INTRODUCTION
In several of Paul's letters to the churches, Paul starts with theological teaching and then moves on to practical instruction. He lays the theological foundations and sets out key theological truths. After that, he talks about how believers should live in the light of these truths. Belief should shape behaviour. In Ephesians, chapters 1 to 3 are the theological foundations. Then, in chapter 4, Paul moves on to practical application.
Priscilla, Sophie and Daniel quite often give me feedback on my talks. One of the things they tell me is to include practical application. They should be happy today! It’s almost entirely practical application.
Last week we looked at a vitally important principle. God wants to change us! He created us in his image. His image has become tarnished by sin, but God wants his image to shine through again. Paul talks about this in terms of putting off the old self and putting on the new self. We ended last week on 4:24. Paul has talked about putting off the old self. Then he says, ‘and to put on the new self, CREATED TO BE LIKE GOD in true righteousness and holiness.’ Our new self is supposed to be like God!
PAUL’S LIST
Paul starts the next section with a ‘therefore’ and then gives us five areas in which we need to put off the old self and put on the new self. But are these really the key areas we need to focus on?
Let me give you an analogy. Let’s suppose you want to know what the key attributes of a leader are. You ask one respected business leader. He tells you, ‘The most important attributes of a leader are integrity, communication and adaptability.’ You ask a second respected business leader. He tells you, ‘The most important attributes of a leader are tolerance, self-awareness and gratitude.’ You ask a third person. She says something different again. At the end, you’re none the wiser about what the most important attributes of a leader are.
Is Paul’s list like that? Does Paul say one thing here, but another part of the Bible says something different? Are these really the key areas we should give attention to as we try to put off the old self and put on the new self?
I believe they are.
One reason is that Paul also talks about old self and new self in Colossians and in Colossians he also has a list of key areas to look at. Paul almost certainly wrote his letter to the Ephesians after his letter to the Colossians. His list in Ephesians is very similar to his list in Colossians. It means that he didn’t just pluck these things out of the air the day he wrote his letter to the Ephesians.
A second reason is that all the areas Paul mentions are emphasized in other parts of the Bible. For example, lying and stealing come in the Ten Commandments.
So, what we have here isn’t just Paul’s list of areas we need to look closely at. It is also the Bible’s list, God’s list. We should take it seriously!
EXAMPLES OF OLD SELF TO NEW SELF
OLD TO NEW #1
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another.
Paul starts by saying ‘Therefore.’ He’s been talking about putting off the old self and putting on the new self. Now he’s going to give some examples. The first area Paul talks about is falsehood and truth. We must put off falsehood and we must put on speaking the truth with our neighbours.
Isaiah prophesied about Jesus. He wrote:
‘And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
AND THERE WAS NO DECEIT IN HIS MOUTH’ [Isaiah 53:9].
Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life’ [John 14:6].
There was no deceit in Jesus. And he is the truth. If we’re modelling ourselves on Jesus, there must not be deceit is us and there must be truth.
What does that mean in practice?
Most people today believe that that there is such a thing as truth and they believe that truth is important. They understand that truth builds trust and that truth and trust are essential in every kind of relationship.
Most people do not think that lying is ‘all right.’
But having said that, there is strong evidence from surveys that most people lie sometimes and indeed, the average person lies every day. There are lies in sport, lies in politics, lies in advertising, lies online and lies in conversation.
Do Christians lie? A commentator I read as I was preparing this talk commented that ‘One of the ways we lie is by exaggeration.’ He then added, ‘Some of the most guilty exaggerators are pastors, who use loud one-sided statements to make God look more wonderful and themselves more powerful.’ That isn’t the way to go.
When we lie, we break God’s commandment. And lies don’t fit with the new self, the self which is in the image of God.
But remember, Paul is calling us to do two things: to put off and put on. We put off lying; we put on telling the truth.
In 2004, a man named Andrew Malkinson was convicted of rape and assault. He spent the next 17 years in prison. He always said he was innocent. In 2023, the Court of Appeal looked at his case again. They discovered that the prosecution hadn’t disclosed information which pointed to the crime having been committed by someone else. Malkinson was released and the government formally apologised. No one had deliberately lied, but some people who had information hadn’t shared it. They hadn’t told the truth.
Paul is calling us to put off the lie AND put on the truth.
There are lots of reasons why we should not lie, but Paul gives just one: ‘For we are members one of another.’ Lying hurts our brothers and sisters.
In the early years of the church there was a famous archbishop of Constantinople called John Chrysostom. He wrote, ‘How strange that one part of the body would deceive another part, as if the eye would lie to the foot about some danger it sees.’ The body doesn’t do that. Neither must we. We put off lying. We put on telling the truth.
OLD TO NEW #2
26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.
Paul isn’t saying, don’t get angry. He’s saying, don’t let the anger stick around. Put that off.
As we go through the day, things may happen that make us angry. It may be normal to get angry. It may even be right and proper to get angry if we see something that’s wrong.
But we mustn’t allow the anger to fester. One commentator wrote:
‘The text assumes that people will make us angry, but anger must not take up residence. If given place, it infects and mutates into further resentment and hostility. If given place, it becomes the avenue the devil uses to cause sin. For that reason, it must be shown the door rather quickly’ [Snodgrass].
