The Consistent Walk of a Christian in Separation from the World

The Consistent Walk of a Christian in Separation from the World This study is based on the Book of Ephesians. The focus of the Apostle Paul was to warn his readers against returning to any form of the old pagan mode of life. If they were truly saved, then they should be living as those having a true knowledge and clear understanding of Gods way of salvation in Jesus Christ. If they continued in the practices of the unsaved, they were only giving evidence that their understanding was still darkened. In todays post modern society the temptations are numerous foe the Christian to depart and despise the Word of God. We are being chastened by the Word in Ephesians to live a life above reproach. a. Renewal in the Spirit of the Mind To be in Christ means that the believer is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), in a new order of things, with a new standard for living. This calls for a laying aside of the old ways and a putting on of the new. The demand upon the new man continues: and be renewed in the spirit of your mind (4:23). The spirit of man is that part of him that is born anew (John 3:6) and which worships God (John 4:24). When mans spirit is regenerated it feeds the mind with pure desires and motives. As we surrender moment by moment to the Holy Spirit and feed on Gods Word, He renews our spirit and enables us to do those things that please God. b. Putting on the New Man Now, in contrast to putting off the old man we are urged to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (4:24). The words righteousness and holiness sum up the believers walk before man and God. .Righteousness expresses the right behavior of the Christian before men; holiness, his behavior before God. The former is an outward attitude expressed in words and deeds; the latter is the attitude of heart and mind toward God. Since we are a new creation we are to wear the garments of the new man, a new conversation, and a new conduct.

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The Consistent Walk of a Christian in Separation from the World c. Putting off the Garment of Falsehood Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another (4:25). The garment of falsehood must be put away, since it does not become the new man in Christ. Since we are all members of the same body we are exhorted to give expression to truth when dealing with one another. Honest dealing in word and deed, and not deceit and hypocrisy, should characterize every saint. Let sincerity mark every form of communication among us. Misrepresentation, halftruth, pretense, and deceit are practices of the old man. They are characteristic of the devil and his children (John 8:44). d. Resisting the Spirit of Anger The second exhortation follows: Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil (4:26, 27). Verse 26 might be translated: If you do get angry, you must not sin in your anger. This verse suggests that one can be angry apart from sinning. There is a righteous anger that is not sinful, referred to sometimes as righteous indignation or righteous resentment. Our Lord was angry at different times and always apart from sinning. He showed a deep, moral resentment against those who turned the temple into a house of merchandise (John 2:13-16). He spoke in strong language against all who neglect the spiritual needs of children, thereby causing the little ones to stumble (Matt. 18:6). But Paul is exhorting against sinful anger particularly among Gods children. He is warning against permitting a hidden malice or a smoldering resentment to remain in the heart of any one of us. Anger, when allowed to linger in the heart, is a mighty weapon in Satans hands. It is a dangerous state of mind and becomes a wedge for more open and damaging forms of sin. When I am wrong, I must show patience. I accept with literalness the words, Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Resentment must not be cherished beyond the sunset, For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God (James Page 2

The Consistent Walk of a Christian in Separation from the World 1:20). Let us never retire to our beds angry; let us kneel first and confess to God the sin in the anger. e. Keeping the Devil Outside our Hearts Neither give place to the devil (4:27). These words, along with those of verse 26, are all a part of one sentence. Satan works through that heart which cherishes anger. It is a part of his scheme to get Christians to act in malice against other believers. Elsewhere Paul said that we were to forgive one another Lest Satan should get an advantage of us (2 Cor. 2:10, 11). Christians should learn the strategy of Satan in his evil work among the saints of God. The devil has no place in the life of a Christian, so let us beware lest we give him something to lay hold of. f. Resisting the Temptation to Steal Paul turns now from the sin of anger to the sin of theft: 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 needeth (4:28). The present form is suggested in the translation of J. N. Darby: Let the stealer steal no more. It is addressed to those in the church at Ephesus, or any church, who may yet be guilty of this sin. The Christians in Pauls day were new converts from a heathenism that practiced such sins. Their knowledge of Gods Word was limited; they might yield, therefore, to the temptation to obtain something dishonestly, or at the expense of another. There are various forms of stealing. One may steal time from his employer. Another may steal someones good name and reputation. The misuse of anothers funds, even when practiced with the intention of replacing the borrowed money, is accounted stealing in a court of law. Gambling, unpaid debts, deception in some business transaction, misrepresentation of facts on ones income tax return, withholding from God that which should have been given to Him, graft in politics, - these all are forms of stealing. Opposed to the vice of stealing is the virtue of service to others: Let him labour, working with his hands the thing Page 3

