Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20100117.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Ephesians: Overcoming Our Insecurities In Christ
Part II: The Believer's Practice Based On His Secure Position In Christ, Ephesians 4:1-6:24
E. Living Apart From The Lost World's Dark Deeds
(Ephesians 5:7-14)
  1. Introduction
    1. God calls us believers in Christ to be holy like He, our God, is holy, 1 Peter 1:15-16.
    2. The core idea in the word "holy" is that of "separation," a parting of the ways by one who is "clean" that he might not be corrupted by the "unclean," and the believer's position in Christ clarified in Ephesians 1-3 calls him to live apart from the world's darkness and corruption as taught in Ephesians 5:7-14 (as follows):
  2. Living Apart From The Lost World's Dark Deeds, Ephesians 5:7-14.
    1. Since the believer in Christ is the object of God's grace and love (Ephesians 5:1), it is inconsistent for him to seek fellowship with the lost in the world who are the objects of God's coming wrath (Ephesians 5:5-6). Thus, Ephesians 5:7 calls believers not to be partners in fellowship with the lost, that those who are "light in the Lord" are to "walk as children of light" and not as those who are in "darkness," Eph. 5:8, 11-13.
    2. This calling affects the believer's whole manner of life as described in Ephesians 5:9-14 as follows:
      1. The believer in Christ who is "light in the Lord" must rely on the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16) to produce the fruit of the Spirit in all His goodness, righteousness and truth in contrast to the evil, sin and deceit of the spiritually dark world around him, Ephesians 5:9 with 5:8.
      2. The believer in Christ who is "light in the Lord" must discern what pleases the Lord as revealed in His written Word by the power of the Holy Spirit so that he will do what pleases God, Ephesians 5:10:
        1. The verb "proving" (KJV), "find out" (NIV) "try to discern" (ESV) translates the Greek word, dokimazontes, "'putting to the test,' 'approving,' or 'discerning,'" Bible Know. Com., N. T. , p. 638.
        2. Since Ephesians 5:9 introduces the idea of the Holy Spirit's involvement in this action, and we know from John 14:26 and 16:13 that the Holy Spirit guides the godly believer into all truth, clarifying the truth of God's Word to the believer, the believer is to rely upon the Holy Spirit as an act of faith to be able to discern God's will by reading the truth of God communicated to him in His written Word.
      3. The believer in Christ who is "light in the Lord" must also not participate in the works of evildoers, but rather even expose these works as being shamefully evil, Ephesians 5:11-12:
        1. Ephesians 5:11a directs the believer "not to take part (synkoinoneite) with unbelievers' actions," not to be involved in performing their evil works, Ibid., p. 639.
        2. Rather, believers are even to "reprove" (KJV) or "expose" (NIV, ESV) such deeds. The Greek word here is 'elegchete, to "expose," Moulton & Milligan, The Vocab. of the Greek N. T. , 1972, p. 202.
        3. Such evil deeds that are practiced in secret are so notoriously shameful, it is a shame even to speak of the deeds themselves, so they must be exposed as such to motivate the believer to have no part in doing them in his life, Ephesians 5:12.
      4. This exposure of shamefully evil deeds by one who is positionally "light in the Lord" motivates him to depart from such deeds or to cleanse himself from them via confession to God, 1 John 1:9; Eph. 5:13.
      5. Thus, if a believer who is positionally "light in the Lord" realizes by the Holy Spirit's convicting work through God's Word that he "has committed 'deeds of darkness,'" he must "wake up and rise from the dead since he was involved with the deeds of evildoers," Ibid.; Eph . 5:14a. In other words, he needs to stop acting like the lost world in its spiritual death and start living like the child of God that he is!
      6. In so doing, Christ will give him more light by the Spirit's ministry through the Word, that he might live in the "light" versus the shameful sin of the world's "darkness," Eph. 5:14b with Mark 4:24-25.
Lesson: The believer's position in a holy God's Son, Jesus Christ, obligates him to PART with the shamefully evil DEEDS of the world of darkness by relying on the Holy Spirit to discern God's will in His Word that he might expose shamefully evil deeds, and avoid them or cleanse himself from them.

Application: May we heed God's call to live as "light in the Lord" in separating totally from the world's shamefully wicked deeds in our personal lives!