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Rightly Dividing
the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
Established November 2008 Published
Weekly on Friday AM
This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior, who desires all men (and women) to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:3-4)
Ephesians (5:1-7)
(Lesson 22)
Welcome to HBS.
Paul’s letter to
the Ephesians could be titled “God’s Plan
for Christ’s Imperfect People.” So,
if those folks who are “in Christ Jesus”
desire to know what they believe and then live their life according to those beliefs,
Ephesians is the “go-to” book to study. In
this letter we see how the gospel
account affects each Believers daily life (walk):
(God) chose us in Him (through Christ) before the foundation of the world, that
we would holy and blameless before Him, in love He predestined us to adoption
as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His
will (Ephesians 1:4-5).
For we are His workmanship (masterpiece), created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians
2:10).
Paul closed the
last chapter saying put off the old man and put on the new man. Lay aside falsehood and SPEAK TRUTH each one of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR (4:25); BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN (4:26); Steal
no longer (4:28); Let no unwholesome
word proceed from your mouth (4:29); Do
not grieve the Holy Spirit (4:30); Let
all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you,
along with malice. Be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has
forgiven you (4:31-32).
Considering all this,
and more, Paul begins Chapter 5 with a reasonable command: “be
imitators of God.” You can’t imitate a stranger. To know God fully you must first put your trust
(faith) in the gospel of Jesus
Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 14:6), then the Holy Spirit will help you
grow (mature spiritually) in holiness
(1 Peter 1:2). The Holy Spirit also
imparts wisdom for decision making
(Ephesians 1:17), makes God’s Word understandable
(1 Corinthians 2:9-16), and His power
effects the outgrowth of our new nature
which scripture calls the fruit of the
Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
********
Please
open your Bible at Ephesians 5:1-2.
Ephesians 5
Therefore, be imitators
of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ
also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God
as a fragrant aroma.
We’ve
reached chapter five, but Paul hasn’t started a new topic. He’s still writing about walking worthy, or how Believers in Christ Jesus are to live.
You see, there’s no such thing as a “part-time Believer. We’re to honor God by maturing in the faith and serving others to the building up of the body of Christ
24/7/365.
Thus,
Paul begins with the word Therefore (the
seventh therefore in this letter) which takes us back to Ephesians 4:1:
“Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord,
implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you
have been called.”
The
worthy walk imitates Jesus Christ’s walk.
Paul’s emphasizing the connection between (agape) love and strict
adherence to God’s will and that describes Jesus life or His walk (Hebrews
10:7).
“Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of
Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34).
"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but
the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).
We’re
not going to “be like Jesus” on this
side of glory, but we can imitate
His walk by genuinely loving others,
even those who persecute us.
“Therefore” - this word always refers
back to what Paul has already said and lets us know he’s about to add to those
essential truths.
Paul
closed out chapter 4, telling the Ephesian Church how they are to behave
(conduct themselves in this darkened world)
and followed that up with a series of commands explaining the required change. The motivation
for these changes is genuine love for one another, this included their Ephesian counterparts, the unbelievers
(4:23-32).
The
word “Therefore” indicates to accomplish
this change of heart and mind each Believer
must imitate Jesus Christ’s love for others. This becomes apparent when you read verse 5:2:
..and walk in love,
just as Christ also loved you (even the unlovable) and gave Himself up for us, an offering and
a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma (Romans 14:15; Galatians 2:20).
Our
Apostle Paul continually reminds these Believers the life they’re to live must
be in response to what God has
already done for them (and us). Here’s a brief list :
All true Believers have been chosen by God before the foundation of the
world (1:4)
We’ve been redeemed by Him through His shed
blood and the forgiveness of sin
(1:7)
In
Him we were sealed by the Holy Spirit
(1:13)
Adopted as His
children
(1:5)
We
have been made alive to God by Him (2:5)
For by grace you
have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (2-8.
