EPHESIANS 4:20-32

OFF WITH YOUR TATTERS: PUT ON WHAT MATTERS

Ephesians 4:20-21 (BSB) But this is not the way you came to know Christ. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him—in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus—

SUSIE: Going back to our former sinful lives is not an option if we have truly surrendered our lives to Jesus. Jesus is The Truth, and all He taught is applicable to our lives. We are to live according to His teachings and those of His apostles and prophets as recorded in the New Testament. 

SUSAN: We are to base our lives on what is real, authentic, and in accordance with Scripture.

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

1 John 5:20 (KJV)

Ephesians 4:22 . . . to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

SUSAN: Since the “soap” of Jesus’ love, His blood shed to redeem those He loves, cleanses us from all unrighteousness . . .

SUSIE: . . . we should not want to dress our cleansed minds in the filthy rags of our former way of life. We are to repent, turn 180° away from our sin, and follow Jesus. The next verse tells how.

Ephesians 4:23-24 . . . to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousnessG1343 and holinessG3742.

G1343 δικαιοσύνη dikaiosýnē . . . Righteousness, is thus conformity to the claims of higher authority and stands in opposition to anomía (458), lawlessness. In both the OT and NT, righteousness is the state commanded by God and standing the test of His judgement (2 Cor. 3:9, 6:14, Eph. 4:24). It is conformity to all that He commands or appoints. Since God Himself is the standard of the believers, the righteousness of God means the righteousness which belongs to God or to oneself from God, or God-like righteousness (Matt. 6:33; James 1:20). Thus righteousness in general, is God’s uprightness or standard, without reference to any particular form of its embodiment, to which man is expected to conform.

       The righteousness of God is the claim which God has upon man. In order for man to recognize and fully submit to that claim of God upon his life, he must receive God as He offers Himself and His righteousness to him as a gift (Rom. 5:17). Man can only accept the claims of God upon his life as he repents of his sin and receives Christ as His Savior by faith. He thus becomes a child of God, realizing God’s claims upon him by the miraculous regenerating action of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12; Rom. 4:11-13; 5:21; 6:16; 8:10; 9:30; 10:6; 2 Cor. 6:7, 14; Eph. 4:24; 6:14; 2 Pet. 1:1).

The Complete Word Study Dictionary, Spiros Zodhiates, Ed.

G3742 ὁσιότης hosiótēs – sacred, holy. Holiness manifesting itself in the discharge of pious duties with dikaiosúnē (1343), righteousness (Luke 1:75; Eph. 4:24). Hosiótēs is related more to the keeping of the ordinances than the character of life (hagiótēs {41} which denotes the spirit and conduct of one who is joined in fellowship with God).

The Complete Word Study Dictionary, Spiros Zodhiates, Ed.

SUSIE: Jesus renews our minds as we turn from the influence of the world, study the Bible, and spend time with Him in prayer.

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

Romans 12:2 (Phillips)

and be found in union with him, not having any righteousness of my own based on legalism, but having that righteousness which comes through the Messiah’s faithfulness, the righteousness from God based on trust.

Philippians 3:9 (CJB)

SUSIE: Jesus, the Messiah, died to provide us a righteousness we could never achieve on our own. This “new man,” the robe of His righteousness should be the garment we consciously put on each day. It is ours, but we choose whether our specific actions will be in keeping with what God has done for us.

SUSAN: When we wake up in the morning, we dress appropriately for work, school, housework, church, etc. When we become “new creatures” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), we are given a new wardrobe, but we each choose whether to wear the regal robe of Jesus’ righteousness or slip back into the slouchy old sweats of our sinful nature.

Isaiah 61:10 (KJV) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Isaiah 61:10 (KJV)

SUSIE: The following verses spell out some of the specific things we should take off or put on.

Ephesians 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.

SUSAN: Do not lie to each other or even “stretch” the truth. Believers are family, and trust is a most valuable commodity when it comes to living in the unity Paul described earlier. 

SUSIE: Since we are all members of one another, deceit hurts us all. I remember reading a book to my second-grade students about a big, fat lie. It started as a small “white” lie and grew and grew as more untruths had to be told to prevent the parent finding out about the lie. Finally, it was like a giant on the child’s back until he confessed the original lie. Untruth grows and festers like a boil and is eventually found out.

Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,

SUSIE: What kind of anger is acceptable? 

SUSAN: Righteous anger. 

SUSIE: Such as? 

SUSAN: Anger due to injustice or injury to an innocent. An example would be the anger felt toward the driver in a hit-and-run incident. 

SUSIE: However, even righteous anger should not be allowed to fester and turn to bitterness. We need to ask the Lord to calm our spirits, help us to exercise self-control by not reacting in haste, and guide us into the way He would have us respond to the situation.

Ephesians 4:27 . . . and do not give the devil a foothold.

SUSAN: Anger between and among believers leads to disunity which gives place for the devil to sneak in like undetected, caustic, black mold. 

SUSIE: Satan cannot completely overcome believers or inhabit them, but he can make the atmosphere miserable by oppressing and harassing them when they let their guard down. (More about battling Satan in chapter 6).

Ephesians 4:28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

SUSAN: The believer should leave dishonest pursuits and the need for instant gratification. He/She should work for a legitimate living to know the joy of a job well done as unto the Lord in the hope of having more than enough for himself or herself or his/her own family, giving him/her the ability to share with those in need. Being able to share with those in need always brings me great joy.

SUSIE: Even our “secular” jobs should be done well not just to please our earthly supervisors but because ultimately our service is to the Lord who placed us in that position. A job well done is a testimony to the One we serve.

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men

Colossians 3:23 (KJV)

Ephesians 4:29-30 Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

SUSAN: The words that come out of our mouths should edify, encourage, and console our fellow believers. 

SUSIE: We should never use our words to degrade others, to tear them down. Nor should we resort to the use of foul language. 

SUSAN: The Lord spoke the world into existence, created everything with His words. Therefore, the misuse of our gift of language grieves, saddens, the Holy Spirit of God.

Ephesians 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.

““Bitterness” reflects a smoldering resentment. “Wrath” has to do with rage, the passion of a moment. “Anger” is a more internal, deep hostility. “Clamor” is the outcry of strife out of control. “Evil speaking” is slander. “Malice” is the general Gr. term for evil, the root of all vices.”

John MacArthur Study Bible

SUSIE: Verse 31 tells us what we need to toss out of our lives, put in the trash compacter, and throw in the dumpster. We can only do this through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit after we have received the gift of salvation through the grace of God. Many times, I am guilty of expecting a non-believer to behave like a believer. That is an unfair expectation because that person does not have the power of the Holy Spirit to guide his/her actions.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

SUSIE: The church, the local body of believers should be a safe place—a place of healing for wounded souls.

SUSAN: We should not keep lists of wrong-doings but lists of right-doings in order to encourage one another. 

SUSIE: We should go out of our way to show kindness to our “familyship” and be alert to meeting needs (physical, emotional, spiritual) by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

SUSAN: We should forgive one another completely and unconditionally just as Jesus forgave us. 

SUSIE: That is a tall order, Susan, but it is what the Lord instructs us and can only be done if He is the strength behind it. This kind of forgiveness does not wait on the person to apologize or recompense a wrong but forgives even if that never happens. 

But think about this: while we were wasting our lives in sin, God revealed His powerful love to us in a tangible display—the Anointed One died for us.

Romans 5:8 (VOICE)

SUSAN: We must act on the choice to forgive in obedience to Jesus which is not always accompanied by feeling like forgiving.

SUSIE:  Only the power of the Holy Spirit can enable us to forgive in this way.

PONDER THIS:

  • We cannot keep one foot in the world and one foot following Jesus. It takes both feet to walk forward in faith.
  • There are behaviors and attitudes that we need to consciously remove from our lives in the strength that the Lord provides.
  • Jesus imputes His righteousness to us. However, we must live out what is already true about us, by obeying God’s word day by day.

ASSIGNMENT: Evaluate your obedience to the words of this passage. Are there some things you need to “put off”? Are there some attributes of Jesus that you need to “put on?” Perhaps we should begin each day by asking the Lord to help us dress in His righteousness and throw out the filthy rags we were dressed in when He picked us up and made us whole.