Useful Bible Studies > Ephesians Commentary > chapter 4
Clearly, the first churches had the problem that some Christians were telling lies to each other. We do not think that these Christians were simply trying to avoid pressure from other people. There are much worse reasons than that why many people speak lies. People speak lies for various reasons. For some people, it is a bad habit that they do without any real purpose. Other people speak lies about themselves because they want to impress people, perhaps to make friends. There are also people who lie in order to take advantage of someone else’s weakness. That is an especially severe problem in business matters.
The truth is important to God (John 1:14). Christ always spoke the truth, so Christians should speak the truth, too (4:15). Paul insisted that he always declared God’s message truthfully (2 Corinthians 4:2). The devil is called the father of lies (John 8:44), so Christians should love the truth. They should be sincere and honest people, on whose word other people can depend.
For some people, lies have become part of the way that they think. Perhaps they cannot change themselves - but God can change them. When we become Christians, God wants to change even our thoughts (4:23). God can show us a new way to think in every situation. He will show Christians how they can please him, with their thoughts and words, as well as their actions.
Paul gives a strong reason why Christians must not still lie to each other. He calls all Christians, together: ‘the body of Christ’ (4:15-16; 5:23). In other words, their relationship to each other and to Christ is like the relationship between the different parts of the body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). The parts of a body must all support and give strength to each other. In the same way, Christians must not only think what benefits them personally. It is an attitude like that which causes people to lie. Instead Christians should care about each other. When they have that right attitude, they will want to be truthful and honest with each other.
Next part: Christians and anger (Ephesians 4:26)
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© 2019, Keith Simons.