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Ephesians 4:26-27 – Away with Anger!

Be Angry

Notice he says right there in Ephesians 4:26, be angry. If anger was sinful, then when Paul writes “Be angry” Paul would be telling us to commit the sin of anger. This can’t be right!

The only solution is to recognize that anger is not a sin.

In the past when I taught this text, I have tried to make the distinction between righteous anger and sinful anger, but this just muddies the point that Paul is making. Also, if we try to make a distinction between righteous anger and sinful anger, this gives people an excuse to ignore what Paul is going to explain in the rest of this text.

Anger is like a knife. Knives are good, helpful tools. They help us do our work and prepare our food. But knives can be quite harmful. If we are not careful, we can cut a finger, or even cut off a hand. If we foolish, we can stab the knife into our leg. If we are really unsafe, a knife can even take our life.

Anger is the same way. Anger is good. Anger is healthy. Anger is not a sin. But anger is a tool like a knife. And if we are not careful with anger, it can lead to pain and suffering, just like a knife can.

In Ephesians 4:26-27, Paul is saying that it’s okay to be angry, but we need to be careful with it before it causes problems in our life.

So it is not helpful to try to distinguish between righteous anger and sinful anger. Anger is anger, and, if I may be so bold, all anger begins as righteous anger.

Anger itself is never sinful. Anger is an emotion, and emotions are not sinful. Emotions just are. Emotions are part of what it means to be alive. God has emotions. We have emotions. Even animals have emotions. Having emotions is like having an arm, or a foot. Your arm and your foot are not sinful. They just are. They are part of you.

The same is true with emotions, including emotions like anger. Emotions just are. They are part of you. Now, what matters, as we will see, is what you do with your emotions. Again, just as your arm and your foot are not sinful in themselves, they can be used to perform sinful activities. The same is true with emotions, including anger.

So when Paul writes “Be angry,” he is recognizing that we all get angry at times.

And we do, right? When someone ignores us, insults us, or treats us poorly, we get angry. When we see injustice in the world, we get angry. When someone physically assaults us, we get angry.

Anger is a normal, healthy human emotion. It is often described as a secondary emotion, meaning it’s a response to other emotions like fear, sadness, humiliation, frustration, or perceived wrongs. As such, it can be quite beneficial, in that it helps us determine when actions are wrong, and it can motivate us to address problems, protect ourselves or others, and assert our boundaries.

In this way, our anger is like God’s anger. Scripture speaks of God’s anger in various ways (Gen 30:2; Num 25:4; Deut 6:15; 9:8, 20; Psa 2:12; Jer 4:8; 12:13; Rom 1:18; 12:19). And Jesus got angry when He cleared out the temple. He was furious at what the religious leaders were doing in God’s temple (Matt 21:12-13; Mark 3:5; John 2:13-16). Then in Matthew 23, Jesus gives on long tirade against the numerous sins of the Pharisees.

So it is okay to be angry. Anger is natural. God gets angry. Jesus got angry. We get angry.

But if we are not careful, this anger will quickly turn in to sin, which is why Paul goes on in the rest of Ephesians 4:26 to tell us that when we are angry, we must make sure we do not allow it to turn into sin.

Do Not Sin

Paul writes, Be angry, and do not sin.

Paul is quoting here from Psalm 4:4. Psalm 3 and 4 were written by David at a time when he had every right to be angry.

His kingdom had been unjustly taken away from him through the treasonous actions of his son Absalom. Absalom had lied and tricked his way into gaining a following and then had led a rebellion against David. When David fled for his life, Absalom set up a tent on the roof of the palace and committed fornication with all of David’s concubines in the sight of all Israel (2 Sam 15–16).

Absalom was a wicked man doing wicked things, and it moved David’s heart to anger. And so he writes, in Psalm 4:4, “Be angry, and do not sin.”

And David did not sin. If you read the account, he acted and behaved kindly and justly and even tried to spare the life of his treasonous and fornicating son. All of his actions were loving. He was angry, yet he acted in love, and so did not sin.

But as events turned out, in the heat of battle, Absalom’s hair got caught in a tree and he was killed by Joab, one of David’s commanders. But David was even upset at this. He did want his son to die. He only loved and forgave his son.

This is a positive example from David, where he was angry, but kept his anger from turning into sin.

But Scripture is full of negative examples where other people allowed their anger to become sinful.[2] Do you remember how Jacob stole Esau’s birthright through lying and deception? Well, Esau became angry about that. Jacob had sinned and Esau’s initial anger was probably anger (Gen 27). He had been tricked. But his anger led him into sin when he promised to kill Jacob.

Take Jonah the prophet. He was indignant about the terrible sins of the people of Nineveh. They were horrible people. But his anger got the upper hand when Jonah failed to preach the Ninevites the whole message God had given for him to preach. And then Jonah, out of spiteful anger, settled down to watch the fireworks show, which never happened. And then Jonah got mad at God too.

So you see? Anger is one of those things that easily burns out of control, and when that happens, we fall into sin.

And it is this sin of giving vent to our anger that we need to avoid. For sin resulting from anger is devastating to the family of God. Anger is so devastating, in fact, that Jesus equates anger with murder in Matthew 5:21-22.

Some of the teachers in Christ’s day were saying that while it was not okay to murder someone, it was okay to be angry at them. Jesus says here, “No, no. God looks at the attitude of the heart. Anger is the attitude behind murder. Anger, when you follow it, leads to murder. When you are angry at someone, in God’s eyes, it’s like murder.”

And that’s true, isn’t it? We all know our own hearts. When we get selfishly angry at someone, we begin to think negative thoughts about them, and at the very least, we wish we wouldn’t have to see them or speak to them anymore. Sometimes we imagine them moving out of town. Or we get back at them by saying negative things about them to our friends, relatives and neighbors. We gossip.

We secretly hope something bad happens to them. And when something bad does happen to them, they get sick, or they get into a car accident, or they lose their job, we smugly think that it is because “God is judging them.”

You see, out of anger, we are wishing harm on another person. And murder is the ultimate form of wishing harm on them. That is what Jesus is saying here, and we all know it to be true, if we’re honest with ourselves.

When someone wrongs you or wrongs someone you love, you get angry, and if your anger gets away from you, and you begin to hate that other person, you develop thoughts of murder.

One pastor illustrated this by sharing a classified ad which he found in the newspaper. It read, “Wedding dress for sale. Never worn. Will trade for .38 caliber pistol.”[3]

Letting go of our self-control when we are angry often leads to disastrous results. Most people don’t seem to understand this.

One man who had a problem with anger told his pastor that he thought it was best when he got angry, to just blow up and be done with it. That way it got over quickly. The pastor reminded him that a shotgun does the same thing. It blows up and gets it over quickly. But a lot of damage is left behind.

In fact, did you know that psychologists are discovering that it is not a good idea to “get it out and get it over with?” In years past, it used to be the advice of counselors and psychologists to just go with your emotions.

But Gary Emery, in his book Rapid Relief from Emotional Distress says, “A great deal of recent research has found the opposite to be the case. Researchers have found that freely venting your anger corrodes relationships and breeds more anger, not less. In one recent study … only one out of three hundred happily married couples reported that they yell at each other.”[4]

I always find it interesting that in general, when these psychologists come up with these break-through discoveries into the human psyche, it is exactly what the Bible has been saying all along. Proverbs 29:11 says: “A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.”

Another study found that when you are in an argument with someone, the tone and anger that normally is generated from an argument can be kept to a minimum if only one of the two people constantly maintains a calm tone of voice. Both people remain calm if only one stays in control. Interesting study, right?

But Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” In other words, speak gently, and do not give way to your anger.

I always find it interesting that when psychologists come out with the books that have all these insights into human behavior and relationships, their breakthroughs are always found in Scripture. Psychology often teaches what Scripture has already been teaching for thousands of years.

So how can we keep our anger from becoming sinful? Paul provides two suggestions.

The first suggestion is in the last part of Ephesians 4:26. Paul says that if you want to keep your anger from becoming sinful anger, then … get rid of it! Quickly!

Get Rid of Your Anger Quickly

In Ephesians 4:26, Paul gives us a bit of advice on how to keep from sinning when you are angry. He says don’t let the sun go down on your wrath.

Now, on the one hand, Paul is not saying that we have to get rid of our anger by sunset every day. Around this time of the year, that would mean that by 9:30 p.m., we have to have worked through all of our arguments, but in the winter, we only have until about 5:30 or 6:00.

Of course, if you took this verse completely literally, and if you really disliked trying to work through your arguments, you could always move up to Northern Greenland where every year, the sun doesn’t set for three months![5]

So what is Paul saying here? He’s giving us a principle to live by. And we shouldn’t take it too literally, but we should take it very seriously.

The general principle is that it’s a good idea to try to get rid of your anger as soon as possible. Don’t nurse your anger. Don’t brood over it. Don’t hold a grudge.

Getting rid of it by the time you go to bed is a good general rule of thumb, but in some situations, even an hour is too long. Jesus says in Matthew 5:25 to agree with your adversary quickly. In other cases, though, a few days might be needed to fully work through the disagreement.

Paul is not saying is that we can allow our anger to vent and rage as long as we take care of it before nightfall. A lot of damage can be done in a few minutes or few hours if we allow our anger to explode.

Paul is not giving you a license to vent your rage, or to blow up. Instead, go to the person with whom you are angry and talk it over. Admit where you were wrong. Try to understand the perspective of the other person. Offer forgiveness. Ask for forgiveness.

When you are angry, don’t sin. How? By getting rid of your anger as quickly as you possibly can. Anger is a hot potato game. When anger lands in your hands, toss it away from you as quickly as you can.

I know this is much easier said than done. Sometimes, you just have to fight things through with another person. Sometimes, the best way to get rid of your anger is to talk thing out. So if you decide to do that, let me give you “Ten Rules of Engagement” or “Ten Guidelines on How to Fight Nicely.”

No name calling.
Never say “never” or “always.”
No garbage collecting, or bringing up the past.
No sarcasm.
No blaming statements.
No interrupting.
Identify your contribution to the problem.
Take turns listening and talking.
Only one person talks at a time.
Focus on one issue at time, don’t skip around.

Ed Young recommends using the acrostic CLASP.[6]

Calm down.
Lower your voice.
Ask some questions.
State your position.
Propose a solution.

So if you want to keep from sinning when you are angry, the first thing to do is not prolong it, but be reconciled to the person with whom you are angry.

Be a Solution to the Problem

Another way is to be the solution to the problem that made you angry.

Often times, when people see some injustice being done, they get angry about it—and rightfully so. This is the type of anger that God has, and which we too can occasionally have. But our anger quickly becomes sin. So when you see some injustice being done, rather than stew in your anger juices, instead decide to do something about the problem you have observed.

There is much to be angry at in this world, but the great problem in our world right now is that people get angry at what they see happening, and then rather than seek to fix the problem, they lash out in anger at others, which then only creates more anger.

