Ephesians 4:25-32

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Ephesians 4:25-32

Verse 25: "Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another."

The command to put away lying means to set aside lying that are not the truth.

Therefore, to help our neighbors, we are to speak the truth with them.

This is because we are members one of another.

Only in truth are we made holy and the holy saints who belong to heaven have the consciousness of one body in the Holy Spirit.

Those who know the truth, are set free from sin and death, and have tasted freedom, will hate lying.

If your hands lie to your feet, your body will immediately suffer.

If you talk about food or other matters in church, people will ridicule you for engaging in illegal activities.

The true church is not a place to share information about trends, health, or food for the sake of the flesh, but a place where we comfort one another through the truth for mutual benefit.

The only language permitted in the church is the word of truth.

Verse 26: "Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath."

The word "anger" (orgijesthe) means to crave or to indulge in something.

It refers to the arousal of righteous indignation. Some people take righteous indignation for granted.

There are even those who go so far as to swear through broadcast channels.

But even if it is a righteous indignation, we must let go of our anger so as not to commit a sin.

If we cannot turn on the switch of truth in the Holy Spirit, our resilience to anger will only last for a long time before it is released.

Holding onto anger means letting it flow out, because it is emotional anger.

It literally means letting the energy of life leak out.

Therefore, don't let the sun go down.

It means not to let the light in your heart become dark.

The Lord gave His body on the cross to transfer us from a place of flesh to a place of spirit. If we become angry and are dragged back to the place of the flesh and harbor anger and hostility for a long time, we will have forgotten that we have received mercy from the Lord, or we will not know that we were forgiven ten thousand talents, and we will end up in prison after threatening someone who owes us a hundred denarii (Matthew 18:34).

This is because they are weak-minded people who have never received the grace of the atonement of Christ's cross and do not know the forgiveness of God who forgave them in Christ, and who cannot seek or eat the daily bread of life. There are more weak-willed people like this than you might think.

Verse 27: "Neither give place to the devil."

"Neither give place to the devil." This means don't give a thing to argue with you.

Look at the newspapers right now, with each side arguing and arguing.

Because the church is not achieving its original form, it labels itself as a good church or a healthy church, and the opposing sides engage in a shameful confrontation, leading to division in society.

If you look at the presbytery, general assembly, etc., they are divided into factions and harbor anger toward each other, giving the devil an opening to attack, so they argue that they are right and fight each other, and society follows suit.

The church must be able to bring both envy and shame to the world.

Verse 28: "Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needed." 

Stealing is taking secretly.

The verse says, Let us work hard and do good.

In reality, Christians must work even harder.

We must work diligently so that we have food (alms) to share with others, both spiritually and physically.

Stealing is not just stealing from others. It's also common in the game of materialism, like secretly diverting water from someone else's field to irrigate one's own.

Verse 29: "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers."

Corrupt communication words also include poor preaching.

Are all words truly words?

We must not utter messages that are unpleasant to hear.

We must preach good words, words that are helpful for building others up.

This exhortation emphasizes the importance of preaching words that bring grace to those who hear and contribute to the growth of hearers.

Verse 30: "And grieve not the the holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption."

He tells us not to grieve the holy Spirit of God.

This is to grieve and torment the Holy Spirit.

Many people, as enemies of the cross, stand on the opposite side of the cross and try to serve God well with the rites of the flesh, which makes the Holy Spirit sad.

It is the Holy Spirit who holds us in place until the day of redemption.

Since the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our salvation, we must remain alert so as not to grieve him.

Verse 31: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, along with all malice."

All bitterness is wrath, anger, and clamour.

He tells us to put away evil speaking, along with all malice.

He advises us to separate and throw away these things.

These things stimulate the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, to truly become a person of the Holy Spirit is to abhor these things.

Verse 32: "And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."

1) Be kind, 2) be tenderhearted, and 3) forgive each other (accept).

How? Just as God has accepted us through Christ.

Up to this point, God has given us a ministry by grace, and He is telling us what the lives of those in that ministry should be like.

First, we must determine whether we are in a position to receive spiritual blessings, and then we must constantly examine ourselves to see if we are moving forward in a way that will lead us to where God is calling us in Christ.

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim

Translated by missionary Nancy Kim

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