Commentary on the Book of Ephesians
By: Tom Lowe Date: 10/6/17
Lesson 20: Morality and the Present Life in Christ (Eph. 4:25-32)
Ephesians 4:25-32 (KJV)
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 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.
29 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.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Introduction
Paul has just been saying that when a man becomes a Christian, he must put off his old life as a man puts off a coat for which he has no further use. Here he speaks of the things which must be banished from the Christian life.
To be a Christian means to be united to the risen and exalted Christ. We now share in the new creation of which He is the first fruits. As Christians we have put off the old man and have put on the new man. We no longer live as we once did (4:17{3]) because the person we once were—united to Adam—is no more.
The powers of a new age have been released into our lives. We are no longer living in the domain where sin reigns but in Christ where grace and righteousness reign! As part of God’s new creation we now possess a new identity reflecting the righteousness and holiness of God?”And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (4:24).
Paul famously makes the same point in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If any one is in Christ—new creation!” It is not only that I am inwardly renewed as an individual; rather a whole new order of reality has arrived. The dawn of the new age has come over the horizon from the future. I am no longer living in death and the dominion of sin but in life and the reign of grace. The implications of this are monumental.
It is to these implications that Paul now turns. They follow the logic that always marks his teaching on growing in holiness. Our new identity has come through union with Christ in His death and resurrection. The new life, which flows from it, involves putting away or putting to death (Colossians 3:5) everything which is unlike Christ, and putting on or developing graces, which reflect the resurrection power of the Lord. We are being gradually transformed into His likeness and image?“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;” (Colossians 3:12).
Commentary
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. [Truth must replace falsehood!]
“Lying”—the word includes every kind of deception—is one of the chief characteristics of the old man. It is preeminently a heathen vice, as missionaries from pagan lands abundantly testify. Unfortunately it is not confined to pagan lands. People in a so-called Christian culture also need to be warned about this point. We see on every hand dishonesty in personal relations, unscrupulous practices in business, and corruption and deception in government.
There must be no more lies. There is more than one kind of “lie” in this world:
1) There is the lie of “speech,” sometimes deliberate and sometimes almost unconscious. The unconscious lie comes more from carelessness about truth than from intentional lying; such as saying, “There is so much dishonesty in the world.” Truth demands a deliberate effort.
2) There is also the “lie of silence,” and maybe it is even commoner. It may be that in some discussion a man by his silence gives approval to some course of action which he knows is wrong. It may be that a man withholds a warning or rebuke when he knows quite well he should have spoken up.
The Apostle Paul gives the reason for telling the “truth.” It is because we are all “members” of the same body, in Christ. We can live in safety only because the senses and the nerves pass “true messages” to the brain. If they were passing “false messages,” if, for instance, they told the brain that something was cool and touchable when in fact it was hot and burning, life would very soon come to an end. A body can function healthfully only when each part of it passes “true messages” to the brain. If then we are all bound into one body in Christ (Ephesians 2:16{4]), and have been called to maintain the unity already ours in the union we share together in Christ. A lack of integrity in the body inevitably causes it to malfunction. Lies, pretense, hypocrisy—these are all viruses against which our fellowships need protection. They must be resisted. That body, any body, can function properly only when we speak the “truth.” It is especially important that we speak truth with our “Christian neighbors,” our fellow believers; “for we are members one of another,” one spiritual being is our Head, and therefore, we are “vitally” related to each other, with an absolute obligation to serve each other’s good. SO GLORIFY GOD WITH A TRUTHFUL TONGUE.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: [Anger that is righteous—must replace anger that controls us.]
When the apostle says, “Be ye angry,” you may be confused because we are taught that it is wrong to be “angry” at anyone. But the truth is, “there must be anger in the Christian life, but it must be the right kind of anger.” Anger is expressed righteously only when it does not dominate us, or become an obsession to us. A bad temper and irritability are without defense or excuse; but there is an anger without which the world would be a poorer place. The world would have lost much without the blazing anger of Wilberforce against the slave trade or of Shaftesbury against the labor conditions of the 19th century. It is right to get angry about some things, but it is wrong to remain angry.
Dear Christian brother and sister let me tell you this; there are times when I am watching the news that I get very angry at the abortion crowd, and those who are advocating legalizing drugs, and those who commit carnage such as rioting, vandalizing, looting, at murderers, bank robbers, liars, cheaters, etc. I am “angry” at those men, at those things; but I would gladly put my arm around any one of them and lead him to Jesus if he would give me the chance. We can be extremely angry—and yet not sin. We cannot be angry at souls who need Jesus. I mean become angry at sin . . . because of the fruits of iniquity. We need the ability to become righteously indignant—and yet “not sin.” He is quoting psalm 4:4: “Stand in awe, and sin not . . . ” The Christian must beware of letting his temper lead him into sin, because it easily can.
Sinful anger must be controlled and subdued. There is a place for anger of a certain sort in the Christian life (Mark 3:5{5]). But this permission concerning anger is strongly qualified by two additional statements. It must be carefully guarded so as not to pass into sin. Anger that is selfish, undisciplined, and uncontrolled is always sinful. What starts out as righteous indignation all too easily degenerates to this level. In Galatians 5:19-21{6] it is clearly taught that anger is the working of the flesh—but that is another kind of anger . . . Not righteous indignation.
There were times when Jesus was terribly and majestically “angry.” He was angry when the scribes and Pharisees were watching to see if He would heal the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day (Mark 3:5{5]). It was not their criticism of himself at which he was angry; he was angry that their rigid orthodoxy desired to impose unnecessary suffering on a fellow creature. He was angry when he made a whip and drove the changers of money and the sellers of victims (animals for sacrifice) from the Temple courts (John 2:13-17).
Paul goes on to say that the Christian must never let the sun set upon his “wrath.” In other words, it is right to get angry about some things. But remaining angry when the sun goes down (i.e. at the end of the day) is a sign that instead of expressing right judgment, anger has mastered us. If wrath is necessary (and it sometimes is, as long as wrong is in the world), see to it that it is unsinful wrath, which reigns in the line of God’s will, pure displeasure at evil, not bias for self. And where there has been failure of patience, be prompted to return to love; “let not the sun go down upon your wrath”; lay all grievances at the Lord’s feet, before you go to bed for the night. There was a Jewish Rabbi whose prayer was that he might never go to sleep with any bitter thought against a brother within his mind.
Paul’s advice is sound, because the longer we postpone mending a quarrel; the less likely we are to ever mend it. If there is trouble between us and anyone else, if there is trouble within a church or a fellowship or any society where men meet, the only way to deal with it is at once. The longer it is left to fester, the more bitter it will grow. Anger must not be cherished: “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath”—never go to bed resentful. Anger that is not speedily deposed soon takes deep root in the heart. When this happens, the devil—“slanderer” is the meaning of the Greek word—gains “room to act,” a foothold from which to exploit us (27). If we have been in the wrong, we must pray to God to give us grace to admit that we were wrong; and even if we have been right, we must pray to God to give us the graciousness which will enable us to take the first step to put matters right.
27 Neither give place to the devil.
The Greek version of this phrase can equally well mean two things. It can mean:
1) “Don’t give the devil his opportunity.” Opportunity is literally “room.” It is the hot fit of anger that gives the devil his chance; therefore we must give him no “room” in which he can work. An unhealed breach is a magnificent opportunity for the devil to sow dissension. Many times the church has been torn into factions because two people quarreled and let “the sun set upon their wrath” (26).
2) The word for “devil” in Greek is “diabolos”; but “diabolos” is also the normal Greek for a “slanderer.” Luther, for instance, took this to mean: “Give the slanderer no place in your life.” It may well be that this is the true meaning of what Paul wishes to say. No one in this world can do more damage than the slanderous tale-bearer. There is a little saying that expresses this same thought: “Alas! They had been friends in youth; but whispering tongues can poison truth.”
Notice Paul’s underlying concern here—believers must not allow the devil a foothold in their relationships with one another. The more we allow alienation to fester in our anger the more opportunity we give Satan to twist hearts, spread rumors, stimulate self-justification and spawn party spirit (factions). Unlike our Lord, Satan has many things in us on which he can land and engage in his destroying work (contrast John 14:30). Wherever the devil finds a heart SHUT to Jesus Christ, he finds a door OPEN, and he knows all too well how to use it to fill the inner chamber with his dreadful presence, and to cause the man to hate his brother: “But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:11)—from sin to sin
There are reputations murdered every day over the way persons dress etc.; and when a man sees a tail-bearer coming, he would do well to shut the door in his face.
28 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.[Generosity must replace theft.]
A third vice which has no place in the Christian life is “stealing.” Paul had in mind the person who was a thief before his conversion and may have been in danger of falling back into his old ways. Instead of this, he is encouraged to engage in honest work so that he not only meets his own needs but may have something to share with those less fortunate than himself.
