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Good morning everyone. Hope you're all doing good. We'll continue our studies from the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 25 till 30. We'll read it together. “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 according to the need of the moment, so 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's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time. We pray this morning that you would bless us with your grace as we meditate upon your word. We pray that we all would submit to the teaching of your word. We pray for the ministry of your Spirit in our lives, and we pray that you would accomplish your purposes, and we pray that you would, Lord, also build us up for your glory. Father, in Jesus Christ name we pray, amen.
In our previous studies we have seen that Ephesian believers were taught a particular way of Christ. And Paul reminds them that in verse 20, that he says that you did not learn Christ this way. And part of the teaching that they received was concerning their former life. That was the first element of teaching that they have received concerning their former way of life. And they and every believer, every Christian of every age, are called to rid ourselves of that old way of life and old self. And it refers to all we once were before we surrendered our lives to Christ.
It was our existence before we believed the gospel. And we still have that nature, and we know that we are no longer under the dominion of that nature because we are in Christ. However, there is a possibility for us to live and be deceived by those desires of the sinful nature. And the next element of truth that Paul reminds them was in verse 23.
He said that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds. And we have seen that God is the agent of renewal. And it refers to the inner man or the new man in Christ Jesus. And which is contrasting the old self or the old nature. And the new man results from a regeneration and justification in Christ Jesus. And sanctification immediately begins in the new man. And the process of sanctification is referred to here as renewal. And instead of yielding to the desires of the old nature, we are called to be renewed daily. There is a need for us to be renewed daily.
And the third element of truth that Paul reminds them is in verse 24. And he says that, “And to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” And our new existence is now characterized by righteousness and holiness of the truth. In contrast with the former way of life, which was characterized by callousness, sensuality, impurity and greediness. And coming to our passage today that we have read, I think we must forego the general chapter and verse division here because chapter 4 flows naturally into chapter 5, and I want to remind you again the context here.
I mean it begins with chapter 4 verse 1. It says where Paul challenged the Christians to walk worthy of a calling. And one key verse that connects this current passage with the previous passage, you know, is chapter 5, verse 1. And it is a conclusive statement. It says that, “Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children.” And this verse is like a reiteration of what Paul already mentioned in chapter 4 verse 24, and he said that, “to put on the new self, which is—which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Note chapter 5 verse 1, it has an
imperative force Paul lists several imperatives in chapter 4 verse 25 till chapter 5 verse 2. And all the imperatives illustrate the new creation life which is created in righteousness and holiness according to the truth. And living in this prescribed way is being imitators of God.
It is, or in other words, it is walking worthy of a calling according to chapter 4 verse 1. Right? And I want to direct your attention to this thought. How do we Christians walk worthy of a calling? What does it mean? What does it look like?
And as sinners who are being saved from sin and as believers who still struggle with sin, what does it imitate? What does it mean to imitate God? What does it entail for us to live out that calling practically? You know there are almost 13 imperatives in this passage from verse 25 till chapter 5 verse 2, and all these exhortations are connected to the idea in verse 24 that the new life is after the likeness of God which we need to put on.
And we also must understand that these admonitions are not an exhaustive list of all Christians are called to do. Still, these are specific instructions Paul had given to his audience and is applicable to all Christians of all ages. And we must also observe that these admonitions are given to a church, right? So these exhortations are relational. Our new calling as Christians should change how we relate to one another in the body of Christ. And we must understand that not enough to avoid the wrong things.
And we are also called to yield to this new way of life and start living in a manner that pleases God. And these exhortations aim to foster new behaviors and attitudes in Christ's community. This is the basic outline. Lying, stop lying and speak the truth. Stop sinning when you are angry. Stop stealing, but work hard. Stop foul talk, but speak what builds others. Firstly, verse 25, “Therefore, laying aside falsehood.” Now this passage here begins with a conjunction here.
Therefore, or we can say that it probably means for this reason. For this reason. And it indicates that the exhortations in this passage flow from the truths that Paul had already mentioned in the previous passage. Seen it briefly, especially verse 24, where the image of God is a motivation for Christian behavior. And the first prohibition here, we see that laying aside falsehood, Paul uses the same word that he had already used in verse 22, lay aside. And it is a word there, I mean, there is a link between these two usages. In verse 22 it is laying aside of the old self. Paul calls us to lay aside everything that concerning the old self, which is corrupted. Our old self is our sinful nature, right? And in verse 25 Paul calls the church to lay aside the falsehood.
