This week I ran into what was billed as a “Conventional Wisdom IQ Test”. The idea is to see how many of the sayings of conventional wisdom that one can complete. The original test had 20 questions, but for time’s sake let’s see how well we can do on just 10 of them:
1. If it’s not broken.... don’t fix it.
2. It never rains, but.... it pours.
3. Better late.... than never.
4. It’s not over until.... the fat lady sings
5. The bigger they are.... the harder they fall
6. Can’t live with them.... can’t live without them
7. Life is like a bowl.... of cherries
8. That which does not kill me.... only makes me stronger
9. Don’t count your chickens.... before they hatch
10. Never mix business.... with pleasure
I think one of the great benefits that has come out of our detailed study of Ephesians, which is now approaching a year, is that it has caused us to take a step back and question some of the “conventional wisdom” that is often applied to some of these texts. And our passage this morning is certainly one of those places.
For some reasons that I’ll explain in more detail in a moment, we’re going to use the KJV of this passage this morning. Let’s read our passage out loud together:
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:26, 27 (KJV)
If we’re not careful to go back to some of the fundamental basics of Bible study, we can very easily miss the principles that Paul is trying to teach us in this passage. So before we deal with the principles, let’s look at several keys to a correct understanding of this passage:
Keys to understanding this passage:
1. Consider the context:
• Paul is writing to the church, not individual believers
Based on much of my research this week, it seems that the “conventional wisdom” is to take this passage and use it as a platform for a message on how to deal with the anger in our individual lives in a healthy way. I know that was my initial inclination. I’m not totally surprised that many have taken that approach, given the individualism of our culture and our tendency to look at Scripture based on how it impacts me.
There is no doubt that the Bible has much to say about how each of us is to deal with the anger in our lives. In fact, Paul will deal with this a little more directly when we get to verse 31 in a few weeks. But I’m convinced that is not the focus of Paul’s writing here. As we’ve seen time after time, Ephesians deals much more with life in the body than it does with our individual lives as believers and this passage is no exception to that pattern.
• Paul is giving practical instruction on how to dress the part according to what his readers already are in Jesus.
In verses 22-24, Paul reminded us that we are to dress the part according to who we already are in Jesus. We are to put off all the things that characterized our old way of life and put on those things that are consistent with the character of Jesus. Then, beginning in verse 25, Paul gave some practical instruction on what that should look like. You’ll remember that he began that section by exhorting us to put off falsehood and put on truth within the body of Christ.
Verses 26 and 27 are a continuation of that practical instruction.
• Paul quotes an Old Testament passage in support of his teaching.
In verse 26, Paul quotes Psalm 4:4 directly from the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament. So it’s going to be important for us to understand the theme of that Psalm and why Paul uses it here. We’ll spend some time looking at that Psalm in a few minutes.
2. Consider the text
This is one of those passages where the translations vary greatly. This morning let’s look at four different translations that demonstrate these differences:
"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (NIV)
Even if you are angry, do not sin: never let the sun set on your anger or else you will give the devil a foothold. (NJB)
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. (KJV)
Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. (NASB)
There are two significant issues that we need to deal with in the text itself:
• A command or a condition?
You will easily notice that there are two completely different approaches on how this verse is translated. The KJV and NASB translations treat the first phrase of the passage as a command: “Be ye angry” (KJV) or “Be angry” (NASB). The NIV and NJB translations, on the other had, treat it as more of a condition: “In your anger” (NIV) or “Even if you are angry” (NJB).
Without going into a lot of detail, let me just say that technically both approaches are possible based on the Greek grammar used by Paul. However, given the context and the way similar grammar is employed throughout the New Testament, it seems that we ought to choose the plain meaning and regard this as a command. Perhaps one reason that some translations are reluctant to do so is that we’ve been taught that anger is wrong, so it just doesn’t seem right that we would be commanded to be angry. But I think that when we look at this passage more carefully, we will see that Paul intended to give his readers a command here.
• Two different words for anger
Most translations use the words “anger” or “angry” twice in verse 26. Only the KJV gives us a clue that these are actually two different Greek root words since it uses the words “angry” and “wrath”.
The word translated “angry” in the command “Be angry” is the same word that is often used to describe God’s anger. It is sometimes described as righteous indignation. It is anger that is an abiding, settled attitude against that which is sinful.
It is also the same word used to describe Jesus’ anger with the Pharisees when he healed a man on the Sabbath:
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts...
Mark 3:5 (NIV)
The word translated “wrath” in the second command Paul gives – “let not the sun go down upon your wrath” – deals more with the provocation or the underlying cause of the anger. It is also used to describe anger that is mingled with irritation, exasperation and embitterment. It comes from the same root word Paul will use in Ephesians 6:4 when he commands fathers not to “exasperate” their children.
So now that we’ve determined the background for the passage, let’s see if we can properly identify the principles that God wants us to learn from this passage.
SOME “UNCONVENTIONAL WISDOM” ABOUT ANGER:
1. This passage is dealing with anger that is to be expressed within the body of Christ.
When Paul commands his readers to “be angry”, the verb is in the second person plural – “y’all be angry.” This is completely consistent with the context of this passage in which Paul is dealing with the entire body rather than just individual believers. So the kind of anger that Paul is commanding his readers to express here seems to be limited to that which is expressed within and by the body. That is why Paul can come back just a few verses later (v. 31) and instruct his readers to get rid of all their individual anger.
