January 07 2026

Wednesday January 07

“Let Him Who Stole Steal No Longer”

Ephesians 4:22-28

22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another. 26 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

Welcome to Pastor’s Chat today. We are looking at Ephesians chapter 4, verses 22 through the end of the chapter. In these verses, the apostle Paul is instructing the believers in Ephesus to put off the old man. Why? Because they are now in Christ. They have a new man living within them. The Holy Spirit of the living God—Christ Himself—lives in us. Because of that, we are to clothe our outward, practical lives with what honors and glorifies Jesus Christ and demonstrates that we are Christlike. We are Christians. We follow Him. We do what He wants us to do. We love one another, and we keep His commandments.

Paul becomes very specific in this section. Beginning in verse 22, he addresses particular sins that are to be put off. The first sin he deals with is lying—put away lying. The second area he addresses is anger, which we have talked about over the last couple of days. Today, we come to verse 28: “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.” (Ephesians 4:28)

This is an important exhortation. One of the Ten Commandments is “You shall not steal.” Paul is reiterating a command that goes all the way back to the Old Testament. Now why would a person steal? To steal means to take property or possessions that do not belong to you but belong to someone else. When God gave this commandment, He established the principle of private ownership of property. That is a very important principle—even in our own day especially when socialism is taking a strong foothold in our country.

A person has the right to turn his strength and labor into gain, to keep that gain, and to use it as he sees fit. God gave specific laws in the Old Testament to protect property, and these biblical principles became foundational to our laws, our Constitution, and even our local laws today. In Deuteronomy chapter 8, 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’s commandments. Then in verse 8, God gives a warning to the Israelites on the verge of going into the Promise Land.  “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments.” One of those commandments, of course, is “Do not steal.”

God goes on to say in verses 16-18, that when you come into blessing—when you inherit land, enjoy prosperity, and have abundance—you may be tempted to say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.” But then He reminds us: “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth.” If you have anything worth having, it is because God gave you the strength and ability to obtain it.

Paul’s admonition to the believers in Ephesus is clear. “Let him who stole steal no longer.” The culture and that world of that day was such that stealing was almost accepted as a common thing. We seem to have the same problem today in America with shoplifting and stealing to the extent even of the government stealing hard earned money from taxpayers and giving it to those who refuse to work for it.

As we 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, and to 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 that truth into the subject of anger. When a person harbors anger and bitterness, they are opening the door to the enemy’s work.

In fact, 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 Satan and took what God had forbidden her to take. Adam followed and also became a thief when he ate from the tree and was cast out of Paradise. And then there was the thief on the cross, hanging next to the Last Adam, Jesus—yet he became a believer when he repented and Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” Jesus took a thief and made him a new person. That is the heart of this passage: “Let him who stole steal no longer.” There is transformation in Christ.

We will talk more about this tomorrow, because with each of these admonitions Paul gives, he also provides a motive and a reason for obedience—and we will see that clearly as we continue.

God bless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.