Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Evidences of a life that imitates Jesus...


This week, we are looking at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Ephesians. Yesterday, we discovered that Our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a life that imitates Jesus. Just as it was for the members of the church at Ephesus, just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a life that imitates Jesus.

And in Ephesians 5:2-14, we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us six specific evidences of a life that imitates Jesus. We see Paul reveal for us the reality that we live lives that imitate Jesus when we sacrificially love others. As followers of Jesus, our day to day lives are to be marked by a selfless and sacrificial love that places others first.

Today, we will see Paul reveal for us a second evidence of a life that imitates Jesus in Ephesians 5:3:

 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;

Now to fully understand what Paul is communicating here, we first need to define some terms. The word immorality describes any unlawful sexual intercourse, which would be any sexual activity that occurs outside of a marriage relationship, whether it is sex before marriage, sex in addition to marriage, which is adultery, homosexual activity, any sexual activity outside of God’s design for marriage, which is one man, one woman for one lifetime.

When Paul uses the word impurity, this word describes the state of moral corruption that our selfish desires produce in our lives. And when Paul uses the word greed, greed is a desire to have more than one’s due. So Paul here is commanding the members of the church at Ephesus to live their day to day lives in a way that rejects the selfish desires that oppose God, whether those selfish desires are sexual or material in nature.

But not only were the members of the church at Ephesus to reject acting on those selfish desires. Paul explains that those desires must not even be named among you. In other words, these selfish desires should not even be talked about as being a possibility for you. Paul explains the reason why they were not to do or even talk about these selfish desires is due to the fact of what is proper for the saints.

In other words, as followers of Jesus what is suitable and fitting is a lack of engagement, involvement, or discussion of such selfish desires.  And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us the reality that we live lives that imitate Jesus when we reject our selfish desires. As followers of Jesus, our day to day lives are to be marked by a lifestyle that rejects the selfish desires that oppose God, whether those selfish desires are sexual or material in nature.

So here is a question to consider: Is your day to day life marked a lifestyle that rejects the selfish sexual desires for pleasure and the selfish material desires for possessions that we may face? Because, as followers of Jesus, we live lives that imitate Jesus when we reject our selfish desires. Paul then reveals for us a third evidence of a life that imitates Jesus in verse 4:

and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Now when Paul commands the members of the church at Ephesus that there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, these three commands refer to what happens in one’s conversations with others. The word filthiness refers to conversations that shamefully ignore any social and moral standards.  These are the conversations that shock people with their profanity and subject matter.

When Paul refers to silly talk, he is referring to foolish or ridiculous conversations. There are conversations that are funny; and there are conversations that are ridiculous and foolish. Now course jesting refers to conversations that involve subtly suggestive sexual statements or are degrading. Paul explains the reason why they were not to be involved in such conversations was due to the fact that they were not fitting. In other words, as followers of Jesus, it is not appropriate to be engaged or involved in such conversations. Instead, Paul commands the members of the church at Ephesus to be involved in conversations that are marked with the giving of thanks.

Instead of making fun of God and the word of God in the content of their conversations, the members of the church at Ephesus were to make much of God. Instead of tearing down others through their conversations, they were to build others up.  Instead of complaining about God in their conversations, they were to express appreciation to God.

And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us the reality that we live lives that imitate Jesus when we control our conversations. As followers of Jesus, our day to day lives are to be marked by a lifestyle that controls our conversations. As followers of Jesus, we are to control our conversations from those that make fun of moral standards, are foolish, or that are suggestive or degrading. As followers of Jesus, we are to control our conversations to those that express gratitude for God’s activity in our lives.

