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All right, if y'all would remain
standing for the reading of 

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God's Word, we're going to be 
looking at Ephesians 4 verses 25

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to 32. 
Therefore, having put away 

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falsehood, let each one of you 
speak the truth with his 

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neighbor, for we are members of 
one another. 

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Be angry and do not sin. 
Do not let the sun go down on 

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your anger, and give no 
opportunity to the devil. 

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Let the thief no longer steal, 
but rather let him labor doing 

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honest work with his own hands, 
so that he may have something to

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share with anyone in need. 
Let no corrupting talk come out 

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of your mouth, but only such as 
is good for building up as fits 

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the occasion, that it may give 
grace to those who hear and do 

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not grieve the Holy Spirit of 
God, by whom you were sealed for

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the day of redemption. 
Let all bitterness and wrath and

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anger and clamor and slander be 
put away from you, along with 

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all malice. 
Be kind to one another, tender 

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hearted, forgiving one another 
as God in Christ forgave you. 

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This is the word of the Lord. 
All right, you may be seated. 

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Let me quickly pray our gracious
Heavenly Father, this is a text 

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that is adorning the reality of 
Your grace in our lives. 

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And so I pray that by your 
Spirit this morning, You would 

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cause us to live out the reality
of the One who lives within us. 

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And we pray that You will be 
pleased to open our eyes to see 

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the truths in Your Word, and 
then by Your Spirit grant us 

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that we may walk in them. 
And we ask of this in Jesus 

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name, Amen. 
All right now, Paul, in chapter 

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4, we have a turning point. 
He's told us all that Jesus has 

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done and the implications of it 
in our lives in chapters one 

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through 3. 
And now he's wanting us to live 

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out the reality of those truths.
So in chapter 4, Paul, he's 

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wanting all Christians who have 
been recreated and united to 

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Christ and to one another to 
live out and walk in the reality

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of the one who lives within 
them. 

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In chapter 4, verses 17 to 24, 
Paul wants us to get our 

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thinking straight about the 
radical change that God's grace 

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has brought about in our lives. 
At conversion, he says that the 

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old self has been put off and 
that the new self has been put 

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on. 
So we are no longer defined by 

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what we once were. 
We have a new label and we are 

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now defined by who Christ is and
what Christ has done. 

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So the exhortation of chapter 4 
is wear your new clothes and 

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walk in who you are. 
And our text is going to show us

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what that looks like. 
So what I want to do this 

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morning is I want to give you 
the main point before we look at

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the specific commands and 
applications of it. 

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And the main point is this, 
God's grace in Christ frees you 

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to live for something other than
yourself. 

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In verses 17 to 19, Paul is not 
just describing what our lives 

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look like before God found us. 
He's telling us what sins nature

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and goal is. 
Sins goal is to alienate us from

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God in order to destroy us. 
This alienation from God, it 

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causes us to spiral downward 
where we become consumed with 

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satisfying self, the self focus.
It leads to a lifestyle of 

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losing feelings for God and for 
others. 

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A lifestyle of desperately 
trying to fill ourselves with 

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things that can never fill us, 
so we're always left greedy for 

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more. 
Our desire to be filled is not 

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wrong because God made us to 
find our satisfaction in him. 

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But what does sin do? 
It corrupts our desires through 

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deceit. 
When we believe the lie that 

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something other than God can 
satisfy us. 

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Something other than God can 
fill us. 

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Something other than God can 
give us life. 

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But because only God can 
satisfy, because only God can 

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fill, because only God can give 
us life, when we turn to 

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something other than Him, we are
always left unsatisfied, always 

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unfulfilled, and then we plunge 
deeper and deeper towards 

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destruction with a continual 
lust for more. 

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In other words, without Christ, 
we live independently from God. 

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Our hearts become calloused, 
they become insensitive because 

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we're consumed with satisfying 
self. 

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See, sin's goal is to destroy 
you by deceiving you, to think 

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that you can live life on your 
own and that you can find 

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satisfaction in something other 
than God. 

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Or I would say it this way, Sin 
dehumanizes us because it turns 

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us inward, not outward, where we
live for ourselves rather than 

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living for God's glory and the 
good of others. 

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Now why am I stressing this to 
begin this sermon? 

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Why am I focusing on sins, goal 
and nature when our text it's 

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mainly about obedience answer 
because our text is showing us 

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what the nature and goal of 
obedience is. 

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In chapter 417 through 19 Paul 
is showing us what we want were 

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in order to show the radical 
change of who we are now. 

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The new self is the image of God
restored in us by God's grace. 

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So if the old self walks away 
from God in order to live 

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independently from God, if the 
old self is insensitive to 

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others because it's consumed 
with satisfying self, then the 

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new self is recreated in the 
image of Jesus. 

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The new self walks with God. 
The new self lives dependently 

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upon God. 
The new self lives for God's 

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glory and the good of others. 
And here is what struck me as I 

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was studying our text. 
Obedience is never for its own 

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sake. 
Paul is not commanding us to 

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obey simply because it's the 
right thing to do. 

