Behavior - Ephesians 4:22-29

Let me invite you please to open your Bible to Ephesians 4. We've been having a delightful time examining the word of God, written by the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit—words given to us to help us live practical Christian lives. In Ephesians 4, 5, and 6, Paul is discussing the believer's walk, our daily practical behavior. Christianity is a very practical thing. It is something to be practiced. The truth is not something to be believed; it is something that we should be. We should do the truth.

Now Paul has been telling us in verses 1-16 how to walk in unity, and beginning with Ephesians 4:17, how to walk in purity. We discovered as we examined verses 22-24 that you and I have the old man and the new man. Every Christian is a new creation in Christ Jesus. The new nature has been implanted within through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Now, the Christian who allows his new nature to control his life is a spiritual person. This is what the Bible calls over in Galatians 5, walking in the spirit. If you walk in the spirit, you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now, if a Christian allows the old nature to control his life, he is what the Bible calls a carnal person. Over in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul tells us at the end of that chapter that there are only three kinds of people in the world. There are the natural people, that is, the people of nature—that is, those who have never been born again. All they have is the old nature. And God tells us through Paul in 1 Corinthians 2 that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." So if you have never been saved, you belong in that category, the natural man.

Paul goes on to say there is also the spiritual man. This is the Christian who allows the Holy Spirit of God to control his life. Now, in between the natural man, who is lost, and the spiritual man, who allows the Spirit of God to work in his life, there is the carnal man. This is the Christian who is controlled by the old nature. The word carnal means fleshly. So if you are saved today, you are in one of two categories. We are either in the category marked spiritual because we are allowing the Holy Spirit of God to work through our lives, or we are in the category called carnal in which the Spirit of God is being grieved because we allow the flesh to control our lives.

Now, I feel sorry for those who have the idea that spiritual Christians are unhappy. They are not unhappy. To be a spiritually minded person is a wonderful thing. Paul says in Romans 8, "to be carnally minded is death." You allow the flesh to control your life, it'll kill. It'll kill your testimony. It'll kill your joy. It'll kill your power. It will possibly even kill you. For there are cases in the Bible of believers who allowed the old nature so to control them that God had to take their lives: Samson, Saul, Ananias and Sapphira. The believers in Corinth, Paul said, "for this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and some sleep," some have died. This is why 1 John warns us, "there is a sin unto death."

Now Romans 8:6 says, "to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace," abundant life. "I am come that they might have life," said Jesus, "and that they might have it more abundantly." Now God wants you to enjoy this abundant life, and this is why He gave you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is the seal and the down payment, the witness that you are born again. Because you have the Holy Spirit, you know you are God's. You belong to Him. But the Holy Spirit of God is not there simply to be a seal or a witness or a down payment, the earnest of our inheritance. He is there to live out Christ's life through us.

So Ephesians 4:22 tells us to put off the old man. This is parallel to what God says over in Colossians 3. Ephesians and Colossians are very close to each other doctrinally. In Colossians 3, Paul says this: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection," or your mind, your attention, "set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead," that means the old life has been crucified, "and your life is hid with Christ in God." Now he goes on to say in Colossians 3:5, "Mortify," put to death, "therefore, your members which are upon the earth." Take your body and allow the Spirit of God to crucify these affections. What are they? "Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, covetousness, which is idolatry." Colossians 3:8, "But now ye also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him."

Now this is perfectly parallel to what Paul says in Ephesians 4:22-24. In Colossians he says, "you have put off the old man and ye have put on the new man." This is positionally. When you were saved, the old man was crucified, the old man was put off, and the new man was put on. Now Paul says, practice your position. I like that. I recall watching some years ago on television when the Queen of England was crowned. The coronation was a beautiful event. As the ceremony continued, they put the crown upon her head. Now that's her position. She's on the throne with a crown on her head. She hasn't stayed there all the time, but this is her position. She practices her position. She lives out her privileges as the queen.

