Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:31. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 4:31

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”

Paul returns to listing sins that we need to put away in order to be faithful to Christ. In particular these sins are things that undermine unity in the Body of Christ. They not only put individuals down, but they destroy the Church and run counter to the teachings of Christ.

Bitterness is the cultivation of anger long after the event that has sparked the anger. A brother offends me, and I continue to be angry and refuse to forgive him. This is called bitterness .

In November 1975, the Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was removed from office by the Governor- General under unique circumstances. Whitlam called upon his followers to “ maintain the rage.” Some of them remained bitter many years and decades after the event.

Followers of Christ have been forgiven their sins. We have a duty, therefore, to forgive those who trespass against us. It is there in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 4:12) and in parables such as The Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35).

Refusal to forgive our Christian brothers and sisters is bitterness, and may bring down upon us the judgement of God.

Rage is the uncontrolled passion that seeks to destroy out of vengeance. It can be irrational in its expression, and is always destructive. It may be expressed as violence or as a verbal spray of hatred and insults.

This kind of anger is never acceptable to God. One of the works of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is to bring healing of the wounds that produce rage and to replace it with peace and self-control.

The Greek word for anger is orge which is also used of the anger of God against sin, and of the righteous anger of people against sin. It can also apply to unrighteous anger in which we are not so much perturbed by the sins of others as by threats to ourselves.

At its best, this kind of anger can motivate and drive a person to seek justice and righteousness on behalf of others. It can sustain a campaign for change over months and years.

At its worst, though, anger is directed against individuals or groups of people. The supposed misdeeds of others become forgotten, and the people themselves become the objects of anger.

This kind of anger is bad because it keeps us separated from others. The love of God draws people together, but anger keeps us apart.

Anger can be focused on differences over worship styles or doctrine. It can be expressed through discipline processes such as “shunning” in which the righteous people refuse to have fellowship with sinners.

The word translated as “brawling” in the NIV may be better translated as clamour. Brawling suggests an all- in physical fight which is rare in churches. Not so rare is the noisy, pushy form of speech which refuses to be quiet and to listen to differing points of view.

Clamour can be a defensive reaction in which we try to shout down those we disagree with. In an argument it could be name-calling, or accusations such as ”you said this.” When it is in full flight, this clamour is much like the reaction of small children when called to account for their actions.

Clamour refuses to listen to other points of view. It makes a noisy appeal for its own opinion. It uses sound and fury to keep others at a distance, and to demand its own way .

Clamour is the language of the street demonstration which demands action and demeans opponents. Clamour is the noise of the Twitter mob which closes down all opposition by demanding that people be silenced .

As Christians we must always remember that our brother whom we oppose is also someone whom God loves and for whom Christ died.

Slander is speech which undermines a person’s reputation. It takes many forms from name calling to false accusations .

Gossip is a form of slander. Humans love to hear and pass on to others details of the weaknesses of other people. We hear a claim about someone, add in our own Insights, and pretty quickly a person’s reputation is shredded.

Slander can be true or it can be false. Lies about people can be readily believed because they may not be easily controverted. Even when true, people can make all kinds of statements about others without a context that might offer explanation.

Whether true or false, deliberate or not, slander is not based in love. We believe the worst about a person, makes suppositions about their motives, and then spread our conclusions far and wide.

We are to love our brothers and sisters. We should seek to build up their dignity and worth, and not pull it down.

Finally, we are to get rid of every form of malice. Every action or speech that is directed against another person must be removed from our operating system.

If I want to act badly or speak ill of another person, then I am not loving them. The great commandments, Jesus tells us, are to love God and love our neighbour.

Malice is the opposite of love. While love values another person, malice devalues the other. While love acts to advance the interests of another, malice seeks to harm them.

Key points in this verse:

• We are to actively remove from our lives all actions, words, and attitudes that seek to harm other people
• Forgiveness of others is an essential part of living for Christ
• Rage is never acceptable to God
• We must ensure that righteous anger against Injustice does not turn into anger against people
• Love draws us together, but anger separates us
• Slander and gossip can destroy the reputations of other people
• Malice is the opposite of love. We must build others up, not pull them down.

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:30. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 4:30

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

The word “ to grieve” has a similar meaning in Greek as in Hebrew. It means to cause sorrow or grief or to distress. Paul is telling us we must not distress the Holy Spirit.

This follows immediately after the instruction to not let any unwholesome to come out of our mouths. Some commentators suggest that this is important because the Holy Spirit is especially concerned about our communication within the fellowship and to unbelievers. The words that we use and the ways we talk to one another are important to the Holy Spirit and can cause Him grief or distress.

It is also true that our habitual or repeated sins of any character can distress the Holy Spirit. We are told repeatedly in the scriptures that we are to be holy just as the lord is holy. To be constantly in sin is to desecrate the holy vessels that God has called us to be and which Christ died to purchase.

