God's Secret Plan: File #10

The second half of Ephesians is dedicated to the idea of our walk as Christians--that, as those who have been redeemed, who are sitting with Christ in heavenly places, we ought to walk in a different manner than those in the world around us. After Paul states this basic thesis, he moves forward immediately to deal with the relationships within the church in Ephesians 4:25-5:2.

The first thing to note about this passage is the opening word: “Wherefore” which connects it to the exhortations immediately preceding. Because we, as Christians, have put on a new man, are walking on a new path, have been renewed in our spirits, we should act according to the precepts of this passage. It is interesting to note from this passage the kind of people who comprised the Ephesian church--there were liars and thieves among them. (How is that for an advertisement? Come to our church: Where the liars and thieves go.) Yet these people had had an encounter with Christ, had been made new. And Paul's concern was that they would be whole-hearted and consistent in the practical outliving of this new life.

This passage contains five commands, all relating to our interpersonal relationships and all with two sides. All of them contain, more or less explicitly, both a positive and a negative side: A don't and a do. (Though these would all be true of our relationships with all people, Paul is speaking here specifically of our relationships with one another within the church.)

(1) “Wherefore putting away lying, [or, having put away lying] speak every man truth with his neighbour.” (v. 25. c.p. Zechariah 8:16) This doesn't mean necessarily that there were Christians at Ephesus who were still in the habit of lying, but it does mean that they once had been and that Paul is insistent that it be gone forever and replaced with speaking truth. Note the balance here: it is not enough merely to refrain from lying; we must speak the truth. G. K. Chesterton argued that too many people are trained merely to avoid lying without actually learning to speak the truth. “But the thing we never teach at all is the general duty of telling the truth, of giving a complete and fair picture of anything we are talking about, of not misrepresenting, not evading, not suppressing... The one thing that is never taught... [is] that there is a whole truth of things, and that in knowing it and speaking it we are happy.” (“The Boy” in All Things Considered)

(2) “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” (v. 26) Paul does not condemn being angry; he allows it or even positively commands it. Anger is something which has a certain purpose and function in the world and if it is misused and taken out of its proper sphere it becomes wrong. Barclay writes: “The anger which is selfish and uncontrolled is a sinful and hurtful thing, which must be banished from the Christian life. But the selfless anger which is disciplined into the service of Christ and of our fellow men is one of the great dynamic forces of the world." (Daily Bible Study Series, 8:155-6)

Paul's concern seems to have been that anger, like many very potent things, will spoil from being kept too long. Even justified anger may become a bad thing if we allow it ferment in our mind rather than dealing with it. That is why he exhorts us, on one hand, not to sin in our anger, and, on the other hand, to deal with it before a new day begins. (To the Jews the day began at sunset.) The Greek word translated wrath at the end of this verse is used in extrabiblical literature for the cause or source of anger rather than anger itself--the idea may be that we should deal with whatever it is that is causing us to be angry. For a Christian, there should be no holding grudges for years, because anger does not keep well.

It should be mentioned that the NET Bible argues that “Be angry and sin not” means that there are certain occasions when it would be a sin NOT to be angry; that there are things which must cause us to be angry and drive us to seek their correction. “Christians are to exercise a righteous indignation over sin in the midst of the believing community... When other believers sin, such people should be gently and quickly confronted... for if the body of Christ does not address sin in its midst, the devil gains a foothold.”

(3) “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.” (v. 28) On one hand, this command forbids all dishonesty and thievery, making it clear that this kind of behavior could not exist in the Christian life. But what is interesting is the other side of the command. Paul turns to the thief, to the man who once made his living by preying off others, and tells him to labor at doing something good. The hands which were once occupied in going into other people's pocket are now to be turned to producing something for others. He that once took from everyone else is now commissioned to give to others. The parasite is transformed into something productive and generous. Here we have a very dramatic and complete contrast between the old and the new life.

(4) “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.” (v. 29) The word translated corrupt means useless, rotten, or, bad. The apostle took this matter of speech very seriously, realizing that there are things that people say, forms of communication, which were corrupt, useless, rotten, and/or bad. All such communication is a serious matter and must be stopped. But, once again, merely stopping bad communication is not enough. It must be replaced by something positive, by “that which is good,” by speech which can edify or build up others, which may become a means of grace to those who hear it.