We’ve
been baptized (placed) into Christ’s one body by the Holy
Spirit (4:5).
“Therefore,
be imitators of God, as beloved children” is a reasonable command. The
expression “Be imitators of God” here
means to express the idea of “becoming.” The Ephesians (and us) are to grow (mature in the faith) step by step as they imitate Jesus Christ’s love.
The
Koine Greek word for imitator is Mimetes (mim-ay-tace’), Noun Masculine,
Strong’s Greek #3402, meaning: an imitator. Our English words mimic and mime are derived
from this word. These words mean to copy
something; then act it out. To
illustrate, an actor or actress spends a considerable amount of energy and time
studying the character they are to portray on the big screen. They become like the one they’re studying as Robert
Downing Jr. did in his Oscar nominated role as Charlie Chaplin. But here, Paul’s saying God, our Father,
wants us to imitate the One who
saved us.
There
are several scripture passages that state more directly true Believers are to become like Christ:
For those whom He
foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His
Son
(Romans 8:29a).
Just as we have
borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly (1 Corinthians
15:49).
But we all, with
unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the
Spirit
(2 Corinthians 3:18).
…and put on the new
self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and
holiness of the truth
(Ephesians 4:24).
the one who says he
abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked (1 John 2:6).
It
can’t be stressed enough becoming
like Christ is the natural direction of the true Believer’s life. If that is not true in your life, then you
need to return to step one, faith.
So
Paul was living out the same command he gave to the Ephesian saints; he was imitating Christ’s love. Please note his
statement to the Philippians:
The
things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice
these things, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:9).
He
also instructed the Corinthians to follow him, as he follows Christ:
Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ (1
Corinthians 11:1).
In his letter to the church in Thessalonica we learn these
folks heeded this command:
You also became imitators of us and
of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy
of the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:6).
So,
Paul is saying, "Do as I do. Follow
me as I follow Christ."
There’s
a pre-sermon story that goes like this.
A man was determined to know God’s will for him. So, he opened His Bible randomly and dropped
his index finger on the page. He assumed
the Bible verse would tell him what God wanted him to do. But his finger had landed on Matthew 27:5
which said, “Judas went and hanged himself.” Stunned by this, he tried again. This time his finger came to rest on the
rebuke in Luke 10:37: “Go and do the same.” Even more uncertain now, he gave this one
more chance. His
finger landed on John 13:27 which states:
“What you are about to do, do
quickly.”
This
story is an attempt at humor; however, it isn’t so far from the truth. It serves to demonstrate how most Believers
approach the scriptures with little, if any, regard to dispensational differences. It’s not possible to know God’s will when
Bible passages are taken out of contest (proof texting) and merely applied to
one’s life because “It sounds good…” or “I found it in the Bible…”
Although
many people in the church continue to deny Paul’s apostolic authority and his
message, his writings are the key that unlocks the truth of God’s Word in this
dispensation, moving people from ignorance to complete understanding. Once people are enlightened to his gospel of
grace (Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4), all the so-called Bible
contradictions disappear and people begin to learn the importance of walking worthy in this life to the
glory of God the Father (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Plainly
put, as the adopted children of God we
are to become imitators of Him, but in what sense? We aren’t able to become god’s ourselves, as
some cult religions and Oprah Winfrey preach, but we can change our character. Verse
5:2 directs us to walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave
Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Since
Paul is referring to Jesus Christ here, we know he’s speaking of agape love.
This is a sacrificial love
which is uncommon to man. In fact, this
kind of love is rarely practiced by humanity unless God is at work in the
individual. The Lord demonstrated sacrificial
and unconditional agape love at the
cross. It was not a love based on pleasant emotion or good feelings about another, but rather the giving of Himself, selflessly,
for mankind’s highest good (Galatians 6:4,10). Agape love
rises from the character of the one who loves
and not the one who is loved. Jesus’
sacrifice of Himself on the cross in our stead for sin is the ultimate
demonstration of God’s love (John
10:18).