We have an enemy, the devil, and he is looking for a way to tempt us into sin. Dealing with anger promptly will deprive the devil of a foothold. If a red light appears on your car’s dashboard, you need to find out the problem is sort it out. Don’t do that, and you could have an expensive problem. We need to take the same attitude with anger.
The second key area we have to look at is anger.
OLD TO NEW #3
28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
We must put off stealing and put on sharing with people in need.
I’d like to tell you a story that goes back to 2013. It concerns the queen. At Buckingham Palace, it was usual for little bowls of nuts and snacks to be put out, FOR GUESTS. But there were also police on duty in the palace, and they were eating the lot! The News of the World editor wrote in an email, ‘Queen furious about police stealing bowls of nuts and nibbles left out for her…’
What do you think? Were the police stealing? Surely nuts and nibbles don’t count! It probably didn’t feel like stealing. But they were taking something which didn’t belong to them. They were stealing.
This little story has an important message for us. I doubt that anyone here is a shoplifter. But we can steal in ways that might not feel like stealing.
When Priscilla and I were in Azerbaijan there were no Blockbusters video stores to rent videos from. If we wanted to watch a video, almost the only way was to buy a pirate copy. But that would be stealing.
In Azerbaijan there was a healthy market for pirated computer software. Software was also available to help you crack the activation code. That is also stealing. There is a huge market for pirated software in the UK today.
If we come into work late, we’re ‘stealing’ time which our employer has paid for. If we check our social media or do some online shopping when we’re at work and should be working, that’s stealing.
If a student writes an essay and presents someone else’s ideas as their own, that’s stealing.
I was once approached by a company which wanted to me to write essays. They offered me good money for it. I said no. I knew that the essays would be for students. When you cheat, you take something you’re not entitled to. That’s a form of stealing.
If we fill in an expense report or a tax return but understate our income or include non-work-related expenses as business expenses, that’s stealing.
If we take something from our workplace for our personal use, without asking, that’s stealing.
If we’re on benefits but know in our heart that we don’t need to be, that’s stealing.
The point is that there are lots of ways people steal. We need to keep a watchful eye on ourselves.
But remember, Paul is calling us to do two things: to put off and put on. We put off stealing and we PUT ON SHARING WITH PEOPLE IN NEED.
Some of you may think I’m quite a nice guy. After all, I’m the minister! Sometimes, a person comes to me and tells me they need help. Almost always, they want money. Almost always I think, ‘I don’t want to help you. You got into this situation. Why should I help you?’ But I need to watch my attitude. God wants us to help people in need. Jesus certainly did.
OLD TO NEW #4
29 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. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
We must put off bad language and put on language that builds people up.
I like playing chess, although I need to take care that I don’t play too often. In chess, if you make one mistake, you’ll probably lose the game. Talking can be a bit like that. One mistake in what we say can cost us dearly. We need to be very careful about what we say.
Paul talks about ‘corrupting’ talk. The word he used was used of spoiled fish or rotten fruit. It smells. It offends. We walk away.
That isn’t the kind of talk that should come out of our mouths. When Jesus spoke publicly for the first time, we read, ‘And all spoke well of him and marvelled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.’ That’s what we’re aiming for too.
Why should we put off bad language?
Paul continues, ‘And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.’
The Holy Spirit in us is a promise that God will one day redeem us. It shows that we belong to God – just as my wedding ring shows that I belong to Priscilla. We don’t want to upset the Holy Spirit by our bad language!
We put off corrupting speech and we put on words that build up and give grace to our hearers.
OLD TO NEW #5
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Here Paul talks about five things: bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour and slander, and then he adds malice. These are all attitudes or behaviour which destroy relationships. We need to put them off.
As usual, Paul is calling us to do two things: to put off and put on. We put off these destructive behaviours and we put on the opposite. Paul writes, ‘Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.’
What is the motivation to forgive? God has forgiven us.
Let me give one example of forgiveness.
A couple from Australia, Graham and Gladys Staines had gone to India as missionaries. In January 1999, Graham was burnt alive along with their two sons Philip, aged 10, and Timothy, aged 7. This was done by a mob led by a Hindu militant.
At this point, Graham had been working in India for over 34 years. After the event, the President of India, Kocheril Narayanan, wrote ‘that someone who spent years caring for patients of leprosy, instead of being thanked and appreciated as a role model should be done to death in this manner is... a crime that belongs to the world’s inventory of black deeds.’
Gladys Staines’ response was remarkable. She said, ‘I have only one message for the people of India. I’m not bitter. Neither am I angry. But I have one great desire: that each citizen of this country should establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ who gave his life for their sins ... let us burn hatred and spread the flame of Christ’s love.’
Put off hatred; put on Christ’s love. That was her message. It’s Paul’s message too.
Wow. It seems like she had put on her new self, in the image of Christ.
CONCLUSION
There is a lot more I could say. But Paul’s message is clear. Jesus is calling us to put off the old self ‘and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness’ [Ephesians 4:24].
It is God’s work to transform us. But it’s also our work. Paul has given us five key areas to work on. I believe that they aren’t simply Paul’s list but are God’s list. Paul’s key areas reflect the Bible’s key areas. We need to give attention to them.
TALK GIVEN AT ROSEBERY PARK BAPTIST CHURCH, BOURNEMOUTH, UK, 24 AUGUST 2025