Now when you and I were saved, the old man was buried, the new man was put on. Now Paul says, live up to your position. Practically speaking, all day long, put off the old man. When you're tempted to give way to the appetites of the flesh, you say to the Holy Spirit, "Holy Spirit of God, I have been crucified with Christ. The old man's been buried. Now make this real in my life." And the Spirit of God applies the power of the cross to your life. Now it can't be explained, it's a miracle. It's a wonderful miracle that God accomplishes day after day, hour by hour in our lives as we walk in the Spirit, putting off the old man and putting on the new man.

Now he tells us in verses 25-32 the things to put off. "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." Lying. Now people talk about white lies, black lies, big lies, and little lies. Paul just says put away lying, any kind of deceit. John 8:44, Jesus said, "Ye are of your father the devil; he is a liar. He is a deceiver." And anyone who lies is playing into the hands of the devil.

You will want to notice that where we're warned in Ephesians 4:27, "neither give place to the devil." You see, as long as the Christian is walking in the power of the Spirit, the devil can't touch him. We are in Christ. We have on the armor of God, Ephesians 6. We belong to Jesus Christ. He has overcome the world. He has overcome the devil. And Satan cannot get to us so long as we are walking in the Spirit and working with the Lord. But whenever we allow a little opening, Satan moves in. And so in Ephesians 4:27, Paul says, "Don't give the devil any beachhead." Give him an inch, he'll take a mile. Let the camel get his nose in the tent, and before long he'll be inside sleeping with you. Don't give place to the devil.

Now, how do we do this? Well, Ephesians 4:25 says, if you start lying, you're going to give place to the devil. I've been reading recently in 1 Samuel where David was being persecuted by Saul, and David instead of trusting the Lord began to lie. He told Jonathan, "Now Jonathan, when you go to dinner and I'm not there, you tell Saul that I had to go to Bethlehem to visit my parents." That was a lie. His wife lied about him. He lied to the priest. He said, "I've come down on the king's business." And all these lies began to mushroom and grow, and before long, it led to some really serious trouble.

Lying. Now, lying is to the church what disease is to the body. If I get a sliver in my finger and infection sets in, it affects my whole body. If I have a sore tooth, it affects my whole body. And if one member of my body begins to get sick, it affects the whole body. And if one member of the body of Christ begins to lie, it gives an opportunity for the devil to get in. Now, when a person begins to lie, he'd better have a good memory because it's impossible to remember all of these lies. The easiest way to live is to live a life of sincerity, a life of openness, to be truthful, to walk in the truth, to practice the truth. So he says put away lying. And he gives a very definite reason for it. He says, we Christians are more than neighbors, we are members one of another. We belong to each other.

Now, lying is to the church what disease is to the body. If I get a sliver in my finger and infection sets in, it affects my whole body. If I have a sore tooth, it affects my whole body. And if one member of my body begins to get sick, it affects the whole body. And if one member of the body of Christ begins to lie, it gives an opportunity for the devil to get in. Now, when a person begins to lie, he'd better have a good memory because it's impossible to remember all of these lies. The easiest way to live is to live a life of sincerity, a life of openness, to be truthful, to walk in the truth, to practice the truth. So he says put away lying. And he gives a very definite reason for it. He says, we Christians are more than neighbors, we are members one of another. We belong to each other.

Ephesians 4:26, anger. "Be angry and sin not." Not a very strange statement. Paul is saying there is a holy anger. Now, Christians ought never to be angry at people. We ought to be angry at sin. God hates sin. "Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good." Now, the Lord Jesus was angry. In Mark 3:5, it says "and he looked upon them with anger." Now, he wasn't angry at the people, he was angry at the sin that he saw in their hearts. Frankly, I don't have much confidence in a man who doesn't get angry at some things. One of the big problems in civilization today is that people don't care. A girl was being pursued by a wicked man in New York City many months ago, and over 30 people watched as this man tracked her down and caught her and stabbed her to death, and no one did anything about it. You see, unconcerned.

