Introduction
Maybe you’ve
heard it said that no person exists in a vacuum. In other words, no person
exists without being influenced by something or someone—either for good or for
bad. We see this principle play out in the lives of the children in the culture
around us, especially here in America. Many of our young men and young women,
not all but many, who reside in our inner cities, grow up without fathers in
their homes and lives. The absence of fathers and intact families where values
and discipline are established and enforced creates a vacuum of sorts in their
lives. Very often, that vacuum, for young men, is filled by street gangs who
provide purpose, belonging, and direction missing from their lives.
Unfortunately, that purpose, belonging, and direction usually leads to prison
or death at a very early age. 90% are arrested by age 18. 75% are arrested
twice by age 18. 95% do not finish high school. 60% are dead or in prison by
age 20. The average life expectancy of an active gang member is: 20 years, 5
months.[1] And
the fate for young women isn’t much better. Many also join street gangs or
become pregnant by a street gang member and, the few who don’t have an
abortion, are left to raise their child without a father inevitably repeating
the cycle of bringing a child into the world without a father or an intact
family—and the cycle repeats itself over and over again. Without the guiding
hand of a father to direct his child toward what is good and right, someone or
something else will take his place and direct that child toward something that is
often neither good nor right.
The Irish
statesman, Sir Edmund Burke, once said, “The only thing necessary for the
triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Burke understood that the
absence of good doesn’t create a vacuum where there was no good or evil. Burke
understood that where there wasn’t good, there would be evil. However, the
inverse is true as well. Where there is true good, there is no room for evil.
Where there is real hope, there is no despair. Where there is pure love, there
is no hate. Where there is light, there can be no darkness. When we believe in
the Light of the world, the darkness in our lives is vanquished and we become Children Of Light. When we become Children Of Light, our lives begin to
transform and sinful thoughts and deeds begin to be displaced by thoughts and
deeds of righteousness and holiness because we were Created To Be Like God (part one) in righteousness and holiness as
we seek to become Imitators Of God (part
two). However, none of this is possible for the believer without the power
and strength of God living in and through them. There is no magic that occurs
when a person becomes a believer and their words and deeds are transformed from
sinfulness to holiness. Instead, it is the power of God in the lives of believers
who were once filled with sin and all the trappings of sin but are now Filled With The Spirit.
Subject Text
Ephesians 5:8-21
8For you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for
the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and
find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the
fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is
shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything
exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes
everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the
dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15Be very careful, then, how you
live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every
opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish,
but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18Do not get drunk on wine, which
leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19Speak to
one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your
heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for
everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21Submit to one another
out of reverence for Christ.
Context
There is a
natural progression of our Subject Text
that began in our first lesson where I explained that believers are Children Of Light and were no longer
supposed to live the way the lived before they became believers. Their old way
of living was like wearing dirty old clothes—they were clothed in sin. When
they became believers they took off their dirty old clothes and put on fresh,
clean clothes—they were clothed in righteousness. Humanity has been created in
the image of God—Created To Be Like God.
There was no longer supposed to be even a hint of impurity in their
lives—either in their words, in their actions, or in their relationships. All
areas of their lives were supposed to reflect the One they claimed to follow.
Jesus gave them (and us) an example to follow for how they should relate to one
another and an unbelieving world. They were supposed to do the same. They were
supposed to be Imitators Of God. But
how would they be able to be transformed from their old, sinful way of living
and instead become righteous and holy in their words and deeds? How would they
be transformed from their old self to their new self? This week’s Subject Text holds the answer.
Believers, Created To Be Like God
are able to be Imitators Of God
because they have been Filled With The
Spirit (of God).
Text Analysis
8For you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for
the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and
find out what pleases the Lord.
Paul
circles back in vv. 8-10 to our
overall theme that the Ephesian believers were once lost in the darkness of
their sins characterized by bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and all
kinds of malice. They were tangled in sexual immorality, impurity, greed,
obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking. But once they made a commitment to
leave the darkness and become followers of the Light of the world, they became Children Of Light. Paul uses the
illustration of fruit to describe what grows from the identity of being Children Of Light. Specifically, what
they say they believe should become manifest in the actions of their daily
lives and characterized by goodness, righteousness and truth. “Theology is
always transformative in the New Testament and not merely speculative. In
Ephesians this comes to expression particularly in the author’s interest in how
the believer should ‘walk’ in light of the Christian group’s ideology. Indeed,
walk is a key word in the second half of the letter…which contrasts the way the
(largely Gentile) believers formerly ‘walked’ and the life of good works that
God has prepared for them to ‘walk’ in. His attention to practical detail in
this letter serves as an eloquent reminder to the church that the Christian
confession is less a matter of lips and more a matter of legs.”[2]
The objective of every believer is
to seek God’s will for their lives and pursue that will. Like every good
relationship, we work very hard to learn and understand what pleases the other
person and we attempt to incorporate that thing or those things into how we
relate to that person. It is the same way with God. We strive to seek, through
the Scriptures, the things that please God and we incorporate those things into
our lives to be able to relate properly to God and to others. However, that’s
not the only source of learning and pursuing the things that please God. As
believers, the Spirit of God lives within us. If we will learn to listen to the
Spirit and allow the Spirit to guide us, we will more easily discern the things
that please God because the Spirit will lead you only to those things that
characterize God’s holiness and righteousness.
