Home Bible Study©
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 (5:7-14)
(Lesson 23)
Welcome to HBS.
So far in the
second half of this letter we’ve learned true Believers are called to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have
been called (4:1). They are to walk preserving the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace (4:2-16), they are to walk in holiness, be blameless before God (4:17-32), to walk in love
(5:1-6), and in the text we’re about to study Paul urges Believers to walk in
the Light (5:7-8).
Paul commanded the
Ephesians (and us) to imitate God as
they live their lives, and now he’s urging this church to walk as children of Light.
This is proper because God is Light,
so to walk in the Light is to imitate God; the epitome
of Love and Truth.
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me
will not walk in the darkness, but will
have the Light of life" (John 8:12).
********
We
ended last week with verse 5: 7; so please open your Bible to that biblical
address and we’ll begin the lesson from there:
Therefore
do not be partakers with them; here Paul commands
the Ephesian saints to avoid the evil
practices of the unsaved, and to turn away from the immorality they had catered to before their conversion. Evidently some of these folks were still “walking
hand-in-hand with the world, partaking of
the vices that culture offered.
So,
Paul pulled the “But God” card
reminding them God had brought them from death
to life, redeemed them through the Lord’s substitutionary sacrifice, and seated them in the heavenly places along
with Christ Jesus. Thus, Paul commanded
this church to “be imitators of God”
because these folks were now the beloved
children of God and they are not to be partakers with them (the unbelievers).
The
word “partakers” is translated from
the Koine Greek word Summetochos (soom-met’-okh-os),
Adjective, Strong’s Greek #4830, meaning:
one who partners with another.
Paul’s
saying Believers are not to partner
with evil.
It’s
worth mentioning some churches teach “holiness
always,” in order to obtain and keep a right relationship with God. However, our Apostle Paul advocates holiness because of the relationship we
already have with God the Father. We’re
not trying to be “the apple of God’s eye;” we are His beloved children already.
For you were
formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as
children of Light (5:8).
In
this entire section of scripture (5:7-14), Paul utilizes the metaphor of Light and darkness. He also repeats
the teaching method of “once- but now” in Ephesians 2:1-10,
11-22. Most recently he depicted the
difference between true Believers and non-believers in Ephesians 4:22, 24. He referred to their sinful nature as the old man, and their regenerated self as the new
man.
Ephesus
was a community of people born into utter darkness
and they lived without the Light all their days. Then our Apostle Paul arrived in town
describing the Light and the ability
to see things as they truly are (Acts 18:19-22, 19-20:1). But most of them did not understand; they
rejected the message and the messenger:
And he entered the
synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and
persuading them about the
kingdom of God (so
Paul’s preaching to the Jews here primarily). But when some were becoming hardened
and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew
from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of
Tyrannus (for 2 years; Acts
19:8-9).
Paul
had led them to the Light by
preaching the revelation of the mystery;
to
be specific, that the Gentiles are the fellow heirs and fellow members of
the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Ephesians 3:6). Some heard and believed, but the majority of
these folks preferred the darkness over
the Light that Paul showed
them.
Ephesians 5:8-9
…for you were
formerly darkness, but now are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
(for the fruit of the Light consists in
all goodness and righteousness and truth),
…for you were
formerly darkness – this
describes their past and ours too, truth be told.
But
Paul’s saying a significant change occurred when God redeemed them from the darkness: For He
rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the
kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).
The
people who are outside of Jesus Christ are defined by scripture as being “children of the devil or darkness…” “dead in their trespasses and sin”
(Ephesians 2:1), “their minds were
darkened” (Ephesians 4:1), “their
hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21), and “their deeds were those of darkness” (Romans 13:12).
Therefore,
biblically speaking, darkness is anything
that conflicts with God’s character:
“This is the judgment, that the
Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than
the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who
does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that
his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so
that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (John 3:19-21).