The Consistent Walk of a Christian in Separation from the World which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. It is not enough that we engage in honest labor merely to satisfy our own needs and wants, but we are to toil diligently so that we might render service to others. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to minister and not to be ministered unto, and if I have accepted Him as Saviour and Lord, then His standard of life should be my highest aim. The new man expresses himself most genuinely when he ministers to him who has need. g. Ceasing all Unholy Speech Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers (4:29). Worthless thoughts ought never to be expressed. We need to pray with David: Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips (Psa. 141:3). The wise man makes God the Doorkeeper of his mouth (Prov. 4:24) that he might be preserved from lip sins. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man (Col. 4:6). When our speech is seasoned with salt, our words have a gracious flavor; and when we have salt in ourselves, we have peace one with another (Mark 9:50). Wrong words reveal a wrong heart. Bitter water comes from a bitter fountain. Worthless conversation is a misrepresentation of true Christianity. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Matt. 12:34). As the Word of Christ dwells in us richly (Col. 3:16), our words will be guided by His Word, and this will build up the body of Christ, bringing to others the blessing of grace. h. Grieving Not the Holy Spirit And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption (4:30). Perhaps there is no passage so worthy of being lifted out of its context as this. It is an established fact, attested by both Scripture and experience, that at the time of the new birth the Holy Spirit enters the believing sinner to take up permanent residence. The initial work of the Spirit, after having wrought conviction to the heart, is to create a new nature within. His full title is the Holy Spirit, and His divine nature Page 4

The Consistent Walk of a Christian in Separation from the World grieves when any wrong thought, word, or deed occupies the mind or body of the believer. He abhors those sins just mentioned by Paul: lying, anger, stealing, and evil speaking. The Holy Spirit is a Person with personal feelings. Hence He may be grieved. Since He has made secure our eternal redemption, we will be most ungrateful if we cause Him to grieve. His Presence with us should make us want to lay aside all that is ungodlike. Sin wounds and pains the Holy Spirit. Grieving Him is synonymous with backsliding. Only when we give the Holy Spirit His rightful place can we expect a revival in the body of Christ. As we yield our human spirit to Him, He makes us holy. i. Putting Away Wrath, Clamour and Malice Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice (4:31). Bitterness is the opposite of sweetness. Bitterness suggests the acrid, sharp, severe, sarcastic. Bitter words and actions show that the heart is not right, for only the mouth of the unrighteous is full of bitterness (Rom. 3:14), Believers must take heed lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled (Heb. 12:15). No fountain can send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter. Therefore, if we have bitter envying and strife in our hearts, it is earthly, sensual and devilish (James 3:11-15). We are to put away clamour. Clamour is the audible expression of anger, wrath, and bitterness in the heart. It is the cry of ones passions in railing against others while asserting ones own rights. All evil speaking must be put away, with all malice. Speak not evil one of another, brethren (James 4:11). Yes, dear Christian, let it all be put away from you. Put away bitterness. Put away wrath. Put away anger. Put away clamour. Put away evil speaking. Put away all malice. These things defile the believer even as commercialism defiled the temple in our Lords day, so that He said to them that sold doves: Take these things hence (John 2:16).

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The Consistent Walk of a Christian in Separation from the World j. Cultivating a Heart of Kindness and Forgiveness And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you (4:32). Kindness should characterize believers in their relationships with one another. Kindness is that gentle, gracious, easy-to-be-entreated manner that permits others to be at ease in our presence. The word kind comes from such words as kin and kindred, so that to deal kindly with others is to deal with them as our own kin. And after all, believers are brethren. Kindness and tender-heartedness go together. They express a warm sympathy and love for all men, both the righteous and evil doers. Question: Are you pitiful and compassionate toward others? Kindness and compassion find expression in forgiveness: forgiving one another, even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you. Divine forgiveness is our greatest example: sin is the only ugly, hateful thing that separates man from God. And still God forgives all our sins when we come to Him for salvation because Christ, the sinners Substitute, paid our penalty. This is the example we are to follow. Perhaps the one who wronged you does not deserve your forgiveness. Neither did you deserve Gods forgiveness. No one could ever wrong us as much as we have wronged God. Still He loves us and forgives us all our sins. This, beloved, should be the measure of our forgiveness.

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