Not
many people are willing to lay down their life so that others may live (Romans
5:6-9). However, every now and again
events occur that bring out the best in some people. The first-responders who arrived at the Twin
Towers on 9-11 ran into the burning buildings while everyone else ran away. School coaches and teachers in Parkland, FL died
willingly to defend their student’s lives.
There are numerous accounts of men and women in uniform laying down
their lives for their brothers and sisters in arms. These examples and others not mentioned here demonstrated
genuine concern, love, for others.
However, this is contrary to the world’s
view. People are aware of Hollywood’s version
of love, but understand little about God’s love. We know this is true because God had to command
us to love one another. This doesn’t occur naturally. It’s easier to hate then it is to love someone sacrificially. But since we’re called to love one another, it’s time to put our faith into practice.
The
love that exists naturally in the world is not God’s love, it’s a fallen love.
Jesus said in Matthew 5, “…if you love those who love you, what reward have
you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do
the same?” Jesus’ point is this, even sinner’s love in the
sense Jesus spoke of, but we who are true Believers are to become Christ-like. We are called to be different than the world around us. We are called to love in the same sense God
loved us, because He “gave Himself up for us, an
offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”
Paul
explained it this way: But God demonstrates His own love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by
His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were
reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:8-10).
God
extended His love to all mankind “while we were sinners and His enemies.”
His love
was sacrificially given to all
despite the fact we were outside of
Christ from birth and rebellious in nature.
God loved us because of His
own character, not because of anything we did or tried to do (Isaiah 64:6).
..and walk in love,
(verse
5:2a) - this is an important theme in Ephesians. We know this because Paul uses the expression
five times in all. In 2:2, he mentions
how we used to walk in our sins. In 2:10, he says that we are now to walk in the good deeds which God prepared
beforehand for us. In 4:1, he says
that we should walk in a manner worthy
of the calling with which we have been called. In 4:17, he says that we should not walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their
mind. He will later say in 5:8
Believers must walk as children of Light
and then in 5:15 we must walk carefully,
not as unwise men but as wise.
The
word "walk" implies a
step-by-step, slow, but determined process to reach the goal of imitating Christ in this life. The command to "walk in love" should remind the Bible student of Jesus Christ's
command to His disciples: “love one another…
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I
have loved you, that you also love one another (John 13:34).
So, "walk
in love" is not a new program or purpose for God’s one
Church; it’s a command from God, repeated by our Apostle Paul to those
who are in Jesus Christ.
If any man think
himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that
I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord (1 Corinthians
14:37 – KJV).
We
are to walk in love because our heavenly Father is the epitome of Love!
We
know the subject of love for one
another is important to Paul because he prayed Believers would walk
in love:
For
this reason I bow my knees before the Father... so that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:14-19).
Paul
urged true Believers:
to
bear with one another in love (4:2)
to
speak the truth in love (4:15)
to
build up the body in love (4:16).
He
urges husbands to love their wives
as Christ loved the Church (5:25)
and
as they love their own bodies (5:28)
as
he (or she) loves themselves (5:33).
In
summing up, Biblical love is not an
emotion, it is a verb. It is defined in
scripture as an act of selfless giving or serving others without regard to
self. Biblical love does not seek its own gratification, but another’s highest
good at the Believer’s expense. Biblical love says, "I will love you for love’s sake, even if I
never receive anything in return." (See Luke 10:25-37)
..and walk
in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering
and a sacrifice to God (pleasing to God)
as a fragrant aroma (5:2).
In
verse 5:2 Paul’s saying when Jesus Christ died on the cross He was both an offering and a sacrifice. The LORD God
commanded His people to perform five different types of sacrifices in
Leviticus. The last two sin and guilt
sacrifices deal with atonement for sin committed against the LORD’s expressed
will. This was an O.T. form of reconciliation.