11Have nothing to do with the
fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
Like
goodness, righteousness and truth is the fruit that is, or should be, manifest
in the life of Children Of Light,
all the characteristics of sinfulness—impurity and immorality—are the fruits
that manifest themselves in the lives of unbelievers—those still in darkness. Paul
gave us a list of those characteristics previously and I’ve already repeated
them. But here’s what I want you to take notice of in v. 11: Paul’s not only saying that believers shouldn’t have
anything to do with the darkness that is characteristic of life as an
unbeliever, we are supposed to expose that darkness. I can already hear those
who are mired in the darkness of their sins howling that “we have no right to
judge them!” And you know what? They’re right! That’s not what Paul is
instructing here. I want you to be very careful to understand what Paul is and
isn’t saying here. Paul is not saying anywhere that we are to condemn the
sinner. Paul is saying that we are supposed to condemn the sin. Do you
understand the difference? Expose greed without condemning those who are
greedy. Expose sexual immorality without condemning the one trapped in sexual
immorality. Expose hatred without condemning the person bathed in hatred. We
make judgments of right and wrong everyday. Not everyone will agree with what
Christians judge to be right or wrong but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.
Ironically, when unbelievers claim that Christians are wrong to judge the
actions and attitudes of others, they are doing exactly what they are
condemning Christians for doing. It is a fine line that unbelievers don’t seem
to have trouble crossing even as they condemn Christians for crossing it and,
unfortunately, some Christians have been known to cross the line between
exposing sinful acts and condemning the sinner. Nevertheless, that is not what
Paul is instructing here. Christians are to live as Children Of Light and allow their light to expose the darkness of
sin in the world without the need or desire to condemn the sinner.
“Light and
darkness cannot coexist, so children of the light must take not part in the
worthless deeds of evil and darkness. Believers must separate themselves from
sin, having no part of it. This does not mean that believers must be separate
from unbelievers, but they must ‘take no part’ in their sinful actions. It is
important to avoid activities that result in sin, but we must go even further.
Paul instructed believers to rebuke and expose these deeds because silence may
be interpreted as approval. Just as the light shines into darkness and exposes
what is hidden, so the light of Christ, through a believer, should shine into
the darkness of sin and expose it for what it is. God needs people who will
take an active and vocal stand against sin and permissiveness in all its forms.
Christians must lovingly speak out for what is true and right.”[3]
12For it is shameful even to
mention what the disobedient do in secret.
If we were
instructed in v. 11 to expose the darkness of sin, how do we do that if,
according to v. 12, it’s shameful to
even mention the deeds done in darkness? I believe Paul is simply trying to
point out just how far believers should stay away from sinful behavior. I
believe Paul is engaging in a bit of hyperbole here to make his point. Paul
wants them to understand that sin is so awful that the mere mention of sinful
behavior is enough to pollute them. Obviously Paul didn’t mean they literally
shouldn’t mention sinful behavior otherwise he would have shamed himself
because he did it all the time. Instead, Paul wanted to press the point that
sin and the believer can never shake hands.
“Paul gives
the reason why his readers should not participate in the unfruitful works of
darkness. They are so evil, Paul says, that they are shameful even to mention.
Does this imply that when believers expose the sins of others, they must not
use words but only the contrast of their own good behavior?...It is unlikely
that Paul’s language has this connotation. Just as with his admonition that
sexual sins and greed must not even ‘be named’ among God’s people, so here,
Paul is exaggerating for the sake of emphasis: he is simply underlining how far
out of bounds the behavior of some unbelievers lies…People are ‘exposed’ when
verbal evidence, whether written or oral, is presented against them. The
activities that Paul describes here, then, are shameful even to mention for the
same reason that those who do them seek to keep them secret: they are
especially evil.”[4]
13But everything exposed by the
light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything
visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and
Christ will shine on you.”