The man who was a thief must become an honest working-man—“let him put a quiet, decisive close to the whole habit in every form, working with his hands the thing which is good,” making gains by honest pains, in order that he may not merely “recover his character,” but by “working with his hands the thing which is good, he may have enough “to give to him that needeth.” This advice was necessary, because in the ancient world thieving was rampant. It was very common in two places, at the docks and above all in the public baths. The public baths were the clubs of the time; and stealing the belongings of the bathers was one of the commonest crimes in any Greek city.
The interesting thing about this saying is the reason Paul gives for being an honest workman. He does not say: “Become an honest workmen so that you may support yourself.” He says: “Become an honest workman so that you may have something to give away to those who are poorer than yourself.” Here is a new idea and a new ideal—that of working in order to give away.
In modern society no man has so much more than they need that they are willing to give others less fortunate than themselves the excess, but we would do well to remember the Christian ideal is that we work, not to amass things, but to be able, if need be, to give them away.
We share the tendency of the man who asked Jesus to identify the “neighbor” whom God’s law commanded him to love (Luke 10:25). He wanted to place limits on his responsibility. We imagine that so long as we do not commit theft we have kept the law. But God is concerned about the goal of the commandment: giving generously, as those who have received generously. The lot is given a deeper dimension in Christ—for He has shown us what it means to give not only generously but sacrificially.
Everything Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden was a gift from God, to be enjoyed and shared. But rather than receiving, sharing, and giving, they wanted more—fruit that did not belong to them.
The key here is to learn that nothing is our own; all is the Lords. We are not owners of anything but stewards of everything.
29 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.[The language of blessing must replace that of cursing.]
Paul forbids all “foul-mouthed” speaking (corrupt communication), the index of a dirty mind; and then goes on to put the same thing positively. The Christian should be characterized by words which help his fellow men, so “that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” As Moffatt translates it, Eliphaz the Temanite paid Job a tremendous compliment. “Your words,” he said, “have kept men on their feet (Job 4:4). This is the kind of words that every Christian ought to speak.
Words can poison and thus be corrupting. We must abstain. For some it is not difficult to refrain from cursing. But it is a greater thing to know how to use words for encouragement, just as it is good to building up rather than tear down. Grace teaches us how to say the helpful thing at just the right time
It is out of the heart that the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). The new heart given to us by the Holy Spirit will come to expression on our lips, for a heart’s desire to serve others works hard to find the right words. But such language as this had likely been “habitual” with many of Paul’s readers before their conversion. It is unbecoming for a Christian and must be completely renounced. The suppression of bad language, however, is not enough. Conscious effort is to be made to use language that will edify and minister grace unto the hearers.”
Verse 31 says that bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, and slander grieve the Spirit, and should grieve our spirits too, if we are in tune with Him.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption{2].
Paul urges us, as well as the believers at Ephesus, not to “grieve the Holy Spirit” by the words that come from our lips—words marked by criticism, cursing and expressing a complaining spirit. The Holy Spirit is the guide for our life. When we acted contrary to the counsel of our parents when we are young, we hurt them. Similarly, to act contrary to the guidance of the “Holy Spirit” will “grieve the Spirit, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption,” and hurt the heart of God, the Father, who, through the Spirit, sent His word to us. This expression is one of the clearest indications in the New Testament that we are to think of the Spirit in personal terms—he is someone who can be grieved.
Someone may ask, “Why does our sin grieve the Spirit?” Because we have been “sealed” with Him, with a view to our final salvation (1:13{7]). A seal denotes proprietorship. God’s Spirit within us is the sign that we belong to Him, and that one day He means to redeem us fully. To live as though that were a matter of indifference to us is to wound Him deeply. He has united us to Christ in whom God has “blessed” us. If the Father through the “Spirit,” has spoken his blessing on us in his Son, how perverse we are if we do not speak well of one another (James 3:9-10{8]). How grieved the Spirit must sometimes be!
Paul begs the believers at Ephesus “not to grieve the holy spirit of God.” It is possible for a believer to “grieve the Spirit.” It is possible for us to quench the Spirit. Paul tells us, “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We should realize and recognize the Bible fact that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we should be careful how we treat Him. He is a person just as surely as God the Father and God the Son are persons. God the Father is a person, God the Son is a person—and in like manner the Holy Spirit is a person. He can be “grieved,” he can be “quenched.” We should be very careful how we treat the “Spirit” who abides in our bosom.