In
2 Corinthians 6:14, Paul contrasts righteousness describing it as light and describes lawlessness as darkness. Later, in Ephesians 6:12, Paul describes
demonic power as “world forces of this
darkness.” In the O.T., the prophet
Isaiah used darkness as a
description for the evil Israel
practiced:
Woe to those who
call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for
darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
And clever in their own sight! Woe to
those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink,
Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who
are in the right! (Isaiah 5:20-23)
So,
Paul didn’t coin the term “darkness”
you’ll find the word used throughout the Bible.
On the other hand, God and righteousness are characterized as Light in this book:
In Him was life,
and the life was the Light of men.
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
comprehend it (John
1:4-5).
This is the message
we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in
Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).
The
Bible describes a bright light emanating
from God or an aura of light around
Him. After meeting with God, Moses face
reflected God’s light or His glory
(Exodus 34:29; 2 Corinthians 3:13). Then
there’s the familiar account of Peter, James, and John witnessing the
transfiguration of Jesus Christ: and his face did shine as the sun, and his
raiment was white as the light (Matthew 17:1-13); let’s not forget to
mention our Apostle Paul’s encounter with the risen Lord while traveling to Damascus: As he
was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light
from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying to him, “Saul,
Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:1-19).
Ephesians 5:8b
But now are Light in the Lord – before their conversion
the Ephesian Believers (and Paul) “were
dead in trespasses and sins…” “... they walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of
disobedience. Among whom also we all had
our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desire
of the flesh and of the mind; and we were by nature the children of wrath, even
as the others” (Ephesians 2:1-3).
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with
which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive
together with Christ {by grace you have been saved}, and raised us up with Him,
and seated us with Him in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus… (Ephesians
2:4-6).
They
were once darkness, “but now” they are Light in the Lord. This describes their current position in Christ that will not change simply
because they did not live sinless lives.
One of the Church Doctrines highlighted in this letter to the Ephesians
is the union of the Believer with Jesus Christ.
Through faith the one who trusts in Christ is actually joined with Him. This means whatever is true of God’s Son is
true of the Believer (fellow heirs, new life, righteousness, seated in the
heavenly places with Him, sonship, etc.) and those things which made us dead in our trespasses were transferred
to Jesus Christ at the Cross and are now dead, forgiven and forgotten. God will never bring the subject up again!
Light and darkness are prominent themes in Paul’s
writings. He and other authors of
scripture use them as essential metaphors.
The word “light” appears on
the very first page and the very last page of the Bible:
In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the
surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the
waters. Then God said, “Let there be light;”
and there was light. God saw that
the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness
He called night. And there was evening
and there was morning, one day (Genesis 1:1-5).
There’s
much more going on here than meets the eye, which is why we study Bible verses. In the ancient world just about anything the people
didn’t understand was named a god and we’re seeing this here. The Gentiles associated the sea and the darkness with the gods of chaos and
death. In the Exodus account we find the
Egyptians worshipped the sun god Ra more than any other god. In the ninth plague the LORD God demonstrated
His Sovereign power over their god by turning of the light. A thick and
impenetrable veil of darkness enveloped
their land (the Israelites were not affected).
The Egyptians were so fearful the chose to remain rooted wherever they
were for several days.
At
the beginning of creation, the earth was formless and dark, in disarray. At the
end, it has light and all is in
order. In this we see the progress is
from darkness to light, and from disorder to order. We also learn darkness is to be contained for God separated the light from the darkness.
We also learn the concept of light
and darkness as good and evil actually originates
here.
Here
the Psalmist uses light and darkness as symbols for salvation:
The LORD is my
light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread (Psalms 27:1).
Light is also a representation
of truth:
O send out Your
light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And
to Your dwelling places (Psalm 43:3).
Your word is a lamp
to my feet And a light to my path (Psalm 119:105).
Light not only reveals
the true state of things, it dispels darkness. If you enter a dark room in your home and
flip on the light switch, what happens to the darkness? It can’t abide light,
so it flees. The light of the gospel, as it shines forth in the lives of those
following Jesus Christ, reveals the true nature of evil dispelling spiritual darkness.