And it is an aspect of the old self. It is one aspect of the old sinful nature. Right? And falsehood or lies, you know that? They are deceitful. They are harmful in relationships. Right? And it is the contrast of speaking the truth. And the new nature that Christians possess is according to their righteousness and holiness and that falsehood or lies are incompatible with the new nature that we now possess.
Right? So we must put aside or lay off that old self, like removing our old filthy rags, clothes. It is discarding everything that pertains to our own nature. And we know that the Scriptures prohibit lying. It says, “nor lie to one another,” and the fellowship, because the fellowship in the church should be truthful. And Paul speaks about slander in verse 31 of this chapter. It is especially, it is spreading false statements about someone else to damage their reputation. And the law also prohibits spreading false reports. And we make impressions of others with hearsay words.
And without verifying those reports. And we have an opinion about them in our minds. We also spread those reports to others. Right? It all sounds so naive and innocent. That's called slander. And these are all falsehoods. Falsehood. The word falsehood can have also another rendering here.
The original word is quite abstract and was used elsewhere in Romans 1:25 to say that Gentile idolatry exchanges the truth about God for falsehood. It is a theological falsehood concerning God and his ways in the Gentile world. As it is detailedly described also in Romans chapter 1 verses 18 till 32. Convincing oneself of some sort of sinful way of life is not acceptable, which is contrary to the scriptural standard. It is allowing falsehood to control our lives.
And if you pass on that philosophy to others, you are contaminating the body of Christ and others. It is crucial that we lay aside all forms of love, all forms of lies. And it isn't, it is not enough to lay aside our own nature. It is not enough to lay aside the falsehood, but we must realize that we have a new nature according to God’s likeness and act according to that new nature. And what is that call that Paul gives us here? And the first action that Paul gives us here is speak truth each one of you with his neighbor. Speak truth each one
of you with his neighbor. And Paul quotes this from Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 16. And in context of Zechariah chapter 8 verse 16, you know, each one or the neighbor was an Israelite, was a Jew. And interestingly, Zechariah 8 is about the New Jerusalem, the future of God’s remnant people, the future of God’s people. And you see there, what happens in the future, in Zechariah chapter 8 verse 3, you see there that Yahweh will dwell among them. And it will be called the city of truth. It is called as the mountain of the Lord. And the people who inhabit this land will be from the east and from the west.
People will be from the east and the west. And they will be God's people. They will be called as God's people. And Yahweh will be their God in truth and righteousness. And there are some connections with what Paul is saying in Ephesians. And we have seen in Ephesians chapter 2 that God is building a new people consisting of both Jews and Gentiles. He is building them into a dwelling place of God.
And God’s people, the new covenant community, should be characterized by truth, righteousness, and holiness. And we must speak the truth to our neighbor. Who is this neighbor? A neighbor, in this context, is a fellow believer. And Paul also gives the reason. He says that we are members of one another. I think the proper reading of this is like this. For we are members alongside one another.
This means we are members along with one another in the body of Christ. And the life within the church should be characterized by truthfulness, which is essential for maintaining unity. Right? And we have seen in verse 16 that we must speak truth in love. Love is a soil on which our actions should build or manifest. And if you are giving room to lies, we are imitating the Satan.
Right? He is called as the father of lies. And if we speak the truth in love, we are imitating God. That’s the mark of God’s children. And the second aspect that we see here is stop sinning when you are angry. “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.” How else should Christian community, Christ community live?
Believers are not to indulge in the sin of anger. Are you familiar with anger? Paul says here, “be angry.” How do we understand this? Again Paul quotes this from Psalm 4 verse 4. He quotes a line from that Psalm. You know, in our English translations it’s like this: “Tremble and do not sin.” But Paul is quoting it from the Septuagint, that is the Greek version of the Old Testament. It says there, “Be angry and sin not.”
And the Old Testament context is quite important here for us to understand this. The Psalmist is David. In Psalm 4 verse 2, he says that there are some men who made it their business to make accusations or reproaches unjustly against David. But David claims innocence.
