1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them. 8 For 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) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for 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.” 15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:1-21 (NIV)
The fifth chapter of Ephesians begins with one of the most startling admonitions in the New Testament that is: “Be imitators of God” – pointing us to a standard beyond which there is no other. William Barclay deems this “the highest standard in the world”. Alexander Maclaren calls it “the sum of all duty”. Martyn Lloyd-Jones states it is “Paul’s supreme argument…the highest level of all in doctrine and in practice…the ultimate ideal.”
How is it possible to imitate One who is infinitely above us, the sovereign God of the universe? When people are trained to detect counterfeit money they make them study the real not the fake. In the same light, there is no end to the darkness and depravity of sin that we are not to walk in, rather our focus is to be on God and His goodness, righteousness and truth.
Paul is not referring here to God’s self-existent, self-sufficient, and eternal attributes – attributes without which God would not be God. We can also add to that list such things as omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, majesty, and pure holiness in its fullest sense.
Yet, there are attributes of God that we can share in and exercise – indeed, we are called to - through His indwelling power - which will point others to Him and bring Him much glory. These attributes include (yet not limited to): justice, wisdom, faithfulness, goodness, love, mercy, compassion, tenderness, forgiveness, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness self-control and even anger over sin. As believers in sweet Jesus, we are to be new creations – the old has gone and the new has come! We are told by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:14-18:
14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:14-18 (NIV)
God does not want us to continue on walling in our sin – getting us nowhere fast! He desires for us to “grow up” in Him Who is the Head. Interestingly, I was heading in another direction for this chapter and one commentator took me on a different trajectory. Instead of delving into the never ending depths of depravity, we are going to focus primarily on the love of God and our Lord and Savior Jesus seeking in this great aim to “be imitators of God” as the Apostle Paul stated.
Again, in our verses for today in Ephesians, Paul’s call to us as “dearly loved children” is to this great task of being imitators of God. Slavish love does not draw people to Jesus rather it is the sweet wooings of His love that attract us to Him as moths to light. We are dearly loved because we are dearly loved not because of something that we muster up in our own flesh. Just as a son should imitate a good father and a daughter imitate a good mother, so should the children of God imitate God through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. And, as Paul tells us in Romans 8:9:
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9 (NIV)
There is no “imitating” God apart from the indwelling Spirit. We must be born again. “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to the spirit”, states Jesus in John 3:6. Flesh will fail us here. Just as physical genes should lead a child in the direction of their parent’s chief characteristics, so should a Christian’s spiritual genes lead them in the direction of the moral character of God. Paul again tells us in Romans 8:5-8
5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8 (NIV)
What Paul chiefly has in mind here is the imitation of God’s love. Since we are dearly loved children, we are to dearly love – to live a life of love as Jesus loved us and gave Himself up for us as a sacrifice for our sins. Paul tells us in Romans 5:6-8:
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)
And again in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
It is in Biblical agape love that we are to imitate the Creator. I specify Biblical love because we have so cheapened our definition of love that it simply deals with emotions and not volition. Biblical love acts. It demonstrates. It does. While it is also emotive – that’s really the caboose of the definition. Its engine is action. In God’s definition of love penned by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 we are told agape love’s definition:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
I love the fact that Agape Love never fails – it always brings forth fruit in keeping with repentance. We have seen that God’s love demonstrates in sacrificial forgiveness which is unearthly in its nature and is cloaked in humility. It is only through knowing ourselves to be forgiven that we are set free to forgive others lovingly as Jesus did/does. People are in desperate need of forgiveness and that is what we have in Jesus. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. Because we find forgiveness in Him, we can in turn be forgiving. God’s forgiveness is not a mere overlooking of our sins. They cost Him the life of His Son. He takes sin with such seriousness that He deals with it fully on the cross, and it is on that basis – the death of Jesus - that we can know we are forgiven. Paul’s description of Jesus in Philippians 2:3-11 is to be imitated by believers through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit:
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:3-11 (NIV)
Of this love Paul writes in Colossians 3:12-15:
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossians 3:12-15 (NIV)
We are to have an unrestrained willingness to forgive and let go of our anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language. We are to love what God loves and hate what He hates. It is walking in a manner worthy of our high calling as children of the King. If we see ourselves through His eyes, knowing our vile rebellion against His love and moral standards and yet finding ourselves forgiven on the basis of Christ’s death for us, then we will inevitably love and forgive others. For nobody can act as badly toward us as we have acted toward God, and yet He has forgiven us.
God’s love is not only forgiving love to be imitated by us but also a giving love as we have seen in the cross. When we are filled with love we want to give to those we love, Amen? The very familiar John 3:16 attests to that truth:
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV)
Lastly, God’s love is a living love which is a practical or active love. This means we are to put off lying and speak truthfully; to put off anger; to put off stealing and work for a living instead; to put off unwholesome talk and instead speak life to those in our spheres seeking to help build others up in the Lord; to put off bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice, and instead to be kind, compassionate, and forgiving. That is what it means to live a life of love.