(5) “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.” (v. 31-32a) In these verses, Paul list six things which are to be banished from the Christian life, which we may categorize under the general heading of “ill-feelings.” (a) Bitterness is fairly self-explanatory. For the rest, we have Clarke: (b) Wrath “which may be considered the commencement of the passion. (c) Anger: “the passion carried to its highest pitch.” (d) Clamour--“Loud and obstreperous speaking, brawling, railing, boisterous talk” (e) Evil speaking-- “words which tend to hurt those of whom or against whom they are spoken.” (f) Malice--“settled, sullen, fell wrath, which is always looking out for opportunities to revenge itself by the destruction of the object of its indignation.” And note that Paul says “all” of these are to be put away. Paul is speaking of a complete removal of these things.

In contrast to all this, Paul exhorts the Ephesians to be “kind... tenderhearted [compassionate], forgiving.” They were to live was a continual attitude of kindness and compassion towards one another, always being willing to forgive and be reconciled with one another. These are obviously mutually exclusive. If we are genuinely concerned for and sympathetic with other people, then we will not be able to have clamor and evil speaking and malice. And if we have bitterness, we will not be able to forgive. We must pick one path or the other.

These are the five commands Paul gives in this passage. But we should note the reasons that Paul gives for them. It is one thing to agree that a certain thing is right, and another thing to agree about why. These five basic commands would probably be embraced by many people in the world, but for a variety of reasons (good or bad) which are very different from the reasons which Paul gives here.

We are members one of another.” (v. 25) Paul gives this specifically as a reason for speaking the truth. This phrase points back to the metaphor of the body which Paul used earlier. As Christians, we are all part of one body, one organism. In an organism, various parts all work together to achieve a common goal. But this only works if all the parts work together and are honest. Imagine the chaos if the nerves in your eyes practiced deceit to the brain, or if the brain lied to your hands.  And this carries through to all these commands. We must walk in love with one another because we are all part of one body.  Adam Clarke comments what a horrible thing it would be if the various parts of the human body began to fight and try to destroy one another, and then adds: “And is it less [monstrous] to see the members of a Christian society bite and devour each other, till they are consumed one of another? Every member of the mystical body of Christ should labour for the comfort and edification of the whole, and the honour of the Head... Would all act on this plan (and surely it is as rational as it is Christian) we should soon have glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will among men.” (Ephesians 4:32)

Neither give place to the devil.” (v. 27) “Do not give the devil an opportunity.” (NET Bible) If we are not careful in our relationships with one another, we are giving the devil a prime opportunity to come into our own lives and the life of the church. Even if the devil cannot attack the individual Christian, if he can get in between them and divide them, then he has achieved his goal. You don't have to destroy the bricks, if you can destroy the mortar. These kinds of generalizations are dangerous, but I can't help wondering if this has not been the main way the devil has fought the church down through history, by gaining an opportunity through our failures in our relationships with one another.

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (v. 30) As Christians, we belong to God. God gives His Spirit to all Christians, marking us as belonging to him, as a seal or stamp was once used to indicate ownership. At the end of all things, we will be recognized as belonging to God, because we have been sealed with His Spirit. Therefore, we must not act in such a way as to cause pain or grief to the Holy Spirit. It is interesting that this command is nestled right in the middle of commands relating to our relationships with one another. The idea seems to be that if we grieve one another, we may also being grieving the Holy Spirit. For a Christian to hurt another Christian is not merely a matter involving the two of them, but also God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit, because we are sealed by Him unto the day of redemption.

Finally, 4:32b-5:2 give the main reason for these exhortations, the main reason we should walk in love with one another. Immediately after telling us to forgive one another, Paul adds: “even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” We must walk in love, because God has loved us.

The love of God is our pattern. Paul says we should be followers of God. Many other translations give it “imitators” of God. The Greek word used here is the source of our English word mimic. Just as children sometimes endeavor to copy the behavior and even peculiarities of their parents, modeling their behavior after that of their Father, so as Christians we should endeavor to copy and model our behavior after the behavior of our Heavenly Father. (Clarke, Ephesians 5:1) And one of the primary facts about God is that God is Love. God's interactions with us, as humans, has been repeatedly underscored by love, specifically in the fact that Jesus offered himself as a sacrificial offering to God. Because of that, we must act in love towards one another (and, for the matter of that, for those outside the church as well.) If we are to be like God, then we must walk in love for one another. To lie to another another, to horde up our anger, to steal from another, to speak wrongly, and to have ill feelings for one another would be to act contrary to God and to how He has acted towards us.

Comments

Popular Posts