The first three deal with fellowship
with God. Each of these except the guilt
is described as being a “soothing aroma”
or “fragrant aroma” before God. It was pleasing to God to see His people
desire fellowship with Him and He accepted their offerings. Jesus Christ, because of His great love, gave of Himself to pay the ransom
for our sins, thus reconciling us
with the Father, bringing Believers into fellowship with Him. His sacrifice on our behalf was a fragrant aroma; it was pleasing to and
accepted by the Father.
So,
once again, Paul’s saying we are to imitate
Jesus’ sacrificial love. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded His followers to “love their
enemies, be a blessing to those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and
pray for them” (Matthew 5:44).
The
world-at-large does not believe this. It’s
not natural to love your enemies. They
believe in getting even and getting ahead (while they’re at it). So Paul gives the Ephesians practical
applications of this command in the
following verses:
But immorality
or any impurity or greed (covetousness) must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness
and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but
rather giving of thanks. 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. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for
because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of
disobedience. Therefore do not be
partakers with them; (5:3-7).
In
verse 3, Paul lists three sins that have to do with sexual immorality. The first word
in Koine Greek is Porneia which the
NASB translates immorality. The KJV Bible translates it fornication. I prefer the KJV translation shown here: “But
fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named
among you, as becometh saints;” Paul’s message said differently would be “There is fornication among you.”
Here
we see Paul turning from his previous theme of self-sacrificial love in verse 2, to its literal opposite, self-indulgent sexual sin in verses
3-4. In these verses Paul is simply
giving the saints in Ephesus a more detailed teaching of the Lord. God’s intention for Believers is either
marriage, with absolute faithfulness to their spouse, or total abstinence from
sex. The Bible does not allow for
variations of this truth. But sad to
say, many Christians today have
abandoned or ignored outright God’s command
to live differently than the world (John
15:19, 17:14-16; Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 2:15-17).
Paul
is saying sexual sin, whether it is labeled immorality, impurity, or
greed (covetous) is a violation of biblical love. You cannot truly love
another, in the biblical sense, and engage in sex acts with him or her outside
of the marriage covenant. It is known as
a covenant because marriage is entered into by a man and a woman before God as
their Witness. This book says there is
no such thing as sexual relations, outside of marriage, done in love. So, for Believers to practice pre-marital sex
is contradictory to a true Believer’s walk.
This
begs the question, or should, what was going on in Ephesus? I thought these folks were spiritual giants
as compared to the Corinthians. Let's review
their culture for a moment. The city of
Ephesus was well-known for moral corruption. The temple of Artemis offered ritual prostitution
as part of its worship. Ritual or cult
prostitution was most often defined as union with a prostitute (whether with a
female or a male makes no difference).
They were not employed by the temple; they were slaves and prostituted
themselves in exchange for money or goods.
Satan
not only operates in his own children (the unsaved) but also on God’s adopted children (1 John 5:19; John
8:44). Satan’s two-prong attack on God’s
one Church is from within and from
the outside, with the intention of destroying it. Obviously, some of the Ephesian saints were
regular patrons of these temples and took part in the immoral activity offered
by them. This is how evil (sin) infiltrated their house
church.
Paul
wrote:
Now the deeds of
the flesh are evident, which are:
immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, jealousy, outbursts of
anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and
things like these… (Galatians
5:19-21).
“Flee fornication (immorality). Every sin that a man doeth is without the
body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body (1
Corinthians 6:18 - KJV).
Note
immorality tops Paul’s lists! Opioid
addiction and the consequent results of this terrible habit make the news
almost daily. But sexual sin is man’s
most common problem, and it is rarely spoken of. This is why Paul said not even one of these
three sins must ever be named among you,
as is proper among saints. Why? Believers
are called to be holy and blameless before
God. Therefore, sexual impropriety is
not to be tolerated within the fellowship of Believers. The Corinthian church received this lesson from
our Apostle Paul when he rebuked those Believers for their acceptance of sexual
sin within the Body of Christ. Paul said
it was immorality of such a kind as does
not exist even among the Gentiles. Everyone
seemingly knew about the man who “had” his father’s wife and yet they did
nothing to oppose it (1 Corinthians 5).
