Episode 137 - Marching Orders - The Truth Will Set You Free Part 8

Education is great when it’s coupled with knowledge of the Gospel – the truth that we are all sinners in need of being saved from the wrath of our perfectly holy Creator. But when education is coupled with hardness of heart instead of that knowledge, you’ve got nothing. All the education in the world is useless in keeping you from burning in hell. Without salvation, we are just educated fools.

In the latter part of chapter 4 of Ephesians, Paul is trying to keep us from being "educated fools." He is showing us and telling us what we need to know and how we should live in light of being children of God. Paul teaches us truths about maintaining the unity we already have because we believers, about teaching and correcting each other’s doctrine and theology, and  speaking the truth to each other lovingly, so that we all grow into mature Christians – something that should be the goal of every Christian. 

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Transcript

Episode 137 – Marching Orders

         Welcome back! In the last episode we delved into some of the teachings about how we should live in light of the fact that we are God’s elect children and in light of all that He has done for us. Those imperatives were mostly about maintaining the unity we already have because we believers – something we don’t have to manufacture ourselves – and about teaching and correcting each other’s doctrine and theology, speaking the truth to each other lovingly, so that we all grow into mature Christians – something that should be the goal of every Christian. 

Before we delve into the text today, let’s give a bit of background about Ephesus. There was a lot going on there. Ephesus was a very rich area. The city sat on a harbor that, until it built up with silt much later, brought in goods from all over the known world. They had a pagan temple to worship the goddess Artemis (a/k/a Diana) that was such an impressive structure that it was one of the Seven Wonders of the world. There were skilled metalworkers in the city who made idols used in worshiping the goddess; something (as we mentioned in the last episode) that caused riots against Paul and the other men preaching Christianity. These metal workers started losing money as people started believing in Jesus.

Not only was there worship of Artemis going on, there were other pagan religions being practiced in Ephesus at the time. Acts 19:19 says, “And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachma.”  A drachma was a silver coin worth about one day’s wages. So you can see what a huge impact the gospel was having in peoples’ lives!

There were also Jews in the town and there was Caesar worship. So the Christians were dealing with all of these other religions along with false teachers in the church, some who, according to Revelation 2, were the Nicolaitans –  a group of people who taught and practiced Antinomianism – the belief that once you were saved, you could live however you wanted because your sin is already forgiven. Much of it should sound familiar to us today.

It sounds very familiar. There are even Christians who teach Antinomianism today. Another way it was like today is that the Ephesians took education very seriously and prided themselves on it. The city had one of the largest libraries in the ancient world – the Library of Celsus – named after the Roman senator, Celsus Polemeanus, whose body was buried in a tomb beneath the ground floor. The library housed between 12,000 and 15,000 scrolls. Although it’s not nearly as many housed in the library at Pergamum, it was still a huge amount for a library at that time. The Ephesus Gentiles would have thought of themselves as having great knowledge and not needing God. We see that exact same thing today with the unbelievers who are big on education. They truly believe that if everyone is just educated enough then the world’s problems will be solved. But in reality they are ignorant of the thing that’s MOST needed – salvation! As mad as we may get at their uppity attitudes sometimes, they’re really people that should be pitied. 

Education is great when it’s coupled with knowledge of the Gospel – the truth that we are all sinners in need of being saved from the wrath of our perfectly holy Creator. But when education is coupled with hardness of heart instead of that knowledge, you’ve got nothing. All the education in the world is useless for keeping you from burning in hell. Without salvation, we are just educated fools.

That’s the background of setting in Ephesus at the time. Let’s get to the text. Paul starts out in verse 17 saying, “Now this I say and testify in the Lord,”…I’ll stop there, because we can’t skip over that little opening. Paul is telling the Ephesians, “I am saying this, but these are the Lord’s words.” He does this other places too, for instance, in 1 Corinthians 7:40. Paul is making sure they know these words are from the Lord. Jesus did not teach the Apostles everything they were to learn while He was here on earth with them. He told the Apostles that in John 14:25-26 which says, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” Rose, why is this vitally important?