Paul says, "be angry." There's something you ought to be angry about. When the law is not obeyed, we ought to get angry. When innocent people suffer unjustly, we ought to be angry. But he says, "be careful that your anger is not sin, because anger gives place to the devil." Sinful anger, the losing of our temper, our impatience, opens the door for the devil. Do you remember Cain and Abel? They went to the altar together, and Abel offered his sacrifice, and God accepted him, and Cain offered his sacrifice, and God rejected him. And Cain was guilty of both of these sins. Verse 25, he was guilty of lying. Lying. God said, "Where's your brother?" He said, "How do I know? Am I my brother's keeper?" That was a lie. He murdered his brother. Paul is teaching us here that anger is the first step toward murder. If you're angry in your heart, you've already committed murder in your heart.

Now, only the Holy Spirit of God can help us to overcome lying because He is the Spirit of Truth. And the Holy Spirit can help us to overcome anger because He is the Spirit of Love. In Romans 5:5, Paul says, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through his Holy Spirit, which he hath given unto us." Anger. "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." This is an interesting statement. Paul is suggesting here that we live day at a time. Keep short accounts with God. Get everything settled. If there's a difference between us and someone else, let's get it settled. If there's a debt to be paid, if there's a responsibility to be fulfilled, if there's an apology to be made, a confession to be announced, let's get it settled before the sun goes down. You know, it's an awful thing when people carry down inside this thing that the Bible calls malice, which is the heart boiling over with hatred and jealousy, and you do all sorts of wicked thoughts, and you do all sorts of wicked things, and the simplest thing to do is just to get it out of your heart and let Christ cleanse us.

Now, Ephesians 4:28, he warns us about stealing. "Let him that stole steal no more." A lot of stealing goes on today. Manufacturing companies, offices lose billions of dollars in supplies because of stealing. Oh, it's only a pencil, it's only a few paper clips, some stamps, some paper. But you know, a person who will steal a few stamps, if he had the opportunity, might steal a few thousand dollars. Stealing. You don't have to steal things, you can steal time. It is unfortunate today that some people think it's a sin to work. They think they can just sit back and live off of other people. You know, the Bible doesn't say that. The Bible says, if a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat. And you can steal time. When a student is in school, he owes his teacher time. When a man is at work, he owes his employer time. And to steal time is just as much a sin as to steal money from the office safe. Shoplifting, my, shoplifting is a terrible thing. It's one of the worst plagues we have in our country today. And even among young people, just so simple to pick things up, stealing.

Now, Paul is telling us here that Christians instead of stealing ought to start giving. "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." Now, this is a wonderful, wonderful verse. Paul is saying there are several kinds of people in the world. There are thieves. There are those who live on other people's work, parasites, leeches. Over in 2 Thessalonians 4:11, Paul says, "a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat." They're leeches. Now, there are some people who because of handicaps and tragedies need to be helped by others. Then we ought to help them. That's what he says here: "that he may have to give to him that needeth." There are some people who don't work at all; they are thieves. There are some who work but they don't give. And there are some who work and give, who share with others. I wonder where we are. "Let him that stole steal no more."

Ephesians 4:29, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth." This is talking about filthy speech. And it's unfortunate today that some people think it's funny to joke about sacred things and about things that need not be spoken about in public. Paul says, "Don't allow these things to come from your mouth." Rather, he says, "you should speak that which is good to the use of edifying," building up, "that it may minister grace unto the hearers." In Colossians 4:6, Paul says, "Let your speech always be seasoned with salt." You know, salt keeps things from being corrupt. If someone says to you, "Well, let's take this with a grain of salt." Oh, no, he should put the salt in it before he says it. If we cannot say something truthfully and honestly in love, we shouldn't say it at all. Our speech ought to be spiritual.

Our Father, we thank Thee for these very practical verses. Help us to put away lying and anger and stealing and filthy speech, that our lives may bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen.