Ephesians 4:25

“Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another”.

“Falsehood”: “Finish then with lying” (Phi). “Speak ye truth”: See Zechariah 2:16. “The continuous present, has the force of ‘speak truth and speak it continually'” (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 345).

“The Christian must do more than avoid the outright lie. The half-truth, which is also half-lie, simply will not do” (Boles p. 290). “Avoidance of lies is of little use without the active pursuit of truth” (Spiritual Sword Lectureship p. 172). “There is also the lie of silence, and maybe it is even commoner. It may be that in some discussion. man by his silence gives approval to some course of action which he knows is wrong. It may be that. man withholds warning or rebuke when he knows quite well he should have given it” (Barclay p. 155). Speaking the truth and abandoning falsehood also means that one is to give up the "lies" of the old life. Caldwell points out, “Our generation is not fond of identifying religious lies. We want to give all people credit for being honest and sincere. Many are indeed sincere who nonetheless believe. lie (2 Corinthians 4:3; Matthew 7:21). All would be pleased if God did not care and if all that He required was naive good attitudes. but the Devil laughs and counts up the souls he will receive when he sees us accept such. deceitful concept of religion” (pp. 207-208). “This lie lies about God and about man, about sin and about punishment, about godliness and about morality” (Lenski p. 573). “Any profession or business that cannot be practiced without lying or dishonesty the Christian will not enter, no matter what the profit to him might be” (Lenski p. 576). Hence speaking the truth includes accurately presenting the facts rather than stretching them, refusing to hide defects in. product or giving an false impression, and refusing to spice up something we heard. Keeping our promises, including keeping our wedding vows, and refusing to remain silent, when we know that someone is under. false impression.

“Each one”: The obligation of every Christian. “With his neighbor”: In this context, Paul will specifically apply this truth to our relationship with other Christians (the next statement in this verse) yet the Christian has an obligation to speak the truth to everyone (Romans 13:9).

“For we are members of one another”: “Nothing so divides and separates Christians as falsehood, misrepresentations, suspicion, and unscrupulous partisanship. Mutual confidence is the essential bond of Christian fellowship” (Erdman p. 101). “The followers of Jesus (in whom is truth, verse 21) should be known in their community as honest, reliable people whose word can be trusted. Paul brings us back to the church as the body of Christ (cf. verses 12-16), and implies that. lie is. stab into the very vitals of the Body of Christ. For fellowship is built on trust, and trust is built on truth” (Stott p. 185). Boles makes. good point when he says, “People lie or withhold truth when they conclude that the other person is not competent to handle the whole truth. To convey. falsehood to. fellow believer, to deem him unworthy of knowing the truth, rips the fabric of unity in the one body” (p. 290). So many have tried to undermine these verses by pointing out situations in which "speaking the truth" would be harmful, as in the classic example of Nazi soldiers looking for Jews that one has hidden. The question is often asked, is not this. situation in which "lying" would be the right thing to do? Carefully note: "Speaking the truth" never has meant disclosing things which no person has. right to know. You are under no moral obligation to tell anyone your secret ATM code, where you hide your spare house key, and so on. We are under no moral obligation to give information, which others do not have. moral right. Nazi's hunting for Jews had no moral right to capture such people, therefore it was none of their business to know where such people had hidden. They would probably search your house, whether you lied or not. The point is that when we do speak, it must be truthful. The problem with situation ethics, is that the same "situational ethic" that would justify dishonesty in such hard circumstances, could also be used to justify placing false blame on. certain ethnic race, if that resulted in bringing. nation out of poverty. Situation ethics isn't really about "sparing others", in the end, situation ethics is all about saving our own skins.