         It’s important because there is a movement in Christianity today started by Tony Campolo  and Shane Claiborne – both false teachers – called “Red Letter Christians.” They are big on promoting social justice and many of the things BLM supports. In fact, social justice really is their agenda; their agenda is not spreading the Gospel. And. It’s a huge organization! Here’s what their website says about what they’re promoting, “We call it Red Letter Christianity because many Bible have the words of Jesus highlighted in red letters. We believe in the black letters, too, and are convinced the whole Bible is God’s word. But Jesus is the lens through which we interpret the Bible, and the lens through which we interpret the world we live in.”

That might sound good, until you think it through. The truth is, all of Scripture is God—breathed. All the words in Scripture are equally important because they’re all God’s words. Jesus IS the Word! The reason many people want to promote this idea of going (almost) solely by “the red letters” and not the whole counsel of Scripture is because they don’t like what a lot of Scripture teaches. Here’s an example: An article on their website titled “What does Jesus think about homosexuality?” says, “Is homosexuality a sin? …. Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, so can we really say?”

That argument is used by homosexuals a lot. But they’ve got a problem doing that because God – in all three Persons of the Trinity – has always existed. So …. Sodom and Gomorrah …. Jesus was there. Obviously, we can see what Jesus’ thoughts about homosexuality are. And Paul makes this statement also to remind us that all Scripture is God’s Word. Anyone promoting “red letter Christianity” is a false teacher. And, the organization we mentioned is partnering with all kinds of heretical organizations. So, Paul’s one little statement at the beginning of verse 17 should have a huge impact on what we believe.

         Let’s read the rest of verse 17-19. ““Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”

If you’ll remember from a few episodes ago, the Gentiles (for the most part) had no access to God before Jesus came. They weren’t acquainted with His Law or the religious practices that He’d spelled out to Israel. However, Scripture teaches that every human knows about God. Romans 1:18-20 says, ““For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

         This passage in Ephesians and much of Romans 1 are very similar. Unbelievers walk in the futility of their minds because they’ve suppressed the truth. Futility is defined as “pointlessness or uselessness.” Their knowledge is pointless because they know God but don’t honor Him. They think they are wise and even claim to be wise, but the truth is they are ignorant fools. The Ephesian Gentiles were hardened and because of it they were indulging in every kind of impurity.”

Sounds like the unbelieving world today! Unbridled sin in the world usually plays itself out in two ways: sometimes It’s kept in check through extreme legalism. But that only results in sins of a different nature; things like women having to wear burkas, female circumcision, harsh punishments that don’t fit the crimes, not being allowed to have electricity come into your home from the electric line, being shunned by your family, and we could go on with a long list of things.

And, of course the other way unbridled sin plays itself out is what we see in more of the world today: extreme relativism where everyone decides what is right for themselves. They even decide what their own reality is day by day! What pronoun do you want to be called today? Him, them, they????  And the only rules or laws about it are that you can’t speak or hinder their ideas in any way at all. It’s totally lawlessness, that not only goes against what God says, it goes against all common sense. But people who are futile in their thinking because of the darkness that’s in them can’t see the futility of it. 

         The Ephesian Christians are not to walk in these sinful ways any more, and neither are we. Paul reminds them that way of life is not what they learned when they heard the Gospel. They were taught to “put off their old self” and put on the new self, created after the likeness of Christ.” These aren’t imperatives Paul is giving here. The verbs are past tense, so this is just a reminder to them of who they should already be. 