Sometimes, anger “merely wastes the energy that ought to go in a different direction…[If you see something that upsets you ]…Well, what are you doing about it? How much of your life have you spent in really combating this? In helping to produce social conditions in which these sort of things will not occur?”[7]

C.S. Lewis said that “Anger is the anesthetic of the mind.”[8] And that’s true. Sometimes, in your anger, your mind is unable to think, and so rather than forming a solution to what made you angry, the only thing you can focus on is the anger.

This should not be. Anger can be good, but only if we get rid of it quickly, and turn our anger into loving action to fix the problem that made us angry. Anger is not an end in itself. If you are angry, you need to either be reconciled to the one with whom you are angry, or you do something about the situation which made you angry. Either way, you are to get rid of the anger quickly.

So, when Paul says in verse 26 to not let the sun go down on your anger, he means two things. First deal with your anger, and second let your anger spur you to action.

If you fail to do this, if you allow anger to go unchecked, then anger can cause you to do something sinful.

One example of letting anger get out of control is seen in the life of Moses. Scripture calls him one of the most righteous and humble men who has ever lived. He led the Israelites out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and to the foot of Mount Sinai. Then they went up to the Promised Land, and although they could have entered then, they people did not believe that God could provide for them, and so they instead wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years.

Now if I were Moses, who was 80 years old at the time, I would have been so angry at these stubborn, rebellious, distrustful people. After all, I’m 80 years old! I want to rest. I don’t want to march around in the desert for 40 years!

But Moses took it all in stride. And frequently during those 40 years, when the Israelites continued to show a lack of faith, Moses often interceded for the people of Israel.

But then, right near the end of his life, right before they entered the Promised Land, Moses had had enough. In Numbers 20 we find the Israelites complaining and murmuring about the lack of water, and so God told Moses to speak to a rock that was nearby for water to come out of it.

But Moses was angry. And again, there was nothing wrong with his anger. He had every right to be angry. He had done everything for the Israelites, and they had seen God miraculously provide for them over and over again. But they still would not trust God or trust Moses to lead and provide for them. So Moses was angry. No problem. Understandable.

But in this situation, he let his anger get the best of him. He spoke harshly to the Israelites (which they probably deserved) and out of anger, struck the rock with his staff rather than speak to it as God had instructed.

And what was the consequence of letting his anger get the best of him? Moses was not allowed to enter into the Promised Land when they finally arrived.

Anger, when it gets away from you, exacts a terrible price.

And that brings us to verse 27. If we keep anger around and do not get rid of it quickly, then it becomes an opportunity for sin. Look at Ephesians 4:27

Don’t Give Place to the Devil

Paul says in verse 27. nor give place to the devil.

Paul has said that when we are angry, we must not sin. How can we keep from sinning? We have to get rid of it quickly. If we don’t, then we are giving the devil a foothold in our life, so that our anger will turn to sin.

When anger is not dealt with, it festers. It builds up until it breaks loose. Satan loves to take something that might not initially be sinful—such as anger—and twist it into something that is sinful. For example, he takes love and changes it into lust. He takes a healthy work ethic and transforms it into greed. He takes personal happiness and perverts it into hedonism.

When we do not deal with our anger, it gives him a foothold in our life to make anger become sinful.

When people read the phrase give place to the devil, some get the idea that the devil is coming into their life and taking over.

This is not the case at all. There is a whole world of theology and psychology I could delve into here about the devil, but I will refrain. Just know that you cannot be possessed, you cannot be inhabited, you cannot be controlled by some evil being called the devil.

But you can be influenced. You can be tempted. Devilish thoughts and tendencies can become a motivating force in your life. The dark side of your character residing in your unconscious self, can lead you to certain thoughts, attitudes, and actions that are destructive to yourself and others.

And if you are not careful, these thoughts and tendencies can become habits. They can even become addictions that start to control your life.

That is what Paul is talking about. In fact, the phrase Paul uses here could be translated the way. He is saying “Don’t give a foothold to devilish tendencies.”

The terminology of a foothold implies the hand-to-hand combat of war. And the last thing you want to do in hand-to-hand combat is give your enemy good footing or to surrender ground to him.

But that is what refusing to deal with anger does. It gives our dark tendencies a foothold. It gives the devil the upper hand. Something to grab on to and control you with. It gives the enemy a beachhead from which to organize further attacks.

When the devil gets a foothold and anger becomes a sin, it gains control over the Christian, rather than the Christian maintaining control over it.

So really, the idea behind this last phrase in Ephesians 4:27 is: Don’t even begin to take the road toward addiction. Paul says in the context of anger, but it really applies to anything that can take control in our life.

If life is a river, then all the temptations of life are like eddies that try to pull us in and keep us going round and round so that we never make any further progress.

Anger, like most negative human traits, feeds on itself, and if we give it a foothold, we can become addicted to it. All addictions work the same way.

They keep us in an eddy, going round and round the same issue over and over, restricting our progress in the river of spiritual development.

Anger is dangerous, and it can cause us to sin. This is why James 1:20 says that human anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God, and Paul says in Romans 12:19-21 to give place for God’s wrath. In other words, Scripture teaches that anger is too hot for humans to handle, and so we should leave all anger, vengeance, and retaliation up to God.

Letting your anger build causes more damage in the long run. Unchecked anger and wrath can destroy your life. This is why it is so important to get rid of our anger by forgiving and being forgiven, and by seeking to become a solution to the problem that made us angry in the first place.

Mark Twain, in his humorous fashion, changed this a bit. He said, “When angry, count to four. If very angry, swear.” That’s not good advice. Better advice is from Thomas Jefferson, who said, “When angry, count to ten. If very angry, count to one hundred.”

Maybe even better advice is this: When angry, love someone. When really angry, love them even more.

Indeed, rather than be angry at our enemies, we are told to love our enemies (Luke 6:35). Jesus says in Matthew 5:39 that when someone strikes us on one cheek, rather than strike them back out of anger, we should instead turn the other cheek.

Proverbs 25:21-22 tells us that the best way to defeat our enemies when they wrong us, is not to “Do unto them as they have done unto you” but to love them, and be kind to them.

So when it comes to anger, it is best to leave it up to God. Yes, we will get angry, which is why Paul says “Be angry.” And yes, when the Holy Spirit is in us, we recognize that bad and terrible things happen in this world, and when we see these things, we will get angry.

But rather than let anger spur us on toward sin, we should instead let it spur us on toward righteousness and love.

So the next time you are angry, don’t get upset at yourself for being angry. Instead, recognize it, and then work to get rid of it quickly and let it spur you on toward something righteous and loving.

What should we do with anger according to Ephesians 4:26-27? Paul says it is okay to be angry, but we must get rid of it quickly so that it does not lead to sin. But anger itself is not sinful. So be angry! But use it in the right way.

Here are some practical suggestions for how to deal with anger in your life.

First, admit you have a problem with anger, and to ask God for help in dealing with it. Confessing and prayer are always the first and best steps one can take in dealing with sin.

Second, when anger begins to develop, simply walk away. When you are confronted with a person or situation in which you know you will get angry, simply walk away. Literally. Put one foot in front of the other and leave.

If you do this, you may experience personal loss, you may be criticized for avoiding the problem, but at least you will not have sinned in your anger and given the devil a foothold.

And I believe you will find that blessing will result. Arthur Ashe, that great tennis player from years ago found himself facing Ilie Nastase in the 1975 Master’s Tennis tournament. Nastase had the nickname “Nasty” for his rude on-court antics.

The day he was playing Arthur Ashe, he was at his worst. He was stalling the game, cursing, taunting, and acting like a madman on the court. Finally, Arthur put down his racket and walked off the court, saying, “I’ve had enough. I’m at the point where I’m afraid I’ll lose control.”

The umpire warned Arthur that by doing so he would forfeit the match. He responded, “I don’t care. I’d rather lose the match than my self-respect.”

The next day, the tournament committee came to a surprising decision. Rather than condone Nastase’s bullying tactics, they insisted that he default the match for his unsportsmanlike conduct.

Arthur Ashe, rather than respond in sinful anger, simply walked away, and won both the game of tennis and the game of life.[9]

When you find yourself in a situation where you sense sinful anger crouching at the door, simply get up and walk away.

But sometimes, anger gets the upper hand. We are not perfect humans yet, and so sometimes we lose control and lash out in anger before we know what is going on.

When that happens, you need to follow the example of D.L. Moody. Moody was the Billy Graham of the 19^th Century, and one evening he was speaking at back-to-back services.

After the first service, he was at the door greeting those who were coming in for the second service, when a man approached him and delivered a highly offensive insult. Moody never reported what the man had said to him, but it must have been contemptible, for in a sudden fit of rage, Moody shoved the man and sent him tumbling down a short flight of steps.

The man was not harmed, but friends of Moody were thinking that the second service was ruined. The large number of people who had witnessed the whole thing could hardly be in a condition to be influenced by anything Moody would say that night. But when Moody called the meeting to order, he stood and with a trembling voice spoke these words:

“Friends, before beginning tonight I want to confess that I yielded just now to my temper, out in the hall, and have done wrong. Just as I was coming in her tonight, I lost my temper with a man, and I want to confess my wrong before you all, and if that man is present here whom I thrust away in anger, I want to ask his forgiveness and God’s Let us pray.”

It is reported that the second meeting that night seemed unusually touched by God and many people believed in Jesus Christ for eternal life.[10]

If you get caught in a fit of rage before you can walk away, and you lash out in anger…the thing to do is to go the person and confess your sin and ask for their forgiveness, then do the same thing with God.

Finally, the best way to get rid of anger is to simply convert it into love. Note that Paul’s description of the Spirit-filled life in Galatians 5:22-23 does not contain any anger. It only includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All of these things are the opposite of actions that come from anger.

This final truth is brought out in an excellent article by Bruxy Cavey called “5 Responses to Justifications for Anger.”

In this article, he presented the five ways people attempt to justify their anger, and refutes each one. It provides a fitting conclusion to this study of Ephesians 4:26-27.

Here is an extended quote:

A) “But Jesus got angry.” Yes he did, and that’s the point. Jesus is the judge, Jesus is God, and we are not. The Bible says consistently that human anger is wrong because anger is the emotion associated with judgement and we are not one another’s judge; God is. Yes sometimes Jesus shows us how to be human, but other times (like when he is worshipped or when he judges) he is showing us what God is like. We don’t encourage people to worship us because Jesus received worship, and we don’t sit in the seat of anger/wrath/judgement because Jesus did. That’s the point. The Bible doesn’t specify Jesus was angry when he judged the temple system (it does call him angry in another situation though), but even if it did, the point is, he is the judge and we are not. Jesus didn’t use his “temple tantrum” as a teachable moment. He never asked the disciples to join him in turning tables. He didn’t say, “Come on boys! Grab a table and flip it over, just like me!” Instead, they stood back and watched God’s judgement fall. And so should we. Stop trying to do God’s job.

