Ephesians 4:25-5:2, August 7-13, Year B:

In this passage, Paul is giving examples of how we are to demonstrate Christian conduct and live as we believe.  For instance, we are to be truthful in every respect.  We are to be cautious with regard to anger, not letting it fester inside us.  We are to be involved in honest work, not stealing.  We are to conduct our conversation and our manner of life in a way that honors our Lord and our profession.  In short, we are to have right attitudes about the people and situations we face daily.

Apparently, stealing was a common practice along the docks and in the public baths at Ephesus. 

 

 Paul also attaches a proper motive to right behavior.  We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. He contrasts then negative with the positive, giving us insight into the character of God.  We can relate each one of these examples to the Ten Commandments, linking thereby principle with precept.  Paul has taken us from the general to the particular.  He is also explaining why sound conduct cannot be expected consistently from a non-believer.  The motives will be completely different.  The devil, after all, is the "father of lies."  We as Christians are not to persist in sin.  Sanctification is that gradual process which enables to live "as becomes the follower of Christ."  (This is one of the interesting difference between the Protestant and Catholic idea of justification by faith.  The Catholic view tends to link sanctification and justification more closely together.) 

 

We must always realize that just beneath the surface of our thin veil of humanity, there lies a beast.  Paul expresses his genuine pastoral concern for the way of life and the quality of fellowship among the Ephesians by bringing out these particular details.  He also reminds us here that the Holy Spirit is a Person in the Godhead.  The highest motivation for the Christian life is not just to benefit ourselves--though  these virtues and characteristics do have practical value, to be sure--but to bring glory and honor to God as we give ourselves away for the purposes of the Kingdom. Paul also would have us be constantly alert to the danger of losing that Christian edge to our personality.  We must take care to nurture the evidence of the Spirit which dwells within us.

     

 

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