The fact that we can grieve the Holy Spirit is a reminder of the personhood of the Spirit. We can sometimes think of the Spirit as being an impersonal force, perhaps because we fail to adequately grasp who the Holy Spirit is.

We must affirm that the Holy Spirit is God, and therefore a person, in the same way that the Father and the Son are also God and persons .

We use the word “spirit” very loosely at times – the spirit of Christmas, team spirit, the spirit of Australia. In this context the word means a vaguely conceived connection, a bond, or a shared purpose. This is not the character of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God active in the world- whether the context is seen in individual believers, in non-believers, in a culture, or in the church.

When we grieve the Holy Spirit, we grieve God. This occurs through our sin and rebellion, and it opposes the whole concept of our salvation.

Paul here describes the Holy Spirit as” the Holy Spirit of God.” He could have referred to him as the Spirit, or the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit. In this way, Paul is emphasising that the Spirit of God is Holy. This is not a name or a title, but a description of the nature of the Spirit of God.

God is Holy. When we use the word “holy” about God, we don’t mean the same thing that we mean when we describe a created thing or a person as holy.

To say an object is holy means that it has been set apart for God’s purposes. The object then cannot be used for ordinary or profane purposes. Similarly when the scriptures say that we are to be holy, they mean that we are now devoted to God’s purposes and we cannot do just whatever we want to do.

To say God is holy is to say that God is untouched in anyway by sin. We can’t say this of any created thing because, just by being in the world, they are touched by the general state of corruption which sin has brought into the creation.

God is holy because He cannot do anything that is opposed to His own character. The Spirit of God is likewise holy. Jesus, the Son of God, was tempted in every way that we are, but He remained without sin. He is holy.

Because God is by His nature untouched by sin, He does not change in His holiness. We are assailed in every direction by temptation, and often we give in. We can be righteous one minute, and commit some grievous in the next minute, but God’s holiness is constant and unchanging .

The Spirit of God is holy because He is God, and He does not change .

We were sealed with the Holy Spirit of God for the day of redemption.

A seal was often placed on a document to serve two functions.

Firstly, it served as a guarantee of the source of the document. It was a sign of ownership. The document could be trusted as a genuine letter from a king, because it contained the king’s seal. The Holy Spirit’s presence in the life of the believer is a sign that we belong to God.

The second purpose of a seal was to guarantee the document’s authenticity. A letter that was sealed could be trusted to be free from alterations as long as the seal remained intact.

The Holy Spirit is a sign or a seal that we are the real thing as far as Christ is concerned. We carry the mark of God in our spirits to show that we are not a forgery. Our salvation is real because the Holy Spirit is really in us.

The presence of the Holy Spirit seals us for the day of redemption.

The day of judgement, when the sheep are separated from the goats, and the wheat from the weeds, can make us feel anxious. Judgement sounds like it is about condemnation or punishment.

The day of judgement is, for christians, the day of redemption. We will be declared free and righteous on that day. The Holy Spirit in us will be seen as the true sign of our salvation .

Christians have nothing to fear from God’s judgement. We know, or we should know, that Jesus’ death on the cross has bought our salvation. We look forward to eternal joy spent in the presence of God.

Those who do not know Christ will be judged and condemned to the lake of fire.

Our culture does not deal well with binary, or black and white, decisions. We like to have grey zones where the edges are blurred, where laws have loopholes. God has stated clearly that those who die in Christ will be raised to eternal life, while those who die away from Christ are doomed to hell.

To choose for Christ is the most important decision any person can make.

Key points in this verse:

• To grieve the Holy Spirit means to cause him pain or distress
• Our words and our sins can distress the Holy spirit
• The Holy Spirit is God and is a person not a force
• God is totally untouched by sin and cannot sin
• We are sealed with the Holy Spirit as a sign and guarantee that we belong to God
• For Christians the day of judgement is the day of freedom

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:29. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 4:29

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that is may benefit those who listens.”

The words that come from our mouths reflect the reality of what is in our hearts. Just as it is humanly impossible for thieves to become generous givers (v.28), this change of heart that leads to a change in our speech can only come through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The word translated “unwholesome” in the NIV actually means corrupt, rotten, or putrid. Paul users this word for effect. We could say “ disgusting” if we wanted to be more accurate to his intent.

There are many forms of “ unwholesome talk” or” putrid words” that come from the mouths of Christians. We need to ensure that our words reflect the glory and purity of God.

Swearing is one such area. The casual dropping of words that were once considered beneath contempt and not suitable for speaking in public has become standard speech for many people including Christians.

Gossip is based on the actions and supposed motivations of other people. Gossip is always negative and seeks to pull down the standing of other people. We need to build up rather than pull down. Gossip is nearly always false.

Slander is a direct attack on the reputation of another person. It might be lies about what another person has done, or a telling of just part of the truth. We need to be careful that the words we speak about others are both true and build up their reputation amongst the brothers and sisters in the church.

