I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t really like to change things. My wife will say that she even thinks I fear change. I get used to how things work and it gets comfortable for me. But for some reason things always keep changing in my life no matter how much I don’t want them to. When I was growing from a little boy into a young man my parents required that I changed a lot of things. They asked that I start to use better hygiene techniques than I had previously used. They asked me to be more responsible than I had previously been. In other words, they were asking me to grow up. When I got to college, I pledged a fraternity and there were a few rules that went along with this process. There was a policy of no long hair, no earrings, good grades, etc. In other words, they too were asking me to grow up. After getting married and starting to work in the professional world my wife decided that I needed to act the part. No more dressing to the bare minimum standard or in my case under the standard. All of my comfortable college t-shirts were for some reason no longer acceptable as daily attire. In other words, she too was asking me to grow up. Now I have to say something here to all of these people who have asked me or forced me to grow up, “Thank you!” You see sometimes it is necessary for us to quite simply grow up. There comes a time in everyone’s life when the things of the past are simply just not cutting it anymore.
You see, Paul is writing in Ephesians to Christians who used to be “dead in [their] trespasses and sins”, but who have been “made alive together with Christ–by grace [they] have been saved–and raised us up with Him...” This is our story just as it was for those in Ephesus. We were dead in our sin, but now, we’re alive in Christ. And to people just like you and me, Paul urges, “lay aside the old self...” (Ephesians 4:22), and “put on the new self” (Ephesians 4:24). The verbs used by Paul (“lay aside” and “put on”) literally relate to dressing and undressing one’s self. Once, we were dead in our sins, and as dead men, we wore grave clothes. But now we are alive in Christ and we must lay aside the grave clothes of our former life and put on new clothes that befit this glorious new life we have been given in Christ Jesus. That being said, there are two things that I want us to notice in our text today. The first thing is that there is a visible difference between the followers of Christ and those who don’t. The second thing that we will look at are some examples of these difference as they are given to us by Paul.
In the first part of our text Paul is going to explain to the people in Ephesus that there is a difference between Christians and non-Christians. Now all of you who are hearing this are saying to yourself, “Gee, some insight. I came to church in order to hear the complexities of the Bible explained in a way that makes sense to me and all I get is that Christians are different from non-Christians.” Well, I think we forget this fact all too often. It isn’t just that there is a difference, but that difference ought to be seen. Paul is telling the Ephesians to leave behind the old life of sin because they are followers of Christ. This isn’t a bad reminder to the Ephesians or for us today. Remember, living the Christian life is a process. Even though we are born again, we don’t automatically change everything about us. We don’t instantly start thinking good and wholesome thoughts and completely forget our sinful desires. Our attitude about things doesn’t just magically get better and we don’t turn from pessimists to eternal optimists. We need to continuously look to God for guidance and pray that the Holy Spirit will work in our hearts to change us and make us someone who others can look to and have no doubt that we are a Christian. We need to display faith that others can look to as an example of Christian living. In order to do so, we must follow the ultimate example of Christian living, Jesus Christ.
This change is not easy. We have already stated that it is not instant. It is just like changing any other aspect of your life. Whether you have tried to give up an addiction, start a workout regiment, or simply try to change something about your outlook on life, you have experienced the difficulty of change. There are setbacks, there are disappointments, there are triumphs, and there are rewards. But in the end, we are constantly fighting our old nature and our old habits. It’s often hard to feel like we have ever made any progress at all. Every time we want to get back into our bad habits because of how easy it would be, we need to think about why we decided to change in the first place. When we start to fall more victim to the desires of this world we need to think of why we profess our faith in Christ in the first place. God created us and placed us on this earth to worship Him. When Adam, representing all mankind, disobeyed Him in the Garden of Eden we were separated from Him. What did God do as a result? He continued to bless us and provide a means to atone for our sins. He even provided a once-for-all atonement in the form of His only Son Jesus Christ. How could we ever do anything but worship God?
The problem comes here with those old ways. They are comfortable and we just don’t want to change. Just like those things that my parents, my fraternity, and my wife all encouraged me to change, the changes that God requires of me are crucial. These changes are part of my maturing and growing in my faith. How is it changing when all we do is look for every chance to get away with the same things that we used to do? We need to truly change who we are when we accept the responsibility and profess our faith in Christ.
So you may be sitting there saying to yourself, “Well, I know that becoming and being a Christian means that I have to make some changes, but what do those changes look like.” This is an encouraging thought to me for two reasons: 1. It means that you have been paying attention to the sermon thus far, and 2. Paul is going to tell us exactly what those changes look like in the second half of our text today. So we have seen that Christians are to live differently than non-Christians. Now, we are going to see some examples of just how Christians are to live differently than non-Christians.
The remainder of Ephesians 4 (verses 25-32) gives 5 specific examples of how a Christian is supposed to act. In most of these examples we will see an encouragement by Paul to put off a negative type of conduct and put on a positive on. The first example of how a Christian is to act comes to us in verse 25, “Put off lying and speak truthfully”. News flash, some people lie. Whether it is the major lies like those committed by people “cooking-the-books” on Wall Street or even the simple lies that some people use on a daily basis; lies happen. Non-Christians are clothed with lies. Lying is just a part of who they are. But what about the Christian? Christians know the truth; they have learned it from and in Christ. If we are to grow as Christians, one of the things that must be cultivated is truthfulness. For some of us it just isn’t very hard to lie. Some can just as easily tell a lie as they can the truth. Any statement that is designed to mislead another person is a lie. It doesn’t matter whether it is a lie that is intentional or unintentional. It doesn’t matter whether it is something that is said for no particular reason or if there is an attempt to gain something. Anything that is contrary to the truth is a lie. Part of our growing as Christians and separating ourselves from non-Christians is our love and speaking of the truth. John’s gospel tells us that Jesus, the one who died for our sins is the Truth (John 14:6). Satan is the “father of lies”. Committing ourselves to the truth is committing ourselves to Christ and being enslaved to lies is as if we were enslaved by Satan.