Let me give you a brief outline of the Holy Spirit’s part in our redemption and in our journey to the Pearly White City:
1) First, we are drawn to God by the power of the Holy Ghost (John 6:44; John 16:7-11).
2) The “Holy Spirit” “borns” us into God’s family (John 1:11-13; John 3:5-7). The Holy Spirit is the attending Physician at the spiritual birth which occurs through the Word (John 5:24; Ephesians 2:8-9).
3) At the time of the new birth the Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).
4) The Holy Spirit of God “seals” us until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Ghost puts upon our heart the stamp of God’s ownership and the seal remains until the Holy Spirit performs His last work in our journey from redemption to the Pearly White City.
5) The Holy Spirit leads us into the paths of right living (Romans 8:9; Romans 8:14).
6) When we allow the Holy Spirit, he fills us (Ephesians 5:18-20).
7) We shall be quickened by the Spirit in the first resurrection, which will occur at the rapture of the church: “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, HE THAT RAISED UP CHRIST FROM THE DEAD SHALL ALSO QUICKEN YOUR MORTAL BODIES BY HIS SPIRIT THAT DWELLETH IN YOU” (Romans 8:11). This answers two questions, which may arise; “How are the dead raised up” and “With what Body do they come.” It appears from this and the verses below that Paul may have anticipated those questions:
• “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (I Corinthians 15:45).
• “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).
• “Behold, what manner of love! . . . it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:1-3{1])
In the first resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:51-55) the bodies of the saints who have died will be quickened (made alive) by the power of the “Holy Spirit.” The living bodies will be changed by the Spirit in the twinkling of an eye . . . In the fraction of a split second. The Holy Ghost will see us safely inside the Pearly Gates.
Verse 30 is to be taken in the closest possible connection with what has been said in the preceding verses. The point is that lying, resentment, stealing, and especially the use of filthy, unedifying language by Christians grieve the indwelling Spirit. This fact explains the misery of many believers; for it is precisely by reason of permitting such practices that they have lost the joy, peace, and blessings that they once knew.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: [Kindness must replace animosity.]
Paul ends this chapter with a list of all the unlovely and unchristian qualities which must be removed from life (31, 32):
1) There is “bitterness.” The Greeks defined this word as the Spirit which refuses to be reconciled. So many of us have a way of nursing our wrath to keep it warm, of brooding over the insults and the injuries which we have received. Every Christian might well pray that God would teach him how to forget.
2) There are outbreaks of passion (“wrath”) and long-lived “anger.” The Greeks defined these outbreaks of passion as the kind of anger which is like the flame which comes from straw; it quickly blazes up and just as quickly subsides. On the other hand, they described a type of anger which becomes habitual. To the Christian the burst of temper and the long-lived anger are both forbidden.
3) There is a loud talking (“clamour”) and insulting language (“evil speaking”). A certain famous preacher tells how his wife used to advise him, “When you’re in the pulpit, keep your voice down.” Whenever, in any discussion or argument, we become aware that our voice is raised, it is time to stop. The Jews spoke about what they called “the sin of insult,” and maintained that God does not hold him guiltless who speaks insultingly to his brother.
It would save a great deal of heartbreak in this world if we simply learned to keep our voices down and if, when we had nothing good to say to a person, we did not say anything at all. The argument which has to be supported in a shout is no argument; and the dispute which has to be conducted in insults is not an argument but a brawl.
So, the apostle’s instruction is very important, because it came from the Holy Spirit who then revealed it to Paul, and from his lips it went to the Ephesians and ultimately to all believers. Christ wants us to put aside “all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking,” and we are to put away “all malice.” “Let it all be taken away from you,” lifted clean out of your lives, as a thing utterly incompatible with a Christian’s first rules of conduct. Let it be handled with holy intolerance; in the Lord’s name take it away, bid it farewell; give it over to Him who knows how to lift it out of your spirit and your practice, and to place Himself where it was.
We are to be kind to each other, and we are to follow His steps. We are to be Christ-like if we advertised to the world that we are Christians. Insofar as is humanly possible, we are to live as our Christ lived when He was on this earth. We should have a forgiving spirit—because . . . “God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
“Bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking” are emotions or expressions of hostility; the opposite of “kindness.” Paul hints that kindness is not something that can be fabricated, certainly not in the long term. For being kind comes from a tender heart. Kindness to others is rooted in our own sense of how much we have needed the kindness of God and received it from Him (2:7{9]). We have been forgiven, we should learn to forgive.
