Ephesians 5:1-10

Be Imitators of God

Christians are to be different from the world. When they are called into salvation they are made a new creature that has the ability to imitate God.

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

When we come to know Jesus Christ as our savior, we put to death our old selves and allow the Holy Spirit to form us into Christ-likeness. Change is a necessity of salvation. A person that claims to be a christian but is no different from unbelievers in they way they think, speak, and behave is suspect.

Paul instructs us to be imitators of God. We must know what God is like in order to imitate Him. There are characteristics of God that we can imitate and others we cannot. The ones we cannot are :Sovereignty, Omniscience, Omnipresence, sinless. Characteristics of God that we can imitate are: Love, Patience, kindness, forgiveness, righteousness ect...

Walk in love as Christ also loved you!

Paul instructs us to walk in love. What does this exactly maen? Jesus gives us a definition in .

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails

8 Love never fails

Jesus also says:

31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

How would you want people to treat you? This is the way you love other people.

Give your life as a sacrifice

Jesus ultimately gave his life until death on a cross. He did not want to go, but endured to be a sacrifice to God and an atonement for us. When the priest would offer a sacrifice the smell would be pleasing as it would be on the fire. Have you ever smelt your neighbor grilling? It smells delicious and makes you hungry. Our lives should be a sweet aroma that makes people hunger for Christ.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

We are to allow the Holy Spirit work in our lives to make us Christ-like. We are working against the Holy Spirit when we allow worldly sources conform our mind. We are to fill our hearts with the things of God.

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

This is the filter we must use for the things that control our mind.

Although, we may never be required to give our physical lives for another person, we are called to live our lives for others and not for selfish reasons. This requires sacrifice and proper prioritization.

Immorality, Impurity, Or Greed Should Not Be Named Among You

The afore mentioned sins should not be a part of a Christians walk.

sexual immorality n. — sexual acts that are morally objectionable; especially related to prostitution.

gnosticism believed that the body was evil and that the spirit was good. Because the body was evil you could do anything you wanted because it didn’t affect you spirit. This was demonstrated by the temple prostitutes that used their profession to support the temples of foreign gods. They permitted every form of licentiousness because the body was going to be done away with. In a way that is the way our society is becoming. Forms of licentiousness that were not considered normal, have become the norm.

We know that sins of the flesh originate in the spirit. For example: The reason one murders is because they have hate in their Spirit, The reason one have an affair is because they have lust in their heart, The reason one cheats on taxes is because they have greed in their heart.

immorality ⇔ filth n. — immorality understood especially as dirty and impure; especially used of sexual sins.

Violations of God’s law are things of impurity.

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [a]slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods [b]before Me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself [c]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lordwill not [d]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lordyour God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who [e]stays with you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” ex. 20:2-17

greediness n. — the excessive and immoderate desire of acquiring more and more (wealth).

When you are not satisfied with what you have and desire more, you enter into the realm of greed.

11 Not that I speak [g]from want, for I have learned to be [h]content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things [i]through Him who strengthens me.

Gratitude is the key to avoiding greediness.

Don’t make light of sin

When we make sin a thing of humor it becomes more acceptable and less mortifying. Most TV shows have a flamboyant homosexual in their program that makes people laugh. This is how people came to accept homosexuality. They no longer see it as a disgrace, but instead a form of entertainment. The same thing holds true for dirty jokes. They often make light of sinful behavior.

Don Not Be Deceived!

It is so easy to get wrapped up in worldly matters and begin to be conformed to the image of the world. We are constantly being bombarded. The media today no longer reports stories, but attempts to transform our minds to their viewpoints. Many people believe what they read in the media and form their opinions based on the lies that they have read.

Paul says don’t be partakers. Don’t get drawn into the drama of the world, but instead get saturated in the Word!

People that choose to follow the world and not Christ, will one day be judged. They don’t believe it but it is a reality. i am reminded of this when I have to do a funeral of a person that did not imitate God, but conformed to the world. I shutter at the thought of what they are facing!