Ephesians 5.17-The Reason for the Prohibition and Command in Ephesians 5.17
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday June 18, 2026
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 5:17-The Reason for the Prohibition and Command in Ephesians 5:17
Lesson # 356
Ephesians 5:15 Therefore, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of paying careful attention to the manner in which each and every one of you make it your habit of conducting your lives. Each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to not make it your habit of conducting your lives in an unwise manner. On the contrary, each and every one of you must continue to make it your habit of conducting your lives in a wise manner 16 by continuing to make it your habit of taking full advantage of your opportunity for your own benefit because these days are characterized by evil. 17 For this reason, each and every one of must continue to make it your habit of not conducting your lives as foolish individuals. On the contrary, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of conducting your lives as wise individuals by comprehending for the purpose of personal application what constitutes the Lord’s will (for the manner in which each one of you as a corporate unit are to continue making it your habit of conducting your life). (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 5:17 is composed of the following:
(1) prepositional phrase Dia touto (Διὰ τοῦτο), “for this reason” (Lecturer’s translation)
(2) prohibition mē ginesthe aphrones (μὴ γίνεσθε ἄφρονες), “each and every one of must continue to make it your habit of not conducting your lives as foolish individuals” (Lecturer’s translation).
(3) elliptical strong adversative command alla (ἀλλὰ), “On the contrary, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of conducting your lives as wise individuals” (Lecturer’s translation).
(4) participle clause sunientes ti to thelēma tou kyriou (συνιέντες τί τὸ θέλημα τοῦ κυρίου), “by comprehending for the purpose of personal application what constitutes the Lord’s will (for the manner in which each one of you as a corporate unit are to continue making it your habit of conducting your life). (Lecturer’s translation).
The referent of the prepositional phrase Dia touto (Διὰ τοῦτο) presents the basis for the prohibition and the elliptical command here in Ephesians 5:17.
It indicates that the recipients of this letter must continue to make it their habit of not conducting their lives as foolish individuals but rather as wise individuals “because” the period of time in which they were living in, is characterized by evil.
The causal clause at the end of Ephesians 5:16 modified the participial clause, which preceded it, and not the command, which began Ephesians 5:15.
It is also modifying the elliptical prohibition and command, which followed it in Ephesians 5:17.
Therefore, there is no redundancy with this interpretation.
Larkin asserts that διὰ τοῦτο is “introducing the conclusion from the preceding clause (5:16b), rather than from 5:15–16 as a whole (contra Eadie, 394), since the negative-positive command content (5:17) simply re-expresses 5:15b and neither 5:15a or 5:16a is an appropriate basis for drawing such a conclusion (Best, 505–6).”
So therefore, the causal clause, which completes Ephesians 5:16, and asserts that the church age believer is living during a period of human history, which is characterized by evil, is the reason the believer must continue to make it their habit of taking full advantage of the opportunity of evangelizing the non-Christian with their godly conduct.
It is also the reason why they must continue to make it their habit of conducting their lives as wise individuals and not as foolish individuals.
Therefore, this would indicate that the believer taking full advantage of the opportunity of evangelizing the non-Christian with their godly conduct and conducting their lives as wise individuals parallel each other and define each other.
The reader must remember that Paul taught in Ephesians 2:1-3 that all of unregenerate humanity is enslaved not only to their indwelling Adamic sin nature but also to Satan and his cosmic world system.
Thus, the contents of these verses explain why the period of time in which the Christian is living is characterized by evil.
Ephesians 2:1 Now, correspondingly, even though, each and every one of you as a corporate unit were spiritually dead ones because of your transgressions, in other words, because of your sins. 2 Each and every one of you formerly lived by means of these in agreement with the standard of the unregenerate people of this age, which is the production of the cosmic world system, in agreement with the standard of the sovereign ruler, namely the sovereign governmental authority ruling over the evil spirits residing in the earth’s atmosphere. Specifically the spirit who is presently working in the lives of those members of the human race who are characterized by disobedience. 3 Among whom, each and every one of us also formerly for our own selfish benefit conducted our lives by means of those lusts, which are produced by our flesh. Specifically, by indulging those inclinations which are produced by our flesh, in other words, those impulses, which are the product of our flesh. Consequently, each and every one of us caused ourselves to be children who are objects of wrath because of our natural condition from physical birth. Just as the rest correspondingly caused themselves to be children who are objects of wrath because of their natural condition from physical birth. (Lecturer’s translation)
