Ephesians Chapter 4:17 to 5:21
This week Paul focuses us on instructions for moving on into spiritual maturity. Remember last week we ended with Paul urging us to become mature so that we will not be like kids who are moved by every wind of false teaching. He says we are to move into and function in our position within the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:17-19 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
Paul starts this portion of “coaching” by telling us first of all not to live like the Gentiles do. The sort of plain sense of this scripture sort of hit me this time. In the context here Paul tells us not to live like we did before. Then he brings up the way we thought and the way we should now think. Then he mentions the darkened understanding and separation from the life of God resulting from ignorance because of hard hearts. They had no sensitivity to the things of God and that let to a bondage to sensuality. Sensuality takes lots of forms including various forms of religious devotion. But why would God warn us about this? I think the answer is that this is probably the most common trap we as Christian men fall into. We do exactly what Paul insists we must no longer do. We live day by day and moment by moment in the way we did before. We don’t focus on placing God first in our daily lives. We just make all the decisions but say that Jesus is Lord on Sunday. There are implications to calling someone “Lord”. They should be in charge. Often we only cry out when we have trouble. We may ask God to intervene but we tend to decide based on our preferences nearly all the time and take the wheel back just as soon as we are over the bumpy stuff.
It is pretty scary how easy it is to live like I did before I was saved. I don’t always practice the presence of God. We can allow our old nature to press us toward sensuality and lose our sensitivity to the things of God. Our minds and senses are to be used to make us sensitive to the things of God. Instead, because of our fallen nature, our senses and minds can lead us to sensuality (sin) and insensitivity to God. So what do we do? We know what are inclinations are and we are called to work together with God to be pleasing to Him. Stott writes about the word used for hardness of heart. It is used in other contexts to mean a boney calcification or accumulation. I thought that what we know now about plaques in the human heart makes an interesting analogy but the focus is on the insensitivity.
Ephesians 4:20-24 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Well yes we didn’t come to know Christ by living according to our sin nature. Paul is coaching us to work together with the Holy Spirit in our lives to put off our old nature, change our attitude with regard to sensuality, and to put on our new selves. We are supposed to mature into righteousness and holiness. Notice how Paul uses a sort of school analogy here. And remember that your old self is part of your former way of life that is off at salvation. So live like it.
Ephesians 4:25-28 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
Paul gets specific by identifying falsehood, inappropriate behavior when angry, and stealing as sins. Falsehood is something that God can convict you of day by day. However, we spin the truth so well that if we don’t surrender to God we will judge ourselves as good and pure when we are not. Practicing the presence of God is the only real way to let God convict and instruct during your life. Anger is another area in our lives that needs to be yielded to God. God doesn’t say, “don’t get angry” but He says when we are angry that we shouldn’t sin. Some stuff should make you angry but anger doesn’t give us an excuse to abandon being longsuffering and loving and gentle. Boys can’t control there anger but men can. But boys who are the same age as grown men will judge you for controlling your anger. The question in your mind that needs answering is whose judgment matters to you; do you care about God’s judgment or some guy who never grew up. And on the other side, who are you to show apathy at something that makes God angry but remember that the anger of men doesn’t accomplish the righteousness of God. Stott does a pretty good job of discussing all this. We are also warned not to let the sun go down while we are angry. God is saying to deal with it in a mature way and don’t let your anger turn into bitterness.
Ephesians 4:29-32 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Now these commands are harder (I think). We should be speaking to build each other up in God. What we say should be said to benefit those who listen. Now I’m pretty sure that we don’t put that filter on all our communications. Teasing and joking and laughing are not outlawed. Jesus was a guy who people loved to be around and that included kids. Our lives should be naturally attractive to others. But the Holy Spirit is the arbiter in all our communications. We don’t grieve Him. Would you say what you said if Jesus was standing there? And remember not to bore Him to tears OK.
Paul’s particular prohibitions are against bitterness, rage/anger, brawling, slandering, and malice. We are commanded to be kind, compassionate, and forgiving.
Ephesians 5:1-2 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
We are clearly called to a life of service. The word God uses in Agape and it is a decided determined active love.
Ephesians 5:3-7 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 man 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.
As we live a live of service to each other we are supposed to guard against sexual immorality, any impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse joking. We are told to be a people who give thanks. The context seems to indicate that, in this case, the thankfulness is with regard to sex. That makes sense to me here as I read this scripture. Sex is a gift of God and He has given instructions on how to use the gift. The Romans were real jerks in this area and I would say ruined the gift and our culture can head that way too. Stott says, “…the reason why Christians should dislike and avoid vulgarity is not because we have a warped view of sex, and are either ashamed or afraid of it, but because we have a high and holy view of it as being in its right place God’s good gift, which we do not want to see cheapened.”
We are called to live our lives before the face of God. It is laughable that we change our behavior in front of a pastor when we can’t help but be seen by God. Do we think He is distracted from time to time? Well He isn’t. That omniscience and omnipotent thing is something we seem to need to think about more often. Immorality, impurity, and greed are idolatry because we place something in God’s rightful place and give our lives to it. We look to that thing for satisfaction and even attribute security to the products of greed. Rather than being thankful to God we see for and are thankful for the products of immorality, impurity, and greed. You really don’t want to under estimate this scripture because Paul closes with, “let no one deceive you with empty words” and stresses the sin that can be so easily accepted.
Ephesians 5:8-14 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. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
So Paul continues to hammer away at my slack attitude. He says that I’m supposed to live as a child of light (showing goodness, righteousness, and truth) and that I’m supposed to figure out what pleases God. Our lives should be offensive in a strange way to those who are outside the Body of Christ. Some commentators think the quote may be from a baptismal hymn. Wouldn’t that be a neat thing to sing while we had a baptismal service?
Ephesians 5:15-21 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
This weeks final coaching tip then is to be careful and don’t be dumb. First Paul tells us to find out what pleases the Lord and here he tells us to understand what the Lord’s will is. Then he uses a contrast in ability to do that. He says don’t get drunk. A drunk isn’t doing what pleases God and can’t understand what the Lord’s will is. But he says we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. That process will produce the kind of communication in the Body of Christ and the thankfulness of attitude that pleases God. The humility and submission to each other are then a natural part of the life of the Body.
Jonathan Edwards, “Resolved: Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can” – a resolution on his 20th birthday.
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