Paul begins Ephesians 4:25 by saying "therefore." What's he referring to? He's speaking about his previous words about putting off the old self. Now that we're in a new life, we should look and act differently. Only in Christ can this happen; we can't do it on our own. If we could, we wouldn't have needed to turn to God.
The first thing Paul tells us to put off is falsehood, or lying. Lies come from the devil, who is the father of all lies. In fact, Satan told the very first lie in the Garden of Eden. His lie began with the words, "Did God really say...?" (Genesis 3:1)
How often do you feel like God doesn't really care about you or your needs, or that He won't or can't do something for you? This is much like Satan's lie. We're saying to ourselves, "Did God really say that He loves me? Or that He'll meet my needs?"
It's an insult to God to call Him a liar. And that's just what you're doing when you don't believe the Word He has spoken to you.
Lying is a characteristic of the old man, the old self that we are to put off. We are to live in truth. Don't live according to the old sinful nature. Put off lying...to others, to yourself, and to God.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
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