Probably the greatest example of God’s love for us is Jesus. We should make every effort to live like Jesus lived. Jesus lived a life of sacrifice for the sake of love. First of all, He came to earth to live as a human for 33 years. For the first 30 years of His life on earth Jesus lived the life of a poor laborer. Think of it, Jesus is God! He is all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing. He lived in Heaven. All of this he gave up to become a man, out of love for God the Father and for us. We should be willing to make sacrifices out of love for each other and out of love for God.
Once His ministry began Jesus, chose 12 men to be His companions. These 12 men were far from perfect but Jesus tolerated their imperfections and loved them anyway. We need to love people despite the fact that no one is perfect. Jesus cared for the poor, the weak, the lost, and the unlovely. We need to do the same. This is sacrificial living. Jesus loved The Father so much that He was willing to sacrifice His entire life. Jesus was not only willing to die for God but He was willing to live for God. Living for God is always more difficult than dying for God because living requires continued sacrifice. Living for God because we love Him should be our attitude as well.
Verses 3 & 4: After telling us how we should live, Paul tells us what we should not do in verses 3 and 4. Notice that Paul says there should not even be a hint of sexual immorality, impurity, or greed in our lives. Too often, as Christians, we are willing to allow just a little bit of the world’s ways into our life. As long as it doesn’t cause any visible sin, we figure a little of the world makes our life more interesting. For example, there are many Christians who would never think of doing something that is sexually immoral but they are willing to think about such things, or discuss them with their closest friends when nobody else can hear. Well, God knows our inner most thoughts and our hearts (Psalm 44:21 and 94:11). We can’t hide things from him.
Greed is a sin that is easy to hide in our heart and not let anyone see but verse 5 tells us that greed is idolatry. Greed means we do not trust in God to provide all that we need so we hoard material possessions to satisfy us and give us security. Whatever we trust in to bring us happiness and security is an idol. We should be careful not to allow even a hint of idolatry in our lives.
Impurity means that something foreign has entered a substance. Sin is foreign in the body of Christ. The world is foreign in heaven. Last week Dean taught about the need to be careful of what we talk about or say. You may remember that Paul had already told the Ephesians to “not let any unwholesome talk come out of [their] mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up…” (verse 4:29). Now Paul again cautions them to watch what they talk about. They, and we, should not talk about anything obscene – that is indecent or immoral. We should not make jokes that are funny because they mention sex or are disgusting. We should even stay away from discussing anything that is plain foolish. That means any topic that has no value other than a few minutes of entertainment. An example of foolish talk would be gossiping.
There are two reasons we should keep away from these things. The first is because talking is the first step to action. People become hardened to sin when they are continually exposed to it. Talking or joking about sin, or even worldly things, causes us to lose sensitivity to that thing and brings us one step closer to actually doing it. What we should be discussing is God and what He does for us. Verses 19& 20 tell us to speak to each other using psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and always give thanks to God. I believe Paul is completely serious here. He really expects us to do this. Praise, thanksgiving, and prayer should be on our lips and in our hearts – not worldly ideas. If we do not consider God and His things interesting topics of conversation then we need to examine our hearts. Something is very wrong with our attitude and/or priorities.
The second reason we should watch what we say is even more direct. Jesus tells us that we “will have to give an account for every careless word [we] have spoken. For by [our] words [we] will be acquitted and by [our] words [we] will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37) Apparently we will have to face God and answer for everything we have ever said. We'd best watch our mouth carefully.
Verses 5 –7: If we do not purify ourselves from the things we’ve just mentioned we will not have any place in the Kingdom of Christ. To be holy we need to have our hearts and minds focused on God. When they are focused on the world we are on the path to disobedience and in danger of losing our place in God’s future kingdom. Therefore, we need to avoid people who talk and act this way. Verse 7 says we should not be partners with them. If someone is on the path to destruction we should not go with him or her. We should lovingly but firmly show them their error. Then, if they refuse to repent, let them go. Why let yourself be dragged down with them?
