EPHESIANS: ETERNALLY ENCLOSED IN GOD’S PLAN

Part XV: Following God Instead Of The Ungodly

(Ephesians 5:1-17)

I. Introduction

A. Paul wrote Ephesians to encourage believers of God’s work to edify the Church regardless what happened to him in his imprisonment (Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1672: “Intro. to the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians”).

B. Ephesians 5:1-17 thus teaches the need for believers to follow God instead of the ungodly for blessing:

II. Following God Instead Of The Ungodly, Ephesians 5:1-17.

A. Having put off the “old man” and put on the “new man” by living in the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:17-32), God calls us to be followers of Him as His dear children, Ephesians 5:1-5:

1. God calls us believers to be followers of Him in living lives of godly love, Ephesians 5:1-2.

2. However, sexual immorality, all impurity and covetousness must not even be mentioned as characterizing our reputations if we live lives in God’s love as His sanctified people, Ephesians 5:3 ESV.

3. In addition, filthiness, foolish talk and crude joking are not fitting for God’s children where thanksgiving should mark our attitude and our actions, Ephesians 5:4 ESV.

4. To convince his readers that he was not stating empty words, Paul added that we can be sure that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous, a form of idolatry, has no inheritance in God’s kingdom, Ephesians 5:5 ESV (Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 638). By making this statement, Paul did not mean that believers who commit these sins will lose their salvation, but that those who commit such sins are typical of those who do not enter God’s kingdom. In other words, we must not act like the unsaved!

B. Since we have put off the “old man” and put on the “new man” to follow God as His dear children, we also need to avoid the advice and the fellowship of ungodly sinners, Ephesians 5:6-14:

1. Paul’s readers were to avoid following the advice of evil sinners, Ephesians 5:6-10:

a. He urged his readers not to let anyone deceive them with empty words such as the claim that indulging in one’s sinful lusts was acceptable to God, Eph. 5:6a. The Gnostic heretics who were getting started in their errant beliefs at this time were possibly already impacting Paul’s readers (“Introduction to the First Letter of John: Gnosticism,” Ryrie, op. cit., p. 1770), so he countered their error. It was because of those who commit such vices that God’s wrath would come on them, reason enough to avoid these sins, Eph. 5:6b.

b. Going further, Paul directed his readers not even to associate with such false teachers (Ephesians 5:7), for at one time his readers were in spiritual darkness, but now there were light in the Lord, Ephesians 5:8a.

c. They should therefore “walk” or live as children of light, and by “light,” Paul meant all that includes what is revealed by God to be good, right and true, Ephesians 5:8b-9 ESV with 1 John 1:5-7.

d. In functioning this way, Paul’s readers would learn what pleased God, Ephesians 5:10 NIV, ESV.

2. Paul’s readers were to avoid fellowshipping with evil sinners, Ephesians 5:11-14:

a. Believers in Christ were not to take part in, namely, to fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even to expose those works (and thus those who practice them), Ephesians 5:11 ESV, NIV.

b. The deeds that evil people commit in secret are so vile that it is a shame even to speak about them (Ephesians 5:12), but when any evil thing is exposed by the light of God’s revelation, it becomes visible as being evil since it is illumined by God’s truth, Ephesians 5:13.

c. For this reason, Paul cited what scholars believe was a portion of an early Christian hymn in Ephesians 5:14 that charged the believer who was involved in the deeds of evildoers, thus sleeping in spiritual darkness, figuratively to awaken and rise from the dead. That way Christ could shine on him, approving of his good deeds as he turned from a life of sin to live righteously (B. K. C., N. T., op. cit., p. 639).

C. Consequently, Paul urged his readers to take the following steps in following the Lord, Ephesians 5:15-17:

1. Paul’s readers had to live carefully, to be wise and skillful in how they lived to please the Lord, v. 15.

2. They had to make the most of the time they had to live rightly and turn others from darkness to light, for the time for sinners to repent was short and believers must answer to God for their use of their time, v. 16.

3. In understanding how to please the Lord, believers will thus understand God’s will, Ephesians 5:17.

Lesson: We must walk in love, avoiding the sins of evil men since God’s wrath will be vented against those who do such sins, and we must not fellowship with evil men and their deeds but expose them in accountability to the Lord.

Application: May we heed God’s call to depart from evil acts and associations and walk in love and righteousness.