The Ethics of God’s New
People (II)
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Don’t Lie—Be Truthful
• We are called to live in TRUE righteousness
(v. 24)—and thus the connection
• Lying caused the original breakdown in God’s
community/creation (Genesis 3:1 ff)
• Satan is the “father of lies” and lying always
leads to brokenness (John 8:44)
Don’t Lie—Be Truthful
• Proverbs 6:16-19
• “A lie is a stab into the very vitals of the body
of Christ” (John Mackay)
• Acts 5 ever stands as a strong warning of the
Lord’s disposition toward this threat
Handle Anger—Don’t Sin
• Psalm 4:4
• Anger is acknowledged as a reality, then
restrained
• Two Types of Anger in the Bible
Handle Anger—Don’t Sin
• Righteous Anger
– God’s anger is always righteous (Eph. 5:6)
– Unrighteous Anger—we have to be careful to not
fall into this even when it is right to be angry
– 3 instructions (Don’t Sin; Don’t Nurse; Don’t
Settle into Bitterness that Satan can exploit)
Don’t Steal But Work and
Share
• The gathering of people is open to
exploitation
• Churches see this sometime today in “ponzi”
schemes
• We are not to defraud one another in any
way
Don’t Steal But Work and
Share
• We are to share with those in need
• This will become important in the future with
the fraying of the social safety net
• We are to look out for one another
Don’t Speak To Harm but
Speak To Help
• Sapros—related to rotten fruit
• We can speak truthfully in love to one
another even regarding difficult
conversations
• We are not to tear each other down/we are
to strive for grace and uplift in our speech to
one another
Don’t Brawl but Be
Loving Peacemakers
• Six attitudes and actions to avoid
• Usually related to strife
• We are to seek to be peacemakers, walk in
forgiveness, and express love