So here is a question to consider: Is your day to day life marked by a lifestyle that controls your conversations? Is your day to day life marked by conversations that make fun of moral standards, that are foolish, or that are suggestive or degrading? Or is your day to day life marked by conversations that express appreciation for God’s activity in your life? Because as followers of Jesus we live lives that imitate Jesus when we control our conversations. Paul then reveals for us a fourth evidence of a life that imitates Jesus in verse 5:

For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord;

Now if Paul was communicating verse 5 in the language we use in our culture today, it would probably sound something like this: “The reality that you need to know is true and worth remembering is that the person who lives a lifestyle that embraces their selfish sexual and material desires over God’s desires for their lives reveals that they worship their personal pleasure and possessions instead of God and are not in a relationship with Jesus as part of the kingdom of God”.

Then, in verse 6, Paul commands the members of the church at Ephesus to let no one deceive you with empty words. In other words, the members of the church at Ephesus were to make sure that no one misled them into thinking that they could live a lifestyle that embraced their selfish sexual and material desires over God’s desires for their lives and still be in a relationship with Jesus as part of the kingdom of God. Paul’s point is that anyone who would make such statements were speaking empty words, which are words that are devoid of any intellectual or spiritual truth or value.

Instead, Paul explains that those who live a lifestyle that embraces their selfish sexual and material desires over God’s desires for their lives will experience the wrath of God in their lives. As we talked about earlier in this series, the wrath of God is God’s right and just response to selfishness and rebellion. Paul is reminding the members of the church at Ephesus that those who follow the influence of those in the world who rebel and reject the message and teachings of Jesus in disobedience are sons of disobedience. And as sons of disobedience, they will experience God’s right and just response to their disobedient selfishness and rebellion.

And because of that reality, in verse 8, Paul commands the members of the church of Ephesus to do not be partakers in with them. Paul’s point is that the members of the church of Ephesus should not share and invest their lives in a close relationship with those who live a lifestyle that embraces their selfish sexual and material desires over God’s desires for their lives.

Paul then provides the reason why they should not share and invest their lives in a close relationship with those who live a lifestyle that embraces their selfish sexual and material desires over God’s desires for their lives: for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord. When Paul uses the word darkness here, he is explaining that there was a time when the members of the church of Ephesus were dead men and women walking as a result of their selfishness and rebellion and were in a state of moral and spiritual darkness.

But now, as a result of being made alive through Jesus, they were now in a state of spiritual light with Jesus, who is the light of the world. Paul here is painting a word picture to reveal the reality that since darkness and light do not coexist in close relationship with one another, as followers of Jesus, the members of the church at Ephesus were not longer to share in a close relationship with those who are still dead men and women walking as a result of their selfishness and rebellion that placed them in a state of moral and spiritual darkness.

Paul here is not saying that they could not have friendships or relationships with those who were far from God. Instead, Paul is saying that they should not share and invest their lives in close relationships, such as marriage or other close commitments, with those who live a lifestyle that embraces their selfish sexual and material desires over God’s desires for their lives.

And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us the reality that we live lives that imitate Jesus when we refuse to be deceived. As followers of Jesus, our day to day lives are to recognize the reality that those who live a lifestyle that embraces their selfish desires reveal that they are not in relationship with Jesus as a part of the kingdom of God. As followers of Jesus, we are not to be deceived by others to believe otherwise. And as followers of Jesus, we are not to share our lives in close relationship with those who live a lifestyle that embraces their selfish desires.

We are not to share our lives in close relationship with those who live a lifestyle that embraces their selfish desires because we are no longer in a state of moral and spiritual darkness, but are now in a state of moral and spiritual light as a result of our relationship with Jesus.

So here is a question to consider: Have you been deceived into thinking that you can live a lifestyle that embraces your selfish sexual and material desires over God’s desires for your life and still be in a relationship with Jesus as part of the kingdom of God? Have you been deceived into thinking that you can share in close and personal relationships with those who live a lifestyle that embraces their selfish desires without any impact on your life? Because as followers of Jesus we live lives that imitate Jesus when we refuse to be deceived.

Friday, we will see Paul reveal two additional evidences of a life that imitates Jesus…

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a life that imitates Jesus...


