THE LIFESTYLE OF NEW LIFE – PART 3
Ephesians 4:25-32
INTRODUCTION
We have been reminded last week that the basis for our living or lifestyle is not so that we can become a Christian; rather, because we are a Christian or because we are the new creations in Christ, this is how we live. In other words, these commands are not the means to salvation, but results of our salvation. These are the evidences of God’s sovereign grace in the life of God’s elect.
Also, as I mentioned last week the main point of this section is not about anger or communication. Rather, the controlling subject here is truth. Every command in this section flows out of this one subject. In other words, put off falsehood (v. 25) because of truth, be angry (v. 26) because of truth, and do not sin (v. 26) because of truth, do not give an opportunity to the devil (v. 27) because of truth, do not steal (v. 28a) because of truth, work hard to make earning (v. 28b) because of truth, and share your goods (v. 28c) because of truth. Truth is what is controlling all these commands here.
For the past two Lord’s days we have examined three commands in which how you and I need to live for the glory of God as his new creations.
1. Put Off the Falsehood (v. 25a).
2. Speak the Truth (v. 25b).
3. Be Angry and Do Not Sin (v. 26).
This morning we are continuing in this series of commands to put off and put on. And verse 28 is no exception, namely you put off stealing and you put on honest work. With that in mind, let me begin with the fourth command of this series.
4. Do Not Steal (v. 28a).
The verb for steal in Greek is kleptow, where we get terms like kleptomaniac. The word generally means to “take away something secretly, without the owner’s permission.” This particular command is simply an echo of the eighth command in the Ten Commandments, namely “Thou shall not steal.”
The fact that the apostle particularly commands “he who steals must steal no longer,” this clearly implies that in the church of Ephesus there were people who were actually stealing. In fact, the verb in Greek is in present active participles, which literally reads: the one who is stealing [meaning, at this very hour], must steal no longer.
That is what we must put off, because Christians are the people of truth. To steal what belongs to someone else simply contradicts the essence of truth. That is why it is an oxymoron statement to describe any Christian that he/she is a stealing Christian.
At this point, let me take you through some examples of stealing. As you may guess there are many examples of stealing, hence I will not spend the rest of this message on exhaustive illustrations. Nonetheless, let me take you through some biblical and practical considerations.
I want to point out that there are two primary types of stealing, namely stealing from God and stealing from people. One is vertical, the other is horizontal. Let me start with the vertical stealing, namely stealing from God.
VERTICAL STEALING
Stealing the Glory of God
We can be guilty of stealing God’s glory when we fail to give him his rightful honor, and that applies to every good thing that happens to us. Do you realize that Christians are the only people in this world that cannot take any credit on one’s self when something good happens? According to 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” The point is everything that we have is a result of God’s kindness and grace. We have received what we do not deserve.
As much as we are thankful and extremely blessed by many material blessings from God, the greatest blessing is, however, God’s offer of his salvation through his son; and as a result, the deliverance from the penalty of what we justly deserve by God’s grace.
- NAU Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
One of the evidences of God’s sovereign grace is that there is absence of self-glory. In fact, that is one of the big indications whether one truly understands the gospel and has experienced his saving grace. To say it negatively, the person who is generally arrogant, boastful, and glories in him or herself does not know God and the gospel. If God hasn’t already destroyed such people, then they are well on their way to destruction (cf. Acts 12:18-23). The Bible is full of examples of what happens when someone attempts to steal God’s glory.
The Bible is clear. God does not share his glory with anyone.
- NAU Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.
- NAU Isaiah 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.
Stealing the Authority of God
We are guilty of stealing God’s authority when we belittle, neglect, and disobey God’s word. That is like saying, “God, I appreciate what you said, but…” Failing to obey God’s word is simply usurping his authority. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus addressed the heart of this issue when he said:
- NAU Luke 6:46 ¶ “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Stealing the Property of God
We are guilty of stealing God’s property when we think we have the ownership. If you think about it, the only one who has the right to say, “It’s mine” is none other than God himself. According to Psalm 50:
- NAU Psalm 50:10 “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. 11 “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. 12 “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains.
As you can see, we do not have the ownership of anything, except our sin and its wages. All that is to say, everything belongs to God – your time, your treasures, and your talents. Those three T’s are critical in relation to your giving. For instance, in regards to your time, how much of your best time goes to God? Obviously, I am not necessarily suggesting the quantity of time but the quality. Do you give the best of your time to the Lord, or do you give him the leftover?
How about your treasures? Are you regularly and sacrificially give financial offerings unto the Lord through your local church? I find that many professing Christians are often quick to protest when they are told that they should give at least the ten percent of their income. And generally they are so hung up with the whole ten percent deal. They quickly want to tell you that tithing is an OT thing, but in the NT God simply loves a cheerful giver.
I’ve observed over the years that when people generally use 2 Corinthians 9:7 to say that God loves a cheerful giver, what they’re really saying is that one should not have such a “huge financial burden” as ten percent giving, because “God loves a cheerful giver.” My response to such comment is generally with one simple question: since God loves a cheerful giver, what percentage of giving do you normally give cheerfully? In other words, can you give cheerfully with 25 percent, 50 percent, or 99 percent of your income? Since, you’re the one who says it does not matter what you give because “God loves a cheerful giver,” then why do you have a problem with giving 99 percent of your income or 50 percent? Either you are speaking the truth or lying!
