Paul was the consummate teacher. He not only showed the Ephesians what was wrong, but he also told them how to do it right. This devotion look at how God has called us to live.
Nuggets
- Liars are children of the master deceiver, Satan.
- It isn’t the anger itself that is the sin.
- Just as nature fills a vacuum quickly, Satan will quickly take advantage of any opportunity too get us to sin or keep us sinning.
Earlier in Ephesians 4, Paul was biting on the Ephesians for returning to a sinful way of life. He reminded them that they knew better. To close out the chapter, he gave a list of what they — and we — should be doing.
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Be a Person of Integrity
“Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (Eph. 4: 25 RSV)
When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, He said that “you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Ex. 20: 16 ESV). In other words, they shouldn’t lie about their neighbor.
God did say it more straightforwardly and didn’t qualify it. “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another” (Lev. 19: 11 ESV). Why should we put away telling lies?
John 14: 6 says, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (ESV). We are to be like Jesus. “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (I Pet. 2: 21 ESV).
John 1: 14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (ESV).
Contrast that with what Jesus said of liars. “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn. 8: 44 ESV). Ouch.
Liars are children of the master deceiver, Satan. Well, Satan did tell the first lie. “But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die’” (Gen. 3: 4 ESV).
There are several consequences to lying. Liars will be punished. “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Rev. 21: 8 ESV).
Let’s put it into the context of what Paul had been talking about — unity of the church. Those who are not telling the truth are not going to be promoting unity. Quite to the contrary, they will cause dissension as their deceit is uncovered.
Paul said, “Therefore, putting away falsehood …” (Eph. 4: 25 RSV). He said it was a choice. We can choose to lie, or we can put away the urge.
Don’t Be the Hulk
“Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph. 4: 26-27 RSV)
In the first Avenger movie, Bruce Banner tells Captain America that his secret of turning into the Incredible Hulk is that he is angry all the time. Paul said, “Don’t be the Hulk.”
Did anyone read that as “don’t be angry?” That isn’t what Paul said.
What Paul said was, “Be angry but do not sin …” (Eph. 4: 26 RSV). So, it isn’t the anger itself that is the sin.
Anger is an emotion. Yes, you can control your emotions, but you are still going to feel them.
Jesus was angry when he cleared the money changers out of the temple (Jn. 2: 13-22). But that was a holy anger. He was angry at sin.
Most of the time, our anger is not a holy anger. It could be an unjust or excessive anger. It could be a selfish anger. Usually, it is a personal anger.
What are the causes of our anger? Pride is a big one.
Conflict with others is probably a close second. That can pull in anything from envy to controlling to hurt. When that conflict with others creates anger in the workplace sure decreases productivity.
What Paul was saying was, don’t let your anger be a big volcanic eruption. Control your anger.
I love Paul. He basically says, “Deal with it — quickly.” What he actually said was, “… do not let the sun go down on your anger …” (Eph. 4: 26 RSV).
Ooo baby. Don’t let that anger just sit in you and stew. It will eat you up!
I know Paul probably said that because we interact more during the day. It will rob our sleep if we let it.
What I first thought of, though, was Sabbath began at sundown. Tying it into the unity theme — don’t be holding a grudge against a fellow disciple while you are worshiping God.
There is another big reason for a speedy resolution to anger. “… and give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph. 4: 27 RSV).
You know Satan. If he sees a toe hole that he can finagle his way in, he is going to slide in quicker than the cherries slid off a Black Forrest cake my sister and I made when we were younger — and that was instantaneously.
Just as nature fills a vacuum quickly, Satan will quickly take advantage of any opportunity too get us to sin or keep us sinning. He wants dominance of us.
Making the Connections
You know, if you have to put away lying, at one point you had to have picked it up. Again, it was your choice. Why? It is a choice because we have a choice to follow God or not.
I can hear you jumping up and down, saying, “But kids lie, and they haven’t made that choice yet.“ The choice was made for them by Adam and Eve. When they first bit and lied, the choice was made for all of us. Sin entered the building.
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I looked at an article Beth Arky’s article entitled Why Kids Lie and What Parents Can Do About It: How to help kids find honest alternatives to bending the truth. She talked about kids — besides trying to manipulate the situation — experimenting with behaviors, trying to increase self-esteem, deflecting attention, and speaking before thinking. The only time she mentioned lying as being hardwired into the kid was with kids suffering from ADHD. Other than those diagnosed with an illness (which they did not choose), it was their choice or a consequence of an action they chose to do.
So, you can pick up and put away lying. Paul counseled us to put it away.
Have you ever been around someone who is angry all the time? Not a very fun atmosphere, is it?
If that person is a disciple, how would you characterize the witness to a nonbeliever? The nonbeliever would be wondering why we would think they would want to become that.
I loved this quote I found. “The soul that is not filled with good thoughts and desires is left empty for the enemy to enter” (Norton).
We got to fill our hearts and our minds with God and His desires for us. We can’t focus on this world. We have to stop being tolerant of what He clearly calls sin.
How Do We Apply This?
To fill our hearts with God, we have to be seeking Him. Probably most of us focus on the reading and hearing of His Word and praying to Him. (Yep, we could probably do better.)
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17 NLT).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3 ESV).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16 ESV).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11 NLT).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11 NLT).
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I think most of us (myself included) have to up our game on the meditating part. That is where we really apply it to our lives.
I know. I know. Those lives are filled to the brim. We are going to go bonkers if we add one more thing to the schedule — and we will because the holidays are coming up.
But we have to get our focus turned onto Him. (Oh, I love that. Autocorrect changed Him to I’m. He is I AM!).
We/I have to do a better job at seeing what I AM is saying to us. Because He is talking to us — we are just usually so focused on talking to Him that we don’t listen.
Lying and anger. One should be nonexistent, and the other should be short. One is a sin; the other could lead to sin if not controlled. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5: 22-23).
Let’s work on producing more fruit.
Loving Father. Thank You for Paul. Thank You for his knowledge of You that He was able to share with us. Thank You that he loved us so much that he wrote down how we should live. Help us to take the focus off this world and put it on You. Help us to live as You have called us to so that Satan does not get a toe hold in us. May we live that life for You. Amen.
What do you think?
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Great study! I love how practical Ephesians is.
Hallie, Ephesians is practical, isn’t it? Every verse is packed with lots of little tidbits of information where we really need to pay attention to detail. But it gives us great direction. Thanks for your comment! Elaine
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