At the church where I serve, we are spending our time together in a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of our Bibles called the book of Ephesians. This week, I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week, where we will see the Apostle Paul continue to provide a list of commands to the members of the church at Ephesus when it comes to how they were to live out their day to day lives as followers of Jesus.

Now if you do not buy the whole Jesus Bible thing, here’s the thing, what the Apostle Paul is going to talk about here is optional for you. You are not on the hook for what Paul is about to say. However, if you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, what the Apostle Paul is about to say to us this morning is not optional; instead it is required.

And it is in these series of commands that we will see Paul reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to our identity as a follower of Jesus. So let's discover this timeless truth together, beginning in Ephesians 5:1:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;

Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of the church at Ephesus with a command: Therefore be imitators of God. In other words, in light of all that God has done vertically for you so that you could experience the identity that He designed you to live in as followers of Jesus. In light of the reality that the worth of our identity should drive us to live in a way that is worthy of our identity as a follower of Jesus; In light of the reality that our identity of a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a new life as we lay aside our old life; In light of the reality that our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead to a lifestyle that builds trust with others, you are to live a life that reveals and reflects Jesus to others.

Paul then provides the reason behind his command with the phrase, as beloved children. Paul’s point to the members of the church of Ephesus was that the reality that they have a heavenly father who loves them, who chose them, who adopted them, who gave what was closest to Himself to rescue them, who has given them an inheritance and His very presence through the Holy Spirit should drive them to live a life that looks like Him.

As parents, we see this happen with our children, don’t we? Parents, do you remember a time when your children wanted to act in a way that imitated you? Maybe it was the time when they wanted to shave as they watched you shave. Maybe it was the time when they wanted to help work on the car when you worked on the car. Maybe it was the time when they wanted to cook as they watched you cook. Or maybe it was the time they wanted to dress up as they watched you dress up for a special occasion.

You see, there is something within children that drives them to want to imitate their parents. And throughout the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in the Bible, we see Jesus repeatedly say that He only did what He saw His Father doing. And in the same way, we see Paul command followers of Jesus throughout history to be driven to imitate our Heavenly Father.

And it is here that we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us another timeless truth regarding our identity as a follower of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a life that imitates Jesus. Just as it was for the members of the church at Ephesus, just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a life that imitates Jesus.

Now a natural question that arises at this point is “Well Dave that sounds great, but what does that look like? What does a life that imitates Jesus practically look like in one’s day to day life? And how do I know if I am living my life as a follower of Jesus in a way that imitates Jesus”?

If those questions are running through your mind, I want to let you know that these are great questions to be asking. And in Ephesians 5:2-14, we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us six specific evidences of a life that imitates Jesus. We see the first evidence in verse 2. Let’s look at it together.

  and walk in love, just as Christ  also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Here we see the Apostle Paul command the members of the church at Ephesus to walk in love. As we discovered earlier in this series, when Paul uses the word walk here, he is referring to how one conducts and lives their day to day lives as followers of Jesus. And how they were to live our day to day lives is in love.

Paul then unpacks what this love should look like in their day to day lives with the phrase “just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” But what does that mean?

With this phrase, Paul is reminding the members of the church at Ephesus of what would happen under the Jewish sacrificial system. In the Jewish sacrificial system, there were two times every day that sacrifices were made to God for the sins of the people. These sacrificial offerings involved animals who were offered as a substitute to pay the penalty for acts of selfishness and rebellion that had been committed against God. These sacrifices were often described as a fragrant aroma, which was a word picture to communicate that the sacrificial offering had satisfied God’s right and just response to selfishness and sin.

Now, as we discovered earlier in this series, Jesus death on the cross removed the need for the Jewish sacrificial system. Jesus was the one and only sacrifice that was necessary to pay the penalty for our selfishness and rebellion.

