Walk In Love
Eph 5:1-7
The first three parts of Ephesians Chapter Five have to do with specific
ways in which believers in Christ are to live--using the metaphor of walking. Walk in love; walk in light & walk in wisdom.
In the ancient world, and up until sometime in the post WWII era, people
walked in order to get somewhere. I remember adults from the generation before
mine telling us children how long and how far they had walked to school, to
work, and to church. There is something about walking and talking together on a
trip that opens up all sorts of topics for conversation enabling one to get to
know the other. Walking is a wonderful picture of life together with others. It
is also descriptive of how we function among others. The question: AM I the one
who is out of step? Is always a good one to consider.
Walking is also used to describe our relationship with God. The
scriptures use the word walk as a picture for the Christian life. Because it
may be worn out, some have gone to using journey as the metaphor. I think
walking is more intimate. Journey has the idea of distance. Walking allows for
stopping, sitting, dining and it is a more leisurely word. Not that we look for
leisure in the Christian life--but, there are some who are too uptight about the
Christian life and others who aren't serious enough about it. Walking needs a
balanced pace to make progress from one place to another.
The Text:
1. The Foundation
5 Therefore be imitators of
God as dear children.
2. The Command to Love
2 And walk in love, as
Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3. Inconsistent Actions
3 But fornication and all
uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting
for saints;
4. There is More
4 neither filthiness, nor
foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting,
5. Put on Thanks
but
rather giving of thanks.
6. An Appeal to Their Knowledge
5 For this you know,[a] that no fornicator,
unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in
the kingdom of Christ and God.
7. Don't be Deceived
6 Let no one deceive you
with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the
sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be
partakers with them.
Before the Apostle Paul gets to this topic of walking in love, he sets
out two important items for consideration.
1. The Foundation
5 Therefore be imitators of
God as dear children.
We might go right by
these words without any real, deep thinking about what this sentence calls us
to as believers.
Consider the Ephesians:
they were once those who were alienated from the life of God. The only gods
they knew were in name only--that pantheon of Greek deities used to explain all
of the phenomena
That happened in the
world. The stories of their gods and their exploits were told to the children
from birth, told through the lives of all and recited to the elderly in death.
They knew the mythic stories well. They knew about the human and part human
heroes who they were to emulate.
Now, in their embrace of
Christianity, all of that was put away in order that they might be imitators of
God. Notice, it is not the Gods, but God singular. The God of the scriptures is
vastly different than the idols fabricated in the minds of humans. Paganism
needed many competing gods. Christianity had only one: who is all-powerful,
all-knowing and ever-present. He doesn't needing helper deities to do his work.
He is sufficient for whatever needs to be done. It is this God who reveals
Himself in the Bible that they are to imitate--it is not one they have made up
or one taken from the Pagan world. The differences are greater than day and
night; light and darkness.
Another way this concept
is presented in the scriptures is that those who profess to be Christians are
to be godly and have a growing measure of godliness about them.
What is it to pursue
godliness or to be godly? In short it is to be like God or to have his likeness
reflected in your life by your words, thoughts and actions. This is a high
calling--why isn't more prevalent in gospel preaching in our day? It is too
high a standard and few attain it in any measure. Yet, it is commanded. They
might be looking for the wrong thing.
Timothy was in Ephesus when Paul wrote his
first letter to him. So, the presence of godliness in that epistle might help
us to identify what this idea is.
Listen to this progression:
Godliness seems attainable as Timothy is told to
pursue it--to run after, or to exercise himself to get it. Godliness is
possible….
For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is
profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that
which is to come.
Godliness is worth getting. It is profitable for
all things, where exercise has only a little profit. How much time do you spend
on a pursuit of being like God compared to the time you spend exercising your
body? Which would be better for your soul in the long run, and the short run,
while I'm at it?
Godliness is profitable for both. Look at the
text-- having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent
to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and to the doctrine which accords with godliness,
True Godliness corresponds with the truth of
right doctrine. People who hold to error, no matter how good and godly there
life might look at any point, they are not among the godly. There life spills
over into: what we are told in Verse 4, this is the fruit they will leave behind 4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes
and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil
suspicions, as the text continues:
useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and
destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means
of gain. From such withdraw yourself.
There are some who make an outward show of
something that appears to look like Christianity, that uses a form of godliness
as a means of gain--even a reputation perhaps, but, we can tell them by their
fruit--from such we are commanded to turn away.
This proves that godliness or imitating God can
be surely misused.
But, if you get it right according to the
command and work of God, it is a tremendous blessing to have:
Now godliness with contentment
is great gain.
But you, O man of God, flee these things and
pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
What excuses are given by those who won't seek
to grow in the likeness of God? I ask the question this way to be a little
provocative.
Turn back to Genesis 1. You know that answer to
the next question, but I want most of you to see it for yourselves.
How did God make man?
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to
Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds
of the air, and over the cattle, over all[b]the
earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image;
in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.28 Then
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the
earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of
the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God made man is two ways: He spoke Adam into
existence and he made man to be the imago Dei--the image of God. What does that
mean? These two areas address the physical makeup of man and the spiritual
dimensions of mankind.
From all God made in six days, Man alone
reflects his image in a way that shows forth the glorious communicable
attributes of God. Man is unique among
all the animate or living creation. Yet, there are great differences among the
Creator and all his creatures, including mankind.
When the attributes or character of God is discussed, his
attributes are put into two categories: the communicable and the
incommunicable. The communicable can be found in mankind; the incommunicable
cannot.
The incommunicable are those
characteristics that are unique to God alone. We already named three of the
omnis: omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent meaning present everywhere, there
is no spot where God is not; he is all-knowing--there is never a time when God
learns something new; God is everywhere all the time--and by everywhere we mean
wherever there is time and space God is present holding it all together.
God is also self-existent-he is
independent. He alone is glorious, though his creation shows forth that glory.
God also has communicable
attributes--those that can be communicated or given to creatures as their own
characteristics. Since, man is the image of God, it shouldn't surprise us to
find out these wonderful truths.
So, when preachers talk about the pursuit
of godliness, it is not the pursuit of becoming divine as in most forms of
Mysticism, it is becoming like God as those given the privilege to imitate him.
The Fall of man into sin marred the
brightness of that image. However, as redeemed men and women, we are being
remade into the image of Christ. To that end, God uses all things that come
into our lives. Why does he do this? Because He loves us….
One of the clearest statements about individual attributes of God
is this, "God is love."
1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not
know God, for God is love.
There are other passages
that tell us what God is in this same straightforward manner, but 1 John 4:8
has special reference for the Ephesian text. Love is where it starts. It is a
great umbrella under which everything else is done.
When something is sear to
us, it has great value. It is to those who are to be imitators of God who are
so valued by God that he takes them to be his dear children--highly valued and
cherished. God does not treat them like he does all of the others. They have
those special benefits and blessings already mentioned on a number of
occasions.
We have….
2. The Command to Love
2 And walk in love, as
Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
This is not a human love.
Paul isn't saying, "Look around among the men and women you know, find a
couple who you perceive as being deeply in love, and then act like that towards
others." The love the apostle calls them to in no less than a godly love
that emulates the love that Jesus had when he loved the church and gave himself
as a atoning sacrifice for our sin.
How deeply did the Christ
love his people? Words cannot express fully, the love of God in Christ for his
people. He did whatever it took to secure their eternal salvation--even when we
were enemies, he demonstrated the greatness of his love toward us (Rom 5:8).
When the world had us in
its grasp, he came so his love would break through the system of the world in
order to give us the salvation of God.
Jesus came to break the
bonds of sin and death in order to set his captors free.
Jesus came to do for us
what we could never do for ourselves. He came to pay the debt of our sin in the
royal bank of heaven. He put his death on our account and took our sin upon
his. It was all of grace and mercy due to his eternal love for the likes of us.
In the original KJVs love
is translated by a different English word. It is translated charity. Charity is
a selfless giving of oneself and substance for the good of others. Nobody has a
claim to charity--it is freely given as a gift to others. Is this not what
Jesus did that his people might have eternal life as his sons and daughters and
be freed from the penalty of sin, and are being freed by its power and
presence?
So, too those who are
Christ's people, who know something of this transforming act, put off those
things that are inconsistent with godliness or imitating God. That is where the
text goes with great specificity:
3. Inconsistent Actions
3 But fornication and all
uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting
for saints;
Do any of you think this question doesn't
fit? The Apostle just wrote telling them to walk in love as dear children.
Immediately, in the same idea, he moves onto sexual impurity, in order to
forbid it.
What the world thinks is love, is not even
close to real love. They think feelings in the minds and pleasures of the body
define what real love is all about. Those things are not love at all. They are
lust coupled with covetousness, just as this verse presents sexual sin.
Ultimately, who gets to define what is
love and what is sin? God does! And, he already has. An inordinate desire to
have pleasure from or with a particular person is not falling in love, it is a
manifestation of lust coupled with covetousness that is either acted upon or
kept in the heart. When acted on it becomes fornication; when kept in the heart
is becomes sinful fantasies.
The text says, But fornication and all
uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting
for saints;
What is the standard for believers
individually and collectively called together to be a church? Don't practice
these unclean things or practice what is intended to be clean and godly in
unclean ways tainted by lust and covetousness. It is not love. The world, your
flesh and the devil have lied to you if you think it is.
If someone catches your eye and you have
lustful thoughts, put them away quickly, it is hateful to another to muse on
those things. But, I fell in love with her. If you act on your impulses, it is
not love for your neighbor, but indulgence of your flesh.
