HOW I LIVE

5. THE NEW WAY OF LIVING: Honest and Edifying

Ephesians 4:25-29

In the 1st three chapters of this amazing letter Paul defines the new and true
identity of the Christian — an identity that is New; not in the sense of not being
old — but new in the sense of a totally different kind. This identity has nothing to
do with what I can do, or what I’ve done, or what I hope to do someday. It isn’t
rooted in what I possess or what I hope to possess. It isn’t rooted in my social
status or wardrobe or mode of transportation. It isn’t rooted in what I eat or don’t
eat. It isn’t even rooted in religion. It is rooted in all that God has done for us in
Jesus, with Jesus, by Jesus and through Jesus. Every Christian is a new creature — a
new kind of human — recreated in Jesus. The old has passed — everything about
my humanity is new. Everything about my new humanity is rooted in the person
of Jesus and the very life of Jesus.

Here in Ephesians 4 Paul is telling us that WHO WE ARE in Jesus transforms

HOW WE LIVE! We can’t have a “new life” without having a “new lifestyle” — a
new way of living.

Last week we learned that every lifestyle is rooted in a world view. The way we
understand life — the way we understand and interpret the world we live in is
rooted in what we believe about four basic things: 1. Origin (How did I come to
be? 2. Meaning (What gives life meaning?) 3. Morality (How do I define good and
evil?) 4. Destiny (What happens when I die?)

HERE’S THE DEAL — The way we live should tell the whole world what we
believe about Jesus! The way we live should tell the world around us that we
really do believe that there is one true and living God who created the heavens
and the earth, and that the Creator God so loved this world that He gave His only
begotten Son to save us from our great enemies of sin and death — and that
because of Jesus we are right now citizens of heaven with an earthly address —
waiting for the return of our Savior!

In verse 17 Paul begins to explain how the New Way of Living is a radical
departure from how our minds and hearts worked before meeting Jesus. He does
this by giving to us the pathology report of the old life.
Ephesians 4:17-19 Now this I say and testify in the Lord,

NIV “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord ,

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that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their
minds.

Walk = lifestyle / manner of living.

Remember — What people believe (world view) translates into living; translates
into lifestyle.

Paul says: I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord that you must no longer live
like those who do not trust God. Paul describes the way people live when they
don’t trust God (which is exactly the way we used to live before meeting Jesus!)

In verses 18-19 he says that they are darkened in their understanding; alienated
from the life of God and ignorant of the truth due to their hardness of heart. That
spiritual and moral darkness has outcomes! They live with no sense of absolute
right and wrong because the willful denial of God makes them the author of their
own moral system. Those moral standards can morph into whatever permits
them to gratify their own desires. That enables them to throw off all restraint!
Then they have no sense of shame or fear. They don’t care how shocking their
behavior is as long as they can gratify their desires. They practice every kind of
impurity, with a continual lust for more

THIS IS SO AMAZING! THAT is who I used to be! THAT is how I used to live.
If you’re a Christian THAT is who YOU used to be! THAT is how YOU used to
live! How amazing is Grace? How Good is the Good News? When we were all of
this God sent Jesus to save us!

Then Paul tells us that the truth about what our new humanity looks like is in
Jesus.

Ephesians 4:20-24 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21assuming
that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in
Jesus,

As we learn Jesus — not learn about Him, but learn Him — get to know Him
personally — we are taught

to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is
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corrupt through deceitful desires,

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The old self is the person you were before you were saved. The way I lived before
meeting Jesus was corrupted because my operating system was corrupted. Paul
says — literally — get rid of that life!

and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

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BIG STUFF THERE — Christianity is infinitely more than an outward lifestyle!

It is an inward life. Christianity is not an outside-in kind of life. It’s an inside-out
life.

QUOTE: Alan Redpath — The saving of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but
the making of a man of God is the work of a life time.

be renewed signifies a continual process. Our new inside-out life begins the
moment we believe with our heart on the Lord Jesus. But we’re not the finished
product. From the moment we’re saved the Holy Spirit is at work in our life to
make us look more and more like Jesus! When we are GROWING UP in the
Gospel and LIVING UP to the Gospel the world sees more of Jesus!

THIS IS HUGE — We’re to PUT OFF the old self — there must be a break
with the past. Jesus isn’t merely added to our old life; the old life dies and He
becomes our new life
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and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true
righteousness and holiness.