Although there may very well be times that we are justified in expressing this kind of righteous indignation individually, Paul seems to be limiting it to the body as a whole in this passage. That is a key concept in allowing us to get a right understanding of the principles Paul is teaching here.
2. We are to be angry at that which robs God of His glory.
When I read Paul’s command to “be angry”, my first question is “Be angry about what?”
As Aristotle said:
Anybody can become angry—that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way—that is not easy.
So am I to be angry that the U of A lost to ASU in football, or with the person in the express lane with a full cart of groceries, or with the person who said something hurtful to me? How about the driver that cut me off in traffic? I’m pretty sure that all those kinds of things are what James described as “man’s anger” when he wrote these words:
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
James 1:19-20 (NIV)
So if that’s not what Paul is writing about here, what does he mean? I think the key to answering that question is to take a look at the verse that Paul quotes here. The first part of verse 26 is a word-for word quote of Psalm 4:4 from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the OT.
We don’t have time to look at the entire Psalm, but let’s take a moment to look at verses 2-4 of Psalm 4:
How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Selah Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him. In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.
Psalm 4:2-4 (NIV)
David wrote this Psalm out of his distress, probably at a time when his son Absalom rebelled against him. And in verse 2, David reveals the object of his anger. While David has certainly been hurt by others, even his own flesh and blood, his righteousness indignation is directed towards those who had turned God’s glory into shame. By seeking falsehood rather than the truth – the very thing Paul has already addressed in verse 25 – his enemies have robbed God of His glory. But in verse 4, David is warned against allowing that righteous anger to become sin.
When sin is allowed to remain within the body of Christ, it robs God of the glory that it to be His through the church. In Ephesians Chapter 3, Paul described for us the glory that Jesus is to receive through His body, the church:
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 3:10, 11 (NIV)
It is the church through which God chooses to reveal His manifold wisdom, not just here on earth, but also in the heavenly realms. And when that occurs, God receives glory:
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Ephesians 3:21 (NIV)
But when there is open, rebellious, continuous sin that is allowed to remain within the body, it prevents the body from revealing the wisdom of God in the way that he ordained and that robs God of His glory. Now obviously, because the church is made up of human beings who are sinners by nature, the church is never going to be completely free from sin. So I’m certainly not suggesting that we are to be angry at every little sin in each other’s lives or that we are to be on some continuous witch hunt to try and root out those sins.
In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul describes the kind of sin within the body that we are to be angry about:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
1 Corinthians 5:1, 2 (NIV)
From this passage we can determine the characteristics of the kind of sin that robs God of His glory within the body:
• Sin that robs God of His glory in the body:
o Evident
The sin that Paul describes was apparently well-known within as well as outside the body.
o Continual
The grammar indicates that this was not just a one time slip. The immorality had come to the point where it was a consistent lifestyle.
o Unrepentant
Not only was the man himself not repentant, the entire body was actually proud of his immorality.
When there is that kind of sin in the body, we ought to get angry, not because of what that sin does to us or to our reputation, but because of the way that it robs God of the glory that he intends the church to give to Him as it manifests His wisdom to the world.
3. We are to deal with sin in the body quickly and Biblically
There are a lot of us who have taken the phrase “let not the sun go down upon your wrath” and used it as a formula for dealing with our relationships with other people. For instance, you and your spouse may have made a commitment that you won’t go to bed until you have dealt with any conflict that you might have with each other. While that may very well be a valuable practice, I don’t think that is what Paul is getting at in this passage.
If we’re going to uncover the principle that Paul intended for his readers to understand, we need to go back to some of the background work we’ve already done:
• This is directed toward the body as a whole and not individuals.
• The word translated “wrath” is a word that refers to that which caused the provocation and anger.
In the Jewish culture of Paul’s day, sunset was actually considered to be the beginning of a new day. So the idea of handling anger before the sun sets means that we aren’t to begin a new day without handling the source of our anger. But it doesn’t seem that Paul is attempting to place a definite time limit on handling our anger as much as he is making the point that we need to deal with the cause or source of our anger quickly and not allow it to fester. This would be very consistent with Jesus’ teaching about how to handle sin within the body:
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ’every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”
Matthew 18:15-17 (NIV)
Jesus makes it clear that as a body we are to deal with the cause of our anger – the sin within the body that robs God of His glory – and that we are to do it as quickly as possible. But it is also evident that the process required to do that can’t always be completed before the day is over.
4. Sin that is allowed to remain in the body gives the Devil an opportunity to act
It’s interesting how all the different translations handle verse 27. But this is one of those places where looking at all the different translations together actually give us a deeper understanding of the passage. Several translations warn us against giving the devil a “foothold”, while the NASB cautions against giving him an “opportunity” and the KJV counsels us not to give him a “place”.
The Greek word is the word “topos” from which we get our English word “topography”. It originally referred to a defined territory or piece of land, but was also used figuratively to describe a place, an occasion or an opportunity. Paul is warning us here that if we don’t deal with sin within the body that it gives the devil a base of operations from which he can infiltrate and attack the church.
In almost every military operation, the invading army starts by establishing a place of operation from which they can stage their attack. And in the spiritual battle that is going on in our world, the devil is always looking for a place within the body of Christ where he can establish a base of operations from which to launch his attacks. And when we allow sin to remain in the body without dealing with it we provide the devil with that opportunity.
Dealing with evident, continual, unrepentant sin within our body is not pleasant or easy. But if we want to prevent the devil from getting a foothold in the spiritual battle we are in, it is certainly necessary.
