Put Away Falsehood and Speak the Truth—Give No Opportunity to the Devil

Ephesians 4:25-32 can be summed up in this way: Put away falsehood and speak the truth. If you become angry, do not sin. Give no opportunity to the devil. Let the one who stole, give up stealing. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Put away from you all bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.

If the body of sin had been removed at our new birth, as some teach, all these exhortations would be superfluous. The Apostle, however, recognized the error of such teaching. He says that the body of sin will be destroyed (future tense) when the old man is kept crucified. (Romans 6:6.)

Some might ask: Should it be necessary to ask a child of God not to lie or steal or get angry? Yes indeed, it is sorely needed, for things are often in a wretched state. A person steals time from himself and others. He “has use for” practically everything, which he then quietly sneaks away with from the workshop or office. He backbites others, twisting their words and making them sound worse than was actually meant. He tells “little white lies” in order to embellish a story or save his skin when he is in a tight spot. He gets angry and uses expressions that hurt other people’s feelings; he makes room for the devil. He becomes bitter about this, that, and the other thing, precisely because he is not sufficiently free from it all. He is covetous, and very quick when it concerns earning a few cents, but less quick when it comes to helping another soul! He points the finger and speaks evil in many ways. All this shows that the law of sin has its seat in the flesh, and proves that the doctrine which says that sin is not present anymore does not hold water.

As a person becomes spiritual, he will put off all this. But it doesn’t happen very quickly, because people would rather sin than suffer. We are quick to acknowledge what Christ has done for us, but things go extremely slow when He requires something of us, even though He gives us all the power we need.