Ephesians 4:17–28

¹⁷ Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. ¹⁹ They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ²⁰ But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 

²⁵ Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and give no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The first four verses of this text are intense. Paul tells the Christians at his former congregation in Ephesus that they are to no longer walk like the Gentiles. Then, his description of the Gentiles is where things liven up. They have futile minds and a darkened understanding. They are alienated from the life of God. They are ignorant, hard-hearted, callous, licentious, and pursue every kind of impurity. Paul isn’t beat around the bush. He is blunt and to the point, not an ounce of “Minnesota Nice” in this description. It’s no wonder that we repeatedly see in the book of Acts that, when Paul goes and preaches in a new place, he gets chased out of the city, beaten with rods, arrested, or pummeled with rocks. 

But, now, this needs to be abundantly clear. When Paul is speaking about the Gentiles in this text, he’s referring to unbelievers, people who aren’t Christians. These Gentiles are not identified either by their blood or ancestry, rather they are identified by what they do. Their actions, their darkened understanding, their futile minds, and their sins have alienated them from God.  Back in Eph. 2:3, Paul says that all mankind was just like this in their unbelief. Paul even described himself in a similar way when he was a persecutor of the church before he was converted (Gal. 1:13-14). Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul is diagnosing the disease in all of us – sin. Left to ourselves, this cancer of idolatry will destroy all of us sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. And there is nothing you or I can do to rescue ourselves from this alienation. There must be a transformation. There must be a complete, radical change.

That change comes only through learning Christ. Christ Himself is the school, the teacher, and the lesson. Through learning Christ, which is nothing more than hearing His life-giving Word and believing in Him as the Savior of sinners, something wonderful happens.

Look again at v. 22-24. Our translation can give a wrong impression. The way it is worded might make it sound like we are commanded to do several things: put off the old self (the word there is ‘man’), be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self (again, the word there is ‘man’). It might sound like those are commands – things we must do. There are a lot of sermons floating around on the internet that say this putting off and putting on is our work, and those sermons give tips, steps, and instructions on how to do it. That is notwhat those verses are saying. These are not things we have to do; these are things that have happened toyou, Christian!

The grammar is clear. What Paul is saying there is that you have put off the old man. The renewing of your mind happened when you believed and ‘learned’ Christ. You have put on the new man who has been created according to God’s likeness in true righteousness and holiness. What Paul is saying here is similar to what the Holy Spirit inspired him to say in Gal. 3:27, “As many of you as were Baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Jesus is the New Man, the New Adam, the Second Adam (1 Co. 15:45), who is the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness, and you have put on Christ through faith. Now, when God looks at you, Christian, He doesn’t see your sin. No, He sees Jesus’ righteousness and holiness.

In short, what these verses are saying is that you are to be and remain who God has made you to be by His grace through faith. This is not and cannot be a result of works lest you should boast (Eph. 2:8-9). God has done this to you and for you, believer. This is all so beautiful.

Only after this is firmly established – the fact that by God’s grace given through the working of the Holy Spirit, your old man has been replaced by your new man – only then does Paul go on to give a series of commands. They come in v. 25-28, and each of them could be their own sermon, but I’ll be brief. But, again, notice the introduction to these commands: “Therefore, having [already] put away falsehood…” do these three things:

The first command is that each one of you speak truth with your neighbor. A Christian loves the truth and hates what is false. Christians tell the truth even when it is tough, even when it isn’t nice. The easiest way to be nice all the time is simply to never speak. But God wants you to speak; He wants you to speak the truth in love. Sometimes, this means saying uncomfortable things. Christians call sin ‘sin’ because it is the loving thing to do. Don’t let your fear of what others might think about you stop you from speaking the truth – either about their sin or, even more importantly, about Jesus, the Savior from sin. How many moments and opportunities to share the Gospel have passed you by because you were afraid to simply speak the truth? Even as a pastor, I can say I’ve let too many go. Lord, have mercy upon me, the sinner.

The second command is, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” Remember that Jesus says that being angry with your neighbor is the same as murder (Mt. 5:21-22), and many places in Scripture anger is right up there at the top of the list of harmful sins (2 Cor. 12:2; Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:8; etc.). In fact, just a couple verses after our text, Paul says, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger… be put way from you” (Eph. 4:31). He doesn’t just say, “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” He says get rid of it – all of it. So, how are we to understand this?

Get rid of your anger quickly. Getting rid of anger doesn’t mean that you are a pushover. Christians aren’t weak people; remember we speak the truth even when it is hard. But part of our strength is to not give in to our anger, to not be frustrated, irritated, or whatever other synonyms you might replace with the word ‘anger.’ It’s easy to get mad. Toddlers get mad and throw temper-tantrums because they don’t have the strength and discipline to overcome their emotions. Putting away anger takes strength, work, and discipline. Christians are strong people who stay calm even in the face of evil. They control their temper. Remember, Jesus used His strength to patently endure beating, mocking, insults, and even an unjust execution.

The third command is, “Let the thief no longer steal, rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Christians who have put off the old man and put on the new man don’t steal. And don’t be quick to fool yourself into thinking that you’ve never stolen. Sure, maybe you’ve never taken something from someone’s house, robbed a bank, or shoplifted. If you haven’t done that, that’s good, but be honest, you’ve stolen.

Have you ever done a job on the side and asked the person to pay you in cash so you don’t have to report it as income? Yes, that’s stealing. Romans 13:7 says that we are to pay our taxes, and Jesus says to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s (Mt. 22:21). Have you found out something you own is about to break so you quickly sold it? You probably aren’t going to get arrested or sued for that, but that is another form of stealing. Have you ever slacked off at work? That’s stealing too.

Christians are to work. We don’t avoid working, and God cares about the motivation we have for working. The reason we work is so we can be generous and have something to give. Our motivation to work is so that we can give to others who have needs. Christians are conduits of God’s own giving. Work so you can give. This doesn’t come naturally, but it is something God can, and does, cultivate in us.

Dear saints, you stand before God righteous, holy, and blameless. Live that way. Continue to be truth-tellers, beat back your anger, and be generous. God has put off your old man and put on the new Man, Christ. And this God now invites you to His table where He will put in you His Body and Blood given and shed for the forgiveness of all your sins. And when you go from here, be what God has made you to be. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.