Living as a Believer in Christ’s Church

Life in the Lord’s Church

Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Christians who live like the world, grieve the Holy Spirit, who indwells us. Now, Paul brings this all together in a conclusion. Returning to the issue of speech, what comes out of our mouths, reflecting what is going on in the inner man, he examines the motives of our hearts that underlie our words and deeds, and shows us how we can change our attitudes, how we can put off the old, and put on the new…

1 Putting off Our Old Pagan Inclinations. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.

Paul lists six sinful predispositions that characterised pagan society both in Ephesus then, and that are still obvious in the ungodly world today, and which he tells us we are to ‘put away.’ Let’s look at them briefly:-

• Bitterness. A tongue as sharp as a razor! – like a person who so much resents his neighbour that he deliberately sets out to needle him. Think of the trouble that sort of attitude can cause, especially in church.Bitterness takes root in the heart and it issues in uncontrolled anger, and even murder. Matthew 5:22 If you’ve got it, get rid of it. Hebrews 12:15
• Wrath. – hot, fierce, passionate rage. Rage that boils over to the point that it completely controls us, causing us to act wildly or carelessly. You see it when you are out on the road, – road rage would fall under this category. If you’ve got it, get rid of it.
• Anger. Now this us strange, for in verse 26 Paul has told us to ‘be angry!’ Yet here anger is something to be put away. There is such a thing as ‘righteous anger’ but it it always fleeting, based on a specific reaction to a sin or an iniquity, Like when Jesus cleared the temple of those profiteering merchants. But there is also a worldly kind of anger, that comes from life’s trials and disappointments and frustration, and from human interaction.. That is the anger that becomes persistent when it is apparent in our lives we must get rid of it.
• Clamour. The word could be translated as ‘quarrelling’ – being argumentative. Christians should not be troublemakers, always in an argument with others. Just get rid of such behaviour.
• Slander. Speaking falsely about others. Now let’s be clear, – if someone is spreading heresy, we must speak out, – we must call out that person. If a public figure, a person in authority in the land is deliberately misleading, dissembling, lying, and we have proof that they are doing so – we must speak up, and expose them, – but be careful. If you spread false information about someone you could find yourself in court, – and your testimony will be ruined. Get rid of slander.
• Malice. The word means ‘evil intent.’ It’s mischief making, a deliberate attempt to harm someone. It’s the very attitude that leads to vengefulness, that takes delight in harming others.

Again remember that all these examples are imperatives. Paul tells us that we are to put these things away. We are to do it. It’s hard work, but we must search our hearts, with God’s help, and look for these issues, and when we find them, crush them. Romans 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

2 Living the Christian Way. 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,

It’s not enough just to rid our lives of these pagan attitudes of mind, – the Christian way is a positive lifestyle, – we must replace these pagan behaviour patterns with what is good, honest, just, pure, lovely, well spoken of, virtuous… and he sums all of that up in two words:

• Kindness. That goodness of heart that, that predisposition that is the direct opposite of malice and that manifests itself in seeking the good of our neighbours, and especially the good of our brothers and sister in the Lord. It is having a good intent.

• The early church were known for their kindness, – it marked them out as different from the pagan world. It is part of our witness, our ministry, 2 Corinthians 6:1-6 
• • God himself is kind. We are children of our heavenly father, whose attributes include kindness, especially to those who like us, don’t deserve any kindness from him at all. Shouldn’t we display some of the character of our father? Romans 2:4 

So, realistically – how do we practice kindness? Ifyou love your brother, you will be kind to him/her, even when that person is unkind to us. 1 Corinthians 13:4 Love suffers long and is kind;

• Tenderheartedness. If kindness is demonstrated in our words and actions, then the underlying reason, our motivation for doing acts of kindness, is having a heart of compassion. We are not to be known as harsh, unfeeling, uncaring people.Peter sums it up in 1 Peter 3:8

Needless to say, we should be kind and tenderhearted towards our neighbours, – loving them, as we would love ourselves, but Paul is specifically referring here to our Christian brothers and sisters within the church. Colossians 3:12 Ephesians 4:1-2. There should be a special bond of love between us, and here’s why:-

3 Our Stimulus for Christian Conduct. forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

So, why should we be kind and compassionate, when sometimes there are people in the Lord’s Church who are just impossible to live with? There is no doubt that there are some Christians who are very hard to like! Think of what Jesus endured on the cross for you. READ Isaiah 53:3-5 No matter how much others have wounded us, offended us, or harmed us, it pales into insignificance in comparison with what Jesus endued at the hands of sinful mankind, READ, Luke 23:34 Now Paul simply adds that kindness and compassion are part of our Christian forgiveness. He says it again in Colossians 3:12-13 cf Matthew 18:21-22

So, as believers who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, we are to put aside the kind of temperament that characterises the pagan world in which we live, and we are to be different, – instead of being bitter, wrathful, angry, riotous, slanderers, full of malice and hatred, we should have tender, compassionate hearts, – so that we say and do kindnesses to others, because when we think of how greatly Jesus has forgiven us, we will want to forgive others.

© Bob McEvoy March 2024.