Stealing and Covetousness (Part 1)

One biblical concept that a former pastor of mine informed me of that has stuck with me until today is what is called the "put off, put on" principle. For those of you who are unaware of what this is, the Apostle Paul, in his letters, had a habit of not only telling believers to quit bad behaviors ("put off") but to also adopt new behaviors to replace them ("put on"). Nature abhors a vacuum and this was Paul's (well, the Holy Spirit's) way of filling that vacuum with something profitable.

One application of this principle is found in the book of Ephesians and has to do with stealing:

Ephesians 4:28 (NASB)
"He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need."

Paul's "put off" directive—"He who steals must steal no longer"
is followed by a "put on" directive—"but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good"
Paul even gives the godly rational for this new behavior—"so that he will have something to share with one who has need."

Later on in the letter he defines covetousness in a list of condemnable behaviors and I'll explain why I'm bringing this up:

Ephesians 5:5 (NASB)

"For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God."

 As is commonly understood, covetousness is the father of stealing. It is the desire for what a person has. The 10th commandment states:

Exodus 20:17 (NASB)
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

(Interestingly, the command not to steal in the decalogue precedes this command as the 8th commandment. Also interesting is how in Ephesians the command not to steal is also preceding the command not to covet and is given separately.)

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