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These 8 commands that Paul gives
in verses 25 through 32 are all 

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in reference to imaging forth 
who Jesus is for the good of 

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others. 
Every one of these commands, in 

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other words, it's meant to put 
God's grace in your life on 

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display. 
These commands put Jesus on 

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display because all of these 
commands are given not just for 

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your good, but for the good of 
others. 

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And doesn't this expose the 
deceit of sin? 

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See, sin doesn't just harm you, 
it harms others. 

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Sin doesn't just affect you, it 
affects others. 

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We injure and harm others by 
turning away from God in an 

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attempt to satisfy ourselves. 
But this is also what 

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distinguishes Christianity from 
every other ethical system out 

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there. 
See, every religion is going to 

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say, do not lie, do not steal, 
etcetera. 

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But if you ask these ethical 
systems, why should you not lie,

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why should you not steal? 
Their answer is because telling 

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the truth, it's the right thing 
to do. 

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Yes, it's the right thing to do,
but the difference with 

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Christianity is that it's never 
just concerned with moral 

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behavior as moral behavior. 
Christianity says do not lie 

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because that's not who you are. 
Christianity says lying hurts 

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other people. 
So obedience is never for its 

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own sake. 
It's always for the sake of 

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God's glory, for the good of 
others. 

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Obedience is always in reference
to our new identity, lived out 

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for the good of others. 
Our obedience is a testimony of 

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God's grace in our life. 
See, when a Christian obeys 

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Paul's commands, it puts Jesus 
on display. 

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It testifies that the gospel is 
real, that the gospel is 

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powerful. 
It tells the truth about Christ.

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Our obedience, in other words, 
adorns the truths of the gospel.

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And I want to look at one last 
thing before we actually look at

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these commands. 
I want you to think with me for 

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a moment. 
Why in Christianity self 

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righteousness is evil. 
When people obey God in order to

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get things from God, notice 
they're obeying for their own 

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benefit. 
Sin is self seeking. 

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This is why self righteousness 
is sin. 

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It's living for self. 
It's living to get, not living 

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to give. 
But because salvation is by 

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grace and not by works, God's 
grace then frees us from 

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ourselves. 
It frees us to live for 

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something other than ourselves. 
It frees us to live for Him 

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because we have been freed from 
self in order to live for the 

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good of others. 
Now, I'm not going to be able to

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look at all of these commands. 
I only have time to do a flyby 

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overview of these commands. 
But what I want to focus on is 

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how and why our obedience 
testifies to the grace of God in

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our lives. 
And I would summarize these 8 

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commands with three things. 
We are to live out our new lives

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in the way that we speak, in the
way that we think, and then the 

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ways that we act. 
First, let's look at how we 

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speak. 
Look at verse 25. 

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Therefore, having put away 
falsehood, let each one of you 

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speak truth with his neighbor. 
Notice both the negative and the

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positive aspects here. 
It's not enough to simply 

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displace something. 
Why? 

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Because what is displaced has 
been replaced by something. 

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We are displaced to what is 
false because the old self has 

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already been replaced by what is
true. 

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So let's evaluate this for a 
moment. 

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Why is speaking falsehood and 
telling lies wrong? 

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Because it's associated with the
old self. 

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See, why do people lie? 
And I just want to touch on a 

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couple of things here. 
For some, they lie because they 

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want to look better than other 
people. 

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So This is why we exaggerate our
story so we appear as if we're 

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greater or better than others. 
Or we may lie so that others 

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don't think we're as bad as we 
really are. 

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We may lie to avoid the 
consequences of what we've done,

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or we may lie because we don't 
want to be inconvenienced. 

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I'll I'll do that when you 
really haven't. 

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What's the common denominator 
though of lying? 

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It's always directed to self, 
either to avoid consequences or 

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to advance personal gain. 
So why should the renewed person

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not lie or speak with falsehood?
Paul says for the sake of the 

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body, for we are members of one 
another. 

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See, lying harms our unity. 
Lying causes trust to be broken.

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When trust is broken, the body 
can't function properly because 

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dishonesty drives a wedge 
between us. 

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Dishonesty separates people. 
Dishonesty isolates people. 

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Now look at verse 29. 
Let no corrupting talk come out 

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of your mouth, but only what is 
good for building each other up 

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as fits the occasion that it may
give grace to those who hear. 

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So not only are we to tell the 
truth with each other, but we 

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are to use our words to build 
each other up rather than tear 

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each other down. 
See, our words are not only 

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important, they're powerful. 
Proverbs 1821 says death and 

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life are in the power of the 
tongue. 

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Our words and the way we 
communicate has the power to 

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tear down and destroy or the 
power to build up and heal. 

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See the word for corrupting 
unwholesome speech here. 

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It means rotten or putrid. 
And Paul was literally saying do

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not let any rotten words journey
out of your mouth. 

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See, when destructive words come
out of our mouths, it begins a 

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journey of decay that affects 
the lives of others. 

