Ephesians 4:29-30

Romans922 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009, 11:21 AM

" 29Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

I won't post the Greek because the last time I did it was a big fiasco, but there certainly is a period after verse 29.

My question is for the purpose of preaching. So far I have preached v. 25 (lying/truth speaking), v. 26-27 (anger), v. 28 (stealing), now I come to verse 29. My question is, for preaching purposes, should I preach verses 29-30 together or separate. I'm having a difficult time figuring out if verse 30 is the reason given to follow 29 (the motivation), or if it is acting as a separate command (possibly as a climax to verses 25-29). Maybe there are other options.

Any help on this?

busdriver72 · #2 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009, 12:05 PM

Brother, I see no error in BOTH approaches.
Both are commanded, and neither interfere with each other. Obeying v.29 enables you to obey v.30, even though there may be other ways to obey v.30. Unwholesome words can and do grieve the Holy Spirit, but so do many of the other sins we can do (which are also described in this section of Scripture.) All of this is in context with what he wrote from v.17 and even past v.30 to the end of the chapter.
Verse by verse exposition is great, but take care to not view the individual verses apart from the overall context and flow (theme) of the entire passage.

I often encounter passages where I share with the congregation "He may have meant it this way....or that way." I will bring out both views, and if neither view contradicts the other, and if both views are Biblical and exhort holy living, I delcare both.