Paul’s point here is that followers of Jesus should live a life that is marked by a selfless and sacrificial love that imitated the selfless and sacrificial love that drove Jesus to willingly give Himself up to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us the reality that we live lives that imitate Jesus when we sacrificially love others.

As followers of Jesus, our day to day lives are to be marked by a selfless and sacrificial love that places others first. So here is a question to consider: Is your day to day life marked by such sacrificial love? Because as followers of Jesus we live lives that imitate Jesus when we sacrificially love like Jesus.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul reveal for us additional evidences of a life that imitates Jesus…

Friday, July 25, 2014

Our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead to a lifestyle that builds trust with others...


This week, we have been looking at a section of a letter that was written by a man named Paul and is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Ephesians.  So far, we have seen the Apostle Paul make five specific commands to followers of Jesus throughout history that reveal whether or not we are laying aside our old life in a way that leads us to live a new life in light of our new identity as a follower of Jesus. Today, we will see Paul's sixth command to the members of the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 4:31:

 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Here we see the Apostle Paul command the members of the church at Ephesus to rid themselves of six different attitudes and actions that demonstrate hostility against others. First, Paul commands the members of the church to rid themselves of bitterness, which is a state of animosity towards others. Paul then commands the members of the church to rid themselves of wrath, which is a state of intense displeasure or rage against others.

Third, Paul commands the members of the church to rid themselves of anger against others. Paul then commands the members of the church to rid themselves of clamor. In other words, Paul is commanding the members of the church to stop shouting at one another.

Fifth, Paul commands the members of the church to rid themselves of slander, which is abusive speech that denigrates and defames others. And sixth, Paul commands the members of the church to rid themselves of malice, which is a mean spirited or vicious attitude or disposition against others.

You see, Paul wanted the members of the church at Ephesus to rid themselves of their old nature that was marked by a lifestyle of hostility against others. And in the same way today, our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to lay aside a lifestyle of hostility against others. As followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of animosity, rage, anger, shouting, abusive speech that defames others, and a mean spirited attitude against others.

So here is a question to consider:  Are you living a lifestyle that is marked by an attitude of hostility against others? Do your words and actions often match what the Apostle Paul is talking about here?

Because those traits reveal a life that is being lives according to our old nature apart from God. And our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to lay aside a lifestyle of hostility against others. We see Paul's seventh command to the members of the church at Ephesus in verse 32:

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Now when Paul commands the members of the church at Ephesus to forgive each other, this word in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to show oneself gracious by forgiving wrongdoing.

So Paul’s command here, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: Be kind to one another with a soft heart towards others, and make sure that you are willing to extend grace and forgive the wrongdoing that others have done to you”.

Now a natural objection that often arises when it comes to the issue of forgiveness usually sounds something like this: “Well Dave you do not know my story. You do not know what has been done to me. So how can you expect me to forgive others in light of all the wrong that has been done to me?”

We see the Apostle Paul respond to that potential objection with the reason why we are to extend grace and forgive the wrongdoing that others have done to us: just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Paul basically says to the members of the church at Ephesus “So you do not want to forgive others for the wrongdoing that they have done to you. So you want God to forgive you but you are not willing to forgive others? Are you perfect? Well, do you want God to take that same approach when it comes to the wrongdoing that you have done to Him and others?”

Here we see Paul reveal for us the reality that forgiven people forgiven. You see, forgiveness is giving up your right to be right and trusting in the just God of justice to deal with the injustice that occurred against you. And just as God has forgiven you for your selfishness and rebellion against Him, we are to forgive others for the wrong that is done to us.

Paul wanted the members of the church at Ephesus to rid themselves of their old nature that was marked by a lack of forgiveness in order to put on their new nature that reflected their identity as being aligned with a lifestyle that forgave others as they had been forgiven.

And in the same way today, our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a new life that forgives others as we have been forgiven. As followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of an unforgiving attitude toward others. Instead, as followers of Jesus, we are to live a life that is kind, that has a soft heart towards others, and that extends grace by forgiving others as we have been forgiven.

