Ephesians - Lesson 25

The slanderer, you give the devil an opportunity, at least if you give in to the things Paul prohibits in verse 26. If you sin, have unrighteous anger, if you do let the sun go down on your anger, which I take to mean you have a pattern of living that is not one of joy, but one that's dominated by anger and lack of joy, you give the devil a foothold in your life. Do not give the devil a place.

One thing that makes the devil very angry is when brothers and sisters pursue unity in the spirit and the bond of peace. So as we think about how to work these, what seemed to be proverbial statements, how to work them out, one way we don't give the devil a place in our lives is strive to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace and think of practical ways by how to do that. I hate the devil, but guess what? The devil hates me and he hates you too.

And one thing that Jesus has done in his cross and resurrection is disarmed him of his power, stripped him of his power, and he knows his doom is sure. But he's very happy when there is unrighteous anger, slanders, division, hate in the context of Christian community. He's very happy, the devil that is, when there's no love or joy or peace or patience.

He's very happy when we choose to walk as followers of Christ in unrighteous ways amongst the people of God. So one way we avoid giving him an opportunity is we choose to walk as Christ has outlined for us, contrary to the way we formerly walked prior to coming to Christ. And for them, that means at least these things he's saying here.

And then verse 28, let the thief no longer steal. So if you were a thief, stop being a thief, but rather let him labor and work, doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Instead of cheating, do honest work.

This is how you give not a foothold to the devil. It's by using your able-bodied body to provide for your needs and to share with those who have something, showing kindness because you work and have something to share. Now, verse 29, he's going to turn toward the speech, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths or no evil talk or rotten talk, you can also translate it, come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

It's very difficult to build up the body of Christ with words that constantly tear down. How do we use our speech? How do we talk to people? We speak the truth in love. We must always do that.

But how do we speak the truth in a condescending way, a disrespectful way? Do we insult people? Call them names? Do we try to minimize their value? By misrepresenting them to win people to our cause. Paul says that's corrupting talk. Let not such talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up.

James talks about the speech, the tongue. Tongue can bless, words can bless or they can curse, they can build up or they can tear down. The word is a fire.

It's one reason why he seems to say, be careful if you're thinking about being a teacher. That trembles, causes me to tremble, by the way. Be careful if you're thinking about teaching because teachers are held to a stricter judgment.

And one reason is because words influence people. Paul says, guard your words, guard your mouths. Have a second thought before you speak publicly.

Be careful before you write that blog, send that tweet, send that text, send that email. Let good come out of your mouth, that it may give, here's that word for gift again, that it may give grace to those who hear. That it may give people with favor.

Our words, our words reveal what's in our hearts. And Jesus says this very thing. And if we spend our words to tear people down, as opposed to build people up, Paul would say we're walking contrary to the calling with which we've been called.

To build up the body means we have to use words that build up each other in love. And then verse 30, he says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. So that language is sealed for the day of redemption goes back to chapter to chapter one.

That day of redemption is already here in one sense, because we have our sins forgiven. And in Ephesians 1 verse 7, Paul says, in Christ, we have redemption, namely the forgiveness of our sins. But that day of redemption is not yet fully realized because it's a day when we will receive an inheritance.

And that inheritance is coming when the kingdom comes back at the end of history. The kingdom is already here because Christ the King is reigning and he's conquering and triumphing over the principalities and powers of the air. But it's not yet fully realized because the kingdom of darkness is still advancing and we are waiting for that future day of redemption when the kingdom comes and we inherit the entire world.

So we're sealed for the day of redemption by the spirit. And so therefore, verse 30, don't grieve the spirit of God. Now.

Now, what does it mean not to grieve the spirit? I think it means in the context not to walk in a manner unworthy of your calling. In other words, here's one way to grieve the spirit. Lie.

Slander. Gossip. Distort.

Steal. Live a pattern of life that's more consistent with the darkness. That's how you grieve the spirit.

It fits with chapter two. You walk in this particular way. You walk in a way that represented that the spirit of the devil was working in you when you were sons.

I was a son of disobedience, but God made us alive together with Christ. And we have the spirit who has sealed us for the day of redemption to who has set us apart to make us holy and blame us. So we grieve him when we walk contrary to the path outlined by the spirit.

This fits further with what he says later. Let all bitterness, verse 31, and wrath and anger and clamor. Now watch this.

And slander be put away from you. Look at all these words. There's some strong words.

Bitterness. This is hard. Bitterness can eat us like a cancer.

