Thoughts From Ephesians 4 - Part 6

  Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Eph. 4:28

        Initially this verse jumps out at us as a New Testament reiteration of the 8th Commandment. All of the 10 commandments are re-given in the New Testament except the 4th - to keep the Sabbath.

1. Do not worship other gods - 1Cor.8:6, 1 Tim. 2:5

2. Do not make idols - 1 John 5:21

3. Do not misuse the name of the Lord - 1Tim. 6:1

5. Honor your father and mother - Eph. 6:1-2

6. Do not murder - Rom. 13:9, 1 Pet. 4:15

7. Do not commit adultery - 1Cor. 6:9-10

9. Don't give false testimony - Rev. 21:8

10. Don't covet - Col. 3:5

          The Law is usually divided into two parts; love God (1-4) and love your neighbor (5-10). If you are taking from your neighbor what belongs to him, that is stealing and if we do it, we are showing that we consider ourselves more important than that person, a clear violation of love. But how should we react if it's done to us? Partly with short lived righteous indignation against evil as we saw in the previous verses, the normal reaction to living in a sinful world. It should make us long for a Heavenly country where sin doesn't exist. One of the ways that we can let anger quickly dissipate is by remembering that it is technically impossible to steal from us because we don't own anything - it all belongs to God. Our treasures are being "stored up in Heaven where moth and rust don't corrupt and where thieves don't break in and steal." When people steal, they are stealing from God and rather than be angry, we should pity them because Paul says in 1 Cor.6:10 that God will judge them and they won't be in Heaven. People object to God being a vengeful God, but if not for that, it would be hard to keep from becoming a hateful, angry person. Now we can focus on love and forgiveness, grace and mercy.

         The second part of this verse has so many ramifications that I think I'll wait until tomorrow to cover it. Ponder it in the meantime.