Verses 8 –14 compare the differences between light and darkness. The world and its ways are darkness. God and His ways are light. We are told to live as children of light. Let’s look at some of the qualities of light that we should have as children.
1. Light produces fruit (verse 9): as children of God we should be righteous and full of goodness and truth. These qualities are what make our lives a witness to others. They set us apart from worldly people. These qualities show the world that we have a hope and power that comes from our Heavenly Father. Darkness also produces fruit, which is sin. We should have nothing to do with that fruit.
2. Light allows us to know how to please God (10): since it lets us see the difference between right and wrong. Have you ever tried to walk in the dark? It is possible but dangerous. You can easily run into something or follow a wrong path. However, when we have a light, we can make good choices about where to step or which direction to go. The same is true in pleasing God. If we have the light of God in us we can know what is pleasing to God and what is not. If we do not have the light then we must make our decisions based on the darkness of this world and we will usually fail to choose correctly.
3. Light exposes sin (13): Have you ever tried to clean a room or wash dishes in the dark? If you do, when you see the results in the light you will probably find that some dirt is still left. The reason is that you couldn’t see the dirt in the dark so you didn’t know to clean it. Our lives are the same. God’s light exposes sin in our life so that we can purify ourselves. Without this light we can’t see the sin so we don’t realize it is there.
4. Light drives away darkness (14): darkness can not survive where there is light. Even a small amount of light will make it possible for us to see in the darkest room. Obviously, the brighter the light, the better we can see. If we surrender completely to God and do nothing to hinder His light from filling us then the darkness of sin will not be able to survive in our life.
Verses 15 –18 remind us to be careful how we live. Each day, every hour is full of choices on how to live our life. As children of light we need to make wise choices. Proverbs 2:6 says that God gives wisdom. If we want to make wise choices, we should ask God for the wisdom necessary to do so.
Paul tells us in verse 16 that the days are evil. We are living in a world controlled by satan. There is a spiritual battle going on and people’s hearts are the battleground. As children of God we have a part to play in this battle. God gives us daily opportunities to win victories. We need to make wise choices so we can make the most of every opportunity. When we do not have, or do not follow, wisdom from God we will make foolish choices. This will cause us to live a defeated life with little or no joy and hope.
Verse 18 encourages us not to drink too much alcohol. Some people believe this means we should never drink alcohol but that isn’t what the verse says. Not drinking alcohol is fine. The Bible never tells us to drink alcohol so we are not sinning if we choose not to drink it but that is not the point of this verse. The main idea of this verse is that we should not be influenced or controlled by anything other than the Holy Spirit. When we are influenced by the Holy Spirit we are able to know God’s will and strengthened to follow it. When we are influenced by anything else we lose our ability and/or desire to know and obey God’s will. This will lead to sensuous living.
Verses 19 & 20: As mentioned earlier, these verses encourage us to focus on God. When we are focused on God it is easier for us to be led by the Holy Spirit.
Verse 21: And finally, submission is the key to holy living. Most Americans consider submission to be an ugly word. We are an independent people who value freedom. Yet the essence of Christian living is submission out of reverence to Christ. Notice who we are to submit to – each other. Of course we first and foremost must submit to God. But as a part of submitting to God we also need to submit to each other. Philippians 2:3 instructs us to humbly “consider others better (or more significant) than ourselves” and 1 Corinthians 10:24 says, “Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.” In other words, we should put the interests of others as more important than our own. When we live like this out of reverence for Christ then God is glorified.
Doing this is not easy. It takes faith. We must trust that God will care for us while we are caring for others. Our natural inclination is to care for ourselves first and others later. That is why God is glorified when we do it. Not only does it provide the world with a clear example of Christian love, but it also allows room for God to intervene directly into our lives and care for our needs –usually through others.
Next week, Dean will teach us how to practically submit to one another. The Bible gives clear directions on ways to submit to each other in various relationships. Personally, I am relieved that it is Dean giving the message. I'm always afraid to talk about submitting to my wife when she is in the same room. She tends to take me seriously and actually expects me to live out what I teach. She's right of course. I should live it out, but it isn't easy. Next week's lesson will be a challenge for all of us.