And when we feel bitterness, rightly, because we've been hurt. It can cause us to have unrighteous anger and unrighteous wrath. Of course, we should be angry righteously when someone slanders us.

But my point is, is that it could cause us to develop a kind of anger that wants revenge. That's my point. That wants to take justice into my own hands.

That might want that that perhaps compels us to retaliate evil for evil. Oh, it is true. As I've said, we can love our enemies and forgive our enemies while we call the police on them.

We can testify against those who hurt us in a criminal way, testify against them in the court of law and forgive them. There's no contradiction there. But here's the basic point that I'm making.

The point that I'm making is, is that at the end of the day, only God can make things right when things have been made wrong in this world. And sometimes just oftentimes justice does not come to pass in this world. Bad things happen to good people.

And sometimes the legal system does not write those bad things. And so the response needs to be always from those who love God is to entrust people to God who is able to judge rightly so that we do not try to take God's vengeance into our own hands. And therefore, Paul says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor, outcries and slander be put away from you along with all with all malice.

Word there for malice is a word that simply refers to evil. Now, again, just a clarifying point. Whenever we see injustice, we should outcry.

It should grieve us deeply. When someone is treated the wrong way or harmed because of the sin of someone else, we should in the power of the spirit, within the boundaries of the gospel and within the boundaries of the law, seek to help those who are vulnerable as best as we can using the common grace resources that God provides for us to be able to do that. But here's my point, and I think this is Paul's point, that we should not have a posture of seeking to retaliate evil for evil, evil.

Perhaps that's why slander occurs last in the verse. May these things be put away from you or malice, rather, that these things be put away from you along with all malice. Now, notice in verse 32, he's basically going to say the same thing, but in the positive instead of saying, don't do this, don't do that.

He's going to state the same thing, but with a positive. Be kind to one another. You know, kindness is a good thing.

And there are some Christians who think like kindness is it's just not a good thing. Kindness is a gospel virtue. It's okay to be kind to people.

As believers, we don't have to be mean to people with whom we disagree. Perhaps sometimes we might have the perspective that, well, unless you agree with me on every issue, I must be unkind to you or else I'm being disobedient to God. No, no, no.

We should be kind to all people, even when we disagree insofar as it's possible for us to be kind. But here, particularly verse 32, he's talking to believers. Be kind to one another.

How do we show kindness to one another as believers? Well, again, to repeat myself for emphasis, we use words that build each other up. We share with each other when there's a need. We put away bitterness and wrath and unrighteous anger and clamor and slander and all forms of evil toward one another.

We're tenderhearted, verse 32, toward one another. And here's perhaps the hardest statement of all. We forgive one another.

Okay, here it comes. Just as God in Christ forgave you. Now, I don't know about you.

But whenever I see a command and then attached to that command is do it the way God did it or do it the way Christ did it. Oh, by the way, in 5.1, he says be imitators of God, which is so I've got to forgive as Christ forgave me and I've got to be an imitator of God. Okay, here's why this is problematic for me.

It's not problematic because there's something wrong with what Paul says. It's problematic for me for this reason. Here's how Christ forgave me.

He was nailed to a bloody cross. The extent to which he manifested love for the world was he went to the cross and took upon himself our sin. Paul is giving us a paradigm or or an example.

Of what forgiveness looks like. It's sacrificial. One way we show kindness to each other, one way we are tenderhearted toward one another or compassionate toward one another.

We forgive one another. Let me lean into this for a moment. Forgiveness is a process.

It is not something that happens. In a moment's time, and I would suggest that the time it might take a person to forgive or at least to get closer to the place where one can forgive. Depends on how severe the hurt was.

The more pain one experiences by the offender, the more difficult it will be to forgive and the more time it might take to work toward forgiveness. I would also say that forgiveness does not imply reconciliation. Reconciliation should be ideal, but it's not always possible.

Forgiveness also is something I think that is. Can be experienced even if the person doesn't apologize. Because forgiveness is about what I need to do.

Toward the person who has harmed me. Apology may never come. But forgiveness is still expected.

And this is what makes it difficult, because in my. Sinfulness. I want.

That person. To know I have forgiven them, and the only way that that can happen is, is that person needs to apologize to me. So that I can express to that person.

I've forgiven you, but the forgiveness piece is placed upon me and you, even when the offender does not apologize. So then Paul is calling us to do something here that is quite difficult. Another thing I want to say practically is in terms of the forgiveness piece.

Is that forgiveness? Is not something. That you should. Do lightly.

And this is what I mean by that. There's a weight to this. It's a process to it.

