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Sermon preached on Ephesians 4:25-32 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 05/17/2026 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
This is now our fourth and final sermon in this passage. First, I gave an overview sermon which called us to live out our new life in Christ to serve our fellow Christians, promoting peace, purity, and unity in the church. Then, I addressed the topics of speech and anger. Today I will be focusing on verse 28 which deals with matters of theft, labor, and giving. We see again the put off, put on dynamic for these practical topics. The verse lends itself well to a three-point outline. First, we’ll consider how we are to put off theft. Second, we’ll consider how we are to put on honest labor. Third, we’ll consider the goal stated here: so that we can give to those in need. Stepping back, we see a beautiful picture here that our new life in Christ promotes the value of working. God made us people to work and we get to consider some of the benefits of that, today.
Let’s begin in our first point by considering how we are to put off theft. Literally, I might translate this as, “Let the stealer no longer steal.” To steal something is take that which does not belong to you, without the permission of the owner. This is literally the eighth commandment, “You shall not steal.” This assumes the right of humans to own things, and so it is stealing when you take something that doesn’t belong to you.
Now, we can think of more overt ways to steal and more covert ways. Some steal by force, like armed robbery. Others do it secretly, like pickpocketing. Yet, many examples of the sin of stealing are more subtle than those examples, yet are still stealing. For example, if you are a paid hourly worker and you are playing on the internet when you are supposed to be working, you are stealing from the company. The same is the case if you are filling out your time sheet and pad a little extra time. If you are a vendor who sells things by weight, and your scale measures things heavier than they are, you are stealing from your customers. If you lie on your taxes to pay less, you are stealing from the government. If you are a salesman, and you oversell your product, promising it can do more than it can, you got them to pay for more than what you actually sold them, and that too is stealing. If you are an employer, and find ways to not pay your workers everything you legally owe them, you are stealing from them. We can apply this even beyond money. For example, a student’s job is their studies. But if they plagiarize to get a good grade, that is also a form of stealing. And if your parents are paying for you to get an education, then you are also stealing from them. These are but a few examples of how one could steal. Whatever the form your sin of stealing takes on, Jesus calls us to be putting this off.
Let us appreciate that the reason we are to put off stealing is because that is part of our old self. Taking something that is not ours is something of our former, unregenerate self. Fallen human natures do not care for God’s laws and live more likes beasts than image-bearers when they steal. Just watch the animal kingdom, and you can see animals steal food from other animals without remorse. Yet, humans usually do have at least some remorse because they are not beasts but were created in God’s image. It’s only when they so harden their heart that they become all the more jaded to their sin of stealing. One way to recognize that stealing is of our old self is to remember Adam and Eve. On one level, their first sin was also an act of theft. They took and ate that which God had not given them. God gave them to eat of all the other trees, but not of that one forbidden tree. Yet, in their covetous desire, they took that which God had not given them permission to take. When we steal, it is of our old fallen man, not of our new life in Christ.
Now, let me address a question that comes up here a lot in the commentaries. Is Paul writing this because the Ephesian Christians struggled with theft? Some have asked if those who had converted to Christ would really be out there living a life of theft. Some commentaries reply that many pagans were poor, and so when they became a Christian, they might have still struggled with that old way of life. While it is possible that motivated Paul writing this, another reason may be so he can emphasize what needs to replace a former life of stealing. Newborn Christians need to know what to put on in place of their previous sinful ways. By reminding them that the Christian life no longer is to be one of theft, he now has the opportunity to talk about what it should be instead. That is what we will now cover in our second and third points for today.
So then, let’s turn now in our second point to consider the call to put on honest labor. The verse says, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands.” Don’t use your hands to steal, but use them for good hard work. The verse doesn’t want you to miss the importance of work here, because it uses two different words, labor and work, to make this point. The nuanced difference here between the two words is that the word here for labor emphasizes the exertion and even hard toil that can be involved in work, where the word for work here emphasizes the positive accomplishments that results from one’s labor. You might say that it emphasizes how hard work pays off.
So then, let us appreciate the difference here between a prohibition and a positive duty. We need to put off stealing because stealing is prohibited by God. We need to put on work, which is a positive duty, some good thing God commands us to do. Generally, a prohibition implies a positive duty, and vice-versa. You put off the prohibition, and you put on the positive duty. Work is a positive duty, one of the several things God teaches us to do. This is all related to the idea of sins of omission and commission. A sin of commission is doing what you are prohibited from doing, like stealing. A sin of omission is not fulfilling the positive duties God calls you to do, like working if able to do so.