The Lord Jesus was kind; he has been kind to me. My refusal or failure to be kind to others would be a sure sign I had never really tasted His kindness. If I had, I would want to pass it on.
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
So Paul comes to the summing up of his advice, listing the qualities which should replace the unlovely and unchristian qualities related in the previous verse. He tells us to “be kind.” The Greeks defined this quality as the disposition of mind which thinks as much of its neighbors affairs as it does of its own. Paul has learned the secret of looking outwards all the time, and not inwards. He tells us to forgive others as God forgave us. So, in one sentence, Paul lays down the law of personal relationships—that we should treat others as Jesus Christ has treated us.
As always, Paul grounds Christian conduct in Christian doctrine: “forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you”—in that sublime “accomplished fact” of pardon. It was done in eternity from one viewpoint; it was done at Calvary from another; from yet another it was done on your personal coming into union with Christ by faith; but from all points of view it was an act toward you of immeasurable and holy unmerited mercy, which must forever give tone to all your thoughts when you have to consider the duty of forgiving. Yes, it calls you to an open “imitation” which shall penetrate to the very springs of life, and shall always find its possibility in the fact of your own salvation.
The vacuum created when these vices we have been discussing are ejected from the heart is to be filled by the lovely virtues of kindness, tenderheartedness, forgiveness, and love. The Greek word translated “kind” means useful or helpful. To be “tenderhearted” is to have a compassionate feeling toward the weaknesses and mysteries of others. “Forgiving” is the rendering of a word of unusually rich content. Being built on the same root as the word for “grace,” it first means “to give freely,” then “to pardon” or “forgive.” The supreme example as well as the sacred incentive for this attitude is that which God has done for us—as Paul puts it, “even as God for Christ’s sake [literally, “in Christ,” i.e., acting in Christ] hath forgiven you.”
There is a tremendous truth here: Dear reader, if you are saved, you are saved for the same reason I am saved. God did not save you or me because we were fit to be saved, nor because we are good enough to be saved. God saved us for “Christ’s sake.” Through the Holy Ghost, God is forming a bride for His Son, made up of individuals who put their faith in Jesus. God did not save us just so we would have a happy life on this earth. God did not save us just so we would go to heaven when we die, and not burn in hell. God saved us for “Jesus’ sake,” for the joy and the glory of His only begotten Son. For an inheritance to the only begotten Son, we born again believers will be displayed in the heavenlies to show the exceeding riches of God’s grace, as we learned in Ephesians chapter 2. In case you have a tendency to be just a little bit “puffed up,” because of your sonship in the family of God, proud of your spirituality and holiness, just remember that the only reason you are not dead and in hell?or on the road to hell?is because God for “Christ’s sake” saved you! Had it not been for the willingness of the Jesus to lay His life down, the willingness of the Holy Spirit to draw you and convict you while you were yet ungodly . . . had it not been for the sake of the only begotten Son of God, you would not be saved?and no sinner would ever have been saved. God saves sinners “FOR CHRIST’S SAKE.”
Final Thoughts
The new life Paul describes here may seem at first sight disappointingly mundane and unspectacular. These verses do not describe mighty deeds wrought in great power, but humble lives transformed by the Holy Spirit.
The testimony of Augustine, one of the towering figures of church history and of all western thought, is significant in this regard. Having lived for self, dabbled in false cults, pursued the satisfaction of his desires, he was—eventually—brought to faith in Christ in the city of Milan, whose Bishop was the eloquent Ambrose. Recalling on one occasion how he had come to faith, Augustine reflects on the influence of Ambrose: “It was not your great teaching—I scarcely expected to find that in the Christian Church in any case—but that you were kind to me.”
Why did this impress him? Perhaps it authenticated his preaching. Perhaps it helped Augustine to see and believe that the God and Savior of such a man as Ambrose of Milan must himself be kind. And if kind, then perhaps this Savior whom Ambrose preached would be willing to accept even Augustine, pardon his sins and transform his life.
So it was. Perhaps the same thing would happen through our lives . . . If these things were true of us.
Scripture and special notes
[1} “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).
[2} “The day of redemption” is that bright day, the goal of hope, the stimulus of holiness, when He shall claim the property He has purchased and has sealed, to take it home with Him forever for His own heavenly use.
[3} “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,” (Ephesians 4:17).
[4} “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:” (Ephesians 2:16).
[5} “And when he [Jesus] had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other” (Mark 3:5).
[6} “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).
[7} “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,” (Ephesians 1:13).
[8} “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (James 3:9-10).
[9} “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).