Jesus said
that no one lights a candle and then puts it in a jar or under the bed. Instead
they put the candle on a nightstand so that it lights the way for anyone who
enters the room. Jesus predicted that nothing will remain hidden forever and
that one day the light will reveal everything that was previously concealed (Lk
8:16-17). This is the same thing Paul is trying to say in vv. 13-14. The Children Of
Light are like a candle on a nightstand that lights the way to what is
good, right and true and it will serve to expose all that is evil, wrong and a
lie. Paul isn’t quoting directly from the Scriptures in v. 14 but is likely
quoting from a hymn that was well known to the Ephesians and probably taken
from Isaiah 60:1 where it reads, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and
the glory of the LORD rises upon you.” It is possible that Paul was appealing
to them to wake up and take account of their lives before they slipped farther
into sin. Or perhaps it is a general appeal to all sinners to repent of their
sins or allow the Light of the world to expose the sin in their lives.
“The
passage is introduced in connection with the reference to the effects of
faithful [exposure of sin] and under the impression of the figure of light. It takes the form of an appeal to
wake out of the pagan condition of sin, described by the two-fold figure of sleep and death, and of a promise that then Christ will shine upon the sinner
with the saving light of His truth. The quotation comes in relevantly,
therefore, as a further enforcement both of the need for the reproof [of sinful behavior] which is
enjoined, and of the good effects of such a reproof
faithfully exercised.”[5]
15Be very careful, then, how you
live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every
opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be
foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
I want you
to think about our own days as you read vv.
15-17. Do you suppose they are more evil or less evil than Paul’s day? I
want you to think in terms of the Bible’s historical trajectory not in terms of
our modern advancement in virtually all areas of human existence. The Bible
teaches that history is inevitably moving towards a conclusion when growing
evil will reach its pinnacle and God will finally say, “Enough!” On that day,
in that moment, time will be up and it will be too late for those who have not
accepted Christ as their Savior for they will be separated from God for all
eternity. What Paul is saying so urgently to the Ephesians should be understood
as being much more urgent for us today that we are drawing always closer to the
end and God’s final judgment. As a result, like the Ephesians, we are to live
wisely every day and understand the trajectory of history. Satan is still hard
at work attacking believers; discouraging believers, while inspiring and
deceiving unbelievers. The wisdom Paul says we should have is the wisdom to
live lives of holiness and righteousness without any hint of impurity or
immorality. The Lord’s will is that Christians would be a light that exposes
the darkness of sin in the lives of unbelievers; a light that lights the path
toward Jesus and salvation. Jesus said, “For my Father’s will is that everyone
who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will
raise them up at the last day (Jn 6:40).”
The NIV is
not very good in it’s translation of v. 17. A better reading would be that
believers should “buy up the present opportunity.” Every day presents us with
unique opportunities to share our faith with people who are now tangled and
trapped in their sins. We have the means to set them free. We cross paths with
people every day who are stumbling around in the darkness of their sins. We
have the means to light the path for them. We meet people every day who are
dead because of their sins and they don’t even know it. We have the words that
will give them life. I have often said that you each have a unique life story
of how you came to know Christ and how you live out your faith every day. God
will provide you with the opportunity to tell people what you believe and to
show them what that looks like in the details of your life. Be wise then and
don’t miss the opportunities that God presents you with. Opportunity creates a
vacuum and that vacuum will be filled with something. In the context of our Subject Text, opportunity that isn’t
met with the good news of the Gospel will be satisfied by Satan and met with
the allure and attraction of sin. “The injunction to ‘buy up the present
opportunity’…has special reference to Christian witness in the world. The
statement that ‘the days are evil’ may imply that, whatever difficulties lie in
the way of Christian witness now, they will increase as time goes on. It must
be borne in mind not only that the present age remains an ‘evil age’ even if it
has been invaded by the powers of the age to come but also that…‘the appointed
time has grown very short,’ so that opportunities must be exploited while they
last.”[6]
18Do not get drunk on wine, which
leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Paul is
very clear in denouncing drunkenness in his letters to the various churches and
on the surface he does the same thing here in v. 18. But that’s a very elementary reading of the text. Instead,
Paul is saying that using our time and resources to over-indulge in alcohol is
unwise because it leads Christians to conduct themselves in ways that are
inconsistent with who they are as Children
Of Light. Using our time to get drunk is an unwise use of our time and
squanders the opportunities that God has prepared for us to capitalize on. A
wiser use of our time would be to allow the Spirit to direct more and more of
our lives every day. Paul is saying that instead of filling up with booze we
should be Filled With The Spirit. It
is not a prohibition against drinking. It is a prohibition against drinking to
get drunk. It is a waste of time that is running out and opportunities that are
being met by something other than the good news of the Gospel. This holds true
for anything, work, food, money, power, etc. None are inherently evil in and of
themselves but are worthless and lead to sin when they interfere with the
opportunities to share the Gospel. Instead of filling up or lives with the
things that are ultimately worthless, we are instead called to be Filled With The Spirit. But what does
it mean to be Filled With The Spirit?