         Colossians 3:5-10 and 12-14 shed more light on taking off our old self and putting on our new. It says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. … Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

And there’s a reminder here that this is all assuming that those hearing this are truly regenerated, born-again believers; not people going to the church in Ephesus but who aren’t really saved. This is not a recipe for “how to be saved” either. Dr. Ligon Duncan says, “This is far more than just a legalistic sermon to ‘be good’!” They (and we) can only do this if we are truly in Christ. The “dos and don’ts” that are coming follow as a consequence of our salvation;[they are] not the cause of our salvation.”

You cannot make yourself a Christian. However, once you are a Christian, however, your life is transformed by the Holy Spirit and your cooperation with Him. Make no mistake about it, you WILL have new desires. You almost certainly won’t have them all at once; but God will change you. I’m proof of that. You are proof of that. I think that truth should lend hope to anyone who just can’t imagine how they could ever desire a different life. But you do. Salvation is the monergistic work of ONE – God! But our sanctification is a synergistic work – the work of two – us cooperating with the Holy Spirit as we renew our minds like it says in verse 23! And how do we do that?

         At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we read and study Scripture. Our minds will not be transformed without learning. So, if you hate the idea of doctrine and theology, or if you’ve been taught that those are “bad” words in the Church and Jesus only cares above love, love, love, then you have been taught wrong and you need to get a proper understanding of just how important a Christian’s doctrine and theology is. 

         And if you’re going to a church with a pastor that’s unconcerned about learning – for himself or his flock – leave it and find a new church! Puritan William Gurnall says “the lack of knowledge in a minister is such a serious defect that nothing else will compensate for it.” And there are actually pastors out there who almost look with disdain on the idea of increasing in knowledge, taking classes, etc.

Next, Paul gets down to the nitty gritty and gives us some imperatives. Ephesians 4:25-29 says, “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

Don’t be like your old self and exchange the truth of God for lies and don’t applaud others for doing it either! Instead – speak the truth! Speak truth into other believers’ lives. Speak truth into unbelievers’ lives, even if they don’t like it. Obviously do those things at appropriate times, in appropriate ways. 

 As hard as some things may be to hear, fellow Christians should be able to teach and admonish one another. If someone calls you out for sleeping with your boyfriend when you’re not married, you should not be angry with them – it’s God’s law they’re admonishing you with. And what we do with our lives affects the Church! It affects how outsiders view the Church and God!

Next Paul says something regarding anger that might surprise us – Christians are supposed to be angry! Are you angry at the sin you see all around you? Are you angry that your daughter didn’t place first in swimming because she lost to someone who was really a guy? Are you angry because you see a whole country being decimated because an unrighteous leader of another country wants to take over their land? Are you mad that you just bought a pair of Adidas sneakers and then realized that their ads are supporting Transgenderism? You should be angry. If you’re not angry, it’s a sign you might be getting too comfortable with the sin that’s in the world. If that’s where you are, maybe your own morality needs a checkup.

This imperative comes with a warning. You should be angry at sin, but you can’t let it consume you. You’ve got to give it to the Lord and ask Him to thwart the evil. Eventually He will, totally. For now, ultimately, it’s His plans that are being worked out. You staying angry gives the devil a foothold on you! So be angry, do what you can reasonably do to stand against the sin you see, but at the end of the day, give it to the Lord.

         I’ve said this before, but sometimes that means turning off the news. It can be consuming. And too much of it never helps my anger. And it can affect my speech, which is another thing Paul addresses. 

         We’re not only to get rid of corrupt speech, we’re to substitute things that are helpful for building others up in place of the corrupt speech. So don’t just try to stop unrighteous talk; swap out the bad stuff with good stuff. We should ask ourselves, “How are we dealing with other Christians, particularly within our own church body, but also outside of it. If you got on your high horse about something when discussing theology and doctrine (which are important discussions to have) how would you do it? Or, here’s a good questions: Are you constantly stoking the flames of disagreements? 