And it doesn't mean just because you forgive. That the relationship is going to go back to the way it was before the offense. So what Paul is inviting us to do here is not.

Have coffee with our enemies. Not to. Go back to the way things were with the person necessarily that you need to forgive.

Maybe that will happen. But he's he's calling us and inviting us basically. To gift one another.

To show favor to one another. As God. And Christ.

Showed favor to us. That's really the language here. This verb forgiving.

Forgiving here is a participle. It's kharizamai. It sounds like the word kharis.

Gift. And we are to kharizamai. It's a different form here.

But kharizamai one another show. Favor toward one another. Just as God showed favor.

A kharizata. Same verb different form. To you.

What's one way I can show favor to someone who's hurt me? Not retaliating evil for evil. So in this verse. When Paul thinks about forgiving one another.

As God and Christ has forgiven you. He's calling us to. Show.

Favor. Forgive in a way. That reflects the gift of the gospel.

Don't be bitter takes a process. Don't slander. Don't try to harm somebody who.

Tried to harm us don't slander somebody who slandered us. But imitate Christ now that that's the piece that's that's hard, isn't it? As Christ as God in Christ forgave you. He sent his own son didn't spare him.

In Romans chapter 8. Paul says. I think it's around verse 31. That.

The God who delivered up his own son. For us did not spare his own son. For us.

But this God will. Give us freely all things. So forgive as God in Christ forgave you sacrificially.

And then you have verse 151 where basically. There's another therefore, but he's just repeating himself again. He's telling him how to walk.

I mean, good night. This is really important to Paul. Because he recognizes there's no gospel.

There's no gospel. Belief. If there's no gospel transformation.

You can't have. Genuine saving faith without transformation in Paul's understanding of. The gospel, so therefore 5-1.

Be imitators of God as beloved. Children. So that word children is important because again, it links us back.

To what Paul says in chapter two. We were children of wrath. When we were when we were dead in trespasses and sins.

But now we are children of God. Therefore, we are imitators of God as beloved to be imitators of God. As beloved children, how do we imitate God? Well, one way is we forgive.

We don't slander. God doesn't slander. God speaks the truth.

We seek. To walk in the light. Not in the darkness.

So verse two, he says, walk in love. As Christ loved us. And gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Did you notice here that in verse two? He uses the death of Jesus as an example of what love looks like. Now, of course, it's true that Jesus's death is a. Penal substitutionary atonement for our sins. Talked about that.

Jesus died to absorb God's wrath and delivers from the wrath of God. To purify us to make us right with God by faith. But here, Paul also teaches us that he gives us the example of Jesus that is by his death of how to love walk in love as Christ loved us, gave himself up for us.

Again, he's calling us to sacrifice. This is the same call to which Jesus calls us in the Gospel of John. We talks about.

Friends. And he calls his disciples friends. And he says that a friend lays down his life for his friend.

And Jesus goes to the cross and dies for us. Sacrificially. In verse three.

He returns back to. Continuing to give them this. These exhortations regarding their sexual, their sexual morality, he says, but sexual morality, verse three.

And all impurity. Or covetousness. Must not even be named among you.

As is proper among saints, where saints keeps popping up, doesn't it? Started way back in chapter one. He's writing to the saints and faithful ones to be a saint and a faithful one means you're in Christ. And if you're in Christ, that means you're in Christ to be holy and blameless.

And to be holy and blameless is just not positional. It is, but it is also exist. Experiential is progressive.

You are living a holy and blameless life, not by being perfect, but by being godly. And one manifestation of that godliness is is not living in a way that is. Contrary to the gospel in terms of sexual sin.

Or all forms of impurity or covetousness, greediness, desiring, pining after something that is not yours to have. It's proper for the saints, right for the saints, good for the people of God not to be unrighteous people. And then he says, verse four, let there be no filthiness.

Nor foolish talk. Nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. Let's go back to that for a moment.

Foolish talk. There's a lot of foolish talk these days. But what would Paul be thinking of in terms of foolish talk? Well, I think again, just to keep using the examples I've given you, slanderous, foolish talk, using your words to tear people down would be foolish talk.

As opposed to building up. Gossip would be foolish talk. False teaching would be foolish talk.

And then this next. Actually, I skipped a word, this word before foolish talk in verse four. Filthiness or shamefulness, he mentions.

And then this next word, vulgar talk. And there's some people who know, profess and know Jesus who love their dirty jokes. Or you have, I don't know if you are familiar with this, but in some circles, there's this sort of bad boy Christianity where Christians think that they think it's so cool just to cuss.