B) “But it’s human to be angry.” Yes anger is very human, as is lust and other things that we should not give into. No sensible Christian would argue, “But lust is very human, so we should make room for it, and steward it wisely.” Nnnope. It is very understandable that we will experience anger rising inside us in certain circumstances, but we shouldn’t encourage it, rather we are called to turn away from it. There are many things that are natural for us that we are called to put away from us in favour of what is super natural. This isn’t a theory, this is Bible 101 (Matthew 5:21-22; Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8; etc). There is no anger listed in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Instead we are called to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Let’s do what the Bible says and get rid of anger rather than trying to find excuses to hold onto it.

C) “But Ephesians 4 says it’s okay to be angry.” Let’s be accurate here: Ephesians 4:26-27 says anger is not a sin *IF* we get rid of it as soon as possible, otherwise it becomes satanic. (People like to quote the first part of that statement without following on to the rest of it.) And this is the most positive thing the New Testament say about anger: you can avoid turning anger into a sin if you get rid of it right away. That’s the point of the passage. Get rid of anger as quickly as possible or else it plays into the devil’s desire for us to try to become like God in ways we were never meant to be. That’s the original temptation. And this is confirmed just a few verses later (Ephesians 4:31) when Paul goes on to say that Christians need to rid ourselves of all anger.

D) “But the Bible says ‘righteous indignation’ is a good thing and indignation means anger.” It’s true that in 2 Corinthians 7:11, Christian “indignation” is seen as a positive value, the result of godly sorrow. But what is indignation? That English word is a poor translation for aganakteo, a Greek word meaning “much grieving”. It means to be intensely sad, not mad. Our love for the world should lead to our sorrow over sin, not our rage.

E) “But if we get rid of our anger, what will motivate us to fight injustice?” How about love? Love is strong enough and robust enough to do the work. Let’s admit it: we prefer anger because it feels self-righteous and we get a taste of sitting in the seat of judgement, but that’s the wrong way to feel alive. Love is enough. Love will lead us to grieve for the world, to be filled with “aganakteo” (much sorrow), and to act on behalf of the oppressed. Love is enough. Let me say it again – love is enough.

You might be tempted to do what many Christians try to do at this point in the conversation – make one last maneuver, one last attempt to hold on to a modicum of anger. You might be tempted to think “Okay, good point, anger can be destructive for humans to hold onto, so this is a good warning for us to use it wisely.” Use it wisely? That isn’t what the Bible says to do with anger. But this thinking is widespread. I found this on a popular Christian web site: “Biblically, anger is God-given energy intended to help us solve problems. We can know for sure that our anger or indignation is righteous when it is directed toward what angers God Himself. Righteous anger and indignation are justly expressed when we are confronted with sin.” It sounds so good. It just isn’t biblical. How did we get from “get rid of all anger” (Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8) and “anger is like murder” (Matthew 5:21-22) to “anger is God’s gift to us, as long as we make sure we stay angry at the right kinds of things”?

There simply is zero justification for our Christian excuses to tolerate anger. Anger may rise up within us, just like lust, but that is our cue to lay it aside. If we do, it is merely temptation and not sin. But if we don’t, we invite the devil to manipulate our thinking further. If you notice that your mind is still trying to search for reasons why anger must be okay, stop and ask what is really going on and why you want to hold onto the right to be angry. Then pray that God fills you with his Spirit, and choose to partner with what we know the Spirit wants to do in you: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

[1] C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: Spire, 1976), 67.

[2] See NIV Topical Bible, Anger: Sinful, exemplified. Kohlenberger, Zondervan.

[3] Tale of Tardy Oxcart, p. 33. Cited from Preaching Today, March-April 1993.

[4] In Nelson’s book of illustrations, 29. Citing USA Today, “Don’t Get Angry”, November, 1987.

[5] Idea from Stott, who got it from Armitage Robinson, who got it from an earlier commentator, 186.

[6] Ed Young. Focus on the Family Cassette Tape. Keep the Home Fires Burning, CS823. 1991.

[7] C.S. Lewis, The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves (January 17, 1931), taken from The Quotable Lewis, p. 47.

[8] Quotable Lewis, p. 47.

[9] Nelson’s book, p. 30.

[10] Nelsons book, p. 31, citing William R. Moody, The Life of Dwight L. Moody (Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Pub, n.d.), 110-111.

Why Deceit is the First Sin You Should Get Rid of (Ephesians 4:25)

By Jeremy Myers

Defining Lying

The Greek word used for lying here is pseudos. It means false, or that which is other than the truth. We all have heard of a pseudonym, which means a name other than your real one – or a false name.

Here, the word pseudos is translated as lying. Now we all think we know what a lie is, but we need to be careful.

We all believe that a lie is simply when you don’t tell the truth. This definition though, is not very precise.

I testified in court several years back, and before I took the stand, I agreed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.

The first question I was asked was to state my name, my vocation, and where I lived.

So I told them my first and last name, what I did for a living, and the name of the town in which I lived. They accepted my answer and moved on.

But if lying is defined as telling the whole truth, I had just lied.

The whole truth, would have not only included my first and last name, but also my middle name, and maybe even my birth name, which (most people do not know this) is not my current legal name. And when I described my vocation, maybe rather than just give my title, I should have also provided the name of the place I worked and where it was located. Then when I told them where I lived, rather than just state the city, I should have provided the exact street address. All of this information is much closer to the whole truth.

But I didn’t say all of this. Does that mean I lied when I didn’t tell them the whole truth? No, I don’t think it does. I understood when they asked me where I lived that they didn’t need all that information, and that, by withholding it, I was not lying. And any judge, I believe, would agree with me.

Let me provide another example.

I traveled to India several years ago. I went with two purposes in mind. I went to India as a short-term missionary, but I also went as a tourist and to learn of the Indian culture.

Now on my Visa application, I was asked what my purpose was in going to India. And our mission’s leader told me that if I put down “Mission trip” as my purpose, most likely, my Visa application would get rejected. So instead, I put down “Tourist.”

Both answers would have been 100% truthful, but neither answer, by itself, was the whole truth. If I had simply put “Mission trip” that would have been leaving out the tourist aspect, and if I had put “tourist” that would have left out the Mission aspect.

Did I lie? Did I tell a half-truth? Did I tell a white-lie? Or was I fine? These are issues that could be debated.

And those are decisions that must be answered when you talk about the definition of a lie.

But whatever you believe regarding this, you must remember a few things. First, God does not lie (1 Sam 15:29; 1 John 2:21) and does not command anybody to lie. Yet frequently in Scripture, we see God purposefully withholding truth, or not telling the whole truth.

For example, in 1 Samuel 16 God commands Samuel to go and anoint David as King when King Saul was still alive. Understandably, this could be interpreted as treason against Saul, so Samuel was afraid for his life.

Samuel says, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me” (1 Sam 16:2).

The Lord responds, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’”

And that is what Samuel did. So did God lie or command Samuel to lie? No!

God does not lie. But is He telling the whole truth here? No, it doesn’t appear so. And in fact, God does this over and over again in Scripture. This is one of the elements of progressive revelation. He progressively reveals more of Himself and His plan as history unfolds – but always – there is untold truth – always He has not told the whole truth.

In attempting to define what a lie is, I think we could say that a lie is when you speak something that is not true in order to deceive. In some cases, not all cases – but in some cases it is not a lie to withhold truth. The determinative factor is whether or not you are trying to deceive.

A deceitful lie is not even acceptable when it accomplishes some sort of good – like the preservation of life. Some Christians during World War II tried this sort of approach when they lied to soldiers in order to protect the lives of Jews. A lie is a lie is a lie. The end does not justify the means.

“The lie to preserve life [excuse] is a slippery slope which soon permits lying [in order] to preserve my life as I want it … [I do not believe that there is such a thing as] the well-intentioned lie.”[4]

But one little girl in Germany did the right thing and illustrates this well.

This German family during the Nazi Regime hid Jews in a secret compartment under a trap door, which was covered by a throw rug, on top of which they put their dining room table.

One day, the family had gone out to do some shopping, and left only their young daughter at home. The soldiers came knocking on the door, and when the little girl answered the door, they asked her if she was hiding any Jews in their home. She said, “Yes, we are.”

So they asked her where the Jews were, and she said, “Under the table.” So they tromp in and lifted up the floor-length tablecloth – but there were no Jews to be seen! So they laughed at the little girl, thinking she was either mentally ill or trying to be funny, and left.

Did she lie? No, she did not say anything that was incorrect. The Jews were hiding under the table. They were also under the rug and under the trap door, but I do not think she lied, because she did not say anything that was untrue.

Now, this sort of situation is always brought up in discussions of lying. Would you lie to hide Jews from the Nazis? Look, if you ever find yourself in a situation like that, you do whatever you think is best. A lie to save a life is not going to send you to hell. Nor will any lie, for that matter. God’s grace and forgiveness covers all deceit. But at the same time, as with that illustration with the young girls, remember that it is possible for God to intervene when we choose to speak the truth in trying situations.

But the reality is that most of us will never find ourselves in situations like that. Most lies occur in everyday, mundane situations at work and with our friends and family. And in these cases, we must also endeavor to speak the truth.

We must avoid speaking falsely with the intent to deceive.

Now sometimes, we speak falsely, but we do so out of ignorance. This is not a lie.

For example, if you ask me what time it is, and my watch battery has died, but I did not know it, and so I told you it was 11:00 when in fact it was 12:00, that would not be a lie, because I was ignorant of the truth.

But if my watch is working fine, and I intentionally tell you it is 11:00 when in fact I know it is 12:00, that is a lie.

Nor is it a lie if you fail to tell the whole truth – as long as you have no intent to deceive.

In other words, “we do not have to tell all the truth to everyone we meet. Privacy is a legitimate, necessary [and Biblical] part of life. People do not have the right to know everything. We are required not to lie; we are not required to tell all we know.”[5]

Like I did in court. Like the little girl protecting the Jews. Like God and Samuel in 1 Samuel 16.

Like all of us do every day. Almost every time someone asks us a question, we fail to tell the whole truth. As long as what we are not saying is not deceptive, then we are not lying.

For example, if I ask you what you did this week, it would not be a lie if you just gave me the highlights of your week. You don’t have to, in the name of honesty, give me a full account of everything you did during every second of every day for that week!

But balance is needed, and every situation is different. Sometimes withholding truth can be deceitful, even though it is not a lie, but that would have to be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Sometimes a failure to tell the whole truth is deceptive. Like obstruction of justice or lying under oath. It is also a prisonable offense to have information about a crime and not go to the authorities about it.

Let me summarize: A lie is to speak falsely with the intent to deceive. To speak that which is not true, OR to not speak that which is true, for the purpose of deception.

Deception is therefore the indicator. If you say something or refuse to say something so that you can deceive others, you are lying. A lie, therefore, is any attempt to deceive.

