Unlimited Grace

Bryan Chapell: When we begin to reach out and say what God has given me I give to others, I’m beginning to understand that it’s not because of their deserving, it’s not because they’ve met the conditions, it’s because I’m extending to others what God has given me. Receiving and sharing are actually part of the same cloth. If I have received great grace, that begins to fill me up and I recognize the purpose of my honest work is so that I can share with others what I have received.

Guest (Male): So glad you joined us for today's Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. In today's episode, Pastor Bryan shares a lesson from Ephesians chapter 4. Dr. Chapell highlights how by grace through faith, we are made new and become bearers of Christ's image. As such, we are called to work together and honor each other as one body.

You can find this lesson and many others when you visit unlimitedgrace.com. And while you're there, look for Pastor Bryan's commentary on the book of Ephesians, which he wrote for the Reformed Expository Commentary series. Dr. Chapell reveals how when we lift our eyes beyond ourselves to share Paul's expansive vision, then we too will join his doxology for God's amazing grace that transforms the world. Let's hear now from Dr. Bryan Chapell as he shares the lesson, Witness of Grace.

Bryan Chapell: Paul sets it all up in verse 24, where he reminds us that we are to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. The language is going all the way back to creation itself, where we are reminded that Adam and Eve were created in the likeness of God. And here he's saying in Christ, as we have been renewed by His forgiveness, as we are united to Him, we get a do-over. We somehow have the ability to live in righteousness and holiness as our very first parents were created, so that that image of God is, by the work of grace, recreated in us so that we become bearers of the likeness of Christ in a very new and fresh way in a very old and crusty world.

What does it actually look like to have a life that is renewed in the image of Christ for God's glory? It's plain, the things he is saying. A renewed person has a life that is set free from the effects of sin, not only the guilt put away, but its enslavement put away too, so that we are fueled as well as freed for a life that reflects the goodness of God. And there're just some plain things that that means. What does that renewed life look like?

First of all, it's a renewed person who speaks differently from the rest of the world. Verse 25, "Therefore having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." We speak differently. And that at least at first means we put off all falsehood. Now, why would the apostle go there as the first step of the renewed life? Do you recognize that was actually the first step of the fallen world? I mean, we always think of the first sin as being eating of the forbidden fruit, but that was just kind of the end of a path away from God.

The very beginning was a falsehood, where Satan tried to tempt Eve and said, "Did God really say you could not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?" And Eve responded, "Oh, yes. He said we should not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or even touch it." Our God isn't very reasonable, you know. He has these unreasonable expectations. And just the little twisting, just the saying what God had never said, gave Satan the crack in the door, the foothold, the place to work in her heart. And he said, "Well, you know that God isn't reasonable. You know why? Because He doesn't want you to be like Him." And Eve's lie was the beginning. The falsehood of what God had actually said was the beginning of Satan being able to work in her heart and ultimately in our hearts throughout the world in the brokenness that results.

So, put away all falsehood. But it's not just the negative, is it? Something's to be put in the place of falsehood, the apostle says, and speak the truth with neighbor, for we are members of one body. Why even have to go there? I mean, Paul is writing to the church. Why is he saying don't lie, but tell the truth? Well, because not telling the truth is so common. I mean, we are in the week following the Atlanta not students, but teachers who were caught in the lie, right? Who in order to have test standards meet certain criteria lied and actually helped students to lie.

But of course, we recognize that the teachers are reflecting an epidemic, which we're regularly told about at universities and high schools and grade schools of students that feel the pressure of parents and others and ultimate careers, and cheating is just part of everyday experience. And of course, it's not just students and teachers. The financial crisis that our nation is trying to limp back out of, where people at the highest levels of finance and business in our country not telling the truth about risk and therefore ultimately it all collapsing upon them.