Please
note Paul did not say, “We are in the
light;” He said “You are Light.” Because all true Believers are Light in the Lord, Paul said they
should, “walk as children of Light.” However, people have been known to “stumble”
even while walking in daylight. Just because these saints are called Light in the Lord doesn’t mean to infer
they are without fault (sin) or they will automatically walk as children of Light.
This
thought takes us back to Paul’s statement in 4:22-23: “…that
in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which
is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be
renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which (is
what) in the likeness of God has
been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
So
Paul’s saying, “Remember your new man is
created in the likeness of God the
epitome of righteousness, and holiness
of the truth. You are Light; now walk as such!”
Now
it goes without saying, you can’t get there from here without help, so Paul explains
what this Light resembles in verses 5:9-10:
“(for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness
and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord (figure out
what pleases the Lord and do it).
(The fruit of the Light is goodness and righteousness and truth.) The KJV Bible has “the fruit of the Spirit,”
but the term Light is strongly
supported here. Without Light nothing grows, except mushrooms
of course, so Paul tells the Ephesians (and us) the fruit of the Light produces goodness and righteousness and truth in Believers.
Goodness – is from the Koine
Greek word Agathosune (ag-ath-o-soo’-nay),
Noun Feminine, Strong’s Greek #19, meaning:
(uprightness of heart and life,
kindness. The Bible says Goodness is one of God’s
characteristics. The teaching here is to
be Christlike you must learn to be like Him.
A good individual is concerned for the well-being of others, both
spiritually and in just about every other way.
It means to be “generous” with yourself, not necessarily your finances,
but the giving of one’s time and talents in practical ways for another’s
“highest good.” And goodness is a product of the Light
for the fruit of the Spirit consists of love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness… (Galatians
5:22a).
Righteousness – Dikaiosune (dik-ah-yos-oo’-nay), Noun
Feminine, Strong’s Greek #1343, here the word means: integrity. It’s the fruit of being a child of the Light; it is an extension of the righteousness the Ephesian
Believers received at their conversion for they are now in Christ. Paul writes: we are
justified by God’s grace (Titus 3:7) and
clothed with His righteousness (Philippians 3:9). Righteousness
is the outgrowth of being a new
creation. Their new nature enables them to please
God daily as they walk in this world (Romans 6:18-19), and this
naturally affects their relationship with others. They do what’s right, at the right time,
because it brings honor and glory to God.
They treat others as they would prefer to be treated (Matthew 7:12).
Their
lives are marked by the other characteristics Paul has already mentioned in
Chapter 4 & 5 – we walk worthy of our calling, we find our place of service
in the church and give it our all so that the whole body will be strengthened.
We walk as a “new man” laying aside our ungodly habits of sensuality, impurity, and greed. We speak the truth and do not lie. We deal with our anger appropriately. We do not steal, but rather seek to give from
laboring with our hands. We’re careful with
our words; we aim to build up the body, not tear it down. We imitate
God by loving others in the same way He, first, loved us. All this speaks of practical righteousness, i.e. the fruit of being a child of the Light having been clothed in righteous
by God through faith in Christ.
Truth – Aletheia (al-ay’-thi-a), Noun Feminine,
Strong’s Greek #225, means: rightly, honestly. In a way, truth sums up the first two words; you can only have goodness and righteousness if you speak the truth. Truth matters to God’s children because
they are Light in the Lord.
Paul
may have used this 2 Chronicles 31:20 verse to teach this truth: Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and he did what was good,
right and true before the LORD his God.
Trying to learn
what is pleasing to the Lord (5:10).
Verse
9 is a parenthetical statement, so verse 10 goes back to verse 8 summarizing
what it means to walk as children of
Light. That is we try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. The phrase, “trying to learn” is from the Koine Greek verb Dokimazo (dok-im-ad’-zo), Strong’s Greek #1381, meaning: to
test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see if something is genuine or not). As Paul uses the word here it means to
evaluate issues in order to determine the right course of action, that which
is, “pleasing to the Lord.”
