We’re discussing the 2nd half of Ephesians 4 this morning at What-A-Burger.
Would love to get your input on it in the comments below. I’ll share mine a little later in the day.
And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.
But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.
What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.
Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.
Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work.
Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.
Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
In the comments below…
- write something theses verses tell us about Jesus/God
- write something these verses tell us about human nature
- write any new discovery you have made reading these verses
- write the most exciting verse in your opinion and why
- write anything you don’t understand or want to ask about
- write something these verses say we should do
write something theses verses tell us about Jesus/God:
God has something better planned for us than our own natural tendencies
write something these verses tell us about human nature:
we lose focus easily. we lose touch with God and with reality.
write any new discovery you have made reading these verses:
“His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.” it's the Holy Spirit that makes us (and others) fit for God.
write the most exciting verse in your opinion and why:
new life is possible!
write anything you don’t understand or want to ask about:
what does Paul/Eugene Peterson mean by sexual obsession and every sort of perversion. that's a different way of translating the verse than others. i wonder what both had in mind in their writing and translating.
write something these verses say we should do:
live a new life! don't go back to the old ways of doing things. we're called to be different. if we stole before, stop. if we gossiped before, stop. if we lied before, stop.