Ephesians 4:26

The second exhortation is to avoid sinning when angry and to deal with sin quickly if it does accompany anger (cf. Psalms 4:4). Anger is not sinful in itself (cf. John 2:13-16). There is such a thing as righteous indignation (cf. Ephesians 5:6; Mark 3:5). [Note: See Daniel B. Wallace, "Orgizesthe in Ephesians 4:26 : Command or Condition?" Criswell Theological Review 3 (1989):352-72.] Still it is easy to lose control of our anger, to let it control us instead of controlling it. Anger becomes sinful when it is inappropriate. The way to deal with sinful anger is to confess it as sin (1 John 1:9). If apologies to other people are necessary, we should offer them quickly as well. Letting the sun go down on one’s wrath is a figure of speech that emphasizes the need to deal with sin soon (cf. Deuteronomy 24:13-15). That we need not take it literally should be clear since the sun does not literally set on one’s anger since anger is not a physical object.