Laying aside

“Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth”  Ephesians 4:25

Laying aside – How many sets of clothes can you wear at the same time?  For a joke, you can always put on more than one shirt or pair of pants or dress.  But ordinary living usually means that you wear only one of each.  Nothing fits right if you try to put new clothes on top of old ones.  You need to take something old off before you can put something new on.  That’s exactly what Paul wants us to see.  Take off what you’re wearing so that you can put on something new.

Paul’s statement implies that we all put on the burden of carrying lies and now it is time to lay that burden aside.  Paul is taking about putting on the new personality of Christ.  He exhorts us to be renewed in our minds.  To do that, we must lay aside the old burdens and take up the new freedoms.

The Greek word apotithemi is only used in the middle voice.  That means that it has special significance for the subject of the verb – you!  You are to put off these old ways in order that you can put on the new ones.  This action affects you directly and immediately.  Paul wants us to recognize that we are the beneficiaries of this action.  We are not putting aside what is false because of some higher ethical principle.  We do not stop lying because of regulations or peer pressure.  We stop because God’s indwelling new life is incompatible with these old clothes.  We stop because our lives are better for it.

That doesn’t mean that the transition won’t be painful.  Confession, restitution and repentance hurts.  But the result is freedom.  New clothes.  Designer label.  Made by God.  Go ahead, says Paul, get out of those old rags.  They made you look awful.  Get into some new clothes.  Take on a new image.  It’s worth every penny God paid for your transformation.