 | Egocentric |
| Christocentric |
Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians
Part 18 (Invite the class to turn to Ephesians 4:17)
For the last several weeks, we have been studying Ephesians 4:17-32…the NASB95 subtitles it "The Christian’s Walk". We looked at The Admonition (17-19)…Don’t walk as the unbelievers walk. We studied The Argument (20-24)…If a person has been truly converted, they will receive a new Life Source. Some of you may not be familiar with the term life source…it simply refers to the underlying power by which a person lives. There only two life sources…divine or human, but only the divine offers life as God intended. In our study today we’ll look at The Application (25-32)…What does the Christian’s walk look like in real life.
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Paul is not one to lay out a principle and leave it…he’s not even content to lay out a principle, explain it, argue for it and leave it…with few exceptions, Paul lays out the principle, explains it as it is in Christ, agues for it and then applies it to the areas of life that need to feel its power. That’s what we see here…The Application.
In typical Pauline fashion, he gets very specific and calls out five sins that he warns believers to avoid: lying, anger, stealing, corrupt speech and bitterness.
So, how do believers avoid these sins?
As a group we could probably make a long list of scenarios to avoid lying, getting sinfully angry, stealing, using inappropriate words in our speech and feeling bitterness, but these scenarios could be categorized into two classifications of approach.
What are the two possible classifications of approaches a believer can take to avoid these sins?
| Egocentric |
| Christocentric |
Let’s see where each of these approaches might lead us. The egocentric approach will concentrate first on defining the sin: What is lying?
Where is this approach leading me to concentrate…where is my focus?
The egocentric approach starts with defining the sin, but ultimately focuses on me…Edging God Out!
The Christocentric approach to avoid lying is to allow Jesus to live His life in and through you. But I hear you say, "Well, that sure sounds easy, but how does it become a reality in my life?"
Let’s start at the beginning. When Adam and Eve were created, God "breathed into them the Breath of Life and they became a living being." (Genesis 2:7) From the beginning, God was their Life Source…when they sinned, God withdrew Himself and they no longer had God living inside of them. As their descendents, we were all born without God living inside of us, but when we hear the Good News that God loves us, has paid the penalty for our sins, and wants to live inside of us as our Life Source, we make a choice…continue to live by the power of our human spirits and our flesh, without God as Life Source, or agree to die and let Him resurrect us in Christ to walk in the newness of Life with Him as our Life Source…that is Paul’s argument in Ephesians 4:20-24.
If that has happened in your life, then as Paul says, you don’t have to live the way you did before where your fallen nature and your flesh gave you no choice but to sin (Ephesians 4:17-19). You now have Christ as your Life Source. He has replaced your fallen nature (the old self) and is more powerful than your flesh…you don’t have to be controlled by sin any longer! In every circumstance of life…moment by moment…you can choose to respond in your flesh or you can let Jesus express His life in and through you.
If a believer has Jesus as their Life Source, why do they continue to sin?
Believers continue to sin because they continue to live in the flesh. Jesus living in us doesn’t keep us from sinning anymore than God living in Adam and Eve kept them from sinning. But there’s a very important difference between the original sin and our sinning today…God does not withdraw Himself from believers when they sin as He did with Adam and Eve. In His redemptive mission, He has promised never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)!
You’ve heard Wayne say, "Your flesh does not get better…it gets worse, but Jesus has come to replace your flesh." The first time I heard him say that, I was confused…if Jesus takes away my flesh, why do I continue to sin? By "replace" Wayne does not mean "take away"…he means "gives us a choice"…I can choose either my flesh or Jesus. If I choose Jesus, He replaces my flesh as life source. If I don’t choose Jesus, the flesh will continue to be my life source…the underlying power by which I live.
In verse 30, Paul urges believers not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God…what does that mean?
The Greek word that was translated into our English word grieve is lupeŚoµ and means to afflict with sorrow; cause grief; offend.
What offends the Holy Spirit...what causes Him grief and sorrow?
| Bitterness |
| Wrath |
| Anger |
| Clamor |
| Slander |
| Malice |
What are the two possible classifications of approaches a believer can take to avoid these sins?
| Egocentric |
| Christocentric |
I believe the Holy Spirit is most grieved when believers try to imitate Christ instead of allowing Him to be their life.
Paul concludes by urging believers to be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
What are the two possible classifications of approaches a believer can take
to accomplish this?