But the reproaches or accusations of these people were hanging heavily upon him. Were you ever falsely accused? Or misunderstood by people? How do you feel? What do you want to do if people are spreading false rumors about you? Are you not angry? Right? David is—David was in that situation. And David does not—but the interesting thing is that David does not brood over those accusations, right?
The problem with us is when someone is accusing us or blaming us wrongly, we brood over those things. We get angry at the people who are doing it. We meditate on those things. We get bitter, right? But here David doesn’t get—no, he doesn’t brood over those accusations. But instead we see there he brings them to the Lord. He cries to the Lord. And towards the end of the psalm you see there God replaces wrong feelings with gladness and peace. In the psalm David is directing these “and sin not” actually to his enemies, to the people who are accusing him.
But Paul has taken these words and is applying it to the church. But in the Psalm, David is directing these words to his people who are accusing him, who have tainted his reputation with empty words of falsehood. In Psalm 4 and verse 4, he says that he is also calling them who are accusing him to meditate.
In English translation, it’s meditate, right? But in Septuagint, it’s like this. “Feel compunction or worried upon your beds for what you say in your hearts.” Tremble, that’s the word. That’s the reason English translators have used the word tremble and not sin. For what you meditate in your hearts upon your bed. In other words, David is saying that be worried with what thoughts you go to your bed. Be disturbed with those thoughts and sin not against God.
In other words, it could mean that you and I should be careful about what we meditate on our beds at night, especially when our spirits are agitated, especially when we hear people accusing us or blaming us. Or false rumors are spreading about us. It causes agitation in our spirits. We will be disturbed, greatly disturbed.
And that's why the English translations of the psalm have used the word tremble. We must tremble with what thoughts we go to our beds. Imagine yourself in a situation like David's. People are spreading false reports about you or even something about your people or the church. How do we respond?
How do we respond? How do we deal with it? Do we need to go and fight or even confront them? Before even gently confronting, I think what we can deduce from this psalm and also from what Paul is saying is that we should deal with this at our heart level first. Usually when we are angry or upset with something we get agitated in our hearts and we will not find rest until we deal with it.
We'll be burning with rage, right, and bitterness in our hearts. And when we get to deal with this, we will vent all our frustration on others. That's not the way. We need not feel agitated even if that is not immediately dealt with. Because we can deal with this or those whatever feelings at the heart level first.
Paul says, "Be angry." Be angry, yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Now, what are Paul and David trying to say here? What are they trying to say? Because of sin. Be angry but avoid sin in situations where anger is present. Avoid sin in situations where anger is present.
Angry people should take tangible steps to prevent sinning because anger can quickly become sinful. We all know that if our anger becomes intense and it is long lived in our hearts, then it will reach to the point of sinning. Either in our thoughts we get bitter, in our words, and sometimes even in our actions. David says, "Tremble for what thoughts you take to your bed."
Paul says, "Do not let the sun go down on your anger." Paul uses this expression of sunset as a warning against brooding or nursing those feelings when we are offended, especially. Especially. Do not go to your bed with a heavy heart, bitter thoughts or wounded pride.
The reason that we get offended is because our pride is wounded. We get bitter because we are pride-ers, wounded. So instead of dealing with our accusers or the offenders, what the Psalm and Paul are trying to tell is that we need to deal with our own feelings first.
Until we deal with our feelings, we cannot manage our anger well. We will only manifest a sinful anger. Brothers and sisters, we should learn not to pamper ourselves when we are offended. You know how do we pamper ourselves when we are offended? We go to our beds, keep thinking about the people who have offended us. Oh, they have spoken about me like this. How could they do like this? Oh, let morning come, I'll go and I'll talk to them, I'll sit with them and I know I'll deal with this. I have to deal with this. You are restless until you deal with that, right? That's not the way. That's not the way. Before you, when you approach, you confront your brother or
sister, that should be dealt at the heart level in the presence of the Lord. And what did Christ teach us? He said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up the cross daily and follow me." And do not think or act out of a wounded pride because when we — in that state, we will only be defensive and we will try to cause hurt to others. James says, "For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God."