What everyone yearns for (whether they admit it or not) is unconditional, eternal love. Our fleshly loves are weak and faltering, variable and untrustworthy. We need the character of God’s love in our love through His power within us. This pristine love that Paul speaks of so clearly in Romans 8:35-39:
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39 (NIV)
A true story of Agape Love comes to mind that Ann Voskamp posted in recent years about the Christ of Auschwitz:
“I don’t know if I ever told you, how at the very end of July 1941, WWII, a man escaped from Auschwitz. And the Nazis’ protocol to discourage attempts at escape was simple: One man escapes — ten men were executed in his place. So, after the escape of this one man, all the men, looking like bags of bones, are called out of the barracks. So, in front of the barracks, one man is standing: Franciszek Gajowniczek. I always struggle with the pronunciation of his Polish name. And Gajownicszek, he’s thinking: _Out of hundreds, I just have to escape being one of the 10 names. The Nazi commandant calls the first name, second, third, fourth. Franciszek Gajowniczek hopes hard that he would live to see 42… live to hold his children close again…seventh, eighth, ninth names…And then they barked the tenth name: Franciszek Gajowniczek. And Gajowniczek — he falls to the ground. Near starving, he peels back every shred of dignity and he flat out begs, ‘No, I am married! I have children! I am young! I beg of you!’ And behind Gajowniczek, a man breaks rank… And he steps forward so all can see his face — Maximillian Kolbe — a Christian. A Christian who was known to give up his food rations to those less hungry than he was. A Christian known to give his blanket to those not as cold as he was. Maximilian Kolbe, he was known to these incarcerated Jews as the Christ of Auschwitz… and he steps forwards silently, takes off his cap, and before the commandant he says, ‘Let me take his place. He has a wife and children. I am not married. I am not a father. He is young. I am old. Take me.” Maximilian Kolbe was only 6 years older than Gajowniczek — 47. And Gajowniczek, laying there on the dust on a July morning, he would later say, ‘I could only thank him with my eyes. I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on.’ And Kolbe, he was dragged off to a wire box like a dog kennel with the nine other men, left to starve to death. Kolbe spent the next 14 days singing hymns and praying with those nine other men, as one by one, all of them starved to death… And only one month prior to Kolbe being dragged off to starve, on June 15, 1941, - Kolbe had written to his mother - ‘Dear Mama, I am in the camp of Auschwitz. Everything is well in my regard. Be tranquil about me and about my health, because the good God is everywhere and provides for everything with love.’ I had memorized that line of the letter. Because if a man in the midst of one the most hideous scenarios known in the history of the world could write a line like that — not from a bad day at the office or a hard day with the kids, but from the death stench of Auschwitz — how can anyone deny this ultimate iron-clad testimony: A Good God is everywhere — and provides for everything with love. How can I believe anything different when the house is loud and mothering wears and obligations pile and I’m buried and a friend tells me the doctors have given her 60-90 days to live and even breathing can cause this pain in your chest? If Maximilian Kolbe could stand in Auschwitz and write Be tranquil — because the good God is everywhere and provides for everything with love’ — is there ever really anything that should make one lose tranquility? It could be like a song for all the doubters and anxious: The good God is everywhere and provides for everything with love. Kolbe lived it. And the Nazis had tossed his body into a mass grave. ‘Let me be singing when the evening comes…’ Maximillian Kolbe was the first man who had ever offered his life for another man in the history of Auschwitz. He would be the only man. The man who saw that a good God is everywhere and provides for everything with love. And Gajowniczek? Gajowniczek would live to be released from Auschwitz. His sons were all killed. But he found his wife in a small home in Poland. Gajowniczek would put a rock in his back yard with a brass plate affixed to the rock. That brass plate had just two words engraved into it: Maximillian Kolbe. And Gajowniczek said this: ‘Because of Maximilian Kolbe, every breath that I take, every thing that I do, every single moment, is to me - like a gift. Because of Maximilian Kolbe, I can’t act frivolously — because every single moment is pregnant with meaning. Because it was a _gift to me from that one who died that I might breathe this breath, that I might act today, that I might embrace this moment — I could never take another moment for granted.’”
