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?