Put on the new self is likened to putting on new clothes. There’s a great story
about Augustine — Augustine had lived a totally debauched life. He was the
poster boy for verses 18-19! But he became a Christian. One day one of the
prostitutes who knew him well came up to him and said, “Do you want to come
home with me?” Augustine simply said, “No, sorry,” and walked away. The
prostitute looked at him and said, “But, Augustine, do you remember who I am? It’s
me! It’s me.” He turned and looked at her and said, “Yes, but it’s not me.”

WOW! “It’s not me!” I am no longer that. THAT is the reality of the Christian
life. If anyone is in Jesus he or she is a new creature!

THAT is what it looks like to PUT OFF the old self and OUT ON the new. The
old self always said, “Me first — My pleasure above all.” The New man says,
“Jesus first — live for His pleasure and His will above all.”

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We pick up with Paul describing HOW WE LIVE when PUT OFF the old self
and PUT ON the new.

Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you
speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

The New Way of Living is HONEST! Why? Because falsehood is inconsistent

with Jesus. Jesus IS the Truth. A Christian is someone who is IN Jesus. If you’re a
Christian, that’s who you are! You are IN Jesus. Jesus said that He is the True Vine
and we are branches in Him. Anyone who grows grapes knows that the life of the
vine is in the branches. Even as the life of the vine is in the branch, the life of
Jesus — who IS the truth — is in the believer. It is the very life of Jesus in you
that moves you to put away words and behavior that is false because no lie is of the
truth (1 John 2:21). TRUTH is a part of the very fabric of the Christian life
because TRUTH is a part of the essential nature of Jesus.

This might sound dumb — but verse 25 follows verse 24. Without verse 24 verse
25 becomes a rule and Christianity is reduced to moralism and religious legalism.
The reason we put away falsehood is because we’ve put on the new self. Because
of WHO YOU ARE in Jesus — it is your desire to put away falsehood.

let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members
one of another.

By inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul tells us that putting away falsehood is
crucial to the wellbeing of the body of Christ. REMEMBER — The Christian life
is relational. It consists of our relationship with Jesus. Jesus loves the church.

Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy
Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God , which he obtained
with his own blood .

If you are connected with Jesus — who IS truth — who loves the church so much
that He purchased it with His own blood — why would you ever attempt to
deceive a fellow-believer? Why would you ever be false to another child of God?
Why would you pretend to something that is not true when dealing with another
Christian?

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Falsehood in our behavior or words injures the blood-bought Bride of Jesus! A
man by the name Lenski made this statement

“By lying to any man we should injure the body…. A Christian who lies injures not
only the person to whom he lies….. he injures most of all a circle of his fellow members
by grieving them, giving them a bad example, destroying their confidence in him, etc.
As a liar he is a pest among them. As members of this divine body we must build it up
(v. 16) and not injure or tear it down.” 1

Guys — We belong to each other in Christ. Paul has already told that Jesus has
given gifts to the church so that each member can speak the truth in love and be a
part of the body of Christ building itself up in love. As “members of one another”
we affect each other. We cannot build each other up apart from truth.

One of the most damaging forms of falsehood in the church is covering the truth
about ourselves — hiding sin; pretending to be together when our life is falling
apart. We’re more concerned with what others might think of us than we are
concerned for the truth. Let put it like this: Pride trumps truth!
And when pride trumps truth we injure ourselves; we end up cutting ourselves off
from coming under the power of the truth that alone can heal us and restore us.
We cut ourselves off from God’s help that He provides through each member.

Ephesians 4:15-16 NLT Instead, we will speak the truth in love , growing in
every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. As each
part does its own special work , it helps the other parts grow, so that the
whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

When we are living a falsehood we remain unhealthy and hurting — but our lack
of health, our spiritual illness and disability hurts the rest of the Body of Christ,

1 Corinthians 12:26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; the we’re not

We hurt the body because sin is like leaven — it only takes a little leaven to
leaven the whole lump of dough. We hurt the body because we are incapable of
meeting the needs of the members of the body around us — and the mission of
the church is hindered. Honesty is so crucial to the church that the Holy Spirit

1
Lenski, R. C. H. (1937). The interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians, to
the Ephesians and to the Philippians (pp. 574–575). Columbus, O.: Lutheran Book
Concern.

