By Roy E. Ciampa, Ph.D., S. Louis and Ann W. Armstrong
Professor of Religion, Samford University
We Encourage One Another
Ephesians 4:17–32
Put away sinful habits. (17–22)
One of my mentors, Haddon Robinson, summarized one of the Bible’s “big ideas” by saying: “You can’t live the life you used to live because you aren’t the person you used to be.” That is a fine way of summarizing this passage, by its contrast between the old self with its way of life and the new self with its radically different way of life.
Gentiles were known by early Jews and Christians for their immoral lifestyles, especially marked by sexual license and greed.
Ignorance, darkened understanding, hardness of heart and callousness were the root problems. They reflected sexual license and eagerness (or “greediness”) to engage in other kinds of immorality inspired by the human heart’s enslavement to the pursuit of pleasure, rather than subjection to the Spirit of God.
Paul distinguishes between the “before and after” of Christian experience: the “old self” (or old person) with its “former way of life,” and the new life in Christ and the power of the Spirit, as it is described in verses 17–22. The following verses describe the new life, with the capacity it brings to live in a new, God-honoring way.
Encourage others to live consistent with their new life in Christ. (23–28)
Coming to faith in Christ results in the renewing of minds that were previously darkened (comparing v. 23 with vv. 17–18). Paul alludes to Genesis 1:26–27 when he describes the Christian’s “new self” as “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” The image and likeness remain in fallen humanity, but it is distorted until we are made new creations in Christ.
Paul’s point is that we are redeemed to reflect God’s original intention in creating us in His image: that we would reflect His “true righteousness and holiness.”
Believers, having experienced new life in Christ and by the presence and power of the Spirit, must refrain from any tendency to deceive, manifesting instead a commitment to the truth.
We must not let any anger result in sinful outbursts but learn to deal with anger in healthy ways. Note that Paul does not promote some phony ideal of never getting angry. Sometimes we are right to be angry, but it is never right to let anger lead us to sin.
The devil would like to leverage our simmering anger to harm us and our community, and we must recognize the danger that unresolved anger presents.
Stealing must give way to legitimate work so that we help those in need rather than depriving others of what is rightfully theirs.
Take every opportunity to encourage others with your words. (29–32)
Paul says we must avoid harmful talk. We are to build up the body of Christ with words that are helpful rather than harmful, encouraging rather than destructive.
Just as we work in order to give to or share with people “in need,” we are to use our words to encourage those “in need,” giving grace to those around us. To act in any of the ways Paul tells us to reject would be to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God” who empowers us to act in the positive ways Paul urges us to emulate instead.
That we have been “sealed for the day of redemption” indicates God’s ownership and protection assuring our arrival to our ultimate redemption. In the meantime, we must (and, by God’s grace, can) reject those community-destroying attitudes and behaviors listed in verse 31 and imitate God (“as God … forgave you”) by emulating grace-filled, encouraging attitudes and ways of speaking to each other listed in verse 32.
We should recognize our need to be encouraged by others and that others need just as much encouragement from us.
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