29Let 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. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Eph. 4:29-30)
Ephesians 4:29 urges us to take seriously the power of our words. They can build up and inspire. Or they can tear down and deflate. In Ephesians 4:22-24 our life in Christ is pictured as a matter of putting off the old self and putting on the new. We get strip off the negative and dress up in the positive. The verses that follow offer specific applications. In v. 25 we’re to put off falsehood and speak truthfully instead. In v. 26 we’re to take off sinful expressions of anger. In v. 28 thieves are to stop stealing and start working. V. 29 continues this pattern of moral exhortation, beginning with the negative to be rejected before moving to the positive to be embraced: “Let no corrupting [sapros] talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good [agathos] for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” The Greek word sapros can mean “rotten, worthless, bad, or unfit for use.” It shows up in the saying of Jesus, “[E]very good [agathon] tree bears good fruit, but a bad [sapron] tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:17). As Christians, we need to put away rotten words that harm and hurt others, words that tear down rather than building up. By contrast, we are to use our language positively. The words that come out of our mouths should be “good [agathos] for building up,” Note two ways in which we can use the power of words for good. First, our words can build up people according to their needs. Second, our words can “give grace to those who hear.” That’s right. Your words can be a source of grace to others. V. 29 challenges us to consider how we use the power of our words. Do your words tear down or hurt others? Do you get stuck in complaining that discourages others and fractures community? Or do you use the power of speech for good, for building up those around you and for being a channel of God’s grace to them? The next verse reveals something quite astounding. It shows us that our words have additional power, perhaps more power than we would have imagined. Let’s look carefully at v. 30: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” V. 30 is linked to v. 29 with the connective “And.” V. 30 adds more about the danger of unwholesome talk. Not only does this talk tear people down rather than building them up, but also it grieves the Holy Spirit of God. Yes, our words can actually grieve God’s Spirit. This is both stunning and unsettling. I don’t want to hurt people with my words (except, I suppose, for times when I’m angry or hurt and want revenge). But I really, really, really don’t want to grieve the Spirit of God. Not now. Not ever. The verb translated here as “grieve,” [lupeō in Greek] means “to cause severe mental or emotional distress.” Some commentators worry about the notion that our behavior can make God feel bad, emphasizing that this is just a figure of speech. Yet, given that we are created in God’s image, and biblical language about God’s joy and delight in us (see, for example, Zephaniah 3:17 and Psalm 147:11), I don’t like to avoid the plain meaning of Ephesians 4:30. Though we cannot fully comprehend it, we can actually cause the Holy Spirit to grieve. We can hurt, not just people, but even the Spirit of God. We can do so, in particular, by using unwholesome words that wound others and shatter the Christian community. When we do this, God grieves. Help us, Lord, to be good stewards of our words, using the power of our words for the good of others and for Your good, Lord. Forgive us, Lord, for the ways our words and deeds have grieved your Spirit. Help us to use them in ways that give delight to You. 1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:1-3)
Paul urges us to “lead a life worthy” (4:1) of our calling as Christians. Last week, we began to look at how we should do this. We can begin to live out our calling by imitating Jesus’s humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance. Today, I want to consider another way we can express our calling in action. In addition to being humble, gentle, patient, and forbearing, we should “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (4:3). Quite clearly, this unity can be experienced in Christian community because it comes from the Spirit. Notice that we are exhorted to maintain (the Greek verb basically means “to keep”) the unity that comes from the Spirit. We don’t create church unity through our own efforts. Rather, we strive to protect and preserve the unity that God gives us through the Holy Spirit. Why does unity matter so much, and what does it have to do with our calling? The answer comes from the previous chapters of Ephesians. In chapter 1, we discover God’s grand plan for the cosmos: namely “to bring unity to all things in [Christ]” (1:10). In Christ, God will ultimately bring to unity the divided, shattered world. God has already begun to do this work of uniting broken things. In Ephesians 2, we learn that God is at work bringing together divided peoples, in particular, Jews and Greeks. Through His death on the cross, Christ broke down “the dividing wall of hostility” that separated these two peoples. His did so “to create in Himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace” (2:14-15). Because of Christ, all Christians are “joined together” in unity (2:21), becoming “a dwelling” for God” (2:22). The unity of Christians, therefore, is an essential element of “the calling [we] have received” (v. 1). Unity isn’t spiritual extra credit. It doesn’t show up only in the fine print of the Gospel. Rather, Christian unity is an essential result of the work of Jesus on the cross. But this unity isn’t merely some theological abstract, something to be thought about but not actually experienced. On the contrary, who we are as the united body of Christ is something we, followers of Jesus, ought to experience in real life and real time. Unity is so central to our calling, Paul tells us that we will walk worthy of our calling by making “every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (v. 3). The Greek verb translated in the NIV as “make every effort” could also be rendered as “being zealous or eager.” Unity is something every Christian should be zealous or eager to maintain. Seeking unity is essential