Ephesians Series #26
“Living the New Life”
Ephesians 4:20-24
I. Our Wealth and Worth In Christ 1-3
II. Our Worthy Walk in Christ 4-6
A. Live in Unity 4:1-16
B. Live in Newness of life 4:17-24
Live different because you ARE different. Trying to live the Christian life without a core change is like trying to light up the yard with a flashlight. You get some light but most of the yard will be in the dark. There will be limited perception. Even what light you do have will soon fade as the batteries die. What a difference when you have a giant halogen light connected to the main power grid.
From here, Paul will focus on several specific differences between the old and the new person.
We are not to live like we used to. We are to live different because we ARE different.
We are to live in love toward one another. This newly created community of regenerated people is to demonstrate the loving nature of the God who created them. They are to reflect the wonder of absolutely unified community demonstrated in the Trinity. Paul addressed a number of specific issues in the community by looking at it from both a negative and positive angle. Don’t do this but rather do this.
C. Live in Newness of life 4:17-24
1. Speak truth not falsehood 4:25
Paul zeroed in on the most common issue in the community – lying and the need to continually speak truth. The command is to continually reinforce God’s truth to one another.
Having put away the old selfish practice of lying they were to establish a new loving and selfless habit of speaking truth because they are all part of Christ’s community.
Paul calls for Christians to speak the truth to one another. Be people of the truth. Having put away the old self whose nature it is to lie; speak the truth.
“Therefore, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, having laid aside falsehood,
for we are members of one another.”
We should speak truth because we are different. We should speak truth because we connected to a new community of others-centered people. There are really two tracks to follow here. WE can talk about the practice of lying. We can talk about the practice of speaking truth in the community. One practice tears down and destroys. The other builds up and heals.
Put away lying
The concept of lying
We are often compared to our fathers. “You are just like your father.” Satan is called the “father of lies”. When we lie, we are acting just like our former father. It is the opposite of our Heavenly Father who is the God of truth. Paul reminds them that when we put on the new man; became the new self, experience rebirth in Christ, we put away the old practices and embrace the new ones. The issue of lying appears all thought the Bible. It made the list in Proverbs of God’s top abominations.
Truth has stumbled in the streets Conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words. Isaiah 59:9-21
God continually singles out the evils of lying. Paul touched on this horrible habit that inflicts such severe damage on any relationship. He reminds us that lying is a characteristic of the old not the new life. The command is to speak truth based on the fact that we are not the same as we were. We are to live different because we ARE different.
Paul uses the same verbiage regarding lying as he did concerning the old man.
Having put away the old man
Having put away lying
Lying was part of the old way of living. Lying is still a huge part of our godless culture today; it has been since the devil instituted it at the beginning of time. It is fallen human nature to lie.
We even assign degrees of lying. White lie. Lie of convenience. Little lie.
The reality is, a lie is a lie. Even though the external consequences may differ greatly, the internal soul damage is the same. It is a violation of God’s nature. We serve a God who cannot lie. He is a God of truth. Whenever we lie we violate God’s very nature. If we are to embrace our new nature, we must not allow the old practices to continue.
The Greek word for a lie is “pseudos.”
Pseudonym – false name
Pseudologyst – one who specializes in lying
We attach it in front of anything we deem as a fake.
Pseudo-psychologist -- Pseudo-preacher -- Pseudo-scientist
You get the idea. The word has the idea of false, deceitful, erroneous, counterfeit, cheat.
Lying is so prevalent that a number of other words have appeared for specific lies.
Untrustworthy, a cheat, devious, false, fake, dishonest, fraudulent, fabricator, hypocritical, phony.
A lie has to do with any intentional distortion of reality devised to affect the perception or actions of others.
Actually we can even lie to ourselves. Like some of those who try out for American Idol who have terrible voices but have convinced themselves that they are great singers.
The devil is the master of deception. He continually tells lies.
“Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar, and the father of lies.” John 8:44
Lying is about self. The new nature is about the community. Lying is about getting something for me. The new nature is about serving others. God is a loving and giving God and anything contrary to that nature is from the old self. You would think that Paul would appeal to something different than he does to put away lying. Don’t lie because God hates lying.
Don’t lie because it has devastating consequences. He appeals to the community.
Speak truth and don’t lie because you are a connected community. Lying is self-centered.
Truth telling is others-centered.
So why do we lie?
Self-protection, self-promotion, possession, punishment
1. Self-Protection
We lie to avoid something we perceive unpleasant.
We don’t want to appear stupid so we lie. We left the door open and the dog got out. We took something that didn’t belong to us and someone is asking if we know anything. How are you today? We don’t want anyone to know we are human and fail. We lie to protect our image. We lie to keep from getting in trouble. These are lies based on fear. We are afraid someone will reject us if they really knew the truth about us. If they realized my struggle they would think less of me. I have to project a certain image. So we all run around thinking he other person is perfect. It destroys unity. It hinders growth. It keeps us from helping one another when we don’t know what is really going on. If we spoke the truth about our own struggles we could find help in our struggle.
2. Self-promotion
We lie to project something we aren’t. There is a graphic story about lying from early in the churches development. People were giving from their heart to the needs of the persecuted members of the community. They would share what they had and even selling excess property to meet those growing needs. Those who had given so sacrificially to the needs of the church were admired by others for their sacrifice. A couple in the church wanted to gain that kind of admiration but did not have the same heart. It is recorded in Acts 5:1-11
We can lie by our lips or by our life. Those who pretend to be something they are not are also known as hypocrites. In some way, all of us are hypocrites. We need to be people who speak and live truth. We need to live in reality. We must put away lying to God, others and ourselves.
We must not try to appear smarter, or better than others. We must be ourselves.
Prov 25:14 "Like clouds and wind without rain Is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely."
Gal 6:3 "For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself."
James 1:26 "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless."
3. Possession
We lie to acquire something we didn’t earn.
10 "Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to new owners; because from the least even to the greatest everyone is greedy for gain; from the prophet even to the priest everyone practices deceit. 11 And they heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace."
Prov 19:22 "What is desirable in a man is his kindness, And it is better to be a poor man than a liar."
We also call this cheating; acquiring something we didn’t earn.
There was a baker who suspected that the farmer who was supplying his butter was giving him the short weight. His suspicions were confirmed when he carefully checked the weight of the butter for several days. Incensed, he had the farmer arrested. But the judge threw the case out when the farmer explained that he had no scales, so he used a one-pound loaf of bread purchased from the baker as his counterbalance!
Prov 21:6 "The getting of treasures by a lying tongue Is a fleeting vapor, the pursuit of death."
Prov 20:17 "Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel."
4. Punishment
We lie to exact revenge or hurt someone we don’t like.
There are numerous scriptures related to a false witness or those who harm others through lying.
Prov 12:20 "Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy."
Prov 26:24 "He who hates disguises it with his lips, But he lays up deceit in his heart."
Prov 24:28 "Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, And do not deceive with your lips."
Prov 26:28 "A lying tongue hates those it crushes, And a flattering mouth works ruin."
Psa 62:4-5 "They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position; They delight in falsehood; They bless with their mouth, But inwardly they curse.
Our culture is full of lying for all of these reasons. It becomes natural.
The Bible is clear about how God feels about lying and the consequences for those who do it.
Prov 11:6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.
Prov 13:15 "Good understanding produces favor, But the way of the treacherous is hard."
Prov 19:5 "A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who tells lies will not escape."
Paul encourages us to be people of truth. Paul appealed to the Ephesians to live different because they were different. Since they put off the old man with its lying nature, they were to speak truth. Lying is self-centered. Speaking truth focuses on building others.
Recognize the problem.
Renew the thinking.
Restore truth in your life.