So here is a question to consider:  Are you living a lifestyle that is marked by an unkind, hardhearted and unforgiving attitude toward others? Because those traits reveal a life that is being lives according to our old nature apart from God. Or are you living a lifestyle that is marked by a kind, softhearted, and forgiving attitude toward others? Because, our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a new life that forgives others as we have been forgiven.

And it is in this section of this letter that we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us another timeless truth regarding our identity as a follower of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead to a lifestyle that builds trust with others. Our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to a life that builds trust with others by living a life that is marked by truth, by the right response to anger, by integrity and generosity in the workplace, by helpful words and a helpful attitude towards others and that forgives others as we have been forgiven.

You see, whether you buy the whole Jesus, Bible, church thing or not, we build trust with others not by living a life of falsehood, but by living a life of truth. We build trust with others not by living a life of unrestrained anger, but by living a life that is marked by a right response of anger. We build trust with others not by living a life of dishonesty at work, but by living a life of integrity and generosity at work.

We build trust with others not by living a life that is marked by harmful and hurtful words that tear others down, but by living a life that is marked by helpful words that build others up. We build trust with others not by living a life that is marked by hostility towards others, but by living a life that is marked by a helpful attitude towards others. And we build trust with others not by living a life that is marked by unforgiveness, but by living a life that is marked by a willingness to forgive others as we have been forgiven.

Now if you do not buy the whole Jesus, Bible thing, this is all optional for you. But a question that you need to ask if you do not buy the whole Jesus, Bible, thing, is this: Is what the Apostle Paul says here true as you live your day to day life? Would you build trust with others if you rid yourselves of the attitudes and actions that Paul commands followers of Jesus to rid themselves of? Would you build trust with others if you replaced those attitudes and actions with what the Apostle Paul commanded followers of Jesus to replace them with? 

However, if you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, what the Apostle Paul has said to us this morning is not optional; instead it is required. It is required because our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead to a lifestyle that builds trust with others.

So how are you doing? Are you living a life in your old nature apart from Jesus that is destroying trust with others? Or are you living your life in your new identity as a follower of Jesus that builds trust with others?

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Three Additional Indications Of A New Life That Is Laying Aside The Old Life...


This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in the New Testament of our Bibles where a man named Paul makes seven specific commands to followers of Jesus throughout history that reveal whether or not we are laying aside our old life in a way that leads us to live a new life.

Yesterday, we saw Paul reveal for us the reality that our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to lay aside a lifestyle of falsehood in order to live a new life that was marked by truth.

In addition, our identity as a follower of Jesus leads us to live a new life that was marked by the right response of anger. Our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to respond in anger at the right things. And our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us not to wrong God or others in our response of anger. Our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to respond to anger in a timely manner. Today, we see Paul's third command to the members of the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 4:28:

He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

Now verse 28, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: "Those of you who are stealing at work need to stop taking what does not belong to you. Instead, you need exert yourself to work hard to accomplish something of worth that benefits your employer and will provide you the opportunity to be generous to those who are in need".

You see, Paul wanted the members of the church at Ephesus to rid themselves of their old nature that was marked by dishonesty and robbery in the workplace in order to put on our new nature that reflected their identity as being aligned with a lifestyle of honesty and integrity in the workplace. And in the same way today, our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to lay aside a lifestyle of dishonesty at work in order to live a new life that was marked by integrity and generosity.

As followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of taking what belongs to our bosses and live our lives at work in a way that works with integrity. As followers of Jesus, we are to work hard to accomplish something of worth that benefits others and so as to be able to be generous to those in need.

So here is a question to consider: Are you living a lifestyle that is marked by dishonesty at work? Are you stealing stuff from your employer? Are you stealing time from your employer? Because those traits reveal a life that is being lives according to our old nature apart from God.

