Ephesians 4:22-28 - "Let Him Who Stole Steal No Longer"

We are looking at Ephesians chapter 4, verses 22through the end of the chapter. In these verses, the apostle Paul isinstructing the believers in Ephesus to put off the old man. Why? Because theyare now in Christ. They have a new man living within them. The Holy Spirit ofthe living God—Christ Himself—lives in us.  Paulbecomes very specific in this section. Beginning in verse 22, he addressesparticular sins that are to be put off. The first sin he deals with islying—put away lying. The second area he addresses is anger, which we havetalked about over the last couple of days. Today, we come to verse 28: “Lethim who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his handswhat is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.” (Ephesians4:28) Thisis an important exhortation. One of the Ten Commandments is “You shall notsteal.” Paul is reiterating a command that goes all the way back to the OldTestament. Now why would a person steal? To steal means to take property orpossessions that do not belong to you but belong to someone else. When God gavethis commandment, He established the principle of private ownership ofproperty. That is a very important principle—even in our own day especiallywhen socialism is taking a strong foothold in our country. Aperson has the right to turn his strength and labor into gain, to keep thatgain, and to use it as he sees fit. God gave specific laws in the Old Testamentto protect property, and these biblical principles became foundational to ourlaws, our Constitution, and even our local laws today. In Deuteronomy chapter8, God makes it very clear that it is He who gives us the power to get wealth.The chapter begins with the promise of blessings it the people of Israel keep God’scommandments. Then in verse 8, God gives a warning to the Israelites on theverge of going into the Promise Land.  “Bewarethat you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments.” Oneof those commandments, of course, is “Do not steal.” Godgoes on to say in verses 16-18, that when you come into blessing—when youinherit land, enjoy prosperity, and have abundance—you may be tempted to say inyour heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.” Butthen He reminds us: “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He whogives you power to get wealth.” If you have anything worth having, it isbecause God gave you the strength and ability to obtain it. Paul’sadmonition to the believers in Ephesus is clear. “Let him who stole steal nolonger.” The culture and that world of that day was such that stealing was almostaccepted as a common thing. We seem to have the same problem today in America withshoplifting and stealing to the extent even of the government stealing hardearned money from taxpayers and giving it to those who refuse to work for it.  Aswe discussed with lying and anger, we must remember the influence of the devil.Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal, and to kill, andto destroy.” The first thing listed here is steal. Satan is the thief, who lies,steals, kills and destroys. He is a murderer from the beginning. We tied thattruth into the subject of anger. When a person harbors anger and bitterness,they are opening the door to the enemy’s work. Infact, when you look through Scripture, you see that even one of Jesus’disciples was a thief—Judas. Eve became a thief when she was tempted by Satanand took what God had forbidden her to take. Adam followed and also became athief when he ate from the tree and was cast out of Paradise. And then therewas the thief on the cross, hanging next to the Last Adam, Jesus—yet he becamea believer when he repented and Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with Mein paradise.” Jesus took a thief and made him a new person. That is the heartof this passage: “Let him who stole steal no longer.” There istransformation in Christ.