We must deal with all this in a Christian way. And the Christian way is self-control, not self-venting. And self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. And when we are under the control of the Spirit, we will not act out of wounded pride or self-pity, but out of self-control.
We may be grieved that someone has offended us, but we will also grieve that others are sinning against the Lord. In response to the religious leaders of his day, you know, the question about healing on the Sabbath, Mark says that Jesus, in Mark chapter 3, verse 5, you know, Jesus, “looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.”
Brothers and sisters, we need to deal with our emotions in the presence of the Lord, bring ourselves under the control of the Holy Spirit. And the point is that do not go to your bed with a wounded heart, agitated spirit, troubled spirit. You may not have an opportunity to deal graciously and mercifully with that situation or with that person immediately, still nevertheless, we will have ample time to deal with our own heart in the presence of the Lord first. We will have ample of time, ample time to deal with that. What will happen when you do that? What will happen when we do that?
Look at Psalm 4 verse 1. It says, David, in his distress, you know, situations like these will cause great distress. We are not negating it. But do not let the sun go down on your distress and vexation. Instead, bring your distress to God in earnest prayer.
Seek for the grace of God. And what will be the result? What will be the result of that? This is the power of God. The grace of God at work in the hearts of the distressed people. And what is that? Look at what David said in Psalm 4, verse 7 and 8. He said, “You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.”
You know, there were these accusers. There were these reproaches. David was agitated, but David cries to the Lord, brings them to the Lord first. And before even confronting his accusers, you know, there is gladness in his — God has filled his heart with gladness. And with peace he rested on his bed. See the difference. How often we are agitated, have disturbed sleep because someone said something about us, right?
And when you have an opportunity to confront your offender, we need to do it with love and self-control. And when your heart is healed by the grace of God, and when you meet your offender, brothers and sisters, you will want to forgive them.
Even if they are not repented, you will want to forgive them. You want them to repent of their sin. You want them to become right with God and with you. Bryan Chapell said, “Expressing anger honestly and explaining its source can be helpful and healthy, but simply venting uncontrollably only reinforces anger and further deepens its roots, causing further relational damage.”
On contrary, do you know what happens if you let the sun go down on your vexation or if you sleep brooding over the problems with a bitter heart and self-pity? What are you doing? You know that? What happens? What happens every night you go to your bed thinking about your offenders?
Verse 27. We’ll give the opportunity to the devil. And Paul says, “do not give devil an opportunity.” You need not give him an invitation. You’re brooding over some bitterness. You’re not dealing with that in the presence of the Lord in the Christian way.
You’re already giving him some foothold. There’s unforgiveness in your heart. Bitterness in your heart towards a brother or a sister. You have already given him a foothold. A bitter heart and a heart not resolved before God in prayer will give an opportunity for the devil.
Do not give the devil a chance to exert his influence. Who is this devil? is often referred to as Satan, is referred as a schemer. He ensnares people. How does the devil exert his influence? You know, Satan can use uncontrolled anger, anger that is festered, or bitterness to cause strife within the body of Christ.
Here we see that Satan is not credited with producing anger, neither will he possess a person. He will use an occasion or a manifestation of sinful behavior to foster rivalries. He seizes an opportunity to bring divisions in the body of Christ or in the family. Paul uses this clause as part of the motivation to turn aside from anger and its consequent thoughts and acts.
Festering anger is not walking worthy of a calling. So deal with bitterness before the Lord and reconcile with your offenders quickly. The next thing, stop stealing but work hard. “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.” The idea here is stealing secretly rather than violent robbery. And some commentators think that Paul may have had in mind probably about day laborers or skilled craftsmen or merchants whose work was seasonal. And when they were out of work, many would be forced to steal. Whatever the situation, Paul and the rest of the Scriptures also prohibit stealing, right? If stealing had been part of the way of life of some Christians before their conversion, they are to practice it no longer.
Because it is not worthy of a Christian calling. And the heart of stealing, we know that, is covetousness and laziness. In 1 Corinthians 6, verse 10, we are told that thieves, along with greedy and slanderers, the kingdom of God. And sometimes Christians too subtly steal. How? How do we steal?