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Now again, why would we speak 
words that tear others down? 

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Is it not as an attempt to build
ourselves up? 

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See, we have to knock others 
down with our words so that we 

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can raise ourselves above them. 
Unwholesome, corrupt, rotten 

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words are used to promote self 
and demote others. 

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But Paul says the new self is 
concerned with using words that 

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promote and build up others. 
Secondly, let's think about how 

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we think. 
And this is fascinating because 

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Paul says be angry and do not 
sin. 

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Do not let the sun go down on 
your anger and give no 

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opportunity to the devil. 
Paul, he's commanding us to be 

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angry, but do not sin. 
And this is very informative 

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because anger is not wrong. 
It is right to be angry over 

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some things. 
We should be angry over some 

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things. 
So Paul does not forbid anger, 

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he forbids the sinful expression
of it. 

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See, anger is not a wrong 
emotion. 

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It becomes sinful when we let it
simmer for a while, when we let 

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it stir in our minds for a long 
period of time. 

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This is why he says, do not let 
the sun go down on your anger. 

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It does not mean deal with it 
before you go to bed. 

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He says don't let it simmer for 
a long period of time because 

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when it does, you give the devil
opportunity. 

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00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:29,640
Look at verse 31. 
When we let anger simmer and 

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stir for a while, it builds up 
and it boils over to bitterness 

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and wrath where we act out in an
attempt to harm others. 

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How? 
By shouting, by slander, by 

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malice. 
And a third, let's look at how 

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we act. 
Look at verse 27. 

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Let the thief no longer steal, 
but let him do honest work with 

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his own hands so that he may 
have something to share with 

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anyone in need. 
This is fascinating because, 

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according to Paul, we steal in 
two ways. 

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We not only steal from others by
wrongfully taking what they 

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possess, but we also steal from 
God when we wrongfully keep what

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we possess. 
To wrongfully take what someone 

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else possesses is to have no 
regard for what they possess. 

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Stealing, in other words, is 
selfish. 

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It's taking from others with a 
concern only for yourself. 

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And Paul says let the thief no 
longer steal, but rather let him

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do honest work with his hands. 
But then, Paul says, the thief 

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doesn't stop stealing just 
because he works. 

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He stops stealing when he 
generously gives to those in 

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need. 
See, we wrongfully steal from 

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God when we keep and do not 
share what we possess. 

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To not share is to selfishly 
hoard what you think is yours. 

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God wants us to see our money as
His. 

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We're stewards of it and we 
steal from God if we do not 

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generously give to others who 
have need. 

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Now from this brief fly by 
overview of Paul's commands. 

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Do you see a common theme here? 
If sin is self focused, then 

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obedience. 
Is focused on God's glory for 

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the good of others. 
See God's grace in Christ. 

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It frees us to live for 
something other than ourselves. 

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Because Christ's clothes have 
been put on us, we reflect Him 

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to others when we speak the 
truth to others. 

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We reflect Him to others when we
use our words to build others 

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up. 
We reflect Him to others when we

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don't let anger simmer and stir 
up bitterness, wrath, slander, 

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and malice. 
We reflect Him to others when we

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no longer steal from God, but 
generously give to others in 

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need. 
We reflect Him to others when 

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we're kind to one another, when 
we're tender hearted to one 

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another, when we are gracious to
one another the way God in 

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Christ was gracious to us. 
Obedience is never just for 

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obedience's sake. 
It is always to display Jesus 

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for the good of others. 
When we obey these commands, 

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what are we doing? 
We are adorning the gospel 

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because we live our lives in 
such a way that God's grace is 

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displayed in the way we are 
gracious to one another. 

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Look at verse 30. 
We grieve the Holy Spirit when 

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we live for ourselves. 
We grieve the Holy Spirit when 

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we harm others and tear others 
down with our words. 

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We grieve the Holy Spirit when 
we steal from others and steal 

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from God. 
We grieve the Holy Spirit when 

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we're bitter and resent one 
another. 

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We grieve the Holy Spirit when 
we lash out to verbally and 

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physically abuse one another. 
We grieve the Holy Spirit when 

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we aren't displaying Jesus to 
one another. 

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And I need Then why did Jesus 
obey his Father? 

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Jesus didn't obey his Father to 
the point of death for 

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obedience's sake. 
He obeyed for his Father's glory

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00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:07,160
and for your benefit. 
Jesus obeyed to graciously give 

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you what you need, a 
righteousness that you don't 

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00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:21,280
have, a new life and a new 
identity that you so desperately

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need. 
Jesus obeyed, in other words, so

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that you and I could be forgiven
for our selfishness, for our 

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self centeredness, for our sin. 
See, if Jesus didn't obey for 

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God's glory and your benefit, 
you could not be free from 

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yourself consumed lifestyle. 
But because He obeyed, He 

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graciously gives you His 
identity. 

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00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:12,720
He put His clothes on you to 
wear around so that others can 

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see Jesus in you.