July 23, 2001
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August 12 Lesson
Lives with and without Christ are ones of contrast
___Ephesians 4:17-5:14
___4:17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. ...
___25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
___29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ...
___5:8For 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."
___By Terry Cosby
___You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal. He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn't reserve a plot for weeds.
___Dag Hammarskjold, "Markings"
___Countering the culture
___Someone once remarked that Christians would do well to go back and read the parts of their Bibles they hadn't underlined. Probably few Bibles have many Scriptures underlined from this section of Ephesians. The ending passages of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5 enlarge on the individual responses to Christ's call on the church for unity and maturity.
___A word of caution is needed here. Were these verses taken by themselves, a distorted view of the Christian life could arise. No less than 39 "negatives" are used to point out some of the "don'ts" of the Christian life. There are many "must nots" and "do nots" in these two chapters. To be sure, there are many positive admonitions also, but the strength of the verbs and the quick, rapid-fire manner in which Paul fires off the many wrongs Christians are to avoid is striking.
___However, when taken in context with the cultural situation, this chapter is a most welcome lesson. The cultural context and the importance of Paul's previous teaching in the first four and one-half chapters adds insight to the significance of these verses.
___It is theoretically possible that some individual could read the lists of dos and don'ts in 4:17-5:14 and by sheer Pharisaical will power determine to behave in a morally upright fashion. It is not Paul's intent to create a new order of "Christian Pharisees." To only keep rules and regulations misses the beauty, glory, freedom, sacrifice, forgiveness, mystery and intimacy of a love relationship with Jesus coming by grace through faith that is set forth in the first chapters.
___Such legalistic living also has shown to have no effect on humanity's real problem of sin, since even the best rule-keepers fall short of the glory of God.
___So why these chapters? One reason is that good preachers emphasize truths by various forms of repetition. Paul is a good preacher.
___Think also about the moral climate in Ephesus. New believers were coming out of polytheistic paganism. Their religious system had hundreds of gods with thousands of rules and rituals. Promiscuity was a way of life in many Roman-held provinces. Pleasure and profit were the driving forces (see Acts 19) of the culture. Some of the pagan "worship" ceremonies actually included a role for prostitutes. In this mix also were some Christians coming from Judaism with its rules and rituals.
___Imagine having a church with its members having many backgrounds with dozens of ideas of what constitutes right and wrong. Imagine trying to mature and bring unity to such a group. Imagine trying to keep the proper focus of the church in the midst of such a loose and temptation-filled culture. (Actually, it doesn't require much imagination does it?)
___Paul knows Pharisaical morality doesn't lead to Christ-like maturity and unity in the faith by itself, but immorality will hinder their growth in Christ and quench the powerful witness the church should have. The church should behave differently because it is different.
___Having urged the church to pursue unity and maturity, Paul encourages them to pursue purity as well. There is, of course, no way Paul could list every sin to be avoided but the ones listed and the areas touched upon will paint a clear picture for the Christian in any era as to what kind of lifestyle honors the Savior.
___The light and darkness
___The great missionary-teacher now begins to show to his students in very concrete terms the stark contrast between the light in the life of a believer and the darkness of the faithless world. Scripture presents itself for study in many legitimate ways, not the least is dividing the word along similar ideas and concepts and linking the thoughts together.
___In doing this there is seen at least four sets of contrasting ideals in 4:17 to 5:14.
___The contrasts of the minds
___The Christian's mindset and focus are different since his saving encounter with Jesus, Paul highlights in 4:17-18. The differences are emphasized by Paul's insistence in the Lord that believers link right thinking to right living. The apostle calls the Gentiles or 'unbelievers' thinking futile. The word described the worship of idols and thus was empty or foolish. This chosen futility begins a downward spiral away from God and godly living.
___Three phrases show this unenviable direction. Darkened understanding speaks to the inability to comprehend the wisdom of God. Futile thinking also is characterized by separation from God and ignorance of that fact caused by a calloused or petrified heart. Even worse, because of the hardness of their hearts, their unbelieving mind has lost the ability to discern right from wrong and can't respond to moral values. With those roadblocks out of the way, self-gratification and indulgence become a way of life that can know no contentment. Yet men and women seek continually for what they desperately need in areas that simply can never meet that need.