Some
of these Ephesians put personal pleasure above pleasing God. So, Paul’s exhorting them to determine what pleases the Lord and they are not to rely on their “feelings” or their
“emotions” which change like the ocean tide, or base them on what the world or other Believers think. They are not
to permit their conscience to be their guide, since their conscience may have
been fed inaccurate information.
Instead, true Believers learn what is good and pleasing to the Lord
through spiritual maturity, i.e. growing to understand what has been written in
the Word of Truth.
Note
what Paul wrote to the Colossians 1:9-10:
For this reason
also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to
ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual
wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,
to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing
in the knowledge of God;
Paul
prayed they would “be filled with the
knowledge of His will.” This is more
than just book-learning, being filled
with the knowledge of His will implies carrying out God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. The walk
he speaks of here is a life-long journey that won’t be completed on this side
of glory, but one in which there is marked growth and perseverance, with the
intention of pleasing the Lord. Therefore,
Do not participate
in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
(Ephesians
5:11).
Said
differently, true Believers are not to become friendly with evil, instead they are to become Christ-like. Paul addressed this issue with the carnal
Corinthians saying:
Do not be bound together
with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or
what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or
what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? (1 Corinthians 6:14-15)
Participate – is from the Koine
Greek word Sugkoinoneo (soong-koy-no-neh’-o),
Verb, Strong’s Greek #4790, and it means:
to become a partaker together with
others, or to have a fellowship with a thing.
This word is only used 3 times in the N.T. Here’s the other 2:
Nevertheless, you
have done well to share with me in my affliction (Philippians
4:14). Here Paul is saying the
Philippians were co-participants with his affliction (suffering).
I heard another
voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate
in her sins and receive of her plagues; (Revelation 18:4). Believers were not to co-participate in the
sins of the Jewish unbelievers.
Paul’s
usage of the word participate here
means sharing in other people’s ungodly ways.
Believers are to pursue holiness,
not evil. They must employ biblical wisdom constantly rather
than partner with people who choose
to remain enslaved to sin, and to Satan;
for they are blind to the truth opting
to live in darkness (Matthew 15:14; John
14:17-20; 1 Corinthians 1:18-19, 2:14; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, 11:14; 2
Thessalonians 2:10-12) .
But instead even
oppose them – instead
of partnering with unbelievers and
their evil activities, Believers are
to “shine the Light of truth upon their
wickedness” exposing them to the
Light.
We’re to tell it like it is, in
love. I understand this from the
Koine Greek word for expose Elegcho (el-eng’-kho), Verb, Strong’s
Greek # 1651, meaning: to convict, refute; by conviction to bring
to the light, to expose.
Paul
isn’t saying “point the righteous finger of shame “at the people practicing evil, when you do that three fingers on
that hand are pointing back at you. He’s
saying bring their unfruitful
activities of darkness or their evil deeds into God’s Light.
Think this trough. Jesus was not
a friend of sin; He was the sinner’s friend!
When we confront the individual’s sin (face-to-face), this person may be
convicted by it, resulting in receipt of the truth and change the way they think and behave. People stumble from time-to-time, but true
Believers get back up and return to the “worthy
walk.”
Paul
only writes to Believers, not the unsaved, so He’s urging these people not to participate
in darkness, which tells us some of the Ephesian saints were involved in evil activities and these must be exposed to the Light.
“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private;
if he listens to you, you have won your brother” (Matthew 18:15).
Show him his fault— this
phrase is from the Koine Greek word Elegcho
(el-eng’-kho), Verb, Strong’s Greek #1651, meaning: to
convict, refute, by conviction to bring to the light; expose. It doesn’t matter who you are in the
church, everybody sins and unchecked sin harms the Body of Christ. Therefore Believers are to expose evil whenever it’s discovered. But before you preach to them about their
faults take time to ponder the Lord’s words:
"Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out
the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in
your own eye? You hypocrite, first take
the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the
speck that is in your brother's eye” (Luke 6:42).
True
Believers are called to holiness,
that is, separation from the world
and the wickedness it relishes. You
cannot convict a brother or sister in the Lord of their adulterous lifestyle if
you are cheating on your spouse. You’ve
partnered with evil too, so first things first.
