Verse 22 of Ephesians 4, which speaks of putting off the old man, is followed by "and be

renewed in the spirit of your mind" in verse 23. Then we are urged to put on the new

man, which after God is created in righteousness and holiness in truth. So in both getting

rid of the old man and putting on the new man, we have the work of God. He renews the

spirit of the mind and the new man is His creation. Charles Welch translated the latter

part of verse 24 as:

and in verse 25;

He also reminds us of Romans 1:25 where we read that they,

So in our practical life we are caught up in the battle that goes on between truth and

error, between The Truth and The Lie. Satan is a "liar" and "the father of it" (John. 8:44).

He is the great deceiver, and we must be on our guard lest we say the half truth, for our

evidence must be "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth". We should speak

"every man truth with his neighbor" for we are members one of another. No corrupt

communication should proceed out of the mouth but our words should edify and ministry

grace to those who hear. All evil speaking should be put away. What a high standard is

set before us! It is not easy to let the unkind word or unacceptable remark pass our lips?

The apostle James was aware of this problem when he wrote of the tongue being a little

member, but it boasts great things: "Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!"

(James 3:5)

We come now to Ephesians 4:26, which is sometimes quoted as justification for

"righteous anger" or "righteous indignation". One suggestion is that this could be read as

a question. Can we be angry and sin not? If we are angry, Paul say s that the cause of the

indignation should be settled before the sun sets. We should remember that in verse 31

Paul writes that all bitterness, wrath, and anger...should be put away. We should be kind,

tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God as forgiven us for Christ's sake. If we are

tenderhearted there is little room for righteous indignation.

So we come to the end of this part of the practical section. Le us meditate on the

words "but ye have not so learned Christ". May we remember what Christ has taught us,

all that He has done of us, and the truth as it is in Jesus. Christ told Pilate that one reason

why He came into the world was to bear witness unto the truth, and added "Every one

that is of the truth heareth My voice" (John 18:37)

May we be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and may we have grace so we do not

grieve the Holy Spirit of God (Eph. 4:30).

G.T. Foster