Or are you living a lifestyle that is marked by integrity and generosity in the workplace? Because our identity as a follower of Jesus leads us to lay aside a lifestyle of dishonesty at work in order to live a new life that was marked by integrity and generosity. We see Paul's fourth command to the members of the church at Ephesus in verse 29:

 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

When Paul uses the word unwholesome, here this word refers to that which is bad or unwholesome to the extent of being harmful or evil. So Paul here is commanding the members of the church at Ephesus to rid themselves of using words that were harmful and hurtful to others. Instead, Paul commands the members of the church at Ephesus to use words that are good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

Now the word edification literally means to build something up. In other words, Paul wanted the members of the church at Ephesus to use words that built others up when they were in need of those words. Paul wanted the members of the church at Ephesus to use words that built others up in a way that benefited and extended favor to others. Paul wanted the members of the church at Ephesus to rid themselves of their old nature that was marked by harmful and hurtful words in order to put on their new nature that reflected their identity as being aligned with a lifestyle of helpful words toward others.

And in the same way today, our identity as a follower of Jesus leads us to lay aside a lifestyle of hurtful words in order to live a new life that was marked by helpful words. As followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of tearing others down with our words. Instead, as followers of Jesus, we are to start building others up with our words. We are to speak words that are useful in building others up. And we are to speak words that are beneficial to others.

So here is a question to consider:  Are you living a lifestyle that is marked by harmful and hurtful words that tear others down? Are you sarcastic, even caustic with your words? Because those traits reveal a life that is being lives according to our old nature apart from God.

 Or are you living a lifestyle that is marked by helpful words that build others? Because, our identity as a follower of Jesus leads us to lay aside a lifestyle of hurtful words in order to live a new life that was marked by helpful words. We see Paul's fifth command to the members of the church at Ephesus in verse 30:

 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Now what I found so interesting here is that the word grieved here, in the language that this letter was originally written in means to irritate, offend, or insult. You see, the Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force. Instead the Holy Spirit is a person who you can insult and offend. So Paul here is commanding the members of the church at Ephesus to not insult or offend the Holy Spirit.

Paul then reminds the members of the church at Ephesus that the Holy Spirit sealed them, or identified them, as being followers of Jesus who were Jesus own possession. As we talked about earlier, in a sense, God the Father has put us on lay away. And as a deposit toward the full payment, we have received the Holy Spirit, until the day when God brings us into the fullness of the relationship that we were created for with Him in Heaven. That is what Paul is referring to when he uses the phrase "by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

You see, Paul wanted the members of the church at Ephesus to rid themselves of their old nature that was marked by a lifestyle that offended the Holy Spirit. And in the same way today, our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to lay aside a lifestyle that offends the Holy Spirit who identifies us as being under new ownership. As followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of the things in our lives that insult and offend the Holy Spirit.

So here is a question to consider:  Are you living a lifestyle that insults and offends the Holy Spirit? Does your attitude insult and offend the Holy Spirit? Do your words and actions insult and offend the Holy Spirit? Because those traits reveal a life that is being lives according to our old nature apart from God.

And our identity as a follower of Jesus leads us to lay aside a lifestyle that offends the Holy Spirit who identifies us as being under new ownership.

Friday, we will see to final commands from the Apostle Paul that will reveal for us a timeless truth...

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The evidence of leading a new life that is laying aside the old life....


At the church where I serve, we have been spending our time together looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of our Bibles called the book of Ephesians. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would enable us to see our true identity, the identity that He designed us to live in, so that we would live our day to day lives in light of our true identity.

This week I would like for us to spend our time together by picking up where we left off last month. As we ended our time together last month, a natural question that we were left with was "Well Dave, saying that our identity of a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a new life as we lay aside our old life sounds great, but what does that practically look like? I mean, how am I supposed to lay aside my old life and put on my new life? And how do I really know if I am living a new life that is laying aside our old life?"