We're just starting a presidential campaign and already the scandals that are breaking out as who lied about what, what email said what, what email was put where, and suddenly we're all animated about at every level: students, teachers, businesspeople, politicians. It's a lie and we're concerned. But of course in the church, it's not the problem that's just so common, if it's so common it's inevitably quite near. Because of the pressure of expectation, because of the pressure of being found out, because of the willingness to cover or seek advantage, it is so easy just to color the truth, to turn it just a little to one's advantage, to just make another person look a bit sillier, unreasonable so that we get our way.

And so the apostle starts out by saying don't tell falsehoods but tell the truth. Why? It's really at the end of the verse his point, "for we are members one of another." The church, Paul has said from the very beginning, is the instrument of God in the world, the body of Christ by which ultimately He is going to fill all with the fullness of God. That this body of people, as we multiply church after church across centuries in the world, is the most powerful instrument for transformation on the face of the earth. But what gums up the gears, the wrench in the cogs of the church, is mistrust when we stop trusting one another. We can't pull together. We can't work past the difficulties.

And so the apostle is saying, "Listen, tell the truth to one another." And sub-message, if you haven't, confess to one another. Repent of your sin because we can't function and do all that God has called us to do without truth between us. And so the apostle starts thinking of the great mission of the church just saying what's going to make this happen is people talking truthfully to one another.

He moves beyond that and he says not only should you tell the truth, he says that a renewed person of course reacts differently as well. Do you see that? Verse 26, "Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger." Do the words surprise you? He's not actually saying that anger is the sin, right? Be angry and do not sin, as though there can be a right, even a righteous anger. You reflect that when you see what Paul is talking about is reflecting the image of God in us. There are some things that God is rightly angry at.

God is rightly angry at injustice or inequity, at cruelty or abuse, at selfishness or self-harm. God is rightly angry at such things. What makes the anger turn sinful? So that you can be told to be angry at the right things but do not sin. The answer probably is in verse 27 when you see the apostle taking the reason, and give no opportunity to the devil. What is the devil's purpose? We learn that from the very beginning of where we're introduced to him. Genesis 3:15, do you remember? Where now the fallenness, the brokenness has occurred and God declares something to Satan because of the temptation and the brokenness that he has caused. "I'm going to put enmity, antagonism, between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. You are going to strike his heel, you're going to try to harm the purposes of Christ to come, but he is ultimately going to crush you, Satan."

But Satan's goal from that point forward is to strike the heel. It's to damage the purposes of Christ. The reason the apostle is saying to us, "Be angry and do not sin," is that if we actually are seeking someone's harm, if we've stopped being concerned for their spiritual well-being, now our anger has crossed from righteous anger to unrighteous anger. If I'm righteously angry at your self-harm, if I'm righteously angry at your injustice, but what I now want to do is harm you rather than correct you, if I no longer am concerned for your spiritual good, what I've actually done is I've lost control of my anger. We talk about it in everyday language, right? You lose your temper. You've lost your hold on it. And you lose your hold on it when you actually begin by emotional or even physical damage to hurt another person with your anger. Now it has crossed over into the unrighteous realm.

And the apostle knowing that says, "Do not let the sun go down on your anger." Now, I'm going to tell you straight out, when I was first married, I misunderstood this verse. Okay, here's what my ears heard: Do not let the sun go down on your argument, right? Until you've got it fixed, you can't go to sleep. Man, those were some awful days. You know, because the later it goes, I'm thinking I want to follow the scripture so we can't go to sleep yet, and of course the longer we argue what happens? It just gets worse and worse and worse the tireder we get, right?

But what if we said, "No, the apostle is not saying don't let the sun go down on your argument. There may be things you still have to fix. There may be things that take a lot of reconciliation. But the anger should not outlast the day. You should still lie down in love even if it's not all fixed yet." Never is your goal to just win, to conquer the other person, to harm them in any way, even if there are things that aren't worked out yet. And that reality, that I can lie down in love, that I can be at peace with my brother, even though we may have things still to work out, is what the apostle is saying makes anger still righteous. But if you let it go, if you have not held onto it, right, it's now designed to hurt someone, or if you hold onto it so long it begins to fester in you, then the reality is that bitterness is the acid that eats its own container. It begins to destroy you.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians to declare God's plan, that the gospel of Jesus Christ would reach the world through weak and sinful people like you and me. He writes that God has redeemed us to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.

When we lift our eyes beyond ourselves to share Paul's expansive vision, then we too will join his doxology for God's amazing grace that saves individuals, empowers the church, and transforms the world. Yes, such grace really is possible, and Pastor Bryan's commentary on the book of Ephesians clearly teaches the details of this amazing truth.

As a thank you for your support of our ministry here at Unlimited Grace, we would like to send you a copy of Dr. Chapell's commentary, which he wrote for the Reformed Expository Commentary series. You can request your copy of the commentary on Ephesians when you donate online at unlimitedgrace.com or by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. And now, more from Bryan Chapell on today's Unlimited Grace.

Bryan Chapell: Never is your goal to just win, to conquer the other person, to harm them in any way, even if there are things that aren't worked out yet. And that reality, that I can lie down in love, that I can be at peace with my brother, even though we may have things still to work out, is what the apostle is saying makes anger still righteous. But if you let it go, if you have not held onto it, right, it's now designed to hurt someone, or if you hold onto it so long it begins to fester in you, then the reality is that bitterness is the acid that eats its own container. It begins to destroy you.

And so the apostle concerned not just for legalistic rules, but concerned for our own hearts, for our relationships, is saying don't let your anger go in such a way that it gives Satan a place in your heart. Some of the older translations that I used to love, remember, "Don't give Satan a foothold," right? It's actually the Greek word topos as in topography. Don't give him territory. And the way you give Satan territory is being angry people to the point that you want to hurt them in some way: spiritually, physically, emotionally. The anger that is righteously expressed that kind drives Satan's territory away from your heart is even when there are things to be worked out, to be concerned for the spiritual good of the other person even if you have things to work out. They are done out of a heart of love for the other person's good even as we work through difficult and hard things.

The apostle's not done. What else characterizes the life of one renewed in the image of God so that they are reflecting Christ to others? The apostle said that that renewed person doesn't just speak differently and react differently, but actually acts differently. Verse 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." Now, here's the simple part. Here's just the instruction. Don't steal. Got it. What we may not recognize is the blessing that's implicit. Not stealing but doing honest work is intended to reflect the image of God in us, so that honest work, any honest work, is a reflection of the image of God. What that means is honest work is holy work.

If I am doing what honors God in my life, whether I'm in construction, in farming, in education, in engineering, whatever it be, if I am doing honest work, it is holy work. There are no secondary professions in the church. We have some holy people and not holy people. We are called to a holy profession in which God is saying if you are reflecting me, you are actually free to be you. Has God gifted you in a certain way, given your mind and skills a certain character so that you can do certain jobs? Well, if it is honest work, it is holy work and that is a great blessing to know, that I'm not secondary because somehow I'm not a missionary or pastor. Honest work is holy work. God has called me to this holy profession.

But one of the other blessings in the verse is how do I say this, just the present tense. Verse 28, "Let the thief no longer steal." You know what that means? It means there were thieves in the church. Oh, no. There are messed up people in the church. There are people who don't do everything right in the church. Of course, that's the point that the apostle saying. The thief who is among you should no longer steal. But that's kind of the confession that there are people who are broken and even struggling. No longer steal means there might actually be some people in the church who are still considering it.

And it's the great reminder that we're all here because we need the gospel of Jesus Christ. We all need our sin covered. We all need to be healed. We all come with a certain level of brokenness. And when I recognize, you know, there are thieves and cranks all around us here, I got a place. I'm not somehow ruled out because there's struggle or difficulty in my life. The apostle, when he's talking to people about honest work, when he's talking to people about changing their speech patterns, changing their anger patterns, he's just talking to us.