Lies are a repudiation of the truth. Christians are supposed to be people of the truth as we follow Christ who said “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” We live in a post- truth age, but God is still requires us to speak only words of truth. Lying takes various forms in which we try to promote our own self interest at the expense of facts, and often the expense of other people.

Our unwholesome talk can take the form of inciting others to violence or to hatred. We promote false stereotypes that result in particular individuals or groups suffering unfairly.

There are two keys to not letting unfair unwholesome talk come out of our mouths .

First, we need to let the Holy Spirit completely renew our minds. If we don’t think it we can’t say it. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conformto the pattern of this world,but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. “

We musttake seriously the doctrines that people bear the image of God, and that God loves all people. As a follower of Christ, how can I use words to injure a person for whom Christ died?

When we find that ungodly thoughts go through our heads, we need to confess them to the Lord and ask him to change our brains.

The second key is to apply a filter to our speech. Some people just blurt out every thought that goes through their heads. We need to think before we speak, and ask ourselves whether we need to say this thought out loud, or whether we should speak it in a more godly way.

We should only speak what is helpful for building up others.

In our conversations we should seek to build up the people we are speaking with or about. This doesn’t mean that everything has to be a kind of mindless positivity. it does mean that we must use a words to edify, exhort, and encourage. Our conversations are opportunities to help others to go deeper in Christ, to seek positive choices not negative.

We are to build others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Our words and conversations need to be other focused. Just as thieves are required to turn their attention from getting to giving (v.28), so all of us who speak and listen must turn our attention to someone else.

It is often noted that most people engage in conversation with their focus on themselves. While another person is speaking, we are looking for what we are to say next.

If we are trying to build others up according to their need, then we will be looking for what the person is needing rather than what can we say next. We listen to the words, the tone of voice, to what is not being said. How would Jesus respond to this person?

This posture in relating to others turns us around so that in our speaking and listening we are seeking to love our neighbour.

if I’m consciously wanting to love this person I am speaking with, then there will be no space, no reason, no desire for putrid or corrupt talk. All that will be in my head is how can I help this person?

Key points in this verse:

• Unwholesome talk is rotten or corrupt talk, and it dishonours God
• Corrupt talk takes many forms from swearing to gossip and slander
• God wants me to focus on the needs of the person I am talking to, not on my own need
• When we seek to love our neighbour in conversation, it benefits everyone who hears it

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:28. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 4:28

“He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.”

In any church that is successfully winning people to the Lord, there will be some, perhaps many, who have come from a place where they have made an income from various dishonest means.

The Greek word for stealing here means pilfering, that is small time theft such as shoplifting or picking pockets, Rather than violent robbery or fraud. nonetheless, what Paul speaks of here should equally apply to these other forms of theft.

The principle here is that followers of Christ should never have to resort to dishonest means to survive. He has promised to supply what we need. To steal, then, under any pretext, is a sign of unbelief, that we do not trust our Lord.

To some people, this way of living seems easier than the drudgery of a nine to five job. It becomes a habit to steal rather than to work.

Paul says clearly here that if you were a thief before you came to Christ, you must stop this now and turn to an honest living.

Paul says that rather than stealing, such people should turn to working with their own hands. The Greek word here is korato which means the kind of physical labour which makes you tired at the end of the day. Rather than taking the easy route of theft, Paul says they must work hard for their living. In many senses, this is the most fulfilling kind of work, resulting in things being produced by our hands.

We are were created to be productive. This is clear from Genesis 2, where Adam and Eve were meant to co- labour with God in tending His creation. Unemployment can lead to despair and depression, a sense that we are not useful for anything .

The purpose of work is not just to earn an income with which to feather one’s own nest. People in the world are very good at finding ways to spend their cash on their personal comforts and entertainment. They see this as a reward for working hard. Once we have paid for our basic needs of food and shelter, we can believe that what’s left over is ours to spend as we like.

Paul says that the goal of working is to have something to share with others. Instead of focusing on what I can do with “my” money, Paul is saying that we must use it to meet the needs of other people.

In our very self-centred society, that is a strange notion. Surely we want to feed our family and ourselves. No, we work to feed those in need.

For people who are used to meeting their own needs by taking from others, this is a total reversal. They are to stop taking from others to gain an income, and instead they must work hard in order to give to others.

In the natural, this sort of lifestyle change is inconceivable. A leopard cannot change its spots. Christ turns us all around. Repentance is about a change of thinking that leads to a change in action. So, in Christ those who used to be thieves become generous donors. Their eyes move from themselves and their own needs to others and their needs.

Key points in this verse

• Thieves who come to Christ are to stop stealing
• All followers of Christ must find honest ways to support themselves
• God honours productive work
• The goal of working is to earn an income in order to share with the needy, not just for our own comfort
• The kind of transformation that sees a thief become a generous giver is only possible in Christ