In the verses just before these, Paul compares the Christian life to changing one’s clothes; taking off the old and sinful ways and putting on the new nature, which is in the likeness of God. In these verses, he specifically addresses anger and words. In regards to our speech and our temper, we can’t be like the world anymore.
Now, much of what Paul has to say here is not that different from what other first century moral teachers had to say. The two key differences are first of all our identity in Christ and second that Paul’s exhortations are founded on God’s word. Zecharaiah chapter 8 speaks about the need for truthfulness. Psalm 4 reminds us not to let the sun set on our anger. And Proverbs has many things to say about our speech which are echoed here. And there are other Old Testament foundations, as well.
So let’s get into this text:
Put away all falsehood and speak the truth. As Christians, we must be people of the truth because God is truth. Truth is God’s character, so it must also be ours.
Being truthful is not always easy. Outright lies are one thing, but we also often speak falsely in other ways. There is the falsehood of carelessness. We simply don’t pay enough attention to the truth and thoughtlessly speak what is false. It may not be the end of the world, but if we are to be known as people of the truth, then we need to guard the truth carefully. There are also lies of omission. Maybe there’s a detail in that story that we would rather leave out because we want to shape how other people think about it in ways that are advantageous to us. There are exaggerations. We tell the truth; we just embellish it a little bit. And sometimes we fail to verify the truth of something before we pass it along. This might be a particular problem in our society where there is so much information floating out there in the media. Do we take the time to check it out before we pass it along to others? If we can’t verify the truth of it, then it’s best not to pass it on.
All of these things are problems of the truth that we should seek to avoid. Why is it so important? Because we belong to each other. As Paul says in 1 Corithians 6, you are not you own. You were bought with a price. We belong to Christ, who is truth. And we belong to the Body of Christ, the Church. Members of the body must be able to trust each other. And if we gain a reputation for falsehood, then it is not easy for other members of the body to trust us.
Don’t sin in your anger.
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