You need to “remove the log that is in your own
eye” before you pull the “Righteous Avenger” card! Be separate from the world and its evil ways
before you attempt to convict another person of their sinful lifestyle.
There’s
a story that circulated among the
churches some time ago that went like this:
there was a missionary who desperately needed to learn one of India's
hardest languages. He sought the
services of a great teacher, and was refused.
This teacher didn’t want to teach him. The missionary offered to pay the teacher for
his services, but the man said, “Listen,
I don't want to become a Believer." The missionary said, "Look, if you just
teach me, I'll not mention Jesus or the Bible once." The teacher replied, "Please understand, to teach you my language
I would have to spend many hours of every day in your presence, and no man
could live with you and not become a Believer."
So,
this begs the question, “Do people recognize you as a Believer?” Are you known for living what you
believe? So, Paul is effectively saying
we do not expose the evil being practiced by our “holy”
lives alone, we are to confront people with the Word of truth:
…for it is disgraceful even to speak of the
things which are done by them in secret. (Ephesians
5:12).
The
reference to secrecy is much more
easily understood of Believers, because unbelievers are shameless, sinning
openly and often bragging about their conquests. Speaking specifically of unbelievers, Paul
said: “and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to
sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness” (Ephesians
4:19).
Paul
goes on to say: But all things become visible when they
are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light (Ephesians
5:13).
In
verse 11 Believers are urged to expose
the unfruitful deeds of darkness. When unfruitful
deeds are exposed by the light they become visible. The light here refers to both Believers for
"You are Light in the Lord,"
and their fruit of light that consists
in all goodness and righteousness and truth (5:9).
"For
everything that becomes visible is light"—here Paul’s saying the evil practiced in the dark, once brought to light, becomes visible or exposed. Paul is still talking to the Ephesian
Believers who were partnering with the deeds of darkness. Sin must be brought into the light so that the individual’s who are not walking daily with the Lord, may be
convicted of their sin and hopefully return to their walk in the light, thereby producing the fruit of the Light.
For this
reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you" (Ephesians 5:14).
Here Paul quotes scripture,
Isaiah 51:17 and 60:1-3, but not word-for-word, he’s modified it somewhat in
order to teach this lesson:
“Rouse
yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk from
the Lord’s hand the cup of His
anger; The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs” (Isaiah 51:17).
“Arise, shine; for
your light has come, And the glory of the Lord
has risen upon you.
“For behold, darkness
will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you And His glory
will appear upon you. Nations will come
to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising (60:1-3).
The nation of Israel was called by the LORD
God to become “salt” and a “Light to the
nations,” i.e. the Gentiles, but they refused to “shine” as such. Their lives matched the unsaved worlds, so they didn’t make a
difference (Isaiah 49).
Darkness
here doesn’t mean “physical
darkness” it refers to an absence of God’s Light;
Because their deeds were dark, He blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts:
He said, “Go, and
tell this people: ‘Keep on listening,
but do not perceive;
Keep on looking,
but do not understand.’ Render the
hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with
their hearts, And return and be healed” (Isaiah 6:9-10).
The “oracles of God” were given to Israel only, but they consistently rebelled against God’s
Sovereign authority, so deep darkness was the result. Nothing has
changed; the majority of the world prefers darkness rather than the Light.
Awake,
sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you – We know Paul isn’t writing to the nation of Israel here but to the
Ephesian Church. So, Paul is actually
addressing those “sleep-walking” Believers who were not walking in the Light. They were in deep slumber, so Paul
said, “Wake up!” “Walk in the Light.” This
has nothing to do with their salvation.
This is in reference to their present sanctification:
But you,
brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;
for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then
let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6).
Paul
said you are sons of light, so let
us not sleep as others do rather “Walk
as children of Light” for the days are dark (John 8:12; Romans 13:12;
Ephesians 5:15-16).
This
little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, shine, shine
Let it shine!
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, shine, shine
Let it shine!
Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine
Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine
Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, shine, shine
Let it shine!
(To be continued)
Copyright
2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved