Walk in Wisdom, Eph 5

Walk In Wisdom

So far in Ephesians 5, we have looked at two of three ways Christians are to walk or conduct themselves in this life. Vss 1-7 teach us the importance of walking in love by expressing those things that are contrary to Christian love. This method is called the via negationis or the way of negation--the writer affirms what something is by teaching what it is not.

Christian love is a charitable love--a love that gives to others for their good. We noted the words for love are translated in the original KJV as charity. A couple of you asked questions about the difference between two Greek words for love--agape and phileo. I know a lot of word study men have written that they are different kinds of love: the one God-given the other a fraternal or brotherly love. Well, if you examine the evidence in the original texts, the Greek words are used synonymously without any real distinction in their meaning. If you want to read more on the topic, the simplest presentation is Pastor Jim's "True Love: an exposition of 1 Cor 13."

People can appear to be loving, but are really nothing by speakers of empty words--they learn what to do to look good. Don't cross them, you'll see a very different person coming back at you.

The second section teaches us to walk in light--that is, in line with what God has revealed about how his people ought to live distinctively different than those in the world. By equating these things with the fruit of the Holy Spirit we see how they are are made a part of our lives. It is not something we produce on our own strength from secret inner resources. But, on the contrary, if there is any good in us, real goodness as defined by God, God will also be its source. It is manifest in real goodness, ultimate truth and true righteousness--things that are truly just.

The light is shone into the darkness of the world in order to expose its darkness which men love more than light because their deeds are evil. It is the light of God that exposes the works of darkness. It is not good to live in that shadowy world--but, only God can give light to or enlighten the mind.

At the end of that section, Paul gives what I see as an evangelistic appeal to those in the audience who have not repented and believes the gospel. Based on what Paul has written to this point, he calls to those who are spiritually dead, to come alive so that Christ can give them light.

How can a dead man raise himself up? Why does the scripture call men to do what they cannot naturally do? It is simply this--if God is at work, he will give them spiritual understanding, making them spiritually alive unto Him--that's what we learned about back in Chapters 1 & 2.

This third section on walking in wisdom applies further the applications already made.

From Vs 15-21 we read:

1. Walk this Way

Eph 5:15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

2. A Couple of Contrasts

¹⁷ Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

3. Some Specifics

 ^19 (A) speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

(B) singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

(C) ²⁰ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

(D) ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of God

Let's take a deeper look at the text:

1. Walk this Way

Eph 5:15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

After writing the name of this point, I went on to the rest of the outline. When I returned the point "Walk this Way" hit me in a silly way.  These phrases introduce the application of wisdom specifically.

The KJV uses the word 'circumspectly' where other translations use nuances of the same idea--that of walking carefully. Essentially, that is what walking in wisdom is, it is carrying oneself carefully, watchfully, intentionally, applying truth to the situations of life.

The Bible says a lot about wisdom and being wise. Not all people are wise, nor does everyone become wise and neither do all Christians. I know a lot of unwise Christians who try to apply fleeting or fleshly emotions to their lives, where they should have applied godly knowledge from the scriptures.

The foolish person is one who refuses wisdom in order to go their own way. Yet, the fool often thinks himself wise. The fool will go to great lengths to justify themselves in folly. Folly is the absence of true instruction.

Why do so many in our day say things like, I believe the Lord is leading me this way or that way--and then when you ask them how they know that, they have no real principle upon which to stand. They have impressions that are usually very similar to what they want to do uninformed by the principles of God's Word. To be foolish is to walk in darkness a much as it is to shun the light. People have the ability to justify just about anything--even sinful attitudes and actions.

Consider two proverbs that sit side-by-side in the Holy Book. Proverbs 26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him. And, Proverbs 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.

At first these two proverbs might seem to be contradicting each other, if not presented as a paradox. It is God teaching about the way of wisdom. Sometimes it is wise to answer a fool because of his folly and other times it would be wrong to answer a fool.

When answering a fool the danger is to become like him or her--to argue about the meaning of words rather than the wisdom of actions. Fools love disputes. Don't become a fool--disengage wisely, or don't engage at all. Fools will keep you busy without any profit to your soul and movement on their part. Fools function as if there are no absolutes. They are always trying to find exceptions--in order to apply the exceptions to themselves. The scriptures tell us fools despise correction and instruction. On the other hand, there are times when a fool must be answered and silenced lest they become conceited. This kind of fool think because you did not answer his foolishness, it can't be answered. But, this sort of fool can also keep you busy, returning to argue over words like we find condemned in II Tim, at least on the part of the minister. 

All of must carefully conduct ourselves as we walk through this life knowing we will encounter fools along the way. Some fools are worth answering; most are not. So be careful and don't waste your time.

Over the years I have gone to lunch with some men numerous times only to have them ask the same questions over and over again--they are unable to understand. Paul puts it this way, " redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

These days we live in this age are evil. Our job is to live in the world but unspotted by it and its foolishness. As we await the end of this age and the coming judgment we must do whatever we can to redeem the time. That is to use it for godly and just purposes informed by principles of Godliness and righteousness showing love to all, but not necessarily taking the time to teach wisdom to all of them.

