Ephesians 5:15-21 Study
Notes
Transcript
Ephesians Recap
Ephesians Recap
We have not been in Ephesians for several weeks. And so, it is necessary that we review what we have talked about so far:
Chapter 1:
Paul points out the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ:
Redemption through His blood
Inheritance into eternal life
Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
He then prays for the Ephesian church, finishing with an explanation of God’s power through Jesus and His Work on Earth.
Chapter 2:
Chapter two is focused on the salvation of the believers he is writing to.
The first half, Paul walks through their salvation with a focus on their spiritual resurrection.
The second half. Paul walks through their salvation with a focus on Gentiles changing from strangers to citizens of Heaven.
Chapter 3:
Most of chapter three is a needed tangent clarifying some doctrine.
First he talks about God’s revelation of wisdom in the salvation of Gentiles
Then, Paul talks about his ministry purpose in reaching Gentiles
Finally, he concludes the doctrine half of this letter by praying, again, that they know the love of God the Father and the love of Christ the Son.
Chapter 4:
Transitioning into the application half of the letter, Paul implores them to walk worthy of the calling [they] have received…. And then he fleshes out specific ways they can walk worthy of their calling to know Christ.
The emphasis in this chapter is oneness—walking worthy of the Gospel among one another believers. He gives point after point on how they believers of the church need to be treating one another.
Chapter 5:
Continuing the heavy emphasis on unity and application, Paul introduces another theme to prove his point: light and darkness.
Those who do not know Christ walk in the darkness, not knowing all that they do.
Those who do know Christ, then, must not walk, like the Gentiles who don’t know God, in the darkness.
Now in the next portion of chapter 5, Paul will help us understand how to be consistent in our walk with Christ, and what it looks like to be filled with the Spirit.
Verses 15-16
Verses 15-16
Once again, Paul just finished differentiating what it is like to walk in the darkness versus the light. Now he goes back to the analogy of walking and says:
Christian Standard Bible Chapter 5
15 Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—
This seems like a redundant command after everything he has said, but it is not redundant. If there are wise ways to walk and unwise ways, walk as the wise one.
Wisdom is the application of knowledge. You may know many things, but if you don’t apply them, you are a fool. You can know that you shouldn’t be alone with your girlfriend, but you are wise to actually make sure you are not. You can know that alcohol is destructive, but you are wise to refrain from drinking it. Don’t miss this.
Paul implores us to walk as wise people. Ultimately, his desire is for us to walk in a manner that leads us to know and love Christ more deeply, rather than further away from Him. Apply what you know; don’t just hear the Word, but do it.
making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
Here is a part of walking in wisdom: making most of the time you have. Why? Because these days are evil.
Does this mean that Paul’s days were evil but ours are good? Not at all. Rather, it seems that the days have only gotten more and more evil. It is not true that with each generation that passes, less people are following Christ. Truthfully, when it was standard for everyone to go to church, many of those people didn’t know God, truly. They were bound to tradition.
Instead, everyday since the Fall has been evil. Yes we are spiraling, but this spiral started with Adam and Eve. I say all this to remind you: our days are truly evil as well. No we aren’t being killed and imprisoned for a faith, but our culture has a complete lack of regard for their Creator. Even the talk of the Bible that is surging online is from a philosophical standpoint, and not a genuine desire to know God.
Yes, these days are evil, and so we must be mindful of how we are walking, else we end up like the rest of the world.
Verses 17-18
Verses 17-18
So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:
Continuing on with the thought about wisdom and foolishness, Paul implies that foolishness is not knowing what the Lord’s Will is.
When hearing this, many of us say “Well I don’t know the future! Does that make me a fool?” That isn’t what he is saying. There are aspects of God’s Will that apply to each and every believer. These things we must know and, not just know but, do. For example:
It is God’s desired will that each of us strives to know Him deeply and enjoy Him forever. You don’t have to be a prophet to know this; you just have to read God’s Word.
In this case, Paul goes on to say that God’s Will is not getting drunk and living recklessly, but being filled by the Holy Spirit.
It is not God’s Will that we live with our minds dulled and in a fog of drunkeness, whether that be alcohol or drugs or any other thing! Over and over throughout Scripture, we are commanded to live with sober minds. How can we be the most sober? Having the Holy Spirit in us.
Elsewhere Paul says we must walk in step with the Spirit. It is one thing to have the Spirit of God in us, but it is another to walk in step with Him.
So what does it look like to walk in step with the Spirit within the church? That leads us to the next set of verses:
Verses 19-21
Verses 19-21
speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.
1. We are to address/speak to one another in psalms hymns and spiritual songs
This may also seem strange to us, but this points to a universal reality that some of us deny because we don’t want to face the consequences of it: music has meaning and powerful. People describe concerts as “spiritual” even. There is something about music that connects us to one another and certain ideologies intimately.
What is a consequence of this that we fear? The music we listen to maybe connecting us, intimately, with people or ideologies that are not spiritually healthy for us. Think about this: if you are listening to music that is filled with cussing and dialogue on sinful things, you are connecting with those words and acts and will, therefore, desire to partake in them as well or not see them as so bad. Music can diminish our view of the severity of sin. We must be careful.
Back to the passage though, how should we treat music? What kind of music should we be sharing? He says to speak to one another, or address one another, or share with one another, psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Some people think these are just three synonyms that really just mean christian music. I like to break them down, though into categories of christian music.
Psalms: These are songs from Scripture, namely from the book of Psalms. There are other songs in Scripture that I would include in this category, though they are not, by name, psalms. The content of these psalms can be very worshipful, or even reflective. The point is, though, that they are divinely inspired.
Hymns: These are songs that directly worship our God. Praising God and who He is can be done in many direct and indirect ways. There are some songs whose chorus state “Praise His Name…” thus directly worshiping God. There are other songs that tell the story of the Gospel, never directly praising God, but doing so indirectly in the positioning of the song. There are some songs that are celebrating our salvation in Christ without directly praising God, but perhaps indirectly through positioning. This is when the categories get blurred. I am confident the songs which directly praise God are hymns, but the rest can swing either way.
Spiritual Songs: These are songs about the Christian walk or about God that don’t directly praise Him, but very indirectly do so. Many Christian artists today make, namely, spiritual songs.
There is a discussion to be had about which of these categories should be included in worship or how they should all included, but I won’t dwell on that. Let’s look at what Paul says we should do with these: speaking to one another in [them].
A great way to practice unity and walk with wisdom and worthy of our calling to know Christ is to share edifying music with one another. Paul goes even further:
singing and making music with your heart to the Lord,
We should be singing these songs together. You see the Apostles doing this when they are imprisoned in the book of Acts:
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
This must be us as well, not just when we are in the trenches of ministry, but when we are at the peaks as well! Singing with one another. Sharing music with one another. Don’t let this be abnormal to you. Change the way you live and thing to truly appreciate the sharing and singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs together.
This means, too, that worship time should be cherished as believers, even when the team may be struggling. It isn’t about a perfect performance; it is about fellowship and worship.
2. We are to give thanks to God
Rather than being group complainers, we really need to be groups that give thanks always. Stop focusing so much on the negative things, but rejoice over the good! This can’t just be done as individuals, or expected from others, this takes every individual doing it!
3. We are to submit to one another
Here is the key to unity: humility and submission. We often mess up and sin against one another. We often disrespect those in authority over us. We, as believers, should be very far from doing these things. Rather than letting our pride run us, we should be humble and submissive in all things.
You don’t have to be the top dog. Ultimately, none of us are. That is why we submit to one another in the fear of Christ.
