Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20100124.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
F. Living In Wisdom Through The Holy Spirit's Power
(Ephesians 5:15-21)
  1. Introduction
    1. A great need exists for the believer in Christ to live wisely, to function in a way that guards his life from needless trouble, sin and defeat so typical of the lives of many in today's world.
    2. Ephesians 5:15-21 addresses this need with concise, comprehensive direction we all do well to heed:
  2. Living In Wisdom Through The Holy Spirit's Power, Ephesians 5:15-21.
    1. The Ephesians 5:15 directive on walking in wisdom introduces an entire Ephesians 5:15-6:9 section about walking wisely in the Christian life, Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 639.
    2. As such, Ephesians 5:15-21 provides the comprehensive overview on what it means for a Christian to walk in wisdom before applying this overview to specific relationships like marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33), the home (Ephesians 6:1-4) and the workplace (Ephesians 6:5-9).
    3. Accordingly, the overview of walking in wisdom involves key directives we do well to discern and apply as noted in Ephesians 5:15-21 (as follows):
      1. First, we must walk "circumspectly" (KJV) or "carefully" (ESV), the Greek word, akribos literally meaning "accurately," Ibid.; thus, we must live accurately aligned with Scripture , Ephesians 5:15:
        1. The NIV and ESV take akribos to modify "look", but "better Greek manuscripts place akribos closer to the Greek word "walk" and . . . in the New Testament the Greek imperative "look" ( blepete) is never modified by an adverb." (Ibid.)
        2. Thus, Paul was not directing his readers to "look accurately" so much as to "walk accurately", being very careful to do what is Biblically accurate in order to enjoy God's reward of blessing!
      2. Second, we must make the right use of every moment to do good since the days are evil, Eph. 5:16:
        1. Many people live in the spiritual darkness of sin and ignorance, necessitating the upright believer to be a needed light to these folk, be they unsaved or carnal believers, Ibid.; 1 Corinthians 3:3.
        2. Thus, wise living calls for the upright believer to focus on living and ministering in such a way that he is always functioning as a lighthouse for other spiritually needy people around him!
        3. Of necessity, this implies the believer must not waste his time, but utilize every moment he has to fit into God's plan of using his spiritual gift to disciple others! (1 Peter 4:10-11; Matthew 28:19-20)
      3. Third, we must not be foolish, but discern God's will so as to apply it, Ephesians 5:17:
        1. In our last lesson out of Ephesians 5:10, we learned that we Christians must discern what pleases God, to put to the test, approve and discern it (dokimazontes).
        2. We also learned that this takes relying upon the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16-23; John 14:26; 16:13) to understand the truth of written Scripture, the vehicle God uses today to communicate to us!
        3. Thus, in not being foolish, but discerning God's will, we must rely upon the Holy Spirit as we read and study written Scripture to understand God's will, and to apply it in our lives!
      4. Fourth, we must not live uncontrolled lives, but rely upon the Holy Spirit for empowerment for proper actions in Christian worship and relationships with one another, Ephesians 5:18-21:
        1. In place of living uncontrolled lives such as those who indulge in substance abuse (Eph. 5:18a), we must be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18b), relying on Him to live in controlled behavior, Gal. 5:16.
        2. Thus controlled by the Lord, we are to worship the Lord in song (Eph. 5:19), give thanks to Him for all His blessings (Eph. 5:20) and to submit to one another in reverence to the Lord's will for us to submit to those we are Biblically assigned to submit, Ephesians 5:21. Paul clarifies these roles in Ephesians 5:22-6:9, and we will study these roles in future lessons in this series!
Lesson: We believers must live WISELY by (1) relying on the Holy Spirit's power (2) to discern what Scripture says so as (3) to discern God's will for us, and then (4) to apply that Word to living accurately, (5) using every moment available to be a much-needed light to fellow needy believers and the world.

Application: May we thus walk in wisdom as a much-needed beacon in a spiritually dark world!