to living our calling. Unfortunately, many Christians have overlooked Ephesians 4:3. We have a knack for dividing up over things, often things that aren’t really all that important. If we don’t like something our church is doing, even if it isn’t theologically objectionable, we tend to complain, deride, and divide. Left to our own devices, we’re not very good at living humbly and gently, exercising patience and forbearance, and making every effort to preserve unity. We need the clear exhortation of Scripture, such as we find in Ephesians 4; the strong support of our fellow Christians; and the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit to help us yearn for and work to maintain Christian unity. If we want to live out our Christian calling, we can start by speaking and acting in ways that support the unity of our church, even if that requires plenty of humility, gentleness, patience, and putting up with things we don’t like. Help us, Lord, to be zealous for unity and to live out this unity in tangible ways as we embody humility, gentleness, patience and forbearance! 1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:1-2)
Last week, we focused on the exhortation in Ephesians 4:1. Our calling emerges from God’s saving, healing, renewing, life-giving work through Jesus Christ, that work which was revealed in the opening chapters of Ephesians. When we embrace what God has done through faith, we accept God’s calling to live in a whole new way for His purposes and glory. How should we start living out our calling? If I had been writing Ephesians (I am glad is not the case), I would have been inclined to start big. I would have issued some challenge to do grand things for Christ. Perhaps focus on bold preaching and justice seeking. I confess I would not begin where Paul begins. Paul was writing this letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit rather than under my insufficient wisdom. Look where Paul starts. Immediately after encouraging his readers to lead a life worthy of their calling, he tells them to do this by being “completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (v. 2). These things won’t get much attention from the world. They are not especially grand and, at first glance, don’t appear to advance the kingdom of God much. Humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance are just fine. But they don’t exactly shake up the world. In fact, they seem like things that might easily be ignored or forgotten. Yet, according to Ephesians, why ought we to begin with such primary priorities if we’re going to live out our calling? First, humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance are essential characteristics of Jesus Christ. Jesus claimed to be “gentle and humble” (Matt. 11:29). Philippians 2:5-11 celebrates Jesus' humility by becoming human and going to the cross. After calling the Ephesians to walk worthy of their calling, Paul could also have said, “Do this by imitating Jesus” (see 1 Cor. 4:16, 11:1). If we want to live out our calling faithfully, it is never a bad idea to do as Jesus did. In fact, it is a great place to start. Second, Paul’s prioritizing humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance reflects his pastoral experience in his churches. He knows how easy it is for Christian communities not to get along. He is aware of the dangers of division and strife. He has seen it happen far too often in his churches. But Paul is not merely wanting people to get along because it makes church life nicer. Unity among Christians is absolutely essential to our calling as God’s people. One of the things I love about Ephesians 4:2 is its utter practicality and feasibility. You and I can start right now to work on humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance. Each day brings many opportunities to reflect one or more of these Christ-like characteristics. Why not begin doing so today? Help us, Lord, to be like Jesus today! For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
The annual theme of our church is “To Know Him in His Glory,” and the theme scripture is taken from the Book of Ephesians. Ephesians is one of my favorites, and I have read it many times even before I became a minister. Looking through my bible, I have underlined many verses of Ephesians and written many notes in the margins of the Bible pages. This book has had a profound impact on my spiritual growth and understanding of my purpose as a Christian, and one of my favorite verses is 2:10, "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Paul started the letter to Ephesians with praise and prayer to give the reader a sense of the great joy in his heart for the salvation of Jesus Christ. He then spoke with excitement about the marvelous work of salvation among us sinners which is based on the wonderful plan of the God who loved us, created us, and chose us from before the foundation of the world. Why did God save us? Because we are His workmanship in the first place, and "workmanship" means "masterpiece." What is a masterpiece? Just like Van Gogh's "Starry Night", Monet's "Water Lilies", Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa's Smile", Handel's "Messiah", Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5"... These are all great "masterpieces" that we are familiar with, and they are great works that will make us praise and marvel at the talents of these authors. "Wow, I am God's masterpiece!" is my inner monologue after reading Ephesians 2:10. Each of us is God's masterpiece, but we fall short of God's glory because of our sins (Romans 3:23). People should make a sound of praise when they see this masterpiece, however this is covered with dust and its’ brilliance is obscured. Therefore, God sent His only begotten Son to be crucified for our sins and raised from the dead three days later to restore this elaborate masterpiece to its original glory! God's purpose in restoring His glory to us is not to show off ourselves, but to enable us to “do good works.” Doing good works is not simply doing good deeds, but doing what God has prepared for us to do. By following and obeying God’s will in everything of our daily life, we are glorifying God. I pray that we can all be God's most precious masterpiece so that people can see His own glory in us! |
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