Ephesians 4:17-32

"17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."


Yet another wonderful reminder of who we called to be in Christ! We are told to put off our old self. Why? Because it is DEAD! We used to live in bondage to sin. Praise be to God that He renewed our minds and allowed us to hear and believe the glorious gospel. "But now" (Chapter 2) we can enjoy the righteousness of Christ and pursue holiness as a result of Him defeating sin. We can no longer serve our old master, he is dead. I now have new life in Christ! What does this new life look like? The next part helps to answer this. As well as tie in chapter 1 as Scott pointed out and also a continuation of the first part of this chapter, concerning unity in Christ

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let 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. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.


We are to give no opportunity to the devil, if we do then it brings division. We are to encourage and speak highly of one another and not slander. Also, if we are wronged against, forgive, just as Christ has forgiven us. We are to flee from these things and have the strength to in Christ. What do you think Paul means by "Be angry and do not sin...?" Look also at Ps. 4:4. Because anger is a sin, we are supposed to be slow to anger. But I think here it has to do with a righteous anger towards things, such as sin, that are not holy. We should be angry at sin, so that we can turn away and not sin again. It is an anger that helps us fight, not blame God or because we weren't getting our way. I would hope that my sin would anger me because I know that it doesn't please the Lord.