“We are all Gajowniczek’s — a Jew died for us. We who were once sentenced to death have been offered the shocking gift of salvation, of being flat out rescued, of being saved of being transformed. If we believe we’re the lost who are saved — how can we lose our First Love? How can our bones not burn with thanks, with love, with the message of Who saved us? It’s time to be tired of being the living dead.” Ann Voskamp
Paul is writing to us in Ephesians about God’s work of making spiritually alive Christians out of spiritually dead pagans and of combining these newly made people into a new society. The hope of the world is not through new programs, buildings and the like but through new people. Transformed people. And new people become only new by the work of the One Who alone is ultimately our hope, Jesus Christ. Before we were of the darkness – just as those around us - and now we are children of the Light through Him Who is the Light of the world. And light makes all things visible. We are called to shine in the darkness just as our Master. John tells us in John 1:1-9
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. John 1:1-9 (NIV)
Jesus also tells us in John 3:19-20:
19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” John 3:19-21 (NIV)
And lastly in John 8:12:
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 (NIV)
The fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness and truth. We are to embrace and “imitate” (as Paul states) that with joy. Remember in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew Jesus tells us we are to be the lights of this world: Matthew 5:14-16:
14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
As we hold out the Word of life and live it through the Spirit we become lights in this dark world pointing others to Jesus. To be sure, the difference in regeneration is not merely a teaching on morality – for teaching on a new and higher morality never changes anybody – living it does. The problem is perhaps not with our standards – the problem is within ourselves. Paul’s prescription for a higher standard of living is quite profound as a careful reading of Ephesians 4 and 5 describes. It involves three things: what we are, how we think, and how that is to flesh out. This covers the Christian’s experience, theology and ethics – which are all necessary. Being, thought and action all go together and must never be separated. Who we are (heart) determines how we think (mind) which determines how we act (actions). We are to be God’s new society – taking off the old way of life and putting on the new. We are to recall this by the daily renewal of our minds (through His Word). Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2:
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
As a Christian is transformed in his mind and is made more like Christ, he comes to approve and desire God’s will - not his own will - for his life. We are not our own, we have been bought with a high price and we are to honor God with our bodies. When we do so we will then discover that God’s will is what is good for us and pleasing and perfect in every way. It is all we need. But only by being renewed spiritually can a believer ascertain, do, and enjoy the will of God. Holiness is not a condition into which we drift – we fall into sin but holiness must be a pursuit – an active working out of what has already been worked in us - through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are held accountable for the Truth we have been given. This new life in neither automatic nor easy, but it is for our very best and the best for society as a whole. And our reason for being.
Paul mentions six intolerable vices in verses 6-7: sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking. The first two, sexual immorality and impurity, dealt with sexual sins including prostitution and homosexuality. Even though perfectly accepted by that culture at the time, it was not to be even hinted at among believers. Greed, more than simply the love of money, was also the love of all that money can do and achieve The last three, obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking, all refer to a dirty mind expressing itself in dirty conversation.
What is the positive side of all this? What are Christians supposed to do by contrast? One answer is by the corresponding positive virtues that Paul provides in the following verse – namely, goodness, righteousness and truth. Each of these positive characteristics flows from the character of Jesus Christ who lives in His people by virtue of the new birth. Paul also adds in contrast to the obscenity, coarse joking and foolish talk there should be thanksgiving. When we cultivate a thankful heart we rise above the filth of our day. Every good and perfect gift comes from our Father. Our behavior should correspond to our positions in Christ Jesus. We are a child of the King and are to walk in a manner worthy of this high calling. We are to be reflecting His image in ever increasing measure and live as children of light.
Lastly, the apostle Paul turns to the subject of our redeeming the time and in wisdom making the most of every opportunity God places in our paths -because the days are evil. Most Christians do not consider time as important and valuable as it really is. The loss of time is no small part of the enemy’s victory. We can be so guilty of whiling away so much of this precious resource – flitting here and there – constantly doing things that are unprofitable or un-redeeming, Amen? To me, time is much more valuable than money. You can create more money but you cannot create more time. Just ask the dying rich man who would likely give all he has for a single day. And not one of us knows when our time will be up either, Amen?
Who can value time at its true worth? Yet, most of us waste it as if we had more time than we could ever spend. But when death is at the door how precious would one of those hours be? We are to gather the broken fragments of time that nothing may be lost. There are many words used for time in Scripture but two are significant: “Chronos” which refers only to the flow of time – the following of one event upon another; it is the idea involved in our word “chronology”. “Kairos” refers to a moment that is especially significant or favorable, an opportune moment. This is our “Kairos” in His-story, our time of opportunity which is not chance or happenstance and we are not to waste it but redeem it, making the most of it. Every instant of time is momentous. A real conflict between good and evil is taking place, events do matter, and something is being achieved irrespective of our apparent success or failure. We are to enter into this conflict and make a contribution for good.
How then are we to live? By making the most of every situation. A real conflict of good and evil is going on and God desires for us to do our parts. The wording Paul uses here actually means “See that you walk carefully, with exactness.” The opposite would be walking carelessly and without forethought. We cannot leave the Christian life to chance. The pregnant present moment is eternally significant. We must prayerfully make wise decisions, seeking to do God’s will, to be making the best use of all of our resources. This is a mark of wisdom as it is the foolish that merely drifts with the wind and tide. It is wise to mark out our course, setting our sails and guiding our rudders until we reach our destinations. Of course we cannot know what a day may bring forth as James tells us. But it is also true that a planned life can better deal with unexpected events. When a pilot does not know what port he is heading for, no wind is the right wind.
We must seek God’s direction in all things. True wisdom is discerning where we see Gods’ hand moving and joining in with Him. If we are going to redeem the time, we had better do it now, because there may be no opportunity tomorrow. If we are to understand the will of God, now is the moment that counts. If we are to going to be filled with God’s Spirit, now is when we need filling. Be wise as Jonathan Edwards was when he wrote in his diary at age twenty: “Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.” Seek to do every task as unto the Lord; to leave every encounter with the aroma of Christ; to speak words of life and not death; to leave a place better because you have been there and you carry the Treasure of His Presence with you.
These are Beth’s personal notes, due to this fact sources are not often stated.