If those questions were running through your mind, I want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking. And in Ephesians 4:25-32, we see the Apostle Paul make seven specific commands to followers of Jesus throughout history that reveal whether or not we are laying aside our old life in a way that leads us to live a new life. And it is in these series of commands that we will see Paul reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to our identity as a follower of Jesus. So let's look at the first command together, beginning in Ephesians 4:25:

Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.

Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of the church at Ephesus with a familiar phrase: "Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR. As we discovered earlier in this series, the phrase laying aside literally means to rid oneself of something. And what Paul wanted the members of the church of Ephesus to rid themselves of was falsehood.

Instead of living a life of falsehood, or lies, Paul commands the members of the church of Ephesus to speak truth each one to his neighbor. In other words, Paul wanted the members of the church at Ephesus to rid themselves of their old nature that was marked by lying and falsehood in order to put on their new nature that reflected their identity as being aligned a lifestyle of truth telling.

Now when Paul uses the phrase each one with his neighbor, he is specifically referring to fellow followers of Jesus at the church of Ephesus. Paul then provides the reason why they were to live lives of truth telling by explaining that we are members of one body. Paul's point here is that the members of the church at Ephesus were connected in community with one another as a result of being a part of the body of Christ.

And to back this claim, Paul quotes from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of our Bibles called the book of Zechariah. In Zechariah 8:16, the prophet Zechariah proclaimed that there would be a day when the Jewish people would be rescued and redeemed by God. And as a result of God's promised activity in their lives, the Jewish people were to no longer live their lives with lying and falsehood. Instead, as a redeemed community of people that were living together in community, their lives were to be marked by truth.

And now, the members of the church at Ephesus, who were a rescued and redeemed people as a result of the fulfillment of God's promise, were to rid themselves of their past life of lying in order to live new lives of truth. And in the same way today, our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to lay aside a lifestyle of falsehood in order to live a new life that was marked by truth.

So here is a question to consider: Are you living a lifestyle that is marked by falsehood? Deception? Lying? Because those traits reveal a life that is being lived according to our old nature apart from God. Or are you living a lifestyle that is marked by truth in community with others? Because our identity as a follower of Jesus leads us to lay aside a lifestyle of falsehood in order to live a new life that was marked by truth. We see Paul's second command to the members of the church at Ephesus in verse 26:

 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.

Now a natural question that arises here is "what does Paul mean when he says be angry and yet do not sin? I mean can you be angry and not sin?" The answer to that second question is yes; you can be angry and not sin. And if you are here this morning and want to push back against that statement, I would simply direct your attention to the life of Jesus. You see, Jesus never sinned, yet He went into the temple and turned over the tables of the moneychangers not once but twice.

You see, far too often as followers of Jesus, we tend to not get angry at things that should make us angry while at the same time get angry at things that should not make us angry. I mean we can blow a head gasket over them messing up our order in a restaurant while not being the least bit upset when multitudes of people suffer through a famine.

When Paul commands the members of the church at Ephesus to be angry and yet do not sin, he is commanding them to make sure that they respond in anger to the right things and that they respond in anger the right way. And to back his point, the Apostle Paul quotes from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of our Bibles called the book of Psalms.

In Psalm 4:4, King David expresses his anger at those who were mistreating him. However, instead of responding in a sinful manner, King David, worships the Lord for the gladness and peace that the Lord had placed in his heart as he responded to his anger without sinning.

And in the same way today, our identity as a follower of Jesus leads us to live a new life that was marked by the right response of anger. Our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to respond in anger at the right things. And our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us not to wrong God or others in our response of anger.

In addition, Paul also commands the members of the church at Ephesus to do not let the sun go down on your anger. To understand what Paul is communicating here, we first need to understand what he is not communicating. Paul here is not commanding followers of Jesus to have all conflict resolved before the sun sets. Paul is not commanding followers of Jesus to stay awake until a conflict is fully resolved.

