THROUGH THE STUDY EPHESIANS 5-6

In the Bible, "the way we walk" means more than how we move our feet. It refers to how we live our lives! It’s more about our lifestyle than it is our gait. Beginning in Chapter 4, Paul tells us how to move through life as believers in . And in chapter 5, the theme continues… walk in love, walk in the light, walk in wisdom, and walk in submission to one another...

Chapter 5 begins, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” Kids are prone to mimic their heroes. When I was a child, my hero was my dad. I'd sit in the bathroom and watch dad brush his teeth. Dad wore dentures, so he'd pull out his plate and scrub them with his toothbrush. Mom says she’d walk in on me, and I’d be brushing my imaginary dentures - mimicking dad... God wants us to mimic Him - we should walk as Jesus walked. And here's how, verse 2, “walk in love...”

My psychology book in college defined the word "love" as "an agitated state of psychological arousal." Is that real love? Imagine, gazing into your honey's eyes, and whispering, "Baby, you agitate my psyche!” I believe love is more than a burning brain wave. It’s more than a feeling or emotion. For the true definition of love, you have to look to its author. On the cross, Jesus showed us the true meaning of love!

!1 Paul states in verse 2, “And walk in love, as also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling aroma.” According to Jesus’ example, genuine love consists of giving, offering, and sacrificing - it’s a commitment. Amy Carmichael wrote, "You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving." Jesus gave up His rights, His security, His comfort. He sacrificed it all to save us. Sacrifice is now the plumb-line of real love.

Verse 3, “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints...” Notice, Paul clumps three evils together... “fornication, uncleanness, covetousness.” Love is all about giving - while lust is all about getting. Two stray dogs in an alley like each other enough to have sex - but that's not love. True love willingly waits! It never dishonors or defiles the person it loves. Love lays down what I want and lives for God's best! A Christian will preserve the purity of their future spouse. And Christians are called to love one another.

It reminds me of the two lovers. The woman asked the man, "Do you love me?" The man replied, "Yes, dear." She asked again, "Would you die for me?" To which he replied, "Sorry, mine is an undying devotion." And here’s the moral of the story... love that won’t die to self-centeredness and selfishness is not real love.

Paul continues describing what love avoids, “neither

!2 filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” You can tell a lot about a person by what makes them laugh. Neither crude humor, or borderline banter, or sexual innuendo should come from a Christian. Our vocal cords should vibrate with thanksgiving to God.

Verse 5, “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Here are three folks who won’t go to heaven… none of them are capable of restraint. A fornicator’s downfall is lust, the unclean’s is independence, the and covetous’ is greed. All three people are out of control. Life is about their libido, their will, and their wallet. They lack morals. But it’s not just a moral problem, it’s also spiritual. Notice, this person is called “an idolater.” Most of today’s Americans would never bow before a statue - but they worship sex, and independence, and money. When you value something supremely - and pursue it at all costs - it’s the equivalent of an idol.

It reminds me of the young businessman who flipped his car over the guardrail and went down a steep embankment. The twisted metal severed off his arm. When the hero units finally reached him, the guy just kept whining, "Oh, my BMW. Oh, my BMW." The paramedics were appalled that this guy was so materialistic all he could think about was his car. One of the EMTs scolded him, "Buddy, you've got more to

!3 worry about than a car. Your arm was chopped off." The man suddenly gets this panicked look on his face and starts crying, "Oh, my Rolex. Oh, my Rolex."

Verse 6, “Let no one deceive you with empty words (or false assurances), for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” God is no fool. You can say you worship God but in reality worship sex, or self, or stuff. It’s not what you say that matters to God, it’s the pursuit of your heart. Verse 7 warns those of us who are Christians not to follow idols. “Therefore do not be partakers with them.”

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Notice, according to Paul we didn’t just walk in darkness, we were darkness. And now that we’re in Christ we don't just walk in light, we are light! Changes occur deep inside a Christian. We don’t just change environments - we become a new person. The light of God now shines from us. A Christian is a spiritual fire-fly. He or she lights up the dark world.

Paul encourages us to “walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” Note the three components - the three divine rays that make up the light of God within us - goodness to others, right-ness before God, and truth in all things!

Verse 11, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works

!4 of darkness, but rather expose them.” In the winter, northern cities use salt to clear the roads of ice and snow. Thus, a mixture of exhaust, and salt, and snow gets plastered onto the sides of the cars. All the cars end up looking a murky-gray. But on the first nearly spring day some fellow will wash his car and restore it to its original color. When everyone else on the block sees the one clean car, they realize how dirty their cars have become. And as Christians, we are called to be the one clean car! Without condemning anyone or being judgmental, we expose the darkness by shining God's light.

“For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.” Some sins are so shameful they shouldn’t even be mentioned. Nothing is gained by talking about them. It’s best left in silence. We drive out the darkness not by studying it, or discussing it, or fighting it - but by shining the light! “But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.” What the world needs is for us to walk in God’s light.

“Therefore He says (he being Isaiah): "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." We need to be wide awake to God’s concerns. A battle rages around us. It’s obvious that the world is asleep in the dark, but what’s more tragic is that the Church is asleep in the light. We need to wake up!

!5 “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise...” "Circumspectly" means "to walk gingerly, to be careful where you plant your feet." I learned to walk “circumspectly” when my kids were toddlers… My boys played with Legos, and invariably not all of the legos would get picked up. Usually, the Legos were found in the middle of the night by me as I stumbled through the house. I’d step on a Lego and ouch, it hurt! I learned to walk “circumspectly” or “carefully.” And this is how we should live in a dark world. Satan is notorious for throwing banana peels on the sidewalk. One false move can cause years of pain and agony. Jim Bakker was a TV preacher in the 1970s before a sordid affair knocked him out of the limeli