Now that we know what lie is, we can look in more detail at Ephesians 4:25. Paul gives us two commands regarding lying. The first is simply to refrain from lying. He instructs us to put away lying. In other words, don’t lie.

Don’t Lie (Ephesians 4:25)

The word Paul uses here in Ephesians 4:25 for putting away is the same word he used up in Ephesians 4:22 for putting off the old man. Remember it refers to stripping off filthy, stained, stinking clothes.

Lying, then is one of the stains of the old man, on our old clothes, from the old way of living. As Christians, we should no longer lie.

There are many Biblical reasons why not. Paul gives us one here. Let’s look at that one, and then we’ll look at a few others as well.

The reason Paul gives for not lying is found at the end of Ephesians 4:25. It causes disunity.

Lying Hurts Others

Paul says that we are members of one another. When you lie to another Christian, you are actually lying to yourself, because we are all part of the Body of Christ. Lying hurts other people.

The truth behind Paul’s statement here is greater than we first imagine.

Back in Ephesians 4:15, Paul exhorted his readers to “speak the truth in love.” We now see, here in Ephesians 4:25, that love for others is the primary reason we should speak the truth.

But love doesn’t just lead us toward truth. Love is the guiding ethic behind all Christian morality.

Earlier I stated that Christians often behave in ways that are less moral than non-Christians.

The reason this occurs, I am convinced, is because we lack love for others.

What happens is that we become so focused on being right, living right, behaving right, and believing right, that we become proud, arrogant, and self-righteous, which then leads to all sort of hateful behavior toward others. But we don’t see it as hateful. We see it as “Standing up for the truth” and “Standing up for what is right.”

The strenuous effort to live in correct Christian morality often leads to a rigidity, insensitivity, and pride and militate against our ability to practice love toward ourselves and other people. Ironically, the more moral we become, the less moral we become. We get so focused on living right, that we end up loving wrong, and therefore, completely fail to live right.

In fact, there is a part of me that would prefer to completely skip over everything Paul writes in the rest of chapter 4, and just point people to the instructions of Jesus to love your neighbor as yourself. For love, when rightly lived, is mostly oblivious to issues of morality.

Love does not make lists of demands or commands. Love does not keep records of wrongs. Love does not grade people based on morality. Loved does not inventory what we or other people do in comparison to some sort of personal standard of behavior.

Love is of utmost importance for ethics, but we must remember, that love in itself is the guiding ethic for Christian behavior. If we love God and love others, then we don’t need to know any of the other commands, for when we love, we automatically fulfill the entire law.

And that is what Paul is talking about here. The reason we should not lie is because we are all members of one body. When you lie to others, you are lying to yourself.

Now think about it. What would happen if certain parts of your body started lying to the rest of the parts of your body? Chaos would result, right?

The hand can’t do anything without the eyes and the nerves. But what if the eyes and the nerves decided to tell the hand that there was a big juicy hamburger in it – when there really wasn’t?

The hand would try to bring the hamburger to the mouth, but the mouth would refuse to open, because maybe it wasn’t being lied to. But if the mouth was being lied to as well, then it would try to eat a hamburger that wasn’t there, and the end result would be starvation …or the eating of the hand. Self-cannibalism. (That often describes the church, doesn’t it?)

Now if the foot was in pain, but it lied to the eyes and hands about it, the foot would get infected and eventually get gangrene and fall off – after the rest of the body had been infected.

You know, there are real, live, physical bodies that lie among the various parts today. Do you know where these people are? They are in mental institutions and hospitals because they cannot take care of themselves.

We, as Christians, as members of the body of Christ, if we lie to one another, we will become the spiritually insane.

So that’s the reason Paul gives, and considering the topic of his letter to the Ephesians –what the church is, and what the church is supposed to be and do, it makes sense that he provides this reason.

But Scripture provides us with many other reasons not to lie. Let’s look at a few of them. One we see in Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit.

Lying is the Sin that Began it All

It was through lying Adam and Eve sinned in the first place. They were told just one little lie. In Genesis 3:1, the first thing the serpent does is implant a little doubt in their minds.

And after Eve answered in Genesis 3:2-3, the serpent told the first lie in Scripture. The first lie from a human.

But the serpent tells the first lie in Scripture when he says in Ephesians 4:4-5.

Now, was this a lie? Well, yes and no. They didn’t really die, did they? At least not physically, at least not right away. And they did gain a sort of knowledge about good and evil, didn’t they?

So in that sense, it was truth. But it was a lie in the sense that they did die spiritually – which is the more important and serious kind of death. Satan knew this, and so he lied and introduced spiritual and physical death to the world.

So how serious is lying? Every sin and evil and catastrophe and death in the world is a result of that first lie. You think one little lie is no big deal? The whole mess this world is in began with one little tiny lie. One little tiny falsehood from Satan started it all.

Parents, root out lying from your children when they are young – no matter how silly or insignificant the lie may seem. Lying leads to some disastrous results. Here we see spiritual death.

But lying also results in physical death.

Lying Resulted in Physical Death

Not only did a lie begin human history as we know it, but it also began church history. Now, when Adam and Eve lied way back at the beginning, they, and all who followed after them died spiritually.

But when church members in the early church lied, they were put to death by God. Do you remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5? They sold a certain piece of property and got more for it than what they had anticipated, so they kept the extra and gave the rest to the church. Now up to this point, you must understand, that they really had not done anything wrong.

But when Peter questioned them about it in verse 3, they lied and said that they were giving the full amount to the church. The result of this lie is that both of them were struck down.

For them, the lie resulted in physical death.

This is partly because lying is associated with the most serious of sins. We’ve looked at the lie that began it all in Genesis. A lie near the middle of world history in Acts 5, and now, here near the end of the Bible, we see another aspect to lying.

Lying is Associated with the Most Serious of Sins

Satan tells us that a lie is no big deal in comparison to murder and adultery.

If we lie, we often say, “Well, at least I’m not a murderer or an adulterer.” But you want to know what? If you think this, you are believing a lie. In Revelation 22:15, God is talking about some of the gravest of sins, those with the worst consequences, and He lists sorcery, sexual immorality, murder, adultery and…lying.

Lying is right up there with murder and adultery, both of which, God also hates.

This is because these sins are completely contrary to God.

Lying is Completely Contrary to God

Proverbs 6:17 lists a lying tongue as one of the six things God abhors.

Why is this? Because God is truth and light (Psalm 31:5; John 14:6; 1 John 1:5), lying is completely contrary to God. In Him there is no darkness, there is no falsehood. Lying is the exact opposite of what God is.

Who is the greatest evil being in the universe? Obviously it is Satan, or the Devil. Lucifer. And what is the devil’s primary activity?

Well, according to verses like John 8:44 the most evil being in the universe spends most of his time lying. He knows that one of the best ways to pursue his plans is through lying.

He is the greatest of all counterfeiter. According to Revelation 16:13, he has his own trinity. Revelation 2:9 tells us he has his own church, and his own ministers are mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:4-5. He has developed his own system of theology as Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:1, and his own sacrificial system – 1 Corinthians 10:20, and his own communion service – 1 Corinthians 10:21. He has his own gospel – Galatians 1:7-8 and his own throne – Revelation 13:2 – and worshippers – Revelation 13:4.

Everything Satan does and says is a lie.

And did you know that lying is the main weapon of the devil? We’ve already seen how he used it at the beginning to instigate the fall of mankind into sin, but he uses it still to darken the eyes and hearts and minds of all people. Lying is the main weapon of the enemy in his fight against God.

Therefore, when we lie, we are joining with Satan in fighting against God. Speaking the truth is joining with God in fighting against the devil. We will talk more about this when we look at the spiritual armor in Chapter 6 – and specifically the belt of truth, and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Lying is completely contrary to God and his purposes, who is the God of truth and light.

But another reason not to lie, is because liars are often self-deceived.

Liars are Often Self-Deceived

Satan is so good at what he does, he has even lied to himself. He has deceived himself into thinking he can defeat God. This again shows the seriousness of lying. Those who lie are often self-deceived.

They can often tell when others are lying to them, but they are never able to tell when they are lying to themselves. A liar has often pulled the hood over his own eyes. They often think that lying is not so bad, or that God doesn’t care too much about it.

Sometimes liars become so good at lying that they don’t even think they are lying. They can twist words, and twist the meaning of words so that they can say one thing but mean another, and all the while, they are thinking to themselves that they are not lying.

Some politicians and lawyers are experts at this – but we all do it at times. That’s because lying is so easy to do.

Lying is So Easy to Do

The difficult part about lying is that it is so easy to do. A young boy was once asked by his mother what a lie is, and he said, “A lie is an abomination to the Lord, but a very present help in time of need.”

That’s the way it seems sometimes, doesn’t it? Sometimes the lie just pops out. We’ve all had it happen.

Maybe we’re just trying to protect someone’s feelings and so we lie to them. Or maybe we are trying to protect ourselves from having to explain our actions or our choices. Little lies pop out all the time. It is often easy to lie, so we need to keep on our guard against lying.

Part of the reason to avoid lying is that lying is hard to maintain.

Lying is Difficult to Maintain

The person who lies needs to have an incredible memory, because they have to remember what their lies were and who they told them to. This is known as a web of lies.

And often, in a web of lies, the spider who spun the web gets tangled in it himself.

In fact, one lie generally leads to another and another. In order to keep the truth from being found out, you usually have to tell more lies.

It’s like that Veggie Tale Video called “Larry Boy and the Fib from Outer Space.” The Fib in the video is a lie told by Junior Asparagus which just keeps growing because he has to keep telling lies to protect the first lie he told.

And finally, by the end of the half hour video, the Fib has grown so huge that nobody can stop it – not even Larry Boy. And the Fib threatens to destroy the whole town.

And although the first lie seemed so easy, Junior Asparagus finds out that keeping a lie going is more difficult than if he had just told the truth in the first place, because he has to remember what lies he has told to whom, and the lie gets more and more complex and more and more strong.

But near the end of the story, the Fib is defeated because Junior Asparagus, who told the first lie, discovered the cure for lying.

And the cure is simply the second command in Ephesians 4:25. To give it, Paul quotes from Zechariah 8:16 and it’s simply this: speak truth.

So command number one: Don’t lie. The replacement for lying, of course, is to tell the truth.

Tell the Truth

Jesus said in John 8:32 that the truth will set you free. And it will. Telling the truth is much more enjoyable and causes many less problems than trying to protect yourself by lying. If you’ve been caught in a web of lies, the solution is to speak the truth.

Now, if you’re a liar, which we all are, this is much easier said than done. But there are some steps which can be taken.

The first step to defeating lying is to admit that you are a liar.

In fact, it has been my observation that one of the tell-tale signs of a chronic liar is the absolute refusal to admit that they lie. They are, first and foremost, lying to themselves!