Do you waste time at work and steal your employer’s time? Do you borrow someone else’s material and never return it? If you have some business, do you overcharge your clients? Do you falsely claim expenses? Do you avoid taxes? And how else do we steal?
There is a way that we can steal from God. How? The Israelites were often unfaithful to God and they broke God’s covenant. Look at Malachi 3:8. It says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me, but you say, ‘How have we robbed you in tithes and offerings?’” We steal from God by keeping money that he wants us to give.
The solution for stealing is labor, it’s hard work. Paul also says, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” We should employ our hands in honest labor. We must do something useful. We are created to work, right? Work is a gift from God.
We need to work to provide for ourselves and for our families and also for those who are in need. And Paul says in 1 Timothy that if anyone does not provide for his own, especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. We should work to provide for our families. And Paul goes even further in Ephesians chapter 4, he says that we must work. So there are two possibilities there. If we work, we’ll have something, right? If we work, we’ll have something, and if we have something, then — and he says that we must
work so that we are in a position to share with others who are in need. One of the ways that we walk worthy of a calling is how we use our money. And that entails not overspending on ourselves, but we must share with those who are in need in your local church and also beyond.
We must work to provide for ourselves, for our families, and also to be generous givers. When did you last share with someone who is in need? How much did you give? Would you be embarrassed if everyone knew here what you gave? It doesn’t matter how much we give, the point is, are we generous givers, cheerful givers?
Work to provide for yourselves, your own families and work to give, to share with those who are in need. Right? The next thing, the last aspect is stop foul talk but speak what builds others. “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.”
Now Paul admonishes about speech. What kind of speech is fitting for Christians? Christians should keep their lips free from not only from lying, as we have seen in verse 25, but also from unwholesome words of any kind. And ESV uses “corrupting talk.” And the word for unwholesome or corrupting talk actually means something that is rotten.
Have you ever seen or smelled a rotten fish? Right? Maybe you forgot to put it in the freezer. It’s the same thing. These words are rotten. What is unwholesome speech? This would include foul language, dirty jokes, cursing, hurtful words, loose talk, gossip, slander, lies, etc. Paul also reminds us in Ephesians 5 verse 4 that there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather give thanks. And Colossians he says that put them all aside, anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive speech from your mouth.
Do Christians abuse? I haven't heard them in church. How about in your homes, with your spouses, with your children? Use abusive languages, language there? Paul says we should avoid all unwholesome speech, whether abusive, offensive language, vulgar speech, slander, or contentious or scornful talk.
Such speech defiles the person and also the community of God’s people. And we are accountable to our Lord for every careless word that we speak. Our that in Matthew chapter 12. And part of our responsibility in walking worthy of a calling is to avoid all useless and harmful speech. And in contrast we must be wise and carefully use our words.
Paul says, “but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment.” But Paul encourages us to choose words carefully. In other words, we need to be calculative in using our words. We cannot be loose in our talk. We must be careful. We need to use words to engage in genuine, beneficial conversations which will build others.
This indirectly calls us not to be cynical, critical or judgmental. And this doesn’t mean that we should flatter people. Right? We must avoid all flattery. Or our conversations should be seasoned with grace and be genuine. Even our criticisms should aim to build people, not tear them down. We all have put on a new man and should also grow in these new speech standards.
We must realize that the purpose of this sanctified speech, what is it? Paul says there, “so that it will give grace to those who hear.” Gracious speech will always center on the well-being of those to whom or of whom we are speaking.
This does not mean we will never confront people, but only that when we do so, we do that to help them, not to destroy them, not to tear them down, not to hurt them. We must remember that we are unworthy recipients of God’s grace.
Imagine your life without God’s grace daily. Imagine what would have happened to us without God’s grace in our lives. So as the recipients of God’s grace, as the people in need of God’s grace, we must emulate God’s grace by being gracious to others.
That's our calling. And Paul's following admonition here is a prohibition linked closely with what he has just said. It is connected here with this present statement. What happens if we are not giving up careless, vulgar, offensive, abusive, non-gracious speech? What happens if you are mere flatterers, critical, cynical speakers? What happens?