It has been my observation that generally the people who use 2 Corinthians 9:7 rarely give above 10 percent of their income (let alone 4 percent!), yet they sure have no problem singing that hymn “All To Jesus I Surrender.” Sure, no one has problem giving “cheerfully” with 1 percent or less to God, while selfishly keeping hordes of 99 percent for themselves. I want you to know that you are stealing from God what does not even belong to you in the first place. How do you justify the fact that you tip more at a restaurant than you do at church?
I am not going give a theological exposition on tithing at this time, but I want you to know that God cares both the quantity and quality of giving. How foolish for people to use 2 Corinthians 9:7 to justify a low view of giving by erroneously saying that God only cares about the attitude of giving and not the amount, when the verse before clearly talks about the amount (cf. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7). In fact, the language of the whole chapter 9 is that of giving generously, not sparingly (cf. Malachi 3:8-12).
You can steal from God by not giving him your best time, your best treasures, but also your best talent. Here I am not speaking of your natural talent, but your spiritual gift. The question is: what have you done with your spiritual gift? Better yet, what are you doing now to edify the local church?
HORIZONTAL STEALING
Again there are many examples of stealing and this is not exhaustive. Nonetheless, let me point out a few that we should consider. Some are more obvious than others. For example, how about stealing cash from your parents or siblings? What about habitually taking beyond the limited breaks and lunch time at work? Hence, you steal from your employer.
You steal from your creditors when you fail to pay bills, such as your utility, credit cards, tax, and so on.
What are some other ways to rob others? How about robbing a child’s innocence by molestation, or exposing them to any gross form of vice? How about robbing a child’s joy by every form of abuse? All that is to say, any type of crime against a little helpless child is cruelest and grossest form of stealing from humanity. And as you have heard from last Lord’s Day, we need to be angry about such social injustice.
How about intellectual or academic stealing? Examples include copying someone else’s homework or answers to exams. Intellectual stealing can also include copying something from someone else’s research, report, or book without noting proper citation. Now with the advancement in technology, there are many ministers today who download sermon notes of someone else’s and preach them as their own, with the same jokes and illustrations!
In verse 28 the key phrase is “no longer.” This particular phrase (“no longer”) is the operative word for genuine repentance. It is what some grammarians would call a punctiliar action, which refers to a certain action that occurred at a point in time, hence it implies “no longer” thereafter. The point is you have stopped. For instance, before his conversion Apostle Paul persecuted the church; but after his radical conversion he no longer persecuted the church, rather loved the church until his death. That is an illustration of genuine repentance. You no longer do the things that do not glorify God as a result of spiritual conversion. Here the issue is stealing. Hence, as a new creation in Christ, you put off all forms of stealing and you no longer do them.
5. Work Hard (v. 28b).
As you have been listening in this series, true repentance is not simply to put off the negatives, but at the same time, you put on the positives. In this text, we are commanded to put off stealing and also put on hard work. That is to say, stealing is to be replaced with hard work. The reason why I say stealing is to be replaced with hard work is because of another key word in this text, namely “but rather.” The point is, instead of stealing, you work hard with your hands. That is why stealing is to be replaced with hard work. In fact, in Greek the verb for labor means to physically labor to a point of exhaustion.[1]
There is another key word that you should not miss, namely the word good. The text reads, “…performing with his own hands what is good,” as oppose to performing with his own hands what is bad, unrighteous, or evil.
Here we need to raise an interpretive question as to what is that good, which Paul is implying. Since no single verse stands on its own (including verse 28), we must understand its context, namely the corporate life of a church. In other words, the motif of this context is not about individualism but community; it is not independence, but dependence on one another; it is not me, myself and I, but us, ours and we; it is not what’s “good” for me, but what’s good for our church; it is not the good of my personal wellbeing, but the good of our corporate wellbeing. Why? It is because we are members of one another (v. 25)! You belong to me and I belong to you. In fact, the whole text is hinged on the last portion of verse 28. In fact, one of the most important phrases in Paul’s letters is this conjunction “so that,” which states the purpose or reason for whatever he is arguing. Here, Paul states the purpose or reason why we should put off stealing and put on hard work, it is so that we will have something to share with one who has need.
You don’t know how many times I counsel people that having things is not morally wrong or that it is worldly. There is a huge difference between you having things and things having you.
Please don’t miss the final point of this verse. The reason why we put off stealing and put on hard work is not so that you can enjoy it all for yourself, serving your interests, or building your empire or kingdom. No. God’s purpose is much bigger than your self-focused world; it is outside of you and beyond you. He may use you as a means to accomplish his sovereign purpose, but ultimately, his sovereign purpose is beyond you and outside of you. That is to say, his sovereign purpose does not stop with you, but he still wants to save and sanctify others through you. The question is: are you interested?
Just ask yourself. When was the last time you sacrificially shared your goods to someone in this church? The operative word is not your leftovers or something you don’t want, but sacrificially sharing. If you haven’t, then you need to repent. Do you sacrificially share your time, treasures, and spiritual gift to this local church? If you don’t, then you need to repent.
Do you know what is really at the foundation of all stealing? The answer is selfishness. According to Martyn Lloyd-Jones:
It is a lack of respect for others. I am only thinking of myself and what is good for me and what I want and what I can enjoy…But how can there be unity and fellowship if each man is appropriating the possession of another and each man is out for himself? The hands says, I am not interested in the foot, I take everything I can from it! The result is chaos.[2]
[1] Friberg, Analytical Greek Lexicon; Barclay Newman, Greek-English Dictionary; Louw-Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT; Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT.
[2] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Darkness and Light: An Exposition of Ephesians 4:17-5:17 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 247.
