Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Ephesians

Ephesians 4:25

Paul has given us the basic principle, which is that we need to put off the old man and put on the new. He now begins to give us some examples of how that works in practice.

He says, “Having put away falsehood.” Falsehood is part of the old person, and he assumes it has been put away. So, having put away falsehood…. What is the new characteristic that needs to be put on? …each of you speak truth to his neighbor. Falsehood is to be put off. Honesty is to be put on. And it’s not just a mental putting on. It is actively speaking truth, purposely and intentionally.

By neighbor here, I think he means a fellow believer because he says we are members one of another. This does not imply that we should not speak truthfully with people on the outside, but that especially and foremost we should speak the truth to the people who are the closest. If we can’t speak the truth to them, we will never be able to speak truth to outsiders.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:13 AM March 17, 2021.