On Monday we looked at heavenly conversation and today we want to look at heavenly conduct.

THE CONDUCT OF CLOTHING

Have you ever noticed how often clothing can transform conduct? If you don’t know what I mean, just keep your eyes open on Halloween.  You might see a child, or even an adult, dressed in a pirate costume and trying to talk like a pirate.  You might see a teenager dressed as Harry Potter waving around some stick as though he suddenly has attained magical power because he put on a normal white shirt and tie, and a black cape.  We could keep going, but I digress.

Is it not true that clothing can sometimes causes you to feel awkward, or confident, or ashamed, or maybe out of place? Clothing often transforms conduct.

This is the point Paul wants to get across when he tells us that putting on the new self means that we put on the new clothes of Christ righteousness.  And that new clothing must truly transform our conduct. We see him detail this new conduct in verses 4:26-28 and 4:30-31.  The first area of conduct that Paul addresses is anger.

PUTTING ANGER TO BED

²⁶Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷and give no opportunity to the devil.

Notice that Paul doesn’t come out and condemn anger, it is as though he sees it some appropriateness to anger.  It’s useful to know that Paul is quoting from the Greek version of Psalm 4:4 in which we find David angry at Israel’s idolatry.  It is possible to have righteous anger: anger at God being robbed of the worship that he is due, or anger at the hideous and offensive nature of sin.  But I would add that this anger should always be mixed with righteous grief.  The one instance where Jesus is said to get angry is Mark 3:5. Jesus was in the synagogue on the Sabbath about to heal a man’s withered hand and the Pharisees would have none of this happening on the Sabbath day. It says, “Jesus looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.”  Righteous anger is to be upset and grieved with idolatry and sin.

What then is unrighteous anger?  You don’t have to look very far, just look down to verse thirty-one, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” Paul gives us five different words to show us the nature of sinful anger.  Sinful anger is filled with bitterness, wrath, clamor (which is yelling, brawling, or shouting indicating a lack of restraint), slander (profane or abusive speech), and malice (viciousness).  So let us look in the mirror and see whether or not our anger is righteous or unrighteous.  Does the name of Christ being profaned and the horrific consequences of sin cause us to get angry?  Or is our anger more of the shouting, abusive, and vindictive sort?  If we are honest, it probably is the latter category.

Paul hastens to add that anger ought not last long, for he says, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Anger must be dealt with quickly and hastily because if it is not, we give an opportunity to the devil.  Let’s pause for a second here and notice the power of this truth.  Unchecked and unrepentant sin gives Satan an opportunity, a place or foothold.  Think about it this way.  Have you ever tried to close a door and then someone sticks his foot in the doorway?  As long as the foothold is there, that door will not shut.  To shut the door the foot must be removed or broken.  That’s the only way.  To knock off Satan from His place as the tyrant dictator of the dominion of sin, he must be removed or broken.  Such a thing happens only when we plead for the blood of Christ to cover our sin and for His righteousness to break the chains of sin and Satan.  After dealing with anger Paul moves on to the issue of stealing.

AWAY WITH STEALING & GRIEVING

²⁸Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

Instead of stealing, the thief redeemed by Christ is to work hard and earn an honest wage.  Did you notice the purpose of earning an honest wage? So that he may have something to share with anyone in need. The Christian is not only marked by diligence and discipline in labor, but he uses his income to support and care.  In short, the Christian is generous.

³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Paul doesn’t give us a positive thing to put on here; rather he only shows us the negative, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” Once again Paul is drawing from the Old Testament, and understanding this not only helps clear up a verse that is often quoted out of context, but it reinforces Paul’s emphasis on walking as a heavenly people.  Here Paul is echoing Isaiah 63:10.  As he reviews God’s gracious actions, he looks back to the exodus and recounts how Yahweh brought his people out of slavery and into a covenant relationship with him.  Yet, despite such grace the nation of Israel, “rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.” So here we see again, Paul addressing the new creation covenant community who has been sealed for the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit, the guarantee of our inheritance.  And he instructs the Ephesians and us to not be like the Israel of old who fell into continual idolatry and sin, but we are to walk in complete faithfulness before our God.

CONDUCT THAT LOOKS AND SOUNDS LIKE HEAVEN

Finally, notice the final, positive exhortations of 4:32.

³² Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

In the place of these six sinful actions, we are instructed to put on kindness, compassion, and forgiveness.  As people forgiven by God, so to we must forgive.  This is heavenly conduct isn’t it?  Paul calls us to be a people marked by righteousness, diligence, generosity, faithfulness, kindness, and forgiveness.

In the school of heaven we learn that not only is our conversation is to sound like heaven, our conduct is to look like heaven.