Before We Get Started
At the beginning of the year, there was the panic-demic phase where the country was shut down. Since Jeremy has a few weeks of vacation every year, all of it has piled up at the backend of the year. Plus, the assets he works on are being sold so he has to use up all that vacation preferably before the transition. All of that to say, we’ve been busy playing and will continue to be playing here and there as we take days off here and there.
What have we been up to? Camping, mostly. Maybe my favoritest thing in the world. Because of the adventure that awaits on such a trip. When I’m at home, I have adventures all the time.
My Daily Adventures
Pottery is an adventure. Like these mugs:
Same glaze. Same shelf in the kiln, but opposites sides of the shelf. Wacky. An adventure.
And of course biking! Trails abound in my little mountain town so adventure out in our local wilderness is almost an every day event.
Change of Rhythm
But I’m talking about adventure that forces the change of rhythm of the normal events of the day. Camping in the wilderness calls for making breakfast over a little stove. Slowing down is required because each course is done individually. Water for coffee first to brew in the press. Then we can only cook the eggs and then toast the English muffins afterwards in the same little cast iron pan. The process takes at least an hour. And it’s okay. We watch the sun change position. There is wind in the trees. Birds are flitting. The Günter chases the range cattle that he thinks have intruded far enough into the camp.
Rhythm changes.
Which usually means no internet. Sorry. Not able to spend time with you on these trips. That’s why our times together will be a little sporadic for the next weeks. But we are together right now and we can treasure that.
Overview of the Passage
I’m trying to keep the picture big as I study, not over-focusing on minutia. Did you notice that the passage I chose at the beginning doesn’t line up with the chapter end? The conversation we are about to have right now is why.
As I was choosing the passage boundaries, I noticed that in Ephesians 4:17, Paul describes life using the imagery of a walk. In Ephesians 5:2, he continues or wraps up (depending on how you look at it) his extended metaphor of the walk with the walk in love.
I couldn’t have a passage conclude with the conclusion in the next passage, could I? So I went contrary to the chapter breaks because I think Paul’s thought takes a breath in verse 2.
Here are the observations I made about these contrasting walks.
See how there are bookends of walks? One of the bookends is the former manner of life walk and the other is the walk as an imitator of God as his beloved children.
Why the Therefore?
This is always a critical question, isn’t it? Paul makes a list of how the new self will look. Should look? Is? I’m not sure yet. But there is a pivot point wherever a therefore is.
Huh. The “before” is to no longer look like we did (review the first sticky up above), to understand the Word, and now look like our Father. After the “therefore,” the tasks at hand are to speak right lovingly, be angry without sin, have abundance to share, have gracious speech, please the Holy Spirit, not give the devil a foothold, and be kind/understanding.
Having Put Away Falsehood
Paul says therefore to make a distinction between what went on before, namely we were callous, angry with wrong motives, speaking ugly words while not considering context of the situation.
With the audience having already ceased having falsehood as part of their old selves, Paul now has a series of categories for what the new self should be like. At this point, there isn’t a call for one sheep to be examining another sheep, but a call for each one to consider their own selves.
What is Commanded?
I didn’t write every single verb down, but I took notes to see the general direction Paul desired for the congregation.
The voices vary, whether active or passive or middle, and I’m not completely clear in every case what those mean. But I can see that each one is a command (imperative) for the individuals hearing the letter and that they all are simple statements of fact as occurring in actual time1(present). Which means that just because it was done once, that’s not it. There aren’t ongoing, lasting effects from doing the verb (or not doing the verb).
What are the congregants to do?
- Instead of lying, speak truth with each other because we are one body.
- Be angry with the right heart and deal with it.
- Give no opportunity to the devil.
- If there was stealing, stop it and labor in order to share.
- When talking, only have good come out with consideration for the context of the situation and that it is gracious.
- Be kind, compassionate, forgiving like God.
They are to do these things on repeat (present tense). And they are commanded to do these things (imperative). But what is the heart behind these things? Let’s look just for a moment at the NET and that two of these commands are from the OT.
NET
As is my usual, I glanced at the NET to see if those scholars had more details. Since these commands are commands and I want to understand how to do them. Renewing my mind with the truth of the Word and not just how I think it should go. Of particular interest to me is the “speak the truth” because I have baggage in this area. Read on.
Side Note
At the get-go, I need to confess that I have an axe to grind here. I can't tell you how many times I've had young women ask if I want to "get together for coffee" only to find out they want to correct, "speaking truth" to me and and tell me that I should be more like them. Yes. Literally those words from one 18 year old to me, a woman then with 4 children in her late 30's. "Be like me." My suspicions are now conditioned to be heightened now if the idea of "let's get together for coffee" comes up.
