Eph 4:25 “Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak~~ the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.”

Paul had just described the “new man, which was created according to God” (Eph 4:24). The new man must “put off” the “old man, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.”

In Ephesians 4:25, Paul begins to describe what it looks like to “put on the new man.”

The “therefore” introduces the first command of the new life in Christ. Since the reader has been regenerated into a new life, the lies and falsehoods of the devil (“there is no truth in him”; Jn 8:44) have been laid aside by the acceptance of the truth of the gospel.

To the Colossians, Paul made it even clearer: “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man and his deeds” (Col 3:9). This is written as though lying is the chief characteristic of the unsaved “old man.”

One of the first sins to go must be the old tendency to lie, deceive, cheat, exaggerate, “stretch the truth,” and tell half-truths for deceitful motives.

Obviously, wisdom is required. Truthfulness does not mean revealing everything you know to everyone—this can become gossip. Confidence shared is confidence protected among family. However, truth withheld or manipulated to deceive or mislead is lying.

Why would anyone want to lie? They may want to exchange their circumstances, their perceived behavior, or their feelings for a fantasy world in which they are better than they actually are.

Satan has seduced them to believe that the only way to make these changes or accomplish their goals is to lie. They see no alternative. They have been blinded.

The reason for this imperative is that we are “members one of another.” Once lying starts, then every statement is suspect. No one is trusted. Everyone becomes cynical. Trust vanishes, sides are taken, and the wars begin.

The church cannot function under these conditions. A loving honesty must undergird every relationship if we are to minister to one another. We must learn to speak “the truth in love” (Eph 4:15). Will you be honest, no matter how much it hurts?

“Give me wisdom, Lord, to communicate truth in every way as I relate to other believers each day. May You be honored and may others be blessed as a result of my interactions with them.”

 

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