Featured “Therefore, laying aside falsehood..

From a Ligon Duncan sermon;
http://www.fpcjackson.org/resource-...1-bulletin-lying-and-the-glory-of-god-website

Do you see this section of scripture as optional or essential?

Lying is a huge problem. It's pervasive in our culture and it has permeated the church, and so the Apostle Paul is wanting to say to us first ‘Don't live like the world in the way that you tell the truth. No, instead of speaking falsely, speak truthfully.’

But the second thing that he's wanting to say to us, positively, is that we are to speak the truth to our neighbors, recognizing especially that in the body when we speak the truth we are literally speaking the truth to ourselves, because we are all in one body.

Now, that's really all I want to do with you this morning, is look at those two things.

I. Put off a life of speaking untruthfully and put on a life of telling the truth, for God's glory and the body's unity

Let's begin in verse 25, where the Apostle Paul says, “Therefore, laying aside falsehood....” Paul, you see, in verse 25, is telling us to put off a life of speaking untruthfully and to put on a life of telling the truth. And he tells us to do that (notice the very last thing he says in verse 25: “...for we are members of one another”) because truth-telling has an impact on the unity of our fellowship, on the unity of the body, so that our truth-telling is not only a matter of doing what God has told us to do. It's not only a matter of glorifying God with our speech. It's not only a matter of being people of integrity, but it actually has a direct impact on the unity of the body, on the unity of the church, on the unity of the people of God, the unity of husbands and wives and families. And so the apostle says put off a life of speaking untruthfully and put on a life of telling the truth, for God's glory and the body's unity.

You know, again, you may still be saying, “I'm not a liar. That's not a problem I have.” But when your wife confronts you with sin and you deny it, you’re lying. And when you tear down another person by your speech, and thus you do not speak of them as God would have you speak of them, you are speaking untruthfully. And when you make commitments that you do not follow through on, you are lying. And, my friends, lying in its manifold forms is pervasive in life in the modern world, and the Apostle Paul is saying something radical and counter-cultural. He is saying do not be like the world in this way.

 

pt2;
Do you realize that every word you say either builds up or tears down, brings together or divides the people of God? Every word you say. Every word either builds up or tears down the people of God.

Now here's my fourth word: pride. Behind all lying, behind all non-truth-telling, is pride.

There is that petty pride that is behind the belittling of other people in our speech, which is an aspect of not telling the truth. You know, there is that desire to be thought more highly of than others, and oftentimes the way that we achieve that is by tearing other people down so that we look better ourselves. That's lying. That's falsehood. That's not truth-telling. But behind it, you see, is pride: the desire to be thought highly of. ‘If I have to tear somebody else down so that I'm thought highly of, I’ll just have to do that,’ we say to ourselves...or, we don't say to ourselves, but we do anyway.

But then there is that self-advancing pride that is behind much of our false speech, where there's something we want or there's something that we want to protect in ourselves about ourselves or about what we have done, and we will use false speech to advance our own purposes because of pride.

 

John Piper would add this ;

We are going to focus on Ephesians 4:25 but first let me give you some idea from the rest of Scripture how serious this matter is in the eyes of God.

Proverbs 6:16-17, "There are six things which the Lord hates, seven which are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and a man who sows discord among brothers."

Proverbs 12:22, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord."

Proverbs 12:19, "Truthful lips endure for ever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment."

Proverbs 20:17, "Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel."

Proverbs 21:6, "The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death."

Revelation 21:7-8, "He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Cf. 21:27; 22:15)

What I want you to see from these few texts is that we must not play fast and loose with this issue as though it were a matter of indifference to God whether we tell the truth or not. There is some kind of connection between the practice of lying and the condition of the heart that makes Biblical writers certain that those who practice lying in their ordinary lives are outside the scope of salvation. So we do well to ponder this matter together.

http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper86/jp860030.htm

 

Geoff Thomas would add this;

When is a liar not a liar (v.25)? When is an angry man not an angry man (v.26)? When is a thief not a thief (v.28)? When is a foolish talker not a foolish talker (v.29)? What is the answer? When the man stops lying and stealing? No. That is not the answer. A man may stop stealing because he’s in solitary confinement and has no opportunity to steal. Just because a man at the present isn’t stealing doesn’t mean he has ceased be a thief. He mightn’t have the opportunity just now. You may have caught him at a time in his life when he is recovering from a disastrous fall, and he is particularly sensitive to the wickedness that has brought him low. Today he is simply a thief between jobs.