And when I recognize that, I can say, "My brother, I've sinned against you. My brother, I need to come to you." And if they say, "Well, you know it's just your problem," say, "Actually the reason I can confess to you, I know you got as many problems as I do. You need the grace of God as much as I do." That's why I can come to you, speak eye to eye. And the reality of that is why the Apostle Paul can speak so plainly to us about let the thief steal no more. After all, let's just be honest, the software in our computers, the figures on our tax forms probably to some extent make thieves a lot more of us than we want to confess. And the reason I can still come to church and still speak to you and you to me is we recognize the church is made for people like us, people who need the grace of God. And so the apostle is saying turn from what is hurting that relationship with you and others, but recognize there's a place for you here to confess and be made right with God. It is what God is actually calling you to do.

Why? The reason is actually given at the very end of verse 28, right? So you have honest work to do so that you may have something to share with anyone in need. That God has made us members of a body and what we do as part of this great calling, the church of Jesus Christ, is recognize that we have holy callings in many places in many different ways so that as the body we can do the work of Christ in the world. And if that means I'm pulled together, to whom much is given much is required, my honest work, the proceeds from it are meant to be shared.

I think of those of you who are sharing out of your businesses. I think of those of you who are sharing out of your skills, whether construction skills or medical skills, or going to neighborhoods to help people clean up, that what you're doing is you're saying I recognize I have been gifted by God to share, not just to receive. And that's part of the blessing of the gospel of the church to others around us. I heard a wonderful testimony this past week from a businessman who was talking about how learning what it meant to share with another ultimately told him the gospel again.

He was in a board meeting and he was talking to a number of us where it might have been very embarrassing to say what he said, but here's what he expressed. He said, "I had an employee who was hooked on crack and stealing from me. And I had given him every chance, but he just kept stealing. I wanted to show the reality of Christ to him but I was at my wit's end, so I went to my pastor to say how do I show mercy to this man who can't stop stealing from me?"

And the more I described the man who could not stop sinning, despite mercy toward him, the more, said the businessman, I recognized I was describing myself. He said, "I began to bawl. I just cried to my pastor and I said the more I talk about another man stealing, the more I doubt that I am worthy of God's mercy." Then he said, "Then my pastor said to me, 'Oh, this really is a serious problem. When did you start believing you were worthy of God's mercy?'"

Do you recognize whenever we believe that we are worthy of God's mercy, we have stolen from the glory of His grace? We have said what He supplies is not really all that I need. I've got enough. When we begin to reach out and say what God has given me I give to others, I’m beginning to understand that it’s not because of their deserving, it’s not because they’ve met the conditions, it’s because I’m extending to others what God has given me. That receiving and sharing are actually part of the same cloth. That if I have received great grace, that it begins to fill me up and I recognize the purpose of my honest work is so that I can share with others what I have received.

And I begin to recognize that what God is doing in this passage that has so much that bothers us about our speech patterns and our reaction patterns and our action patterns is He's not just talking about what characterizes us, but what is preparing us to be witnesses for Him. That this receiving is going to be now sharing and that turn to sharing is taking what could be just kind of a legalistic understanding of being a Johnny Good Two-Shoes and actually saying here's why you are called to holiness for the purpose of witness in the world. After all, what characterizes those who are not just freed from sin's character, but are actually now fueled for the witness of the gospel in the world? Well, the fueling of the witness is also speaking differently. You know these words, verse 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."

Friend, will you allow me to pray with you that the work God is doing in your life through the teaching of His word would take hold and help you? Heavenly Father, thank you for the fact that You pardon and give purpose to messed up people like me, like us. Today help us so to believe in Your grace that we rejoice to receive it and live to reflect it. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): That's Pastor Bryan Chapell, and you've been listening to Unlimited Grace. If this message has been an encouragement to you, you can find a collection of more of our resources at unlimitedgrace.com. Please be sure to join us next time as once again we endeavor to put Christ at the center of our efforts so that lives might be transformed by His unlimited grace. This ministry is brought to you by Unlimited Grace Media and continues to be made possible with your generous financial support.