So the first thing to do is to admit that you lie. We all lie at times don’t we? King David says in Psalm 116:11: “All men are liars.” So if you say you are not a liar, you are lying, which makes you a liar.

Once you have seen the truth that you often fail to speak the truth, you then need to ask God to forgive you for the lying you have done, and for the strength and ability to speak only the truth. Make this prayer the constant prayer of your heart.

And then, the only thing left to do is to commit yourself to speaking the truth. It will take an act of the will, and constant watchfulness and discipline, but there really is no other way to stop lying.

Learning to always speak the truth is one of the first steps in the life of discipleship with Jesus. As Christians, we should always be known for telling the truth.

In fact, truth telling forms the foundation for all other forms of morality, because if we can’t tell the truth to ourselves about ourselves, if we are deceiving ourselves about the faults and sins in our own life, then we will never be able to fix or correct them.

So this week, have a conversation with Jesus about your honesty. Let Him point out areas in your life where maybe you are not telling the truth. Where maybe you are deceiving yourself or others. Commit to telling and living the truth in all areas of your life. This is the only way to move forward and onward as a follower of Jesus. Stop deceiving yourself and others, and follow Jesus into truth!

Endnotes on Ephesians 4:25

[1] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7.700 Illustrations

[2] “Numbers tell the Story” USA Today, January 9, 1992, sec. 4D.

[3] Psychology Today, December 1992, 9.

[4] Snodgrass, 256.

[5] Snodgrass, 256.

Ephesians 4:20-24 Out with the Old! In with the New!

By Jeremy Myers

Outline for Ephesians 4:20-24

1. You don’t learn Christ by sinning (Ephesians 4:20-21)
2. You learn Christ by: (Ephesians 4:22-24)
  1. Put off the Old (Ephesians 4:22)
    1. Renew the Spirit of Your Mind (Ephesians 4:23)
  2. Put on the New (Ephesians 4:24)

A few years ago, I watched on television an edited version of a movie called “Trading Places.” It starred Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy. Ackroyd was a rich business executive stockbroker, and Murphy was a recently arrested con-artist. Dan Ackroyd worked for two old men who decided to do a little experiment on the age-old question of nature versus nurture, or genetics versus environment. Is a person they way they are because of their genetic make-up, or because of the environment they live in?

So they decided to trade Ackroyd’s life for Murphy’s without the two of them knowing it. If I remember correctly, Murphy got all of Ackroyd’s money and cars and houses and job while Ackroyd was stripped of everything and put out on the street.

In the movie, it was amazing to watch the change. Ackroyd, not able to access any of his bank accounts or get into his house or go to his job—thought he was going insane and even become somewhat of a criminal. Murphy, on the other hand, became a distinguished gentleman and changed his lifestyle and language and everything about himself.

Now, near the end of the movie, Murphy and Ackroyd discover the bet these two old men had made, and together, conspire to financially ruin the two men—which they are able to do through buying and selling futures in lima beans or something silly like that.

These two men changed their lifestyles because their environment had changed. And among the things that had been changed were their clothes – what they wear. And we’ve all heard the saying that “The clothes make the man.” This was true in the movie, and surprisingly, it is spiritually true for the Christian.

As we work our way through the book of Ephesians, we find ourselves in a section where we are commanded to walk in purity. To be holy. To live a clean life. In Ephesians 4:20-24, Paul tells us to do this simply by changing our clothes. He says in this section that we didn’t learn about Christ by sinning, and so we won’t continue to learn Christ by sinning either. We only learn about Christ as we put off the old way of living, the old clothes of sin and works righteousness, and put on the new clothes of Christ’s righteousness.

I. Learn from Christ (Ephesians 4:20-21)

Ephesians 4:20. But you have not so learned Christ,

The word But points us back to what we saw previously in Ephesians 4:17-19. In those verses, Paul lays out a picture of how all Gentiles are futile in their thinking and totally separated from the life of God because of how ignorant and sinful they are.

And we saw in our study of those verses, that although we are tempted to nod our heads in agreement at how sinful and evil “those people” are, Paul was actually laying a trap for his readers. The description was not so much about other people, but about you and me.

It is true that having a futile mind is the primary problem with humanity, but as Paul continues to reveal, the problem can only be solved when you and I take responsibility for our own futile ways and start living in godly ways instead. The problem is not with “them” but with you and me, and the sooner each of us takes responsibility for our own mindset, the better off the world will be. The world changes one person at a time, and the only person I can change is me. The only person you can change is you. So start with you.

Paul tells us how in Ephesians 4:20-24.

He says first, of all, in Ephesians 4:20, that you have not so learned Christ. In other words, you do not learn about Christ from the sin which sprouts from a futile mind.

It may seem rather obvious, but we do not learn about Christ by remaining ignorant and foolish in our thinking.

Of course, maybe it’s not as obvious as it seems, because there are many Christians who seem content to remain uneducated about the things of God, the ways of Christ, or the teachings of Scripture. They became a Christian, and that’s good enough for them.

The whole point of Christianity is not just to become a Christian so we can gain eternal life, but so that we can become a disciple and start living the abundant life that God wants for us. And for that to occur, we have to learn. We have to think. We have to take steps to change things in our life.

And that is what Paul is talking about here. He is talking about setting on the path of discipleship. He is talking about learning about Christ in the school of Christ.

There are some who look at this phrase in verse 20 and think it refers to becoming a Christian in the first place. One famous pastor, for example, says, “To learn Christ is to be saved” (MacArthur, Ephesians). But this is not true at all. The Greek word here is the verb emathete, which everywhere in Scripture refers to learning truth so that it can be applied and obeyed. Even the noun form of the word, mathetes, means “disciple” which we all know is someone who learns and obeys. To learn Christ does not refer to becoming a Christian but to developing in your personal relationship with Christ as a Christian (cf. Wiersbe, 40).

You do not gain eternal life by learning about Jesus Christ. You gain eternal life by believing in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47). But after you believe, Jesus calls you to follow Him on the path of discipleship. Of mathetes. This is accomplished by learning more about Jesus and discovering ways to change your life so that you can become who He wants you to be.

The rest of this passage explains a bit more on how to do this, on how to learn Christ through discipleship.

Ephesians 4:21. … if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:

The word if here doesn’t mean Paul is questioning whether they had heard Christ and had been taught by Him. It is a first class conditional sentence, which means that Paul is assuming the truth of it. He is saying, Since or Because you have heard Him and have been taught by Him.

But this terminology is quite odd. Paul reminds the Ephesians Christians that they have heard Christ and been taught by Him. This is not physically or literally possible. None of these Ephesians Gentile Christians would have been present in Israel when Jesus lived or taught. None of them would have seen Jesus in person perform His miracles, teach His parables, or listen to His Sermon on the Mount or any of His other teachings.

So how is it that Paul can remind the Ephesians Christians that they heard Him and were taught by Him? These phrases cannot refer to hearing the physical voice of Jesus while he was on this earth, because there is no way that all of these Christians to whom Paul was writing could have heard Jesus speak. They were separated from Jesus by time and geographical distance.

Many Bible scholars agree that what Paul might be saying here is that when they heard the Word of God proclaimed to them, they were hearing Christ. The Bible is the written Word of God. And according to the Gospel of John, Jesus is The Word, the physical manifestation of God and God’s teachings here on earth. So, when you read and study the truth of God’s Word, you are hearing Christ and being taught by Christ. So if this view is correct, then Paul is just using a figure of speech to say that when people read the Bible or hear a sermon, they are sort of hearing Jesus speak through the Bible or through the sermon. As John Stott writes, “When sound Biblical … instruction is being given, it may be said that Christ is teaching about Christ” (Stott, 179).

And while this is true, the terminology Paul uses here seems to be a lot more intimate than that. I feel that there is a vast difference between actually hearing Jesus versus just reading about Him in Scripture. There is something vastly more intimate and personal with being taught by Jesus than with hearing a sermon in which some pastor teaches about Jesus.

I mean, if you could hear Jesus and be taught by Jesus, wouldn’t that be better than hearing me talk about Jesus?

Of course! But it’s not possible, right?

Well, don’t be so sure. The terminology Paul uses here is so strange and odd that almost all studies of Ephesians comment on it, but few really know what Paul is talking about, and go to great lengths to try to explain the phrases away, so that Paul is just talking about reading your Bible and listening to sermons.

But what if Paul is saying exactly what he means? What if there was a way to hear Jesus and be taught by Him? Paul seems to indicate that there is, and that the Ephesian Christians were doing it. In fact, some Bible scholars believe that there may have been a school in Ephesus where Christians practiced the spiritual art of learning to listen to the voice of Jesus and speak with Him.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could do that?

What if I told you that you could?

To be completely honest, I have become convinced that you and I can listen to the voice of Jesus and speak with Him. You and I can hear Jesus and be taught by Him.

In John 16, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to His disciples, and He explains some of what the Holy Spirit will do. Among other things, Jesus says, the Holy Spirit enables the disciples of Jesus to hear directly from Jesus. Jesus says in John 16:14, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” This point is so important, Jesus repeats it in verse 15. It is not wrong, therefore, to think of the Holy Spirit as the inner voice of Jesus.

And I have become convinced over the last couple of years that Jesus wants to speak directly to each one of us through the indwelling Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ in us.

You and I can literally have a conversation with Jesus.

The way this happens is through literally having a conversation with Jesus in your spirit, in your mind. It feels a little bit like prayer, but rather than just you talking to God, you give space and room for Jesus to talk with you. You hold a conversation in your head with Jesus.

I wish I had included a chapter about this in my book What is Prayer? but I was not aware of this aspect of prayer yet. In that book, however, I did argue that prayer is simply having a conversation with God as though you were talking to a friend. And that is still true. What I failed to say in that book, however, is that a conversation is a two-way street. A conversation is not a monologue to a friend; it is a dialogue with a friend. And that is how prayer should be as well.

I have started to practice this conversational prayer this last year and have found it to be life transforming. I give room for Jesus to talk with me and teach me and I have found prayer to be much more thrilling, engaging, and enjoyable than ever before, because it is not longer just me talking into the void, hoping God in heaven hears and responds. No, now I am having an actual dialogue with Jesus.

I know this may sound a little “woo woo” to you. A little strange. Especially if you come from the same conservative Christian background I come from. If so, I want you to consider what Paul writes here in verse 21, what Jesus says in John 16, and also consider the fact that since Jesus is alive, and since Jesus loves us, and since Jesus sent His Spirit to indwell us, why would Jesus remain silent? He wouldn’t. He doesn’t. He wants to speak to you. He wants to teach you.

I wish I had time to say more about this. But I am still learning about it myself. All I can do is invite you to try it for yourself. Next time you are struggling with something, or have questions about a biblical text, or just want to talk with Jesus about anything, then do it. Just invite Jesus to talk with you and then listen for the inner dialogue. It’s that simple.