Paul says, we will grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom we are sealed for the day of redemption. It's not just this sin. Any sin, all sins, all sins that we commit grieve the Holy Spirit God. Anything inconsistent with this new man which is after the likeness of God grieves the Holy Spirit. We grieve or hurt the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not some impersonal force or power, but he is a person. He is God. We can grieve him. Again, Paul is alluding this verse to an Old Testament passage in Isaiah chapter 63, where the prophet Isaiah looks forward to God's future deliverance through the Messiah, the anointed conqueror.
And he also, while doing that, he also reflects on God's redemption of his people from Egypt. You see there, Yahweh brought his people, Yahweh brought his people, Israel, into a covenant relationship with himself. But Israel, they rebelled and grieved the Holy Spirit. And nevertheless, the Lord placed the Holy Spirit in the midst of them.
And not only that, he gave them rest. Here, if you read Exodus chapter 33, it says that Yahweh gave them rest. But here you see there that the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So the Spirit of the Lord is Yahweh. He's God.
Right? So while reflecting, while looking forward to God's future kingdom, them. He is also reflecting to the past where Israel, God's covenant people, they have grieved the Holy Spirit God, nevertheless God gave them rest. And there is a typological connection here to this chapter. Isaiah 63 which looks back to the Exodus.
Yahweh redeemed people from Egypt, brought them into covenant relationship with himself, led them by his presence through his Holy Spirit, through the wilderness, and gave them rest. For his part, Israel, the covenant people, they rebelled against God, against the Lord, and they grieved the Holy Spirit. And in Ephesians, Paul addresses the new covenant community, the one new man which comprises of both Jews and Gentiles. Who have been redeemed by him. We see that aspect of the redemption in chapter 1.
And he reconciled them to God through the cross of Jesus Christ. And they have become a holy temple in the Lord where God dwells by His Spirit. And using the language of Isaiah chapter 63 verse 10, Paul issues a warning to this new community.
What's that warning? Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God as Israel had done in the wilderness. What must Paul have been thinking when he had made this allusion to the Old Testament passage? What in Isaiah was a tragic account of how Israel had behaved toward God and had redeemed God who had redeemed them has for Paul become a warning not to follow in the path of God's remnant people.
As new covenant people we must be sensitive to the one who sealed us for the day of redemption. This is the motivating clause. We are marked off as God's people, God's property by the seal of the Holy Spirit. We see that in Ephesians chapter 1.
And the Spirit of God in our hearts guarantees our present and future salvation. Here the emphasis is on the future salvation. As the day of redemption points us to our final redemption when we meet our Lord. This is the hope. This is our hope and comfort. Because we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, we are marked off for God for eternity.
And also, whenever we read about the day of redemption, the eschatological day will have also a dual significance. Right? We have already seen one aspect of it that we are marked off for God. Another aspect, another sense includes as the saints of his people, of God, as God's people, we will give an account to God for even a careless word that we utter.
We see that in Matthew 12, we see that in 2 Corinthians 5, we see that also in the book of Revelation. Paul is warning those who have fallen into the sins he describes here that they must answer to God for what they have done.
We all must answer to our God for what we do. And as a church we must be careful how we live and what we love, what we think and what we say. Because God himself. Dwells. Indwells us. He indwells his people. The great Yahweh.
Indwells his people. Do we tremble. At what we speak. What we think. How we behave. We must fear. And tremble before him. Is there fear of God in our hearts? The most holy God indwells us. Where is the respect and honor due unto him?
So dear brothers and sisters, as Christians, we have a calling. That call is to walk in a manner worthy of that calling. We have to put aside or lay aside, lay off everything that pertains to the old self. We have put on the new man which is after the likeness and the righteousness of God and we must live according to it. Right? And if we honor him, if we do not want to grieve the Holy Spirit, let us stop lying and speak the truth. Let us stop sinning when you are angry. Stop getting bitter. Deal with your agitated spirits immediately in the presence of the Lord. Stop
stealing but work hard. Work hard not to spend on yourselves. Provide for yourselves and your family and also to share with others in need. Stop useless, worthless, careless, cynical, vulgar, abusive speech. Speak what builds others. Be gracious speakers. If you don't stop these things, we will give the enemy an opportunity.
But if you start living like this, according to the righteousness and the likeness of God, we will not grieve the Holy Spirit.