         Good question! I recently read a post made by a man in a FB group. He made a snide comment in the form of a question about women “making sandwiches and staying in the nursery.” He didn’t really have a question … He just wanted to start an inflammatory conversation. Regardless how you feel about women’s roles in the church and home, are you posting things like that on social media? It’s not helpful to the conversation. It certainly isn’t “good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” which is what we’re told to do in verse 29 if we’re truly putting on our new self.  We need to think about these things.

And don’t steal. Why did Paul say this to the Ephesus church? In Revelation 2:3, Jesus says to them, “I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.” Life wasn’t a bowl of cherries for these people. They had needs to be met and they had desires, just like we all do. Remember, when they became Christians, some had given up their jobs of silversmithing idols for Artemis worship. Some in the church used to practice the magic arts - probably for money! But they’d burned expensive things they used in their craft and stopped practicing. So it’s quite possible some of them were in need of the very things they needed to survive!

That’s similar to what happened when Doreen Virtue became a Christian and went from celebrity New Ager to being a Christian. She destroyed or threw away thousands of dollars worth of things associated with her old life, and she lost her income. It wasn’t easy, according to her book “Deceived No More.” And on top of that, in Ephesus, they were dealing with the Nicolaitains who believed once you were saved, you might as well keep on sinning because you were already forgiven. So, if you wanted something, or if you needed to put food on the table, why not steal?

But the Bible says, “Let the thief no longer steal!” Work for the things you need and want. Do honest work. Don’t steal and try to justify it by saying you’re poor (or oppressed, or whatever) either! Justifying that sin is the very type of thing that groups like BLM or “Red Letter Christians”  might try to do. Even our governments want to turn a blind eye to it and often don’t even try to stop people from doing it. But it’s not okay. 

You’re poor, or you’ve been convinced you’re oppressed, so you think you’re entitled to loot? It’s not your stuff. It’s sin to take it. Doesn’t matter if the store owner will get insurance money or not. It’s stealing, and you’re a thief. Scamming the welfare system when you could be working? You’re stealing. 2 Thessalonians says, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”What if you can’t work? Well, the answer is provided right here for that in the same verse. The people who CAN work should work not only for themselves, but also to help provide for those who can’t. 

Chapter 4 ends, “And 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, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” First, I want to point out that it’s extremely important that we think about the Holy Spirit as the third Person of the Trinity. What I mean by that is that we shouldn’t refer to Him as, “It.”  The Holy Spirit is God. Second, it is possible to make the Holy Spirit sad.

Because He is holy and lives in us, He is grieved by our sin. He’s the Spirit of Truth according to John 14:17. So we should speak the truth. Lies grieve Him. Romans 15:5 tells us He is the Spirit of unity. So we should strive for the unity we already have because we’re believers -  or we grieve Him. Isaiah 11:2 says He is the Spirit of Wisdom and understanding. So, guess what?? We should gain knowledge, wisdom and understanding. We won’t say how, at risk of sounding like a broken record! 

In addition to that, our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. So we shouldn’t live like the pagans, giving into all of our lusts and desires. And, according to Ephesians 1:13-14, we’ve been sealed with the Holy Spirit for eternity and He is the guarantee of it. We cannot lose our salvation. We need to remember that ourselves and teach others the truth about it.

         Paul circles back at the end talking about speech. Bitterness, wrath, anger and malice all show themselves largely in our speech, not our actions. Clamor and slander have to do with our speech. 

         Maybe it would help us if we thought about the Holy Spirit residing in every one of us when we are dealing with each other. We should be kind and tender hearted with each other. If you pictured the Holy Spirit reading your Facebook words, what would He say? If you pictured the Holy Spirit standing in front of you when you were about to open your mouth, what would you say?? Or NOT say?? 

And the chapter ends with reminding us that Christians need to be forgiving. Especially in light of all that we’ve been forgiven by God. None of us is going to deal with others in a godly way all the time, so we have to be forgiving.

And that’s a good place to end today! Don’t forget to follow us on all of our social media pages and stay tuned for updates about all things Proverbs 9:10 Ministries! Have a blessed day!