"Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another."
Ephesians 4:25
Part 3
Yesterday: We Need to Start Telling the Truth
“Speak every man truth.”
This is the positive side of the command.
Truth is our aim, our goal for life.
“With his neighbor.”
Believers speak the truth to everyone. No lies are acceptable with God.
Today: All Believers Belong to the Body of Christ
Our God never lies, and He expects the same kind of honesty from His children. Paul tells us why.
“For we are members one of another.”
(Reason for the command)
All believers are a part of the body, that is, the body of Christ. We are included in this body at our salvation.
“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Corinthians 12:27).
As members of Christ’s body, we have a service to do for the body.
“And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12).
As saints, we are busy in the work of the ministry so that the body of Christ might be edified. This duty alone demands our honesty with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
A body that lies to itself will be in a world of hurt. A body can only work correctly when all its parts speak the truth. This is a problem when a person is injured or has a disease like leprosy. This dreaded illness makes the nerve endings numb, and those fingers on that leprous hand will lie to the brain. If the leper places his hand on a lump of burning coal, those fingers will tell the brain that it is cool and not blistering hot. And the leper does not pull his hand away before he has severe burns on that hand. This wrong communication between fingers and the brain is why lepers often lose their fingers over time. This is a problem for their other appendages as well.[1]
Paul says that we believers are the members of a body, the body of Christ. If we lie to each other, we harm the body.
“… falsehood in the church is as ruinous to its interests as it would be to the body if one member was perpetually practicing a deception on another” [2] (Barnes).
“We are members one of another – Consider yourselves as one body, of which Jesus Christ is the head; and as a man’s right hand would not deceive or wrong his left hand, so deal honestly with each other; for ye are members one of another” [3] (Clarke).
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many” (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
Quote: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
[1] Dr. John Dreisbach, a missionary physician, worked with lepers. These are things he mentioned in conversations about the terrible disease of leprosy.
[2] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword. Ephesians 4:25.
[3] Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword. Ephesians 4:25.