1. 1 John 3:11
For this is the message that you
heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
2. 1 John 3:23
And this is His commandment: that we
should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one
another, as He gave us commandment.
3. 1 John 4:10
In this is love, not that
we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the propitiation for our sins.
God defines love and it is defined by his
word, specifically, his Law. Do you want to love Him, learn and follow his
gracious Law--even in this New Covenant
age. If you love me, Jesus told the disciples in the Upper Room, keep my
commandments. These words in Eph 5 are also his commands coming to the churches
through the Apostle. Listen to the word of God, not the temptations of the
world.
4. There is More
4 neither filthiness, nor
foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting,
Many might not go so far as to commit
sexual sins openly, but there are still a lot of things that are not right for
professing believers to do. God does not act like this--we are to act like
God--in godliness with grace.
Do you understand why these things follow
a simple command to walk in love? If we always make it our aim to walk in the
way of Christian love, we will never give place to temptation, well, we will be
less likely to--we will be trained in godliness and see sin when it far off,
rather than close to our breast.
What do we do? What do we put on in the
place of these things?
5. Put on Thanks
but
rather giving of thanks.
Look for those things you can be
intentionally thankful about--in all areas of your thought and life. Elsewhere,
Paul wrote "Give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus."
Constant thankfulness is an important
component of the Christian life. That should not surprise us. Are you
continually thankful? Are you thankful in a full orbed sort of way, or in an
ordinary way. By full-orbed I mean you see God's hand in all things and even if
you don't understand why something came to pass you are thankful that it did
because God is using it for your own good. And, perhaps through you will help
others or manifest his glory in the world.
The universal indictment at the beginning
of Romans ends with and neither were they thankful. A thankless heart is not
far from corrupting influences.
The Ephesians were not old mature
believers, they were recently called out of darkness to the light of Christ's
kingdom. Yet, on this apparent immaturity along with general revelation Paul
can make
6. An Appeal to Their Knowledge
5 For this you know,[a] that no fornicator,
unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in
the kingdom of Christ and God.
There is no doubt about this in your mind.
You know these things with a high degree of certainty. You don't need some
special height of consecration to understand this. The unloving, ungodly people
I am writing about has any place in the inheritance I have written to you about
earlier in this epistle.
Don't make excuses for them. They are
carnal, of the flesh. They indulge their
sexual pleasures--and often that is what homosexuality is all about--just the
pleasure and it doesn't matter with who, especially among the men. They are
unclean--in the Jewish world, you kept yourself away from all that was unclean.
They are idolaters--they put other things that are not God in the place of
God--the pursue the pleasures of life in the flesh before the glory of God in
godly living. The imitate the world, rather than the true and living God who
alone can save sinners.
Something in men's consciences tells them
people like Paul has described will not be in the kingdom of heaven or at it
says here of Christ or of God. Let me say it again, there is no place for them.
That is, until or unless they repent, turning to God and away from their sin.
Sexual sin has become acceptable at many
levels of the modern church. Tolerance of God abhors has become fashionable.
So-called scholars are explaining away these sins in inexplicable
ways--justifying sins that should not even be named among believers collected
in churches.
It was over 20 years ago that a friend of
mine went to preach at a large church. At the beginning of the service, as the
praise band played, a woman came into the auditorium dancing sensuously to the
music. The coolness of the air had its effects upon her and her appearance
became as close to obscene as it could. My friend was there to speak about the
Reformation, seeing it was the last Sunday in October. He was so deeply grieved
that he could hardly preach--but went through the motions anyway. About a month
later, scandal erupted when the woman was identified as a local exotic dancer.
Yet, nobody was held accountable. People complained and some silently left. So
much of the church has lost her discernment because they don't look long and
hard at simple passages like this and countless others.
7. Don't be Deceived
6 Let no one deceive you
with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the
sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be
partakers with them.
We should neither be trend-setters or trend-followers.
We should seek to know the Word of God and follow it, no matter what.
People who are deceived don't need our unbiblical
notions of love, they need us to give them real love that confronts their sin
and seeks their salvation in Christ. Empty words will never bring conviction to
sinners in their sins. And, from my experiences with young people through their
30s is that they know what they do is wrong, but they enjoy the pleasure. It is
only the consciences that have been sealed in sin who become hardened.
It is these sorts of men and women that we are not to
be partakers with. The wrath of God is coming upon them at some future time. We
must warn them of God's wrath even at the cost of turning them away.
The implication is that there is another group with
whom we are and must be partakers--the children of God. That's what we
celebrate this morning in the Lord's Supper. We come to worship him for all he
is and all he has done. We thank Him for the work of Salvation he has
accomplished and the ongoing work of sanctification he is going to complete in
all who are are truly his.
We remember and look forward to the fullness of the
inheritance that will one day be our own and that day when we will be with him
forever and like him more fully than we are now. What a blessed day of glory
that will be.
Amen
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