The Proverbs are given to us to make us think about what is wise and what is not. It would do us well to be familiar with them--all of them. They are given to make God's people wise--to enlighten the simple. There is no way to go through them all and a rabbit trail would take years to do it fully. Let some of Solomon's words from Chapter suffice as introductory information:

Proverbs 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
³ To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
⁴ To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
⁵ A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
⁶ To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Foolish people think they want these grand things, but when the right buttons are pressed, they show their true tendencies towards foolishness.

Not all fools are foolish to the same degree. There is continuum of foolishness from those who manifest the traits of fools regularly and habitually to those who almost always do what is foolish. There is always someone more foolish than oneself in order to do the justifying comparison that is part of the human condition. You've heard, "I'm not nearly as bad as so and so." Maybe not, but if you refuse the way of wisdom and righteousness--you are a fool.

It is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning, not of wisdom, but of knowledge. Then that knowledge needs to be rightly applied. It is amazing how many people don't rightly understand the basic truths of the Word of God, so they never get to be wise in order to walk in it. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. So, if someone despises what most find profitable, in the teaching of the Word, what does it say about the person who lacks understanding? They may be foolish and will draw others away.  In my twenty years of experience, intimate friendships with people much less mature in the faith, usually effect the more mature adversely. That's just an observation. As I pondered it about a dozen examples came to mind. It could be my view of someone's Christian maturity was wrong at the start.

2. A Couple of Contrasts

¹⁷ Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

This is an important couplet. Think about it with me. The 'therefore' shows a concluding comment. Because of all that has been said about walking in love, light and wisdom, do this, or seek to understand this…. And, notice what the 'this' is…. Don't give into "unwisdom" if I can coin a word, but instead understand what the will of the Lord is.

How does one know the will of God in the prescriptive sense? In case you don't know what I'm talking about, we distinguish between the will of God in two ways: the first is his decretal will, which is all that comes to pass by his sovereign will. The prescriptive will is his will prescribed in his revelation to mankind. What does God require of man in obedience to his revealed will.

The way of wisdom is defined by God's prescribed will. To illustrate consider wisdom as being a series of prescriptions for godly living.

Some have confused these two will and gone down the unwise path of hyper-Calvinist and crass Antinomianism. They think like this: God's will is always good. This or that happened. It must be God's will. Some may perceive this as an evil, but it is really good.  And, they usually only allow this argument for themselves. I've had to deal with men who held these views. It's essential quality can be reduced to one word--folly.

When Paul writes about their knowing what the will of the Lord is, he is not telling them to accept all things fatalistically; but to understand all things discerningly by the standard of God's revealed will--including this letter in you hand being read to you. Be people of the Book. The inference is this: even though you are gentile by birth, seek to know what God has revealed as wise principles and live by them.

Added to that principle is a statement about influence or control.

 ¹⁸ And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

Paul is not making an argument against temperate use of wine and strong drink. He is contrasting two things that exert powerful influences upon those affected by them. The first is negative, that via negotionis, followed by the way of affirmation, the via affirmatatis. Not one because it brings this with it. So, the other in its place.

Paul isn't saying never to drink wine, he is saying, "don't be under its influence so that your self-control is lost." It the ancient world wine was one of the safe beverages to drink--in moderation. That is, perhaps to the point where the heart is made merry, or for a medicinal reason like Timothy, or for the guests at the wedding of Cana. Don't drink so much wine that it controls you to the point of dissipation or debauchery. That is inconsistent with the way of wisdom.

Instead, or in the place of wine, be filled with the Spirit, meaning the Holy Spirit of God.

Paul recently told them about the fruit of the Spirit here is is contrasted with the fruit of the vine. The Spirit produces  his own fruit: all goodness, righteousness, and truth. The implication is that foolishness has its own fruit as well--sin, known here as dissipation or debauchery. Think like the foolishness found at a frat party or an ancient pagan temple.

Christianity is to be lived distinctively different because God transforms people to be like him and show forth a family resemblance--he makes them godly, He gives them knowledge and puts them on the path of wisdom.

Yet, wisdom is not automatic. The right kind of wisdom comes from God. It is something we must pray for. Yet, how we live shows whether or not we are wise.

Consider James 3: Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom..

True wisdom is not proud, but meek. The wisest one is often the one with only a few well-directed words.

There is another kind of perceived wisdom:

 ¹⁴ But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.¹⁶ For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

People like that often get their way, but it is because the somewhat wise have given into the not-so wise. It is sensual, demonic. It causes the sin of envy--people want what others have--it could even be a good name or good reputation. They cause confusion and listen to the universal nature of the language--confusion and every evil thing are there.

