Ephesians 5:1-21

Ephesians 5:1–6 ESV

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Be an imitator of God because you are a child of God. If you are in this room or watching the video and you’re not a child of God, make that decision today. If you are a Christian, but have not yet decided to take Jesus seriously, make that decision today. Our mandate in chapter 5 is to imitate God. Our grace-filled position and grace-powered practices are the launching pad to be an imitator of God.

Jot down these two verses.

1 John 2:6 - “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

2 Peter 1:3 - “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,”

When my best is placed on one side of the scale and God’s best is placed on the other side of the scale, and I’m trying to walk in the same way Jesus walked, my best should resemble God’s best. We are copying, to the best of our ability, God’s character and attributes.

If your best and my best were perfect, there would be no need to copy God’s character and attributes.

Application: Church, if people struggle to see Jesus in you, are you certain that Jesus is in you?

Three “walk in…” statements

Walk in the love of Jesus Christ

Look at verse 2. Walk in the love of Christ by making decisions against yourself. Let’s call this self-giving. Verse 2 tells us that Christ’s self-giving love is a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Jot down Genesis 8:20-21. Noah and his family spent over a year on the ark before God brought them out. Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings. Death had been redeemed. God’s promises remained faithful. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma of the offering and affirmed his relationship with Noah. I suggest the pleasing aroma was the posture of Noah’s heart and will, not an afternoon BBQ.

Walk in the love of Christ by making decisions against yourself.

Look at verse 3. Walk in the love of Christ by abstaining from self-gratifying sins. Verse 3 mentions sins that will destroy a believer, regardless of age. These are not the only sins that will destroy a believer, but they are sins that do not come close to resemble God’s best, God’s character or God’s attributes. They are completely inappropriate for the believers life. They are absolutely inappropriate to justify, to condone, or to ignore in another believer’s life. They are completely inappropriate to discuss foolishly or maliciously.

Sexual immorality (any sexual activity outside the one-man-one-woman bond of marriage), impurity (mishandling God’s moral compass), and covetousness (greed that hopes for self-gratification). Jot down 1 John 2:16–17 - “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Paul is calling out the self-gratifying sins that ought not be part of our life. At the root of self-gratification is creature-worship that replaces creator-worship.

Loved ones, foolishness and thankfulness do not co-exist.

Walk in the love of Christ by making decisions against yourself.

Walk in the love of Christ by abstaining from self-gratifying sins.

Look at verse 5. Walk in the love of Christ because we have an inheritance in Christ. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

The master of our life delivers our inheritance. Energy drink binging…

Walk in the light of Jesus Christ

Ephesians 5:7–14 ESV

7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Look at verses 7-8 – Walk in the light of Jesus so we continue becoming what we already are. Our grace-filled position calls us into live a grace-powered life. This is the sanctification process of our life. Do not become partners with empty words of deception. Do not become partners with the sons of disobedience. Do not become partners with a person walking in darkness. That is not who we are as an imitator of God.

Verses 9-10 – Walk in the light of Jesus so we can discern and practice what is pleasing to the Lord.

Verse 11 – Walk in the light of Jesus so the darkness in my life will be exposed.

If we are interested in walking with Jesus, we should also be interested in our sin being exposed appropriately and in a biblical manner.

How does that work? You notice sin is destroying a brother or sister in Christ and you want to confront them and see them restored. Step one is doing the hard work of confronting your own sin and restoring your own heart. Step two is lovingly approach the individual with more grace than you knew you had or they knew they needed. Step three is according to God’s purposes for God’s glory.

Paul is not giving us permission to judge the godless lives of godless people. Paul wrote this letter to the church. Verse 7 indicates there is stuff going on in the congregation and he is telling the church they had a biblical responsibility to expose sin within the church. We should listen to Paul told the Ephesian church, while we expect people who don’t know Jesus to act like they don’t know Jesus.

As we walk in the light of Jesus, walk in a manner that proclaims what we are for louder and more frequently than what we are against ~ without compromising Scripture or enforcing legalism.

Walk in the wisdom of Jesus Christ

Ephesians 5:15–21 ESV

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Diligent, prayerful discernment anticipates biblical clarity

Verses 15-16 – Walk in the wisdom of Christ because there is too much at stake to waste time. Satan doesn’t take a break from his mission when we take a break from our mission. The world is evil. Humans are sinful. Jesus is the cure.

Verse 17 – Walk in the wisdom of Christ so we can discern God’s will and obediently follow it according to his purposes and for his glory!

Ephesians 3:20-21

Verses 18-20 – Walk in the wisdom of Christ because reckless behavior is foolish and will not facilitate God’s will.

I have known many Christians that read the first half of verse 18 and ignore the rest of the sentence. Let’s talk about the entire sentence.

I can make a strong argument that alcohol is never associated with biblical wisdom. I can make argument that alcohol is associated with foolishness and reckless behavior. I can make a strong argument that believers are to live above reproach and have a good reputation with unbelievers. I can make a strong argument that we are avoid all appearances of evil. Romans 1, Colossians 3, and Ephesians 4 provide lists of evil. The key word in verse 18 is debauchery, which means reckless behavior. The reality is that patterns of reckless behavior that fill our lives will control us. Paul also says that being filled with the Holy Spirit will control us. What fills and controls us should prompt a posture of worship in our life. “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.”

Foolishness and thankfulness do not co-exist. Foolishness and wisdom cannot co-exist. We maintain the unity of the Spirit or we maintain our unity with sin.

Reckless behavior is foolish and is not interested in God’s will for your life.

Verse 21 is going to lead us into the next two weeks. Walk in the wisdom of Christ so the “one another’s” of the Bible are prioritized more than our own preferences or agendas.

Present the path to salvation concisely and clearly!!!

Today can be your day to know Jesus personally.