I’ve been trying to help you stretch your capacity for Bible application. Application is like a muscle; the more you overwork it, the greater your strength for it.
So I’ve highlighted the fact that application involves not only doing but also thinking and loving. I’ve encouraged you to press into all three spheres, especially heart application. We’ve looked at the chief opponents of legalism and license. And most recently, I urged you to consider not only yourself but also how you can better disciple other people.
The next exercise for stretching your application muscles is to consider both positive and negative applications.
Paul’s Formula for Change
When you seek to apply the Bible, the key question is: How should I change? And wouldn’t it be great if the Bible described for us a clear process for change?
In the letter of Ephesians, Paul encourages his readers to change. He wants them to stop thinking and acting like unbelievers (Eph 4:17-19) and to live in light of their calling in Christ instead (Eph 4:1). To help them do this, he reminds them of how they first “learned Christ”—i.e. how they became Christians in the first place (Eph 4:20).
That process of change—regardless of whether the change is from non-Christian to Christian, or from less mature Christian to more mature Christian—is as follows:
- Put off your old self (Eph 4:22)
- Renew your mind (Eph 4:23)
- Put on the new self (Eph 4:24)
We can restate these steps as:
- Stop disobeying
- Adopt God’s perspective of the world
- Start obeying
Theologically, this process involves a continual transformation from being like Adam (the old man) and becoming like Jesus (the new man). But in practical terms, it involves simple disobedience and obedience, with a worldview adjustment in between.
Examples of the Process
Paul then provides four specific examples of the process (Eph 4:25-29) followed by a concluding summary (Eph 4:30-32). In each of the four examples he explicitly follows the three-step process, though he sometimes mixes up the order.
Example #1: Lies (Eph 4:25)
- Put off: “put away falsehood”
- Put on: “let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor”
- Renew the mind: “we are members of one another”
It’s not enough for the compulsive liar to simply stop telling lies. He must replace lying behaviors with truthful ones, searching for opportunities to speak the truth to help others. The only way to do this from the heart is to change your view of other people: Don’t see them as adversaries you must defend yourself against, but as members of your body whom you are compelled to help succeed.
Example #2: Sinful anger (Eph 4:26-27)
- Put on: “be angry without sinning”
- Put off: “do not let the sun go down on your anger”
- Renew the mind: “give no opportunity to the devil”
Have you ever tried to deal with your anger by just telling yourself “Don’t be angry!” Yeah, it doesn’t work. That’s because anger is a legitimate response to that which is wrong in the world. The problem most people have is not that they are angry, but that they allow their anger to justify sinful treatment of others. One effect of anger is that it just makes us feel so right.
Paul’s solution is to be angry without sinning. There is such a thing as patient anger. Gentle anger. Kind anger. Loving anger. Anger that doesn’t demand to be the last word (the sun going down on it). How does one cultivate such anger? Only by adopting the Lord’s perspective that sinful, demanding anger gives the devil a swift opportunity to rip relationships apart. You don’t really want him to do that, do you? Then direct your anger toward him instead of toward your fellow members of Christ’s body (cf. Eph 6:12).
I encourage you to work through the examples of theft (Eph 4:28) and rotten speech (Eph 4:29) on your own. How does Paul model the same three steps to produce change with respect to each of those sins?
Application Applications
How does Paul’s process apply to the process of applying the Bible?
First off: His step of renewing the mind is very much what I mean by head application. Paul shows us that application is more than doing; it must also impact our thinking, our faith, and our worldview.
Second, even when he speaks about doing, Paul provides application that is both negative and positive. He describes behaviors that must stop, and other behaviors that ought to replace the first ones.
The Bible’s chief word for negative, “put off” application is repentance. The Bible’s chief word for positive, “put on” application is obedience. Both repentance and obedience could properly be called “application.”
So you’ve now got a bunch of tools to help you get out of your application rut. If you find yourself frequently coming up with nothing but the big three—read the Bible more; pray more; share the gospel more—stretch your application muscles with some of the following exercises:
- Consider not only the hands (doing) but also the head (believing) and heart (loving or valuing).
- Consider not only inward application (for yourself) but also outward application (how God would have you influence or disciple others).
- Consider both negative (repentance) and positive (obedience) applications.
More tools are still to come!