Ephesians 5:4-7
…and there must be no
filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are
not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
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. Let no one deceive you with
empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons
of disobedience. Therefore do not be
partakers with them;
The
words filthiness, silly talk, and coarse
jesting appear nowhere else in the N.T. and I find this interesting. Filthiness
refers to indecency, obscenity, or some shameful thing. Its root word is “disgraceful” (5:12). One
example of this today is the sending of enticing pictures by young men and
women via their smart phones, or what has been labeled “sexting.” Internet pornography, which is a billion
dollar industry, is one more.
Silly talk – this is from the
Koine Greek word Morologia (mo—rol-og-ee’-ah),
Noun Feminine, Strong’s Greek #3473, and it means: foolish
talking. The English word moron is
derived from the root word. Biblically
speaking, “the fool” is not someone who is mentally challenged, but rather
someone who is morally deficient because he or she ignores God’s commands. So, here Paul is specifically saying any
speech that disregards, ignores, or makes light of God’s commands is to be avoided.
Coarse jesting – is from the Koine
Greek word Eutrapelia
(yoo-trap-el-ee’-ah), Noun Feminine, Strong’s Greek #2160, meaning: vulgar remarks, coarse jesting. An example of this is someone saying something in a conversation that’s
completely innocent and another individual twists the comment into something
crass or vulgar. It’s turning someone’s
words into a dirty joke or off-color humor, as most stand-up comedians practice
routinely.
Paul said these things are
not fitting;
they’re not to be characterized by Believers. It’s not fitting for the Believer to engage
in this activity and other Believers are not to participate by listening to
such empty talk.
Paul gives them the alternative to these sinful
things saying, “But rather giving of
thanks.” The Believer’s speech is
to be characterized by thanksgiving,
because that is the mark of a heart
that truly loves God and
others. To give thanks you have to consider the feelings of others and the efforts
they have made toward you. You have to
set aside your pride and realize that regardless of your position, or worth, you
do not deserve what is given to you. It
comes by the graciousness of others; first and foremost God the Father:
“Through Him then, let us
continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips
that give thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15).
The
flip-side of this one-sided conversation is this. What about those who do not imitate Christ? Paul said, these folks do not belong to God’s
kingdom for they are not His children.
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. Let no one deceive
you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon
the sons of disobedience. Therefore do
not be partakers with them; (5:5-7).
Again,
this wasn’t new news to the Ephesian Church; Paul had already taught them this
before. These three verses could be summed
up: “God
does not tolerate sin.” Jesus died
to redeem mankind from sin and to free us from its bondage. The Believer is a new creature and should not keep putting on their “filthy, worn out garment” and live as they
did before. We have a new nature and we should live according
to it. Those who are characterized as immoral, impure or covetous are idolaters.
They worship something or someone else
(often themselves) as the god of their lives. No such person has an inheritance in the kingdom of God.
Paul
makes it clear that such a life demonstrates the person is unredeemed because
they are living according to their natural, sinful nature. It does not matter
what they claim, because their words are empty. The Apostle John put it bluntly in 1 John 2:4,
The one who says, “I have come to
know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him.
Let’s
be clear, there is a difference between someone who has a genuine knowledge of
God and admits their sin, explaining how miserable it made them feel, as they
return to their walk and the
individual who is content with their wicked lifestyle and their profession of
faith is all but meaningless because their god is themselves and they are all
about pleasure-seeking. In the one it’s
evident God is at work in them while the other has deceived themselves. They
think they have the keys to God’s kingdom when in fact they do not. One is imitating
God and the other is not! These folks will
not escape God’s wrath (Romans 1:18).
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
