Ephesians 5:1-14 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
What is the image of God? Paul once again in the above verses tells us the difference between living in the light of God and living in darkness. As Christ’s life illustrates, we should walk in love as a sweet smelling fragrance to God. When we reflect God through our lives hidden IN CHRIST, we bring a loveliness to the world. We bring the glory of God, the Holy Spirit’s attributes, to the world: The fruit of the SPIRIT: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) Jesus' walk is cohesive, helpful, generous, and caring. If all humans functioned in the light of Jesus, there would be no need of law to control the flesh. But because we are not like God, we need law in almost every corner of our lives, for we are natural law breakers. We tend to display the carnality in us readily, the works of death: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (Galatians 5:19-21) With that kind of fleshly behavior in us, we need a myriad of laws and many enforcers to keep us from destroying each other. Because of our innate nature of sin, there will be wars and rumors of wars as long as humans exist on earth. People have a destructive and hurtful substance within them that will never be totally peaceful and loving, caring for others above themselves. Presently, we see people migrating all over the world to get away from destruction and violence. Sadly, as they move away from a caldron of violence and hurt, they just move to another difficult situation, for violence is in mankind, and they bring their own disfunctions to the new land. For evil does not occupy territory, it occupies the hearts of men and women. In the focus for this week, Paul talks to a people, the Greeks, who exist in a society where licentiousness, impurity, and greed are engrained deeply into their culture. Of course, this kind of behavior is universal, so the Greeks are not a unique people, but just as all people since the fall, they are fleshly and self-oriented. He reminds them that in their former lives before Christ's saving grace came to them, they were dead to God and dead to the knowledge of God. They were dead to God because they were slaves to sin, captivated by the devil’s spirit of darkness, and they did not know the God of light because they did not have the written law as part of their culture. The Jewish law was given to Moses by the hand of God. Then Moses passed on to the Jewish people what it means to be children of God or people of light. Of course, the law expresses through all of its commandments and regulations the basic character of God: love. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10) To satisfy the law and its commands completely is to love others as yourself, in such an environment no additional laws or regulations are needed, nor is there any need for enforcers.
Paul in his advice to the Ephesians of how they should live and think, talks about the content and intentions of the heart. The Ephesians should not entertain within their hearts such things as foolish talk, coarse joking, or obscenities. All of this kind of activity is disruptive, hurtful, not focused on the purity of God or his goodness. God’s love extends to all people, so such words, thoughts, and actions are detrimental to imagining God to the world. Jesus warns us about the heart not being right with God. If our hearts or our minds are focused on impurity and the hurting of others, we will manifest in our lives the products of sin and shameful acts. The things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matthew 15:18-19). Paul is warning the Ephesians not to allow their thoughts to sink into unprofitable areas of darkness. Instead, they should focus their minds on good things, on the love of God and his graciousness to them. They should determine to live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Obscenities, coarse joking and foolish talk create a reservoir that does not produce the fruit of goodness, righteousness and truth, but just the opposite. Those things of darkness should be exposed, not tolerated or hidden by unprofitable talk and behavior. Everything in our lives should be brought to THE LIGHT. We should no longer be in a deep sleep in the deadness of the world, but we should wake up to the new life in us and shine in the world as Christ shines in us. If we wake up, we will be as Peter wishes for us, Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (1 Peter 2:11-12) Our stable lives and gracious talk should reveal the light of God in us. We ought to be a reflection of him in and out of season. We should live consistent and peaceful lives regardless of the circumstances around us in contrast with the behavior of unbelievers. As new creatures, born anew, our lives should reveal the new clothing we wear, born-again attire.
As God’s dearly loved children, we should avoid the unprofitable nature of the old man. Our fleshly desires should always give way to the Spirit of God in us. We are the fragrance of new life; therefore, we should avoid the impurity of the flesh. We should follow God’s example as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Among us there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. As children of God we should live worthy lives of the redeemed. Once we were dead in our transgressions and sins, caught in the ways of the world. In our ignorance we believed our lives were acceptable to a righteous God, that a holy, eternal God could accept us into his eternal presence forever. Our minds were caught up in gratifying our fleshly desires, not knowing we deserved the wrath of God, not his acceptance. But God in his eternal love for mankind made a way for us to be right with him. He made us alive IN CHRIST even when we were dead in our sins and transgressions. His grace saved us from damnation and the eternal absence away from the only life that exists. We see God’s eternal love for mankind in the children of Israel’s walk through the wilderness. God had rescued them from slavery, where even their baby boys were put to death. Now, one month away from that awful existence, the children of Israel are complaining to Moses about being brought out of slavery. They wanted to go back to Egypt, for at least they had meat and bread to eat there. They wanted to go back to their fleshly existence, even though it was a life of slavery. But God was kind to them, rather than wipe them off the face of the earth because of their unthankfulness about his salvation plan for them. He gave them meat to eat at night and bread in the morning to sustain them through the wilderness. He showed his cloud of glory to them, the presence of the Holy Spirit. He made them realize it was not Moses and Aaron who brought them out of slavery: it was He who rescued them from certain death in the household of slavery. God’s enduring love was revealed that day to them, not the discipline that they deserved, but bread in the morning and meat at night to sustain them to live in this alien land. Peter tells us we are living in an alien land, a land that is hostile to our existence. Paul is saying to the Ephesians not to go back to Egypt and live as a slave. Yes, this land is hostile to our born-again lives. But God has provided for us. His Spirit is our constant companion. Live his life, think as He thinks, and most of all put on the image of God in everything we do. Paul tells the Ephesians to wake up, to understand fully who they really are in this wilderness. The new clothing will not wear out in this hot, oppressive climate. Even the shoes of the Israelites did not wear out as they traversed the wilderness. Neither will our shoes wear out or our clothes become tattered. God is our supplier, our provider. Therefore breakfast companions, do not grumble, do not complain about your circumstances; instead, give thanks that you are no longer in the land of the dead. Yes, the climate is adverse to holy existence, but God will sustain you, and you will find your way home to the Promised Land. And then you will hear, Well done my good and faithful servant. You will enter your eternal home, prepared for you and all the saints of God.
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