While work is an important positive duty, let us remember that it is not our only demand on our life. We generally have to balance and prioritize how we will spend our time and energy among many positive duties God calls us to do. And God has not only commanded us to perform certain duties, but he has also given us various blessings to enjoy in life (Ecc. 5:19). And so, while it is generally good and wise to be a hard worker, it would be folly to be a workaholic, especially if it’s because you have fallen in love with money (c.f. Proverbs 23:4). That there is more to life than just work is seen in the weekly sabbath, where we are literally commanded to set aside a day for rest and worship. And in addition to our normal weekly work, there is surely a place for many other good things like hobbies, sports, recreation, occasional vacations, and more. We must find a proper balance in how we spend our time, but this verse tells us that God expects us to generally be a working, productive people. That is true, even if you are retired from your normal job. God would still have you to be productive, if you are so healthy and physically able to do so.
Let us note how verse 28 describes the kind of work it has in mind when it uses the word “honest”. The Greek is a little more generic than that. It is literally the word for “good”. Do good work. In contrast with stealing, we can appreciate the translation of honest. But the concept is a little broader than that. It gets us to think about what is good and noble work versus evil and dishonorable work. Obviously, a hard-working thief is not doing good work by his stealing. There are also various ways people work in dishonest ways and make lots of money, but that also is not good work. There are even jobs that are legal according to the government, but still not good in God’s sight. We are to labor and work, but we are to do so for good, honest, noble professions.
On this second point about putting on good work, let me remind us that work is not a punishment. God would have us to see that work is a good thing, even a part of living out the image of God. We can think of all the many good works of God, and as he is restoring his image in us, we should look to reflect God’s working by our own good, hard work. So then, while work is not a punishment, we should acknowledge that the work we do in this world is done in a fallen world. Ever since mankind’s fall into sin, God put a curse on this world. Genesis 3 describes that there is something harder now with our work than it otherwise would be. Work does have toil and difficulty to it, and can be exhausting. So, when we recognize that, we remember that we yet look forward to the age to come when that curse is lifted. So, we can recognize the hardships of work now, but see the inherent good of work as even something God is at work to redeem.
Let’s not turn to our third point and consider the goal stated here for our working. It says, so that we can give to those in need. On first glance, that might not have been what you expected it to say for the goal. If we put off stealing, and put on working, we might have expected the goal to be so we can meet our own physical needs. Humans have need for our daily bread, as well as for things like clothing, shelter, and more. It is certainly true and biblical that working is the ordinary way God has ordained for us to meet those physical needs. Paul teaches this in 2 Thessalonians 3:12, that we should work so that we can earn our own living, literally, so we have our own bread to eat. But while that goal is surely implied, Paul chooses to emphasize another goal. An important reason we should be working hard is so that we have something to give to others in need.
While we are talking about right goals for our work, let us each examine our motives for working against Scripture to make sure we don’t have wrong goals. Is your work being fueled by covetousness or love of money? We should remember the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12 where Jesus described a rich man deciding to build bigger storehouses for the future, not realizing he was going to die that very night. Jesus gave the moral of that parable in Luke 12:15, saying, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Similarly, remember Jesus’ teaching that we should seek to store up heavenly treasure over earthly treasure, Matthew 6:19ff. If all our labor and hard work is so we can amass more and more earthly treasures, then our heart is misplaced.
So then, two people might do the same job, for the same number of hours of the week, for the same paycheck, and yet they might have very different goals. One might do that work coveting earthly treasure and in love of money, showing a sinful failing of the heart. The other might do it with the goals to provide for their family and to share with others in need. Their heart makes all the difference. Wonderfully, when the person with the right heart shares with those in need, they are using some of the earthly treasure they earned and using it to gain heavenly treasure. That’s what Jesus talked about in that same chapter about seeking heavenly treasure. He commended giving to the poor in secret so that you will be rewarded by God who sees what you do in secret.