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was very careful to let us know that the first sin that was judged in the early
church was the sin of lying (Acts 5:1–11).

Ephesians 4:26-27 Be angry and do not sin;

DEFINITION — Anger is an emotional arousal caused by something that

displeases us.

Anger in itself is not a sin because even God can be angry (Deut. 9:8, 20; Ps.
2:12). In the book of Numbers and in the book of Jeremiah we find the phrase “the
anger of the Lord” (Num. 25:4; Jer. 4:8; 12:13). God’s holy anger is a part of His
holy judgment against sin. We see this in Jesus when He cleansed the temple
(Matt. 21:12–13).

Holy anger and righteous indignation is not the norm for you and me for a couple
of reasons: 1. Our emotions are tainted by sin. Our emotions can lie to us. We can
feel offended and be angry without cause. 2. We don’t know what God knows
about a person’s attitudes or actions. God sees everything clearly and knows
everything completely, and we do not.

It’s interesting that the Bible compares anger with fire. It speaks about anger
“being kindled” (Gen. 30:2; Deut. 6:15). Sometimes our anger smolders — and we
start to harbor hurtful feelings towards people — this is what we would call
malice. But anger can also seem like an instantaneous massive combustion — like
throwing a match on gasoline soaked rag. That’s what we would call wrath.

To be angry without sin requires that we be only agree with sin. The New
Testament principle seems to be that the believer should be angry at sin but
loving toward people.

do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and give no opportunity to the
devil.

A failure to resolve it before sundown keeps anger alive — it provides the devil a
foothold — a point of leverage for him to hurt you and hurt others.

By the way — we can become angry when someone lies to us. When I’m lied to I
feel violated. It’s my personal belief that being lied to is the equivalent of moral
rape. How am I going to deal with that anger?

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Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is an action born out the grace and love of Jesus
that you and I have so freely received. If the fire of anger isn’t extinguished by
grace and mercy there won’t be any peace. That fire will spread and defile and
destroy the work of God.

Satan hates God’s people because He hates God. When he finds a believer with
the sparks of anger in his heart he and his minions will fan and fuel the fire of that
anger to do as much damage as possible to the church of God, which Jesus obtained
with his own blood.

Both falsehood and anger “give opportunity to the devil”. Don’t give the Devil
that kind of foothold in your life.

Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing
honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share
with anyone in need.

It’s estimated that 30-40% of the Roman empire were slaves. As a rule they were
not well cared for and mistreated and the law gave them almost no protection. As
they were almost always in need they resorted to stealing.

But theft was not just the sin of slaves. Apparently, citizens in general made it a
practice to take the property of others — because this letter was addressed to
people in the Ephesian church — most of whom were free and had a legitimate
source of income.

REMEMBER — By this point in his letter Paul is unpacking how the New Life
of the Christian translated into a New Way of Living. The Christian was rescued
from the domain of Satan who is a liar and a murderer and a thief (John 10:10).
The Christian has a new identity! He or she is a citizen in the Kingdom of Jesus
who died on a cross to forgive sinners — and when He was hanging on that cross
spoke words of forgiveness to a thief who was being crucified right next to him.

The new man doesn’t steal. He works with his hands (very 1st century motif).

Let him labor = “to exert himself to the point of exhaustion.” The man who used
to steal is a new creation! He has a heart to work for God. He works not only to
provide for his own needs — but also to have something to give to the needs of
those without — the needs involved the advance of the Gospel! In this New Way
of Living we should work so that we can give.

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Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only
such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace
to those who hear.
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth:

This is not just about obscenities. Words can cause hearts to get rotten. We can
cause people to think rotten things about others with our words.

This New Life will produce a new way of speaking! It edifies or builds up. It’s
appropriate. It has a gracious redeeming effect on those who hear it.

Have you ever had a low opinion of someone or some situation — and in a
conversation that person’s name or the situation comes up and you feel it’s your
duty to voice your opinion of that person or situation?

When I feel that way I need to turn those three traits into questions. Is voicing
my opinion going to edify or build up? Is voicing my opinion appropriate (it
might be — but often it’s not)? Is voicing my opinion going to bring the grace of
God to bear on those listening — Will it have a redeeming effect on those who
hear it?