external ambiance reverent.

At verse 5 Paul begins to get pretty heavy.

There is no getting around the words.

He also enters into a substantial back and forth now, delivering a warning followed up by an admonition.

Then a stark warning, followed by an admonition.

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5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has ANY inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not associate with them,
8 for once you were darkness,

Remember . . .

1st Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Again, what about Revelation 22:14-15?

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

And we are going to read later in this chapter where Paul writes:

Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

So, what are we to say? I have done and continue depending on the type of day I am having, continue to DO such things? I’m I lost? Forbidden entrance? What about faith?

Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Do you agree with this? I do. But remember the word for “do such things” here is PRASSO – where we get the words practice such things?

Who do them without any hesitation. Work to perfect them.
Practice.

How about Revelation 22:14-15? It says:

Blessed are they that do (poeo – work) his commandments (which are to believe and love), that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. (who do not do His commandments)

And 1st Corinthians 6:9?

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
(Yes we know that. And we know that we are made righteous by faith. So then Paul adds:) Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
(And we are therefore not part of this description)

And finally what about these verses in chapter 5 of Ephesians?

5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has ANY inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not associate with them,
8 for once you were darkness,

The solution comes in what Paul says next:

11a

but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light
9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
10 and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

I think we will stop here. It’s been a whole lot hasn’t it?