Ultimately then, work is a good thing, but we must check our heart for what we are seeking. We must put off covetousness, greed, and love of money. We must put on a heart of contentment, generosity, and ultimately stewardship. When we work as God created us to do, and then earn some money from that labor, God is entrusting us with that wealth. We are to faithfully steward those funds for his glory. We recognize that when we give first to the Lord with our tithes and offerings, before we use the money for anything else. We also show that in how we generously give to other good things that God would have us to give. When we see our work as a matter of stewardship and not love of money, that frees us up even to take certain jobs that we might not otherwise take if it was just about money. Maybe God’s giftings and call will have you serve him in ways that maybe make less money but provide greater benefit to the kingdom. On the other hand, some have been so gifted and called by God to jobs that do produce a great amount of wealth, which they then also can use to the good of the body of Christ.
Indeed, let us appreciate that in context Paul especially has this in mind, how our work can help our brothers and sisters in Christ with their financial needs. Remember that the context of chapter 4 includes each body part of the body of Christ contributing with the graces God has given them to build up the body into full Christian maturity. That is an important part of what we call “communion of the saints”. Together we minister to each other in the fellowship we have in Christ to help us all grow. While that growth especially has in mind our spiritual maturity, the Lord repeatedly teaches us that he still has concern for the physical wellbeing and provision for his people. We see this clearly commended in the opening chapters of Acts, where the early new covenant church was exercising generous giving so that no one in the body of Christ had need, Acts 4:35. Yet, sin still threatened this ministry of giving. The very next chapter in Acts recorded Ananias and Saphira pretending to be more generous than they really were, and facing divine judgment because of it. And then the chapter after that, records that the Greek widows in the church were being neglected in the daily food distribution, which resulted in the formation of the official diaconate ministry to oversee the care for the needy in the church. Likewise, we see in various epistles the ministry of giving to the needs of the saints described. Romans 15 describes Paul gathering a collection to meet a need among poor Christians in Jerusalem, possibly due to a famine. Philippians 4 speaks of giving in a different sense, to help pastors like Paul do their ministry. John, in his first epistle, says that if God’s love is abiding in us, and we have the means, then we should not close our hearts against our brother’s material needs. So then, our verse today sees our giving to the needs of the saints as part of this important ministry of charitable giving that is commended in many places in Scripture. Our church’s diaconal ministry facilitates this biblical care for the saints and may us who are able give generously.
That leads me to address this question, “What if you are poor yourself and have financial needs and aren’t in a place to help others?” I draw your attention back to verse 28 that says, “so that you might have something to share.” If you don’t have something to share, you don’t have something to share. For people struggling with poverty, here’s what I would counsel. When you receive your paycheck, first give your tithe to the Lord. Then modestly provide for your immediate family needs, including some form of savings. Then, if you have something left over, you can consider how to use those extra funds. It’s certainly okay to use some discretionary funds for personal blessings like recreation, but surely this verse would have us to also be generous in giving to others with those extra funds. Wisdom will be needed in considering how to wisely steward all those funds to the glory of God. Now, again, we must examine our hearts. We could deceive ourselves by thinking we can’t afford to give until we reach some grand place of financial stability. Or we could miss that even if you don’t have a lot of extra money to give, there are ways to help others that don’t even involve money. Maybe you can give of your time and talents to help those in need. But if we will have a heart of generosity and love for neighbor, we will be eager to find ways to give to the needs of others.
Let us see God’s grace here, brothers and sisters. When we give to others, it is an act of grace. This verse doesn’t say work hard and give to the poor who have earned it. No, if they earned it, then it should be a wage not a gift. But this verse calls us to give to those in need. Giving to others what you earned is a gift of grace. As soon as we recognize that, we can appreciate why God would call us to give in grace. Because Jesus has given to us in grace. We have received grace upon grace. Before Jesus saved us, we were all guilty thieves, robbing God of the glory and honor he is owed. But Jesus came down to labor and work for us. Jesus earned the merit of perfect righteousness that he has freely given to us. He even gave us his life when he died in our place to put away our debt of sin. This all we have received freely, as a gift, simply through faith. Jesus has continued to give us grace, even grace that he wants us to use in serving others. Our verse today reminds us that part of what Jesus gives to many of us is the strength and ability to work so that we have something to then give to others.
In conclusion, as we work and give in this life, we show that our hope lies beyond this life. Whatever we don’t give away in this life, will still be parted from us when we die. Let us, while we live, give knowing that our lasting treasure yet awaits us. As Ephesians 1:18 told us, we have the hope of the future riches of a glorious inheritance. Praise God for the grace he will yet give us in that glory of the age to come.
Amen
Copyright © 2026 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