But I need to lay my backpack at the door that also contains wounds and complaints. Onward.OT Cross References
Paul quotes Zechariah 8:16 where there is a previous call to speak truth to one another. In the same context, is a call to have good rulings in the courts (the gates were a type court of the day) in order to promote peace. Truth and justice were tied together.
Study Note in NET
There is a study note (sn) in the NET attached to the angry verse (Ephesians 4:26). Study notes are different from textual criticism (tc) and translator notes (tn) in the NET. They are more like the notes in one of those giant study Bibles that require a wheelbarrow to move it around. They are not the notes about how and why something was translated a certain way, but instead is a note about the translators’ interpretations and application.
The translators have connected the dots between being righteously indignant and church discipline. That the anger should be in the context of the body of Christ and addressed quickly.
I don’t disagree, however, I believe based on the what the founding fathers of the US set up as our government, there is also permission for the same anger when the government has not performed what Dr. Sproul calls the “division of labor” appropriately. Either the government neglected to protect the defenseless or over-protect everyone on the potential account of the few to the detriment of the many.
Something to Consider
If you are a citizen of the US and ignorant as I was about what the “separation of church and state” actually means, here is a lecture series that you may find helpful. As both deists and Christians, the founding fathers didn’t mean for God to be out of the government. They meant for the government to be out of whatever religious organization there might be.
Hm. That seems to be another hot-button and rabbity-sort-of-trail I just went down. Important, though. Check out that series. Very interesting.
NT Cross References
In Ephesians 4:17-5:2, this truth-telling and being angry business is set in opposition to being false. The new self overcame the old self with its lies and now speaks truth, is appropriately angry as well as laboring in order to share, having the mouth utter edification, and a host of other qualities. But this speaking truth? If someone approaches you with “I have something to tell you in love,” do you put your shields up? What does the NT say about correcting and discipline?
What Does Jesus Say?
Jesus talks about going to your brother if he has sinned against you in Matthew 18:15-17. Included in Jesus’ discourse is instruction to actually go to the brother to tell him his fault. Reading through the verses there, the brother who doesn’t listen needs to have more folks than just the wounded brother talk to him. Witnesses are called, the church is told, and if there is a continued refusal to listen, excommunication. Rejection.
But why? In order to understand Jesus’ words, we go to the commentaries of his words: The Epistles.
It’s not exhaustive, but in my study I ran through some verses that address confrontations within the body. I encourage you to read the actual scriptures listed here. For brevity, I summarized what I saw.
Commentary on Jesus’ Teaching
- Avoid dividers, Romans 16:17 (ESV)
- Judge those among you, 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 (ESV)
- Warn dividers and then avoid, Titus 3:10 (ESV)
- Avoid idlers, 2 Thessalonians 3:6 (ESV)
- Warn as a brother and avoid those who ignore the Word, 2 Thessalonians 3:14–15 (ESV)
- Do not associate with false teachers, 2 John 10 (ESV)
Analysis
Creating a list of what I see from the texts, there are types of people in the church that classify themselves as “brothers” that are at the minimum to be avoided and at the worst to be ejected from the church. When I wrote them out, I was surprised by some of the people-types that are mentioned by the writers of the NT. People who are idle? Lazy? People to be avoided. Huh.
That last bullet-point is someone who brings teaching that is contrary to scripture. I try to put the concepts into my own words in an effort to reinforce what I’ve read. As usual, meanings can be lost in translation.
What Have We Talked About?
At the outset of our time together, we were looking at the broad concept of how the old self had been overcome by the new self. Replaced. If we consider the idea of baptism, even put to death and brought back in newness of life.
Paul begins the passage in the present tense no longer walk and lists how to no longer walk. By the end of the passage, he tells the recipients to present tense walk in love after describing what the new self looks like. We looked at that list
- speak truth
- be angry but not sin
- have enough to share
- give grace with words
- please the Holy Spirit
- be kind
And then, because it is of particular interest to me, I zeroed in on the speaking truth. Going back to Paul’s primary source, Zechariah 8:16, I learned that truth and justice are closely related in the OT. Finally, I hunted and gathered places in the NT that the interpreters of Jesus (the apostles who wrote the NT) answered the question, “What behavior warrants a “speak truth” conversation?”
Some behaviors required the conversations, and some behaviors called for avoidance of certain individuals. Not conversations. Did you notice that?
The new self is to speak truth, which we now know from the OT is closely tied to justice (which are topics dear to the heart of God), but not “truth” that we’ve defined for ourselves as needing conversation. Which leads to our section on reflection.