___The Christian's mind is growing in an opposite direction. Verses 20-24 speak to the believer's state of mind. He knows and has heard Christ personally. He has been taught him (no preposition) in accordance with truth. The old self is discarded like a raggedy set of clothes which was getting worse (v. 22). Converts in Paul's day often donned a new robe for baptism. The new self is being renewed, becoming more like God in true righteousness and holiness. The verbs used in verses 23-24 show this contrast. The verb for "put off" is an action totally completed in the past. The verb "to put on" is in a tense that speaks of an ongoing process. Completely done with the old way of life without Christ, the believer puts on the new life in Christ that continually renews and refreshes the mind of the believer.
___The contrasted body "language"
___With the mind without Christ spiraling downward would the body be far behind? Several verses show the answer. The words and phrases used in verse 19 are most often used in the New Testament in describing sexual sins. Sensuality, indulgence, impurity and lust can have other meanings (most of them bad), but when taken with 5:3 their meaning is clear. Paul may have chosen words that could include other problem areas, but misuse of sex is certainly one of the ideas. Unfortunately, it is not the only way lives headed away from God misuse their bodies.
___Several verses in the lesson focus on the tongue. The tongue can be used to speak lies (v. 25). It can abuse (slander, v. 31). It can be used to spew rage (quick) and anger (slower) (vs. 29, 31). It can be used for coarse joking, foolish talk or obscenities (5:4). James' epistle describes the tongue as powerful like a ship's rudder or a raging fire.
___Paul knows how devastating or encouraging words can be. These teachings are not admonitions against laughter and having a good time. "Falsehood" spoken against in these verses destroys trust and thus relationships. "Coarse joking" demeans God's good gift of sex. Obscenity seeks power over people or circumstances where God's power to bless should be invoked. Words can espouse stupid chatter (foolish talk) which in the Greek means "talk shows."
___There are two tests to check the light or darkness of language: The praise and thanksgiving tests. Is the language used and the subject matter discussed something you could take to God and praise him? Does the language build up the individual or the body of Christ? Those belonging to the body of Christ have contrasting uses of their bodies. The tongue is to bless and build (v. 29). The Christian's hands are to serve and not steal (v. 28). The understanding of sex as a gift from God in the context of marriage produces true intimacy in love. The indulgence of lust can never experience that God-given intimacy.
___The contrasts of the hearts
___Notice also the words Paul uses that point out a difference in the Christian's heart and that of the self-serving. Children of the light are about truth, righteousness and holiness (4:21, 24). Paul encourages the believer to be kind and compassionate--compassionate is a rarely used word describing good intestinal function. The Greeks located the seat of emotions in the intestines--which means to be moved deeply within and take the appropriate action. The good apostle speaks of the Christian as imitating God like a child would its parents (5:1). He encourages Christians to live a life of love as signified by a "fragrance offering," which was the good-smelling grain offering, and a "sacrifice" which was the slain animal offering given for peace (5:1-2).
___The motivating example is found in Christ "who loved us and gave himself up for us" in the same manner. Instead of the six negative attitudes--bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and malice--the disciple will speak the truth in love, be kind and compassionate, be forgiving and live in the light.
___The ones walking in the light deal with anger in a timely fashion, not letting it fester and grow into bitterness. The children of light have a lifestyle that doesn't grieve or cause sadness in the Holy Spirit. The "light-life" produces its fruit--goodness, righteousness and truth. This heart lives to please the Lord (5:10).
___The contrasts of the destinies
___There is one more contrast implied in these verses. It is the saddest and most sickening. There are two destinies given. One is separation from God (4:18). This one has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ (5:5) By contrast, the believer enjoys eternal fellowship with God in his kingdom forever. One day the contrasts will be seen by all. Paul uses words from a baptismal hymn to call those sleeping through life to let Christ's light shine on them like the light of a new day. In turn, it should shine through them.
For thought and discussion
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