In other words, since thieves do not always steal at all times, and drunks aren’t always drunk the absence of these things from their lives is no indication of permanent change. Indeed, if the only thing that’s happened to this man is that he has stopped committing the sins that have easily beset him, so what? He is now a mere non-thief; a non-drunk; a non-liar. What sort of person is a non-person? Men are going to say to one another, “How long before he’s back to his old ways?” So let me ask these questions again and this time answer them biblically:

When is a liar not a liar? Answer: when you notice that he’s always speaking truthfully to his neighbour conscious that he and his neighbour are members of one body (v.25). When is an angry man not an angry man? Answer: when he refuses to let the sun do down on his anger and never gives the devil a foothold in his life by outbursts of rage (v.26). When is a thief no longer a thief? Answer: when he steals no longer but does something useful with his own hands and has something to share with those in need (v.28). When is a foolish talker no longer a foolish talker? Answer: when wholesome beneficial talk comes out of his mouth building others up according to their needs (v.29). So the answer to every one of these questions is the sinner is not a sinner when he has become something else. Putting off will not be permanent without putting on. Putting on will be outward and temporary unless it is accompanied by putting off.

http://www.alfredplacechurch.org.uk/index.php/sermons/ephesians/425-29-how-we-can-change-our-lives/

 

It is sad that such instructions need to be given among Christians.
Some excuse themselves from the commands saying we are not under law but grace.
Others by simple disobedience having a different motive evidently.
They might realize it.......they might not.

 

Yes.....and if the truth be known many of the warnings had to do with lying and false witness on the part of a moderator that provokes a counter response......like in a basketball game when a player keeps pushing and elbowing a player and the ref. does not call it time after time, finally the person getting elbowed says enough of this and takes a swing at the offender....then everyone see's the "punch"
The truth is that even a moderator who tries and censor others can commit such a sin as false witnesses by simply misrepresenting the other person,adding words or inferring the person said something they never said at all.
By adding such words and making it appear the poster said what he did not say it becomes the same thing as our basketball player who elbows the other player when the Ref. is not looking.
Instead of asking for clarification, they TAKE IT UPON THEMSELVES to add and change,edit and delete things to have it give a false appearance......which is a form if lying.
One of the quotes above speaks of this identifying it as a form of pride, or envy.....undermine others ,disparage them, then promote your own point of view as the solution.
I think we see that on BB more often than a flat out attack on other brethren.
Can you imagine a mod telling posters to go away? Do not post on a thread, as if only their posts have any merit?
Imagine such a person in a local church setting causing havoc and confusion? ???

 

Good post.....this offers some positive solution.
This whole area of thought life, speech, and any other form of communication is often neglected and evident not recognized as sin,remaining sin that must be mortified as it comes across the minds path.....The book of James zeros in on this sinful process.

 

"JonC

Or even both sides...

The OP and the links are general in nature, but this topic is a good vehicle to address communication in general, on BB, on facebook, or twitter, the same biblical teaching and principle applies.
Sometimes on a forum like BB some get the idea that the 9th commandment becomes "invisible'.....

yes...

I am sure most everyone has done this , more than once.....just a guess.

. But each time I have examined my own conduct and at least tried to mend the error (I've apologized to you quite a bit, IT, you and I seemed to "hit it off" for a while ).
I am an easy going person....but I do not like when someone speaks on my behalf, or gives a FALSE SUMMARY of what i have posted. This sets me off. I do not like to see cyber bullying of the female posters in particular, although i will back up the brethren who come under such an attack.
I might not always post the clearest especially if i do voice to text, with the auto correct thing...some of the posts come out different,.... but i am speaking of purposeful twisting of ideas.

some conflict that gets worked through can be of a beneficial nature.

yes

It is a failure to do the first works of being called to be saints and to edify others.