Following this description of an only apparent outwards, sensual and demonic wisdom--by demonic, in case it wasn't clear before, is the wisdom of the underworld, those aligned against God and his agenda. So, do what you can to get heavenly wisdom and to get it right. This is what it looks like:

 ¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.¹⁸ Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Wisdom is useful. When someone is considering whether or not someone else would make a good spouse, they should ask, "Is this person wise?" and is this person going to help make me wiser?" When someone interviews for a job, a good question to think about is, "Are these people wise according to common grace principles and ethics?" Do you see the wisdom in these questions? There are so many questions that can be asked about the wisdom of our actions, if we think deeply.

That and only that is wisdom from above. If one's apparent wisdom sows division and strife with the fruit of folly--it is by no means the will and wisdom of God.

A word to the male members about the diaconate. In the book of Acts, the basic requirements for deacons were to be wise and filled with the Spirit. To be a deacon does not require anything more that what God already expects in Christian men. The high moral character brought out by the qualifications in Timothy and Titus show the man to be wise in the way he lives. God expects men of some experience in faith to have what it takes to serve as deacons. That is why they could look out among themselves and appoint deacons under the direction of the apostles and elders. And, remember the church at Jerusalem was still young. So, some of you may need to step up and admit, I can help serve the church in a more formal way. If you believe yourself to fit these requirements or you see someone who might, talk to me about it after you speak with them first.

The sections about walking in love and walking in light have already taught us about general and specific ways the salvation of God affects the way we live. Paul adds to those thoughts with some interesting directives:

Here are some ways wisdom works in us

3. Some Specifics

 ^19 (A) speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

We comfort and encourage others with the words of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. There is a small minority within Christianity that sees these three items as being in apposition. That is three ways of saying the same thing.

I have many titles and positions. You could say, Mike Renihan, pastor at Heritage Baptist Church, professor at Worcester State and husband and Father to his family. Some see this passage in Eph 5 and another in Col 3 as presenting all spoken music as types of psalms. I do not believe that position does service to what we find in the scriptures. But, just a few comments on the topic.

There is nothing wrong with singing Psalms in the worship of God. The exclusive singing of them tends to give people an old covenant orientation--in my observations.

1. If worship in this age is to only be the psalms, why is God accepting heavenly worship that is not? Revelation shows this to be true.

2. If the Psalms direct us to sing of all God's works of redemption, does it not seem more reasonable that works of redemption future to that writing could be contained in the body of Christian Hymnody?

3. If the Psalms command us to sing new songs, is it not proper to compose new songs that reflect biblical truth?

4. If we only sing Psalms, we are kept from singing praise to the name which is above all names, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a non-Psalmic, Christological  hymn in Phil 2 that is about his humiliation. Its sentiments are worthy to be sung,

An encouragement towards the use of these things in electronic media. I enjoy the hymns, Psalms and spiritual songs my Facebook friends post on their home pages. It is a pleasant and wholesome reminder that we are not just friends on electronic media, but fellow-christians and joint heirs of a wonderful inheritance. Some of you post the words of songs that have been meaningful to you. You probably didn't see it as being a wise act of Christian comfort to others--but it is. Rejoice when someone likes those posts.

And, there are more. Christian hymnody that reflects right theology has a right and proper use to instruct in wisdom and righteousness. That is why we ought to be careful about the hymns and psalms and song of the Spirit that we sing.

We use these towards others. There are many times when people have said a certain song was meaningful. Sometimes people say, All the reading, hymns and messages were just what I needed. I don't want to be condescending, but if we understand those two will of God working together in the worship of God, everything we do each and every week should be meaningful to us in some degree. Some weeks are just more special than others.

But not only do we sing to others, we sing to ourselves.

(B) singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

Many of you like to sing to yourself. It is okay and it is a good thing to sing these sorts of songs to yourselves as you sing in your heart to the Lord. I guess that means the words don't need to be vocalized, as they are sung in the heart. But, nothing restricts that.

Some of the theological statements we remember the most are those expressed in song. How many times have we heard, Great is thy faithfulness." Spoken as words of comfort? And, others that reflect the scriptures.

We are told that we have a greater capacity to remember what we learn to sing. I'm thankful for this. I know a man who went through an experimental grammar school where they learned everything in song. Every once in a while, he sings the song back to himself to get some point in his education correct.

For us, it is a lifetime of singing hymns helps us to build up the saints as we sing together corporately or in smaller groups and to encourage our own souls when we are apart.

Then there are words spoken. Wisdom ultimately makes us thankful for all things. We see God's wise hand of provision in all things.

(C) ²⁰ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

This is why we tack "In Jesus name" to the end of our prayers. Yet, to pray in his name is simply to pray because he has authorized us to come to him in that way. We are reminded we don't come on our own or in our own authority claiming anything from God. We come humbly in Jesus name to the Father asking for all needful and necessary things. In his wisdom, he gives what we need and then some.

As we learn to submit to Him, we also learn the wisdom of submitting to one another. And it to explanations of those areas where we submit to one another based on our positions in life. We learn it is God's will and part of the path of the wise--whether our flesh likes it or not, it is still God's will. Amen!

(D) ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of God