I should issue one warning. If you start trying to have a conversation with Jesus this way, your rational, scientific, critical mind will tell you that you are just having a conversation with yourself. That you are just making the whole thing up. I still struggle with these thoughts all the time. But in response to that, I will say this about my own personal experience: Jesus sometimes says things to me in our conversations that could never have come from my own head. Some of the things I have been taught could not have come from my own imagination.

Anyway, that is what I think Paul is referring to here. The Ephesian Christians had gone to school with Jesus. They heard Him. They spoke with Him. They were taught by Him. And Paul is reminding them of this fact.

And then at the end of Ephesians 4:21, Paul writes as the truth is in Jesus. Again, the grammar and terminology here is very strange, and if you look up various translations of Ephesians 4:21, you will see how scholars have struggled to understand what Paul is writing. In this way, the last part of verse 21 is an introductory statement for what follows. Paul is saying, “And here is the truth Jesus taught you.” So all of Ephesians 4:21 could be translated this way: “You heard from Jesus. You were taught by Him. And here is the truth that Jesus taught:”

Then in Ephesians 4:22-24, Paul summarizes that the Ephesians Christians had been taught by Jesus.

So let us look at these final three verses of this passage to see what Jesus taught to the Ephesian Christians.

II. What Jesus Taught (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Ephesians 4:22-24 form a short three-point chiasm. In verse 22, Paul writes that the Ephesians Christians were taught to put off the old man. The parallel statement is in verse 24, where Paul writes that the Ephesian Christians should put on the new man. The central statement of the chiasm is in verse 23, which Paul says that the Ephesians Christians are to be renewed in the spirit of their mind. Since this is the central statement of the chiasm, it helps explain the outer points. How does one put off the old man and put on the new man? Both are accomplished through the renewal of the mind.

Let us consider all three points. I will take the outer points first, and then look at the inner, central point in verse 23.

A. Put off the Old (Ephesians 4:22)

Ephesians 4:22. … that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,

The first thing Jesus teaches us to do is to put off … the old man.

The term used here for put off means to take off, or to strip off. It is frequently used of getting out of filthy clothes.

Imagine yourself working in a manure pit on a hot summer day. It’s slippery so your fall occasionally into the manure, and it’s hot so everything—including yourself—stinks. When you get home, what’s the first thing you do? Do you go sit on the couch and grab a snack? No! You are filthy! The first thing you do is strip off those filthy clothes.

That is what Jesus instructs us to do when we listen to Him. He shows us how to put off the filthy, stinking, rotting, corrupt parts of our old self. In Romans 7:24, Paul calls it the “body of death.” It’s a corpse that is strapped to our back.

The rotting old man is a symbol of spiritual and inner decay. It represents the shadow side of a person, that which is hidden, unrecognized, and undealt with. Jesus wants us to face it, bring it to light, and bring healing, renewal, restoration, and redemption to those areas that are in decline and decay.

When we talk with Jesus, He says, “Why are you carrying around that rotting corpse on your back? Let me help you get rid of it.”

That phrase at the end of Ephesians 4:22, where we read that the old man grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, refers to all the traits of ignorance and uncleanness that Paul listed in Ephesians 4:17-19. We talked about those previously, so I don’t need to go over them again.

But as a reminder, those negative traits in verses 17-19 are not about other people. They are about us. About you. About me. And many of us still have many of those traits. That is why Paul is writing this section in Ephesians. He wants to point out to his readers, which now includes you and me, that we still have many sinful habits of behavior and ignorant patterns of thought. And Jesus wants to change you. He wants to change me.

And when Jesus comes to talk with us, this is exactly what He does. When you seek to have a conversation with Jesus, you will know that you are just making it up if what you think is the voice of Jesus starts to condemn and accuse a bunch of other people, and points out all of their sins and faults and failures to you.

Jesus doesn’t do that. He works with you … on you. As you converse with Jesus, He will walk with you through the various rooms of your house and start pointing out the trash hidden in the closet. The cobwebs in the corner. The rooms that have locked doors which no one is allowed to see into. Jesus will work with you on your house. On your life. On your maturity. Not on someone else’s.

Jesus will point out to you where you are holding on the old man, the old self, with its deceitful lusts. And they are deceitful. I have had many arguments with Jesus about this. He points something out to me, and I say, “That’s not sinful. Why do you want me to change that?” And we get into a discussion about it. It can sometimes get heated … on my part anyway. Jesus is always patient.

You see, the old man is deceitful. It lies to us. It tells us certain things are okay to hold on to. But Jesus never lies. Jesus always speaks the truth to our heart, soul, and mind. And Jesus will point out the lies of the old man. Jesus wants to bring us to truth and light. And that is what He does. Step by step. Bit by bit. Piece by piece. Room by room. Out with the old. In with the new.

In fact, in with the new is what the parallel verse talks about in Ephesians 4:24. We still want to deal with the central verse in this chiasm in Ephesians 4:23, but let us first consider verse 24, since it is parallel to verse 22 that we just looked at.

A’. Put on the New (Ephesians 4:24)

Ephesians 4:24. … and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Jesus does not just go through our life getting rid of the corrupt old man. He always replaces it with the new man.

When you listen to Jesus, He shows you which parts of your life need to go, but in the process, doesn’t just leave a hole or void there. He replaces it with something new. Old habits get replaced with new habits. Old patterns of thinking get replaced with new patterns.

Indeed, this is what repentance is all about. Lots of people think repentance is just turning from sin. But it isn’t. Repentance is a two-part process. It is a turning from sin and replacing that sin with something righteous.

One of the reasons so many people struggle with patterns and habits of sin in their life is because they fail to replace the sinful patterns and habits with a righteous pattern and habit. It is not enough to just take off the old man. You have to replace the old man with the new man.

If you spend certain time, energy, money, or resources engaging in a certain destructive practice, then when you seek to get rid of it, you should start using that same time, energy, money, or resources for something holy and righteous instead. Otherwise, the old habits see an empty room and just come right back in, usually stronger than ever before.

When we hear from Jesus and learn from Him, He shows us the sinful parts of our life that He wants to get rid of, and He also shows us the new parts He wants to add.

All of us do this every day in our regular lives. At the end of your work day, you don’t take off the dirty clothes, and then shower, and then put the old clothes back on. No. You take off the dirty clothes, take a shower, and then put on new, clean clothes.

And this new man, these new clothes, unlike the corrupt and deceitful old man, is described here in Ephesians 4:24 as being created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Created according to God means that it is a new creation. Paul is not telling us to renovate or remake our old man into new man. He is telling us to put on a completely new and different man. We are not putting on old clothes after they have been washed and mended. We are getting a whole new wardrobe. A whole new set of clothing. A whole new man.

And this new creation is in true righteousness and holiness. Righteousness refers to how we interact in our relationships with other people. Holiness refers to how we interact in our relationship with God. These two words summarize the ten commandments.

When Jesus starts to point out to you the things He wants you to change, it will usually be in some sort of behavior toward God or some sort of behavior toward people.

It is a long process. It is a lifelong process. But Jesus is patient and walks with us through it all. When we enroll in the school of Christ, class is never over the teacher never gives up on us. He helps us get rid of the old and bring in the new.

B. Be Renewed (Ephesians 4:23)

Ephesians 4:23. … and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

Now, we still have Ephesians 4:23 to consider. It is the central verse in the chiasm of Ephesians 4:22-24, and is, therefore, the main point.

Paul shows us that when we hear from Jesus and learn from Jesus, He helps us put off the old man and put on the new man by being renewed in the spirit of your mind.

The word spirit is a reference to the inner human spirit of a person. It’s not the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit doesn’t need to be renewed. But our human spirit does. And one thing that Jesus does is renew the spirit of our mind. He does this, of course, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, so that, for the spiritual man, there is almost no difference between the human spirit and the Holy Spirit. The two become one.

Paul writes about something very similar over in Romans 12:1-2 where he says that we are transformed by the renewal of our mind. The concept of transformation there is the same idea found here of putting off the old man and putting on the new. Over there, however, Paul doesn’t mention the spirit of our mind. He just writes about the renewal of the mind.

From this, it seems, we can see that renewing the spirit of the mind is the same thing as renewing the mind.

What this means is that changing the way we live begins with changing the way we think. All change begins in the mind. With patterns of thoughts. With ideas.

What you know and what you think determines who you are and how you behave. Physically, you are what you do, but spiritually, you are what you think (Wiersbe, 40). That’s Biblical truth. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks … so is he.” Your mind is not renewed simply by gaining knowledge, but by changing the way you think.

And this is why it is so important to enroll in the school of Jesus. Jesus teaches us a new way to think. Jesus shows us how to look at things differently. Jesus transforms our mind. Jesus helps us integrate things that need to be added to our thinking, and helps us get rid of damaging and destructive patterns of thought. Jesus can help us deal with thoughts about old trauma, and negative thoughts about who we are as a person. Jesus shows us different ways of interacting with temptations and addictions, and new ways of viewing other people.

This is why it is so important to get into conversations with Jesus, because the things that Jesus wants to point out to you is specifically for you alone. He will not say the same things in the same way to anyone else in the entire world.

Yes, it is important to read the Bible and hear other Christians teach about the Bible, as I am doing here. These are important because they show us the types of things that Jesus might say to us individually. But when Jesus really enters into a conversation with you, He will go much deeper and get much more specific than any Bible verse or Bible podcast can do. He will delve into the spirit of your mind in a way that no one else can.

Now, what sorts of things might Jesus say to you? What are some of the possible ways that Jesus would instruct you to put off the old and put on the new?

The rest of Ephesians 4 and 5 are all about some of the things Jesus will change in your life. In every example that follows, Paul tells people “Don’t do this … now instead do this.” These are examples of putting off the old and putting on the new (cf. Ephesians 4:25, 28, 29, 31-32; 5:3-4, 7-10, 11-13, 15-16, 17, 18-21).

And it is worth pointing out that you can’t make all of these changes all at once. These will take a lifetime of discipleship to Jesus. Putting off the old man doesn’t occur one time when you receive eternal life. You still have the old man hanging on in various ways in your life. Our job is to put on the new man by listening to Christ, learning from Christ, and renewing the spirits of our minds.

Conclusion

Do you want to change something in your life? Do you want to get rid of something from your old way of living? The way ahead is quite simple—it’s not easy—but it is simple—learn from Christ, hear Him and be taught by Him. Let Him walk with you through the house of your life to clean it up and turn it into what He wants. Your life will never been the same.

And as we do this, just like with Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd, the clothes will make the man. As we put on the new man, as we renew our minds, we will become new men and women of God.

By Grace are you Saved Through Faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)

By Jeremy Myers

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I firmly believe that the Bible teaches that we receive eternal life by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. But is that what Paul is teaching in Ephesians 2:8-9 when he writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”? Though many Christians think so, I do not. This study of Ephesians 2:8-9 will explain what I think Paul is really talking about in these verses.

