Connecting Love With Holiness

Introduction

Through January and February, we are returning to the book of Ephesians.

In the first half of the letter, Paul focused on being ONE With Christ / on who we are in Him.

In this part of the letter, the focus is being ONE With Each Other … with images of unity, being the body of Christ, submission to one another, and relationship.

As we saw in November / in chapter four, who we are in Christ is directly tied to who we are as a church family (universally and locally).

We continue to see this today.

Especially as we go to communion, our identity with one another is tied to who we are in Christ.

Our passage today is just two verses … verses one and two of chapter 5 … please turn there with me.

It is tied directly to the previous verses (with a translation like the NIV maintaining it all as one section) but also to the following verses (for sure to verse 20 but even to verse 21).

We see the principles of love and holiness; we see both our personal and corporate identities in Christ.

Read Ephesians 5.1-2.

1. “be imitators of God” - 1

A key theme that God has been showing me lately is that of discipleship.

Each of us is called to be discipled and to disciple.

We are called to disciples others in every aspect of life … in our church ministries, in our family life, evangelism is simply a first step of discipleship, even in the work place we have opportunity to train someone and to have influence upon their life.

To be a disciple is to be a “life student” / a student of life.

It is about gaining knowledge and understanding but even more so about putting it into practice.

There is an aspect of formal learning but in an everyday practicality.

It is a shared life with the one we are learning from.

Paul uses an interesting word here; the English word we have translated it into (in my mind) does not hold the weight that Paul’s original word did.

To “imitate” is to mimic / to copy / to pattern ourselves after; another word is “emulate”.

It is intended as more of a reflection than a copy; learning the principles to pattern oneself after more so than merely copying someone or something.

To “imitate” is to share practices but more so to share values and understandings.

When talking about likenesses between parents and children, we often say, “The apple does not fall far from the tree.”

Children are naturally like parents … but that does not mean we expect them to copy us.

It is not about being an exact replica of parents but about parents sharing / teaching values and giving guidance.

We are called here to be “imitators of God” ...

… because of who we are in Christ.

… because of who we are as God’s family (again, both universally and locally).

… because He is our Father and we are His children (loved deeply by Him).

This is no small task.

He is perfect in love and holiness.

He is perfect in His handling of truth, emotions, and relationship.

He is perfect in forgiveness.

* All that we are called to in these chapters, He is perfect.

It is a daunting call. Can we even reach it?

To be a disciple / an imitator of God, it does not mean a copy but a pursuit of identity.

He does not desire merely outward appearances.

It is a shared inner identity we are called to … something based on qualitative principles, not quantity … a merging of lives.

Much like marriage - in fact, this is why He created marriage - the merging of two lives into one, forming a shared identity.

It is more than just doing the same things in the same way.

It is connecting with one another in heart, mind, and body.

What Paul is picturing here is taking on the nature of God … not that we can become divine but that we come to share our hearts and minds / that our lives are integrated in the most personal of ways.

It is more than just copying God ...

… it is intertwining our lives and values.

Many approach God with wrong understanding.

We make great effort to do the right thing but fail to be right with God.

We work to have our lives appear right but fail to be inwardly right with Him.

People can do great ministry but still fall to moral failure.

We can do lots for others but still not be connected relationally.

Are we simply mimicking God or are we living as His “beloved children”?

Are we ONE With Christ?

Are we taking on His values?

Are we identified with Him?

Do our lives personally and corporately match His?

2. “walk in love” - 2a

Next we are called to “walk in love”.

Imitating God means we put love into action in our lives.

If we are to be like God, love is the primary quality to take on.

Before and after our verses, there is a call to holiness ...

… but love is central to true holiness / love is what determines true likeness to God.

We are all alike in some ways … particularly physically, having two arms, two legs, two eyes, etc. … but those qualities are a reality common to all.

The call to imitation draws us to much deeper and more personal attributes.

Going beyond action to character … being different from whom we were without Christ … truly becoming a new person.

We are new in Christ … we become like Him … our identities are intertwined.

To imitate God is not only to outwardly live holy lives but to talk on His loving and holy nature.

This is an action we must take.

We are called to “walk in love” … to choose love … to make love part of who we are.

offers a parallel passage … “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (, ESV)

“put on love”

Alongside holiness, humility, and forgiveness, “put on love”.

Take off the old nature.

Put on who you are now, letting our identity define our lives.

Jesus says in , “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” (, ESV)

While the Pharisees constantly debated which laws were more important than the others, Jesus summarized all the laws of holiness into these two - love God and love others; love summarizes all acts of holiness.

If we love God and others, our words and actions will be defined by holiness; if we actively work to truly love others (in emotion as well as action), we will be “imitating God.

Do we “walk in love”?

Are we “putting on love”?

Is it a mere principle we talk about or an action that actually defines us?

Love is more a piece of identity than a duty.

We learn love by receiving it.

Do we know personally the love of God? If we do, we will reciprocate it.

It is as we know the love of God that we love both Him and others in return.

3. “as Christ loved us” - 2b

To imitate God, we walk in love, in the love demonstrated most clearly by Christ Himself.

The work of Christ remains central to who we are and the salvation we have received.

Our identity is in Christ.

It is through Him we become a child of God.

A number of verses give us this basis.

(that formed the basis of our Advent series) … “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” (, ESV)

says … “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” (, ESV)

And, a key verse, … “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (, ESV)

We are to walk in the love of Christ.

Many of us are struggling to know the love of God.

We expect to feel it more than to know it … which not always the case.

We expect life to be easier but the battles can seem continuous … however the battles never diminish His love for us.

We carry guilt instead of forgiveness, never feeling good enough for God but failing to know how love and holiness intersect with one another.

We are loved by God not because of what we do but because of who we are as His creation and also as His child.

We are more “in flight” than “arrived” … accepting God’s love as on-going and consistent is more of a pursuit than a place we have arrived at.

How can we deepen our acceptance of God’s love?

Ask God to show you … but receive however it is He shows it.

Allow yourself to see His love in the scriptures and in your circumstances.

Work to see yourself through the eyes of God.

Be in a continual pursuit, relying primarily on the words and truth of scripture.

The sacrifice Christ made was pleasing to the Lord.

Each month on the first Sunday (today) we celebrate communion.

To remember and celebrate His sacrifice in our place.

To recognize the life He gave up to save ours.

To declare our commitment to His love and holiness / to who we are in Him.

We end our service today with this … with communion.

It is a ceremony we participate in.

If you are new, it may not make sense, but we welcome you to observe and ask any questions you have after the service.

If you have put your faith in Christ and your faith is personal and real, we invite you to participate with us.

Conclusion

The key here is that love and holiness connect ...

… that our knowing of God and serving God connect ...

… that we love because we are loved, that we pursue holiness because we are justified in Christ.

Let’s end in … “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (, ESV)

In this we come to the Communion table.

Bring your love and holiness here to God.

Submit yourself to the greatest act of love ever!