This phrase was an idiom in the cultural of the first century that was used to encourage people to accomplish things in a timely manner. Since there was not electricity in the first century, there were tasks that needed to be done in a timely manner, before the sun set. Paul's point to the members of the church at Ephesus is that they were to make sure to deal with their anger in a timely manner.

In verse 27, Paul explains that the reason why they were to make sure to deal with their anger in a timely manner was to not give the devil an opportunity. Now this phrase in the language we use in our culture today, literally means do not give the devil a chance to exert his influence.

Have you been there? Have you been in that place where you go to bed angry? And as you are sleeping its like "I am so mad at him, he is such a jerk". And the devil is like "he is a jerk, you should cheat on him".

Paul is revealing for us the reality that when we do not deal with our anger in a timely manner; we give the devil an opportunity to exert his influence to tempt us to respond to our anger in a way that wrongs God and others. And as followers of Jesus, we are to deal with our anger in a timely manner that does not let anger fester and that does not give the devil and chance to exert his influence as a result of our festering anger. While we may not be able to resolve the conflict fully, we are to deal with the anger that the conflict has produced in us in a timely manner.

So here is a question to consider: Are you living a lifestyle that gets angry over the right things? Are you living a lifestyle that is marked by a right response to anger? Are you living a lifestyle that responds to anger in a timely manner? Because our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a new life that was marked by the right response of anger.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul's third command to the members of the church at Ephesus…

Friday, July 18, 2014

A Reminder Regarding Our Identity...


For the past month at the church where I serve, we have taken a break from this series entitled identity. During this series, we have been looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of our Bibles called the book of Ephesians. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer has been that God would enable us to see our true identity, the identity that He designed us to live in, so that we would live our day to day lives in light of our true identity.
 
Since we have taken this break, I wanted to spend today reminding ourselves of all that we have discovered about our identity as a follower of Jesus so far in this series. For the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians, we saw the Apostle Paul focus on all that God has done vertically for us so that we could experience the identity that He designed us to live in as followers of Jesus.

We saw Paul focus on the reality that our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis of our spiritual blessings because we have been chosen by God the Father and adopted as His children, because we have been rescued by Jesus Christ from the selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God, we have obtained an inheritance according to His plan and for His glory, and we have the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in our lives.

We saw Paul focus on the reality that that our identity as a follower of Jesus is based on the reality that while we were once dead, we have been made alive through Jesus. We saw Paul focus on the reality that our identity as a follower of Jesus should remove racial barriers and should result in equality among followers of Jesus. We saw Paul focus on the reality that our identity as a follower of Jesus flows from the incomprehensible love of Christ that results in our relationship with Christ.

We then looked on as the Apostle Paul shifted his focus to how we should live when it comes to our horizontal relationships with others in light of all that God has done when it comes to our vertical relationship with Him. We looked on as the Apostle Paul revealed for us the timeless truth that the worth of our identity should drive us to live in a way that is worthy of our identity as a follower of Jesus.

Then, on Father’s day, the Apostle Paul revealed for us the timeless truth that our identity of a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a new life as we lay aside our old life. We discovered that as followers of Jesus, our identity should lead us to no longer live our day to day lives like those who do not know Jesus and who are far from God. Instead, our identity as a follower of Jesus should lead us to rid ourselves of our old nature that identified us as being far from God in order to put on our new nature that reflects our identity as a follower of Jesus.

Now with that in mind, we are going to spend our time next week picking up where we left off last month. As we ended our time together last month, a natural question that we were left with was "Well Dave, saying that our identity of a follower of Jesus should lead us to live a new life as we lay aside our old life sounds great, but what does that practically look like? I mean, how am I supposed to lay aside my old life and put on my new life? And how do I really know if I am living a new life that is laying aside our old life?"

Next week, we will look at a section of the book of Ephesians that provides the timeless answer to these questions and reveals for us a timeless truth about our identity as followers of Jesus...