Before we get to that, I want to address a question from a reader about whether it is sinful or not for Christians to engage in New Age practices.

Question from a Reader about New Age Practices

I feel like a lot of Christians are against things like manifesting, meditation, and positive affirmations. I do believe Jesus died for my sins and he is the way to heaven. But most of my day is centered around these New Age practices because they help me clear up the doubt and fear in my life and bring me to a better mental state and ultimately so much more happiness. Is there anything wrong with this and should I feel guilty for it? Is this talked about in any of your books? I would love to hear more about what you have to say. I appreciate your response it was a weight lifted off my shoulders.

Great question! To my knowledge, I have not written about this anywhere.

Let me give you a principle that I use in my life that helps me often make tricky decisions about morality. There are two ways to approach life regarding biblical morality. They are this: First, some people think we should only do what the Bible commands. Second, some think we can do anything the Bible doesn’t forbid.

The first group thinks that we should only do what the Bible tells us we can do. Everything else is potentially sinful. This is why some extreme groups, like the Amish, don’t have electricity and won’t drive cars or have phones. That’s super simplistic, and there are other reasons also, but one reason for this approach to life is that the Bible doesn’t mention such things, and so we should avoid them.

The second approach is that we should only avoid what the Bible strictly forbids. This is the approach that most Christians try to follow, but even here, there is a wide diversity of opinion on what the Bible forbids. For example, lots of Christians in previous generations taught that playing cards was sinful. But the Bible doesn’t forbid this practice anywhere. So why did they think cards were sinful? I honestly don’t know, but they probably had their reasons.

These issues sort of go hand-in-hand with whether the Bible is prescriptive or descriptive, but that’s a slightly different issue, and so I’ll leave that one alone for now.

Anyway, I do follow that second option. For the most part, God gives us freedom to live life how we want, as long as we don’t go against the clear teachings of Scripture on moral issues. This is not a fool proof plan, because of course, the Bible never strictly forbids slavery, but we all know slavery is evil. I use a bit of trajectory hermeneutics to help make these sorts of conclusions.

So how can we apply this to New Age practices?

Well, I need to be honest. I am mostly ignorant of New Age practices and beliefs. I did a little reading and watched a few videos, but based on my extremely limited knowledge, it seems to me that many of the New Age practices are quite similar to some of the practices mentioned in the Bible, but the New Age approach sort of removes God from the equation.

So for example, many New Age practitioners talk about Manifesting or the Law of Attraction, where, which some positive thinking about yourself and the universe, you can bring good things to yourself and turn hopes and dreams into reality. Well, this is somewhat similar to prayer. Rather than trying to manifest your hopes and dreams into reality, why not have a conversation with God about your hopes and dreams instead?

What about positive thinking? Well again, why not think positive thoughts about who you are in Jesus Christ? Why not recognize all the truths from Scripture about what God thinks about you?

Does this mean that manifesting or positive thinking are sinful? …. Probably not. I just don’t think it is anywhere near as effective as prayer or as claiming the truths of Scripture about yourself.

Now look, I would avoid some of the New Age beliefs that teach we are all mini gods. That’s not true. Or that all roads lead to heaven. I am not a universalist and so don’t agree with that either.

Anyway, I am not an expert on any of this. I would love it if you weighed in below by leaving a comment. Let me know what you think about mystical beliefs and practices and how they line up with Scripture or contradict it.

By Grace are You Saved Through Faith … Ephesians 2:8-9

This study was difficult for me to prepare, because I could spend hours talking about Ephesians 2:8-9 and all the various ways of understanding this verse, and also the importance of understanding the key terms in this verse, such as grace, saved, faith, and the “gift of God” at the end of the verse. I have lessons on all these words in my Gospel Dictionary Online Course for those who join my discipleship group.

But let me just try to summarize everything for you. Let us begin with the traditional understanding of Ephesians 2:8-9. The verses say this:

Ephesians 2:8-9. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Traditionally, Christians believe that Ephesians 2:8-9 is talking about how to receive eternal life. I even taught this in the past, and you read my old teachings on Ephesians 2:8-10 here. Christians think this because of the word “saved.” Most Christians think that the word “saved” refers to receiving eternal life and going to heaven when you die.

Therefore, most Christians think that this verse is teaching that God offers eternal life to use solely by His grace, and we receive this free gift through faith … that is, by believing Jesus for it.

There is also an issue there at the end of the verse about the “gift of God” and what it refers to. What is the gift of God that Paul is referring to? Is it the grace? The faith? the salvation? I have taught about this frequently in the past, so I’m not going to dive deep into the question now. (See these articles: Faith is NOT a gift from God, Is faith the gift from God, Faith is Not a Gift from God) The answer to the debate, however, is that the Greek words have the entire “by grace are you saved through faith” package in view. The gift that Paul has in mind is all that God has done for us human to offer us salvation by grace through faith. That’s all I’m going to say about that, and you can read those other articles for a longer explanation.

Now, it is 100% true that we receive eternal life by grace through faith. The Bible teaches this everywhere (cf. John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47).

However, although the Bible everywhere teaches that we receive eternal life by grace along through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, Ephesians 2:8-9 is not one of the verses that teaches this idea.

The reason is because the word “saved” in Scripture does not ever actually refer to receiving eternal life. As I briefly explained in the previous study of Ephesians 2:5-7, the word “salvation” means “deliverance” and the context of the passage determines what kind of deliverance is in view. When you perform this study on every passage in the Bible (as I have done), you discover that the Bible never uses the words “saved” or “salvation” in reference to receiving eternal life.

Not even here in Ephesians 2:8-9.

Again, as we saw last time, the salvation of Ephesians 2 has in view the way God has delivered us from our bondage and slavery to the sin of blame, accusation, scapegoating, and violence that dominates and rules the world. Since Cain murdered Abel, the world has run on violence. We know of no other way to live.

But God, through the person and work of Jesus Christ, came and rescued us, delivered us, SAVED us from this way of living and showed us a completely different way of living. This new way of life is what we were made for originally, and what God has always modeled for us, and what we are now to walk in, as we follow Jesus.

God revealed this to us out of His grace, and as we follow this new way by faith, we will be saved from the death that has enslaved humanity.

In other words, Ephesians 2:8-9 is not about how to go to heaven when you die, but rather about how God stepped in to the human problem to rescue us from our slavery to death.

So with that in mind, here is how to read Ephesians 2:8-9:

God gave us an amazing free gift [by grace] in showing us how to live a different way than through violence and bloodshed [are you saved], and while this new way of living is counterintuitive and seems to contradict everything we think we know about life, if we believe that what we see in Jesus is the true way to properly live life [through faith], then God will lead us into this new way of life. This entire thing did not come from ourselves. We humans did not think it up and come to this new understanding on our own [and that not of yourselves]. This entire revelation of the new way to live life is a gift from God [it is the gift of God]. No one can boast that they thought this up on their own [not of works so that no one can boast]. Nope, it’s solely and only from God.

Does that way of reading these verses make sense?

This way of reading the verse fits perfectly in the overall context of Ephesians 2, where Paul has laid out the problem of humanity in Ephesians 2:1-3, the solution to this problem that has come from God through Jesus in Ephesians 2:4-10, and the application of how to live this new way in Ephesians 2:11-22.

Again, Ephesians 2 is not about how to go to heaven when we die, but is about how to bring heaven down to earth by living at peace with one another here on this earth, just as Jesus did during His life and just as God wants us to do in ours. And our world desperately needs this way of living right now, doesn’t it?

We will pick back up next time with Ephesians 2:10 as we continue to talk about this new way of living as revealed in Jesus.

What is Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7?

By Jeremy Myers

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As we continue our study of Ephesians, this study considers Ephesians 2:5-7 and the meaning of the word “salvation.” We see that a misunderstanding of the word “salvation” leads to a misunderstanding of the entire chapter of Ephesians 2. But when we properly understand what “salvation” means in context, we can then better understanding the whole of Ephesians 2.

Before we look at that text, however, we answer a question from a reader about something I taught from Matthew 13 and the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

Before we get to that, however, I hope you took advantage of my offer to get some free Bitcoin and Dogecoin a few weeks ago. At the time, Bitcoin was at $32,000 and Dogecoin was at $0.19. Today, Bitcoin is at $46,500, up 45%, and Dogecoin is currently at $0.32, up 68%. I am not giving financial advice, but I am glad I bought a little bit of both (You don’t have to buy a whole Bitcoin, but can buy a tiny fraction of one coin like I did).

If you haven’t yet joined my discipleship group, I have a way for you to get about $60 in free cryptocurrency and use some of it to join my Discipleship group. If you are already part of my discipleship group, you can still get the free cryptocurrency. If you follow the steps I lay out, you really don’t have anything to lose. If you had followed these steps about a month ago when I provided them, that $60 in free crypto would now be worth almost $100. And don’t think you’ve missed out. I honestly think we’re just at the very beginning of the cryptocurrency adoption and growth. But do your own due diligence and make choices that are right for you.

Question from a Reader

My question was in the study of the wheat and the tares you say that the wheat are the ideas of God and the tares are the ideas of the evil one if I understand correctly. In Matthew 13:38 it refers to them as people. I’m confused. Thanks for your response.

The reader is referring to a previous study on the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13:24-30.

This is a question! And good job noting the translation in the NIV.

Part of the problem is the NIV translation is pretty bad on this verse. The Greek word used twice in Matthew 13:38 should not get translated as “people.” It should be “sons” or “children.”

I went on to argue that the word for “sons” in both “sons of the kingdom” and “sons of wickedness” is better understood as “offspring,” which in the context, would indicate the behavior or results that come from living according to the ideas and teachings of the Kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of darkness.

Here is what I said:

Typically, a “son” is understood to be a child of someone else. But the word “son” can also be used metaphorically. When the word “son” is used in connection to a concept or idea, instead of to a person or family, it refers to the characteristics or inner attributes of someone, rather than to the person themselves. So “sons of this world” are contrasted with “sons of light” in Luke 16:8 (cf. John 12:36; 1 Thess 5:5). A student or disciple of the Pharisees could be called a “son of the Pharisees” (Matt 12:27; Acts 23:6). Scripture can also speak of “sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36), “sons of this age” (Luke 16:8; 20:34), “sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:2; 5:6), “sons of the devil” (Acts 13:10) and numerous other similar terms. Such descriptions are not literal (a son of the devil is not literally the biological offspring of the devil), but are instead figurative and symbolic ways of referring to someone’s character and behavior.

If this applies to the word “sons” in this parable, then Jesus is referring to the figurative offspring that comes from the teachings of the kingdom of God versus the kingdom of darkness. Throughout time, the results that come from the teachings of Jesus have always proven to be better than that which comes from any other source. Jesus’ words and teachings can therefore be trusted.

What is Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7?

