Ephesians 4:25 “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”
Pastor Herk continued in his Sunday sermon series through the Pauline epistle of Ephesians stating that being a born again Believer, a child of God, citizen of the kingdom of Heaven, and a follower of Jesus Christ, there was conversion of your soul, regeneration of the spirit and the receiving of the indwelling Holy Spirit within your transformed heart, setting you apart in sanctified holiness from the god-rejecting secular world of the unsaved in sin and hellbound by repentance and “saving” faith. By Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of Father God, Ephesians 2:6-8 explains that “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
So, put off the old man, allow God to renew your mind, and put on the new to fit the whole new godly you in Christ. This new attitude in Christ includes putting off falsehood or lying and putting on truth. Put off anger and put on reconciliation. Put off laziness and put on honest hard work, put off destructive words that tear-down and put on constructive words that build-up, Put off bitterness, rage, slander, divisive arguing and put on kindness, compassion and forgiveness.
Proverbs 6:16-19 “These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.”
Why do people not take seriously the abominable sin in their lives that put Christ on the Cross to die for each of them? The Greek word for falsehood or lying is “pseudos” (where we get the English word Pseudo, meaning a lie – a conscious and intentional falsehood. In a broad sense, whatever is not what it seems to be – the product of perverse, impious, deceitful precepts. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines “falsehood” as: 1. Contrariety or inconformity to fact or truth; as the falsehood of a report. 2. Want of truth or veracity; a lie; an untrue assertion. 3. Want of honesty; treachery; deceitfulness; perfidy. 4. Counterfeit; false appearance; imposture. We all say things at times which are not really genuine; a falsehood.
The main points of Ephesians 4:25 are to (a) put off falsehood, (b) put on truth, and (c) obey these commands because Jesus is the head of the church and we are all members of same body of Believers. Original sin was conceived by a tempting lie of Satan. Jesus said in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” Do not be deceived. Outright lies are usually fairly simple to discern as such, but most lies are subtle or hidden half-truths to deceive people. In today’s culture this is a pretense – a holding out or offering to others something false or feigned; a presenting to others, either in words or actions, a false or hypocritical appearance, usually with a view to conceal what is real, and thus to deceive. Speak truth.
On the next post, let's continue Pastor Herk's message on putting on truth as who we are in Christ. Brian
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