Cuss people out. Use language that's more akin to a world of darkness as opposed to a world of light. I understand that language is contextual and what sounds offensive to one person might not be offensive to another person.

I understand that. But I think we can all agree there are certain types of speech that are offensive in in particular context or should be, at least across the board. And there are some people who seem to have no shame who profess to know Jesus and how they open up their mouths and say words that are.

Verse four. Vulgar talk. You can speak in a foolish way even when you don't use foolish words in terms of tone, in terms of how you communicate.

You know, this word here for vulgar, vulgar, vulgar speech, excuse me, is a word that speaks to inappropriate humor, perhaps, or coarse jesting, the kind of speech that is crude, ungodly. The Proverbs say a lot about how we use our words. I think Paul is leaning into that wisdom.

But instead of letting that kind of speech come out of your mouth. This is what we should do with our words. Verse four.

Offer thanksgiving. Of course, to God, but to brothers and sisters in Christ. Thankful for you.

Encouraging people in the body of Christ. I'm so thankful for that sermon. I'm so thankful for how you use your gifts of hospitality to care for this senior saying I'm so thankful for you.

And of course, expressing that thanks ultimately. To God in my own Christian life, I'm trying to be better about making sure my prayers will include praying for people. For whom I'm thankful and expressing a thing that I'm thankful for, and I'm not always faithful to do that.

But if I find myself in tension with certain people in the body of Christ, I try to think of a thing for which I can be thankful. And I ask the Lord to help me be thankful, and I thank the Lord for that for them. And that seems to do something in my heart.

It might not do anything about the relationship, but in my own personal heart to help me to avoid bitterness and covetousness. And these kinds of emotions that could harm the body, it can help us if we offer thanksgiving for something that. A person or people that we might be in conflict with.

Have done or they have. The Lord can use that to help us. And here's the reason why.

We ought to heed what Paul says about our speech about our pattern of living. For you may be sure of this. That everyone who is sexually immoral.

Or impure. Or who is covetous, that is an idolater. Has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Wow, this is the same man who said. Chosen in Christ. Predestination in Christ.

Heard the gospel and received it. When we believed. We received the spirit.

God raises from death to life. Reconciled into one new man. Equal sharers of the promises of God in Christ with with Gentiles or with Jews rather.

And now he's telling us. If we do not walk in a manner worthy of our calling, here's basically what he's saying. We will go to hell when we die.

Now, a question is the question. Why would he say that? Well, here's why. A motivation.

A motivation to obey the gospel. Is the threat of eschatological wrath, of course, love for Jesus. But God uses the carrot.

Good things and the stick warnings. To be means by which to enable us to persevere. So believers will read these texts, hear these words, and we should say.

I want to I want to inherit the kingdom. So I'm going to with God's help by the power of the spirit. Walk in a manner worthy of.

His calling to me. And the Lord uses that warning as a means by which. We live in the way that he demands.

Because remember, he gives us. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, and that includes spirit empowered. Enablement.

And a means by which he enables us by the spirit to obey him is he gives us a warning to tell us what will happen if we don't. This is Paul's, in my view. So triology in a nutshell.

You're justified by faith in Christ alone because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. But you must you must obey the gospel. Because the gospel.

Is shown to be true in your life. Through how you live in obedience to it. So that you're justified apart from works, but you're not justified without them in the day of judgment, if that makes sense.

What I mean is, is that remember 210 God created us prepared for us good works in which to walk. And he is explicating those good works. See, Paul's salvation is God not only saves us by his grace apart from our works, but the works that we have those come from God.

Those works are part of the sociological package for Paul. So they're God given works that are part of his salvation plan, which means he saves us and he gives us the ability to obey 210. He prepared us to walk in good works.

He were saved by grace through faith. Yes, apart from our works, but the works that we do are works that God enables us to do by the spirit. They're part of his salvific plan.

The reason why we can obey the gospel is because God has worked in us to do so. Therefore, if we don't obey the gospel, we will prove that we do not believe the gospel. That's the point.

Only those hear this carefully. Only those who obey the gospel. Have the promise of eternal life in Paul's theology.

One of my colleagues has written a lot about this. Tom Schreiner wrote a book called The Race Set Before Us, which I think is helpful. He wrote another book I think is called Run to Win the Prize or something along those lines in which he makes the point.

That we're justified, we're saved by faith in Christ alone, but every genuine saving faith, everybody who genuinely believes will live a godly life and persevere until the end.