The second example that Paul gives us here deals with anger. “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (vv.26-27). Don’t let the opening words think that the Christians is simply supposed to be an angry person. The Greek word used here doesn’t mean a type of momentary anger or temporary rage. It means a deep-seated, determined, and settled conviction. So what the Apostle Paul is telling us here is that we are to be angry at sin. Paul even repeats this thought to the church in Ephesus, “Be angry, and yet do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). Paul isn’t trying to tell us that we can never be angry. Anger is a perfectly natural emotion, and we are to express our emotions. The caution that Paul is giving us here is to not let sin rule our anger, or any other emotion for that matter. Jesus himself was angry on several occasions recorded in Scripture (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 3:5). Numerous OT passages speak of God’s anger against the wicked and even His own people. So the problem isn’t with being angry itself. The problem has to do with our particular anger because of the stain of sin. It is as wrong not to be angry in a situation that requires angry as it is to be angry at the wrong time or for the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, this is normally the type of anger that we display; for the wrong reasons or at the wrong time. That is where the second half of this verse becomes so useful. You see, Paul tells us to deal with our anger quickly and do not store it up. The longer that we let our anger sit and ferment, the greater the opportunity it becomes for Satan to use our anger. And anger can be a dangerous tool in the hands of Satan. Think of all the things anger can lead to. How many of us have said or done things out of anger without even realizing it until it was too late? The difference between the Christian and the non-Christian can be seen in the things that he angers over.
The next example Paul gives us has to do with our selfish behaviors. Paul tells us to “Put off stealing and put on working.” Now, there really shouldn’t even be much need for comment here. After all, the eighth commandment specifically tells us, “Thou shalt not steal.” But the meaning of this text goes much deeper than mere material possessions. When we don’t worship God as we ought to we are actually stealing from Him. When we place our own interests before God’s, we are stealing from Him too. Living our lives contrary to God’s word is yet another way that we steal from our Creator. When we don’t give our best effort at something then we are stealing from the person in charge. So you see, there are a lot of ways that we can steal from someone without specifically taking some material possession that doesn’t belong to us. With that being said, Paul is here most likely talking about the stealing of physical possessions. The Christian is to work. The Christian is to do something useful. The Christian doesn’t work to amass wealth, power, or self-esteem. The Apostle Paul tells us right here that the reason the Christian works is, “so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” I have to be honest with you, this is something that I myself struggle with greatly. I see many people, and many close friends, make foolish financial decisions while Amy and I try and be smart about our money. The thought of my hard work covering for their carelessness is something that doesn’t settle well with me. This is where a distinction must be made. There are people who have nothing because they simply will not work for it. They are perfectly capable of work, yet they don’t. These people do not deserve handouts. But there are some who have fallen on hard times who genuinely have needs. These people need help, but who is going to help them? Helping the poor is a true mark of a Christian.
I can remember, and many of you probably can too, when I first started working. Amy and I had just finished college and I was the only one working. We were able to buy a comfortable house in a comfortable neighborhood. Things were ok. We had no complaints. But what if something were to happen? What if there would have been an accident that prevented me from working? What if there had been a terrible medical diagnosis that would have given us mountains of medical debt? We were lucky. You may have been just as lucky. But do not think for one second that there are not people out there each and every day who were in the exact same position as you and me who were not as lucky. Some people, through no fault of their own, are in genuine need of our help. It is our duty, as Christians, to provide that help.
The forth example for the Christian to follow is to put off unwholesome talk and to instead speak to help others. If you are anything like me, then at some point in time you have been told, “If you can’t say something nice, then just don’t say anything at all.” Well, the unfortunate result of that is that I just can’t say anything at all. Unwholesome talk in the sense that it is used here is talk that is destructive. The word used for unwholesome is normally used of something that is rotting, like rotten fruit. It is something that ought to repulse us. I stand up here before you as someone who has been said to have no filter. Things come to my mind and they just come right out of my mouth. Maybe you suffer from the same problem, but there is hope. You see Christians are not supposed to be the kind of folks who tear down others. Our job is to build them up. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will work in our hearts and our minds and especially take control of our tongues so that the words that we speak to others might be words of encouragement. There are times for rebuking and critiquing others, but such talks need to come out of a genuine love for that person and ought to have the ultimate goal in mind of making them a better person and a better Christian.
The final statement that Paul makes here is somewhat of a catch-all. Paul tells us that we are to put off all of these things: bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice; and we are to love one another, be tenderhearted, and forgiving just God is forgiving to us. Our natural tendency is to sin. As we have looked at each of these examples of how a Christian ought to differ from a non-Christian. You, like me, have seen that quite often we fall on the wrong side of things. But there is hope. God forgives us. God forgives our sins because of our being united to Christ. All that is required on our part is a serious and heart-felt confession of our sins. God loves us. He loves us so much that he gave his one and only Son for us. God loves us so much that this sacrifice makes the forgiveness of our sins possible. How could we ever be anything but overjoyed with this news?
So, just like those changes that I have had to make over the course of my life were necessary for my growth; these changes to be more Christ-like are necessary for my spiritual growth. They are necessary for your spiritual growth too. We have to shed what is comfortable and what we have become used to in order to follow the will of our Creator. But we do not have to do it alone. God is right there by your side. He is with you every step of the way as you try to navigate through this world. We need to look to Him through prayer and in His Word each and every day as we seek to become more Christ-like with every day that passes. What a glorious and joyful news we have, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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