In previous studies of Ephesians 2, I have stated that Ephesians 2 is one of the most misunderstood chapters in the Bible. Most people think that the overall message of Ephesians 2 is about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when you die. And while the first 10 verses of Ephesians 2 can be read this way, the “Application” section of Ephesians 2, found in verses 11-24, show that Paul does not have eternal life and going to heaven in view at all. Paul is concerned with a completely different issue in Ephesians 2.

One of the primary reasons that people misunderstand Ephesians 2 is because they have a faulty definition of the word “salvation.” If Ephesians 2 is one of the most misunderstood chapters in the Bible, the word “salvation” is the most misunderstood word in the Bible.

When most Christians see the word “saved” or “salvation” in the Bible, they think it means “being saved from sin and death so you can receive eternal life and go to heaven when you die.”

You might be surprised to know that this is not how the salvation word family (saved, salvation, save, Savior) is used anywhere in Scripture. A careful study of the various contexts of the words “saved” or “salvation” in the Bible reveals that the word simply means “delivered” or “deliverance.” And you can be delivered from a wide variety of things in Scripture.

In Matthew 8:25, the disciples are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and they cry out to Jesus, “Lord, save us!” Are they asking Jesus to forgive their sins so they can receive eternal life and go to heaven when they die? No! There is a great storm on the sea, and they are about to drown and so they ask Jesus to save, or deliver, them from drowning.

This is an easy example, but the rest of the uses of “saved” and “salvation” in Scripture follows a similar pattern. People can be saved from sickness, from enemies, from war, from financial ruin, from premature physical death, from the devastating consequences of sin and temptation, and from a wide variety of other things.

So whenever you see the word “saved” or “salvation” in Scripture, you should substitute in the word “delivered” or “deliverance” and then look in the context to see what kind of deliverance is in view. This will help clear up a lot of confusing Bible passages for you. I will cover many of these passages in my Gospel Dictionary online course for the entry on “salvation” when it gets published.

This is what we will do today when we encounter the word “saved” in Ephesians 2:5-7. We will substitute in the word “delivered” and then consider the context to see what we are delivered from and what this deliverance looks like. When we do this, we will come to understand that Paul is not talking about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when we die, but is instead talking about a pressing issue that involves the lives of all people on planet earth here and now.

So let’s jump in to Ephesians 2:5.

By Grace You Have Been Saved (Ephesians 2:5)

We are picking up from last time when we looked at Ephesians 2:4 and how God has stepped in to the problem of human violence to do something about it.

Paul continues this idea in the first part of Ephesians 2:5 when says. …because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses.

Again, Paul is showing that the activity of God which is described in Ephesians 2:4-10 is not because of how great we humans are, but is rather because of how much God loves us. God stepped in to act on our behalf while we were dead in our sins. While we were unlovely. While we were undesirable by any standard. Yet God’s love for us was so great, that He loved us anyway.

So what did God do? At the end of Ephesians 2:5, Paul says (by grace you have been saved).

Here is the word “saved” that has caused so many problems in this text. So here is what we do. We see the word “saved” and since we know that this word is widely misunderstood in the minds of most Christians, we substitute in the word “delivered.” The word “delivered” is a fine translation for the Greek word, and it helps us better understand the passage, because it doesn’t carry the same theological baggage as the word “saved.”

So Paul is saying “By grace you have been delivered.”

Now we can look into the context to see what we have been delivered from.

And thankfully, since we’ve been studying Ephesians verse-by-verse, we already know what we have been delivered from, because Paul described it in Ephesians 2:1-4. In those verses, Paul describes the great human problem, which is that we are blinded by Satan so that we engage in a never-ending cycle of human violence that leads to death.

Back in our study of Ephesians 2:1, we learned that salvation in Ephesians is not about receiving eternal life so we can go to heaven when you die, but is instead about being rescued and delivered from our addiction to accusation, scapegoating, and violence, so that we are brought into the way of life, love, and liberty that God always wanted and desired for humanity.

So what is “salvation” is Ephesians 2? It is deliverance from our addiction to violence against other human beings. It is deliverance from how we justify our violence against other human beings. It is being shown what the real problem is and being shown how to handle this violence in a different way, a way that follows the heart of God and the example of Jesus.

This deliverance from the cycle of human violence is what Paul goes on to describe in Ephesians 2:5-7. He uses three descriptive terms to show how we have been delivered, or saved, from our blindness and slavery to violence.

These three descriptive terms are that we have been regenerated with Christ, resurrected with Christ, and are now reigning with Christ.

Regenerated with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

First in Ephesians 2:5. He made us alive together with Christ. We were dead, and he gave us life. God couldn’t just do this by a wave of his hand, no matter how much he loved us, because – as I said earlier – that would violate his justice and his righteousness. So God made us alive together with Christ.

Paul doesn’t go into great detail here on what he means by regeneration, but this is because Paul has already gone into detail in Ephesians 1:13-23. In our study of Ephesians 1:13, we learned that regeneration is being given new life in Jesus Christ. We are brought back to life with Him.

Jesus not only showed us a different way to live life, He also has given brand new life to us so that we can live in it. It is like we were living in a desert, and Jesus not only showed us what life is like in the rich, lush mountains filled with rivers and streams, but also took us to the mountains so that we can actually experience new life living there.

Jesus didn’t just say “Let me show you a new way to live,” He actually gave us new life so that we can live in it.

Resurrected with Christ (Ephesians 2:6a)

Next in Ephesians 2:6, Paul reveals how we were given new life in Christ. We were raised us up together with Christ. We were resurrected with Christ.

Resurrection is different from regeneration. Regeneration is new spiritual life in Christ. Resurrection is new physical life in Christ. We have been spiritually raised with Him, and we will be physically raised. Life in Christ is not just a spiritual reality, but will also be an eternal physical reality when we are raised with Christ and given new, glorious, sinless bodies.

Now, physical resurrection with Christ is still a future event for us, but in regard to how we live in this life, it is a current reality that we can live in light of.

It is sort of like living with an inheritance that you have not yet received. If you know with absolutely certainty that when you turn a certain age, you will receive a million dollars, that is going to affect how you live your life now and the sorts of choices you will make about your finances. You can even start making investments or purchases with the expectation that in the future, you will gain your million dollar inheritance.

Resurrection is sort of like that. When we receive our resurrected bodies, we will be perfect. We will be sinless. We can start living in light of that reality now. We no longer have be enslaved to this present body of sin. We no longer have to live under the crushing debt of sin. We can instead live in light of the way we will be.

The third and final description of our salvation is related to this, and is found in the last part of Ephesians 2:6.

Reigning with Christ (Ephesians 2:6b)

Paul writes that were were made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

This is a reference to reigning with Christ. And remember, being seated with Christ in heavenly places is a theme that Paul brings up several times in Ephesians. We discussed it previously back in our study of Ephesians 1:3 and our study of Ephesians 1:20-23 and we will see it again later in Ephesians.

One of the key truths to remember is that this statement about sitting with Christ Jesus in heavenly places is not a reference to some future event when we are in heaven with Jesus, but is instead a reference to life here and now on this earth. One of the things Jesus sought to do during His earthly ministry, which is also the task that Jesus assigned to the church, is that we are to bring heaven down to earth. We are to carry out God’s will on earth, just as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Heavenly places are the places on earth where the Kingdom of God is making inroads to life on this earth so that God’s rule and reign comes upon this earth, just as it is done in heaven.

So when Paul writes that we are seating with Jesus Christ now in heavenly places so that we can rule and reign with Him, he is talking about how we are to lead the world now into the way that Jesus wants the world to live.

And how is that? Not with violence and blame and hate and anger, where we accuse and demonize our enemies so that we can kill them in God’s name. No. Rather, we are to lead the world into the way of Jesus, into a life filled with grace, mercy, and forgiveness, where, like God, we love others even when they are dead in their trespasses and sins and seek to do us harm in return.

We reign with Christ by loving our enemies, just as He loved us while we were still His enemies.

When we live in light of our regeneration, resurrection, and reigning with Christ, it is then that we begin to experience the results of this sort of life, which is what Paul discusses in Ephesians 2:7.

Results: Riches in Christ (Ephesians 2:7)

In view of that, though, how should we act? How should we behave? We have been given new spiritual life and physical life in Christ, and have been seated with Him to rule and reign over this earth. We have infinite resources at our disposal. So how are we to live?

We should not be ashamed of whose children we are. We should be proud of our name and our family. We should not worry about worldly concerns because our Father the King is watching out for us. And if a new life, and being raised with Christ, and getting a royal position are not enough to get you excited to serve God, Ephesians 2:7 tells us the results of living in light of the deliverance Jesus has brought to us.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:7… That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

With these words, Paul shows that the new life we have been given in Jesus Christ is not temporary or limited. It begins now, and continues through all the ages of our life, which includes all the ages of eternity. In all the ages to come, God will continue to pour out upon us the riches of His grace and kindness. He loves us and will always love us, and we are only beginning to see the height and depth of God’s love for us. We will spend all eternity exploring God’s love in greater detail.

So, what is the salvation, or the deliverance, that we have been given in Jesus Christ?

It is that we no longer have to live in the realm of death, where we condemn, accuse, and kill others. Instead, because of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, we are able to truly live. We have new spiritual life (regeneration), physical life (resurrection), and powerful life (reigning) with Jesus Christ. We have been delivered from our old way of life and brought into a brand new way of life.

A life based on love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. A life that looks just like Jesus.

Paul is not done talking about this life. He continues in Ephesians 2:8 to show us how we can start living in this new way of life. That is where we will pick up in our next study. In Ephesians 2:8-10 we will see how we can start showing the world a better way to live. How we can fulfill our calling to reveal the life of Jesus to this dying world.

Be Angry

Do Not Sin

Get Rid of Your Anger Quickly

Be a Solution to the Problem

Don’t Give Place to the Devil

Defining Lying

Don’t Lie (Ephesians 4:25)

Lying Hurts Others

Lying is the Sin that Began it All

Lying Resulted in Physical Death

Lying is Associated with the Most Serious of Sins

Lying is Completely Contrary to God

Liars are Often Self-Deceived

Lying is So Easy to Do

Lying is Difficult to Maintain

Tell the Truth

Endnotes on Ephesians 4:25

Outline for Ephesians 4:20-24

I. Learn from Christ (Ephesians 4:20-21)

II. What Jesus Taught (Ephesians 4:22-24)

A. Put off the Old (Ephesians 4:22)

A’. Put on the New (Ephesians 4:24)

B. Be Renewed (Ephesians 4:23)

Conclusion

Question from a Reader about New Age Practices

By Grace are You Saved Through Faith … Ephesians 2:8-9

Question from a Reader

What is Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7?

By Grace You Have Been Saved (Ephesians 2:5)

Regenerated with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

Resurrected with Christ (Ephesians 2:6a)

Reigning with Christ (Ephesians 2:6b)

Results: Riches in Christ (Ephesians 2:7)

So, what is the salvation, or the deliverance, that we have been given in Jesus Christ?

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