“In Acts,
in the miraculous instances of the filling of the Spirit which resulted in
speaking in tongues and other extraordinary activities, the word used for
‘filling’ is pimplemi. In [v. 18],
when we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit, the world for ‘filled’ is ‘plarao.’ These words have different
meanings. In Acts when pimplemi is
used, the results are dramatic: the person speaks in tongues, prophesies, or
preaches powerful messages spontaneously. In the only two New Testament
occurrences of plarao in the verb
form, it has no extraordinary event occurring with it…
We do not
see the pimplemi filling of the
Spirit after Acts 19, the last recorded incident in Acts of the message of the
gospel going to Gentiles. The purpose of miraculous manifestations of the
Spirit was to validate and reinforce the message of the gospel to people who
did not know Christ…
[Gramatically],
pimplemi is always aorist passive
with the genitive case: aorist tense means that the filling did not last long
and was not intended to last long. The passive indicates that the people who
were filled had no control over the fact that they were filled. It was a
sovereign work of God.
Plerao in this passage is imperative
passive, meaning that they were commanded to let it happen and they could
control their willingness to be filled…
The purpose
of plerao filling is person oriented.
The purpose of pimplemi is task
oriented. The dramatic events surrounding pimplemi
are designed to accomplish a certain task. The purpose of plerao is to cause a person to be filled with joy or the Spirit as
a continuous state…
We are not
controlled by the Holy Spirit in the same way as a hand controls the
functioning of a glove. Rather, we are governed in the sense that a speed limit
sign controls how fast we drive. We are governed by it, in the sense that we
have yielded to its authority and are law-abiding persons…
As we let
the Word richly dwell within us, we come to understand the will of God. The
Holy Spirit applies God’s truth to our hearts, and as we yield to it, allowing
ourselves to be governed by it, we experience the fruit of the Spirit—peace,
love, and joy. Gradually, more and more, over time we are filled with the
Spirit in a nonsensational manner, but a manner just as miraculous as the dramatic
manifestation of pimplemi.”[7]
19Speak to one another with
psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the
Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21Submit to one another out of
reverence for Christ.
There is
something that happens in the life of the believer who is continuously Filled With The Spirit. Their lives are
bound to overflow and that overflow tends to come in the form of worship and
thanksgiving. It is and always has been the natural consequence of continuously
filling something—whatever is being filled overflows. Look closely at Paul’s
instruction in vv. 19-21. They are
entirely relational. When we are Filled
With The Spirit we relate to one another on a spiritual level through
worship; through psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. We relate to one another on
a practical level by submitting ourselves in service and devotion to one
another. We relate to God on a spiritual and practical level also through worship.
However, the way we relate to God goes one step further because we are
commanded to give God thanks in the name of Jesus for everything in our lives.
“The
purpose of singing is both praise to God and instruction to believers. Singing,
then, has two audiences. Christians sing to each other, reminding each other
about God’s character and work in Christ, but they also sing to the Lord as a
way of offering praise to him.
Whether any
difference is intended between psalms, hymns, spiritual songs is difficult to
say. In all probability no clear demarcation is intended. The people are to
sing in their heart is not a request that the people sing with feeling or
emotion. Rather, ‘heart’ refers to the controlling center of one’s being: ‘Sing
with your whole being’ (which certainly includes the emotions). The issue is
the integrity with which one sings, not the feeling. Words are not merely sung,
they express the reality of the life in the Spirit…
It is not
surprising that thanksgiving is associated with life in the Spirit.
Thanksgiving is the believing acknowledgment of God and his purposes for Good
in Christ. Obviously such giving of thanks points to a lifestyle and not just
to spoken words…
The last
participle describing life in the Spirit is perhaps the most surprising. People
led by the Spirit ‘submit to one another.’ Many are offended by the word
‘submission,’ as if it points to a passive, weak life dominated by a negative
self-image, a giving up of control and free will. This is not Paul’s intent,
except for the fact that control for Christians has already been given over to
Christ.
