A Study in Ephesians
(continuing)
Chapter 4
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their
thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off
your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
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 it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave
you.
My Friends,
Today’s Christian Church suffers greatly, there is of course much persecution in much of the world; prison, torture,
mutilation, beheading. These things come from outside of the church but there is much that comes from inside the church itself. There are two things that work to destroy Christianity; one is the churchless Christianity, those who believe that an established church is not necessary or even that it is against Jesus Himself and then there are those within the church that seek to destroy that which is even basic teaching as handed down from the beginning, that faith that the martyrs died for.
In the first nine verses here (17 - 25) we see the old person and the ways of the world which many who call themselves Christians continue to live today and we see what we are to do. In verse 26 we see that we are to put off anger, what is this saying, never to be angry? By no means does it mean this, in the following verses we see how we are to be towards one another and to God and so we see that anger is not a part of how we are to be with one another.
Yet anger was given to us by Almighty God Himself, remember that we are told; “be angry but do not sin”, anger is in
itself not wrong so then why is it there? It is a weapon against Satan, it is not to be used against each other but against Satan, we should become angry when we see injustice, slavery and persecution. Angry when defenseless and innocent ones are attacked, the church does not exist for us to simply be members of a nice club, it exists to unite mankind to itself and to Almighty God, it has a higher calling than what it is used for today.
Heavenly Father, we pray that you continue in Your holy efforts to teach Your church its mission, far too many have left the ideal and have forgotten why we are here. We pray that you do not let us rest until we have been proven, try us in the fire of Your love that we may be made worthy. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
In Christ,
Monk Michael
(continuing)
Chapter 4
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their
thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off
your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
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 it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave
you.
My Friends,
Today’s Christian Church suffers greatly, there is of course much persecution in much of the world; prison, torture,
mutilation, beheading. These things come from outside of the church but there is much that comes from inside the church itself. There are two things that work to destroy Christianity; one is the churchless Christianity, those who believe that an established church is not necessary or even that it is against Jesus Himself and then there are those within the church that seek to destroy that which is even basic teaching as handed down from the beginning, that faith that the martyrs died for.
In the first nine verses here (17 - 25) we see the old person and the ways of the world which many who call themselves Christians continue to live today and we see what we are to do. In verse 26 we see that we are to put off anger, what is this saying, never to be angry? By no means does it mean this, in the following verses we see how we are to be towards one another and to God and so we see that anger is not a part of how we are to be with one another.
Yet anger was given to us by Almighty God Himself, remember that we are told; “be angry but do not sin”, anger is in
itself not wrong so then why is it there? It is a weapon against Satan, it is not to be used against each other but against Satan, we should become angry when we see injustice, slavery and persecution. Angry when defenseless and innocent ones are attacked, the church does not exist for us to simply be members of a nice club, it exists to unite mankind to itself and to Almighty God, it has a higher calling than what it is used for today.
Heavenly Father, we pray that you continue in Your holy efforts to teach Your church its mission, far too many have left the ideal and have forgotten why we are here. We pray that you do not let us rest until we have been proven, try us in the fire of Your love that we may be made worthy. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
In Christ,
Monk Michael
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