Reflection
For myself (NOT imposing my application on those who have wanted to “have coffee” with me) I see that some behaviors are prescribed by NT writers as needing a truth speaking conversation. Sometimes that conversation needs to happen again but with additional witnesses. However, some behaviors simply need a warning and then drop it accompanied by an avoidance of the violator. With that avoidance is the hope that the violator will recognize the wrongness of their ways and be ashamed. Or as in our passage, no longer walk as Gentiles. And finally, as prescribed by the NT authors, some behaviors are to be noticed and the perpetrators of those behaviors avoided. No conversation.
And that summary leads me to application for myself.
Application
I do not get to decide what is sin. What is wrong behavior. Unless it is defined in scripture, it is my own preference.
As I stand here at my desk, I’m trying to come up with an example of what I’m attempting to apply. Hypocrisy comes to mind. My own. Ugh. All I can think of is all the ways other people have tried to press me into behaviors they think I should have. What box I should fit into. What other people have decided is sin in my life, needs correcting, and have tried to perform spiritual surgery on me to change who I am.
Blind Spot!
No! This is about ME! I, myself, have this predilection.
I texted Jeremy and asked him to help me see since I now recognize I have this blind spot. He suggested that what it sounds like is human nature. True. Therefore, my application is that I will watch for my own inclination to press others into my preconceived ideas of what is sin and what is not.
How will my life change based on what I’ve learned? I will carefully consider before I speak the truth to fellow believers. The truth that I speak needs to be just that: The Truth. From the Word. Not my own rendition of it.
True Life Change
That reminds me of a book Jeremy and I were listening to on one of the stretches of driving we had called Atomic Habits. The author, James Clear, had discovered that in his life, he only saw real changes when he began to see himself with a new identity. As believers, we have our identity in Christ, but this is a subset of that concept.
Mr. Clear encouraged his audience to consider who they would like to be. Are you an aspiring athlete? Ask yourself what an athlete would do and then do those things. Would you like to be a more organized person? Ask yourself what an organized person would do and then take the small steps to start becoming that type of person.
Following that paradigm, I want to be a person who biblically speaks truth. I don’t want to be the person who might come to the hospital who has fear and shame to offer the grieving mother of the child who may or may not make it through the night. I want to be like the nurse who had words of courage and hope in the wee hours of the night watch. Not false hope or flattery, but grounded in truth. Not shot from across the room, but offered with the chair pulled up and an arm embracing.
Practicing speech that is fitting for the occasion is an aspect of putting on the new self. Seeing myself as a student of the Word is part of that identity. Paul is the source of this concept I heard it the Atomic Habits book. With an imperative to be an imitator of God, I will ask the question “how does Christ love people?”
Another Application
As I am considering the above life-changes, the application about self examination came to mind.
- Have I put away falsehood?
- Do I speak the Word to fellow sheep?
- Am I appropriately angry?
- Do I give opportunities to the devil?
- Have I stopped stealing? Do I share?
- Does bad stuff (corrupt in the ESV) come out of my mouth? Does good stuff come out?
- Am I grieving the Holy Spirit?
- Do I harbor bitterness? Do I practice wrath, anger, clamor, slander?
- Am I kind to other sheep? Do I forgive? Like God has forgiven me? (Yeesh. Ouch.)
- Do I mimic my heavenly Dad?
- Is my walk loving? Like Christ’s walk of sacrifice?
Wow. I don’t know about you, but that illustrates for me how I can study the Word but keep it all theoretical. At arm’s length. Posing each point as a question for my own heart focuses Paul’s words like a laser beam. Yikes.
Has my old self been overcome by my new self? We will further discuss this, applying the whole passage when we get together next time.
Wrap Up
I had another thought for our Bible Study Bite today, but the inversion of the text to questions posed to myself today hit me like a brick between the eyes. Christianity is not about “cleaning ourselves up” in order to be good enough for God. Because we could never achieve that. However, as we are new selves, we have power and capacity to be new. Before, as the old self, we had no ability to be anything else. Now we do because of the cooperative efforts of the Trinity.
If you’ve been around church for a while, you’ve probably heard the idea of praying scripture. Posing questions to ourselves is like that. In our efforts to renew our minds with the truth of the Word, asking ourselves hard-hitting questions can first humble us and then cause us to run to our Daddy for help. At least it does for me.
Thanks for studying with me today! If you have comments, I’d enjoy hearing from you. As always, if you found our time together useful, please subscribe below and share this with fellow students of the Word. It would help me as I try to “find my tribe.”
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- Pierce, L. (n.d.). Tense Voice Mood. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.