The Greek
work hypotasso (‘submit’) literally
means ‘arrange under.’ It is used of submitting to God’s law, of everything
being subjected under Christ’s feet, or of younger men being subject to older
men. Attempts to translate ‘submit’ by ‘be supportive of,’ ‘be committed to,’
or ‘identify with’ are unacceptable. It is important to note that the text does
not ask some Christians to submit to other Christians. It asks all Christians to submit to each other.
No privilege group is in view…
Christians
are called to live in mutual submission, and without mutual submission they
cannot fulfill their destiny. Such submission is a strong and free act of the
will based on real love of the other person. In the end, submission is nothing
more than a decision about the relative worth of another person, a manner of
dying and rising with Christ, and a way to respect and love other people. In
fact, for Christians, authority and submission are the same thing.”[8]
Application
I began
this Children Of Light series explaining
that Christians were Created To Be Like
God in righteousness and holiness because God is righteous and holy. Before
we became believers we lived in the dark; we were separated from God because of
the darkness of sin in our lives. With lives clouded by darkness, we plunged
our lives into the sensuality of over-indulgence into every kind of impurity
that simply left us constantly lusting after more. However, once we accepted
Christ, the Light of the world, into our lives, the darkness was vanquished and
we were set free from our former way of living. We put away the old sinful self
like taking off old, dirty clothes and put on the new righteous and holy self
like dressing in fresh, clean clothes. Freed from the bondage of needing to
indulge in the impurity of the world’s way of living, we set course for a new
way of living; living like the one we claimed to follow. Instead of living in a
way that reflects the image of the world, we have become Imitators Of God that reflect the image of God
As Imitators Of God, we do what God does
and don’t do what God doesn’t do. We are holy and righteous because God is holy
and righteous. We are loving, kind, compassionate, and merciful because God is
loving, kind, compassionate, and merciful. As Imitators Of God, we serve because Jesus came to serve and not be
served. We endure pain and suffering with patience because Jesus endured pain
and suffering with patience. We forgive others because we have been forgiven by
God. However, as Imitators Of God we
don’t do the things that God doesn’t do. We refrain from unwholesome talk but engage
only in talk that serves to encourage and build others up not wound them or
tear them down. We rid our lives bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and
slander, and all forms of malice. We strive daily to eliminate any hint of
sexual immorality in our lives or any other impurity for that matter. We seek
to starve the monster of greed that can never be satisfied. We purge our lives
of obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking. We rid our lives of all these
things because they are uncharacteristic of God and we have become Imitators Of God.
We do not
live in a world that is morally neutral; there is no moral vacuum. In the
absence of good, evil will flourish. In the absence Christian morality, the
world’s immorality will thrive. Humanity will always be filled with something—sin
or righteousness; lies or truth; greed or generosity; hatred or love; darkness
or light. As followers of the Light of the world, we are now Children Of Light. We have been Created To Be Like God to live lives of
righteousness and holiness because God is righteous and holy. When the sinful
world sees us, what do they see? Do they see a reflection of themselves or do
they see a reflection of God’s characteristics? If we are Imitators Of God then the people we encounter should get a
perspective of what God is like by the example of our lives. Believers, once
lost in the darkness of their sins have, through their belief in Jesus, been Created To Be Like God. Setting aside
their once sinful actions and attitudes, believers have instead become Imitators Of God. Having been sealed by
the Spirit of God when they accepted Christ as their Savior, the sin and
depravity in the lives of believers has been displaced by the Spirit. The world
should be able to recognize believers by the fruit of the Spirit manifest in
their lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). These are the characteristics that
should be manifest in the lives of believers—Children Of Light who have been Created To Be Like God with the power to be Imitators Of God because they are Filled With The Spirit.
[1] William
J. Harness, Gang Facts and Myths: A Guide
For School Administrators, (Conroe, TX: Conroe ISD Police Department,
1994-2006), p. 21.
[2] David A.
deSilva, An Introduction to the New
Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation, (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2004), p. 726.
[3] Bruce
Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman, Life Application New Testament Commentary,
(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), pp. 825-826.
[4] Franklin
Thielman, Ephesians—Baker Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010), p.
344.
[5] W.
Robertson Nicoll, The Expositor’s Greek
Testament, Vol. III, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
1983), p. 360.
[6] F. F.
Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to
Philemon, and to the Ephesians—The New International Commentary on the New
Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984), pp.
378-379.
[7] Max
Anders, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians
& Colossians—Holman New Testament Commentary, (Nashville, TN: B&H
Publishing Group, 1999), pp. 180-181.
[8] Klyne
Snodgrass, Ephesians—The NIV
Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), pp. 291-293.
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