Ephesians 5:25-27

Ephesians 5:25-27 Podcast

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27)

The most misunderstood word is love. In fact, in the Greek language, there are four to choose from. The type of love that Paul is describing in our text for today causes a husband to lay down his life for his wife. However, our culture has strayed so far from God's definition of real love, it has no idea of its depth. We live in a world that has defined love in such a way that husbands love themselves more than do their wives and family.

Paul writes in v.25, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." The Lord Jesus gave His life that the church might be holy, that He might present us to the Father in His completeness. These same goals apply to the husband and wife relationship.

The husband is to give himself up for his wife in order that he might enable her to be defined by the One who is the only complete One. The word "holy" means "put to the proper use." It is not a religious word. Anything that is put to its proper use is holy, and that is what the word means here.

The Lord Jesus gave himself up on the cross in order that those redeemed by His grace, might be put to the proper use for which God intended them. This is also to be the goal of the husband. He is to give himself up for the wife in order that she might fulfill God's call on her life. This calling is to be a helper to her husband. 

According to v.26, the instrument the Lord uses to make us holy or more mature in our walk with Him is His word. Paul writes, "by the washing with water through the word." By defining things for us through His word, God makes us more useful for His purposes. The Lord Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32). 

A husband who is walking with the Lord and being defined by Him will have a wife who in submission to His leadership. Of course, this is dependent upon her walking with the Lord and being defined by Him. We are best defined by God when we are following what He has said on a given subject in His word.

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Ephesians 5:22-24

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22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5:22-24)

In our text today, the Apostle Paul applies the previous teaching to the wife's relationship with her husband. There is no relationship in which conflict is more widespread than the marriage. The enemy knows that the health to any society begins with the family, therefore he attacks the most important of human relationships. The laminin of any society is the workings of the Lord in the nuclear family.

In v.22 Paul turns his attention to the wife. God calls all believers to a life of submission, including wives, which is couched in our submission to Him. The key phrase here is "to the Lord." The wife is to submit to her husband because she is submitted to the Lord Jesus. The phrase "to the Lord" does not mean that the wife is to worship her husband as though he were the Lord! It means she is to yield to her husband, and such she is yielding to the Lord. 

As indicated in v.23, the Lord has given to the husband the role of the head of the wife. The word used for head is kephale in the Greek. This role that God has given the husband is that of servant leadership for his wife and their family. If the husband is being Christlike, then the wife will have no problem submitting to the servant-leadership of her husband.

In v.23-24, the apostle likens the husband's role to that of Christ toward the Church. Of course, this means that when the husband is laying down his life for his wife, she will find it easier to submit to his servant leadership. Yet, God does not qualify His instructions to the wife with this caveat. She is to submit whether or not He loves like the Lord Jesus.

The infrastructure that God's definition brings to our lives, homes and society should never be taken lightly. Just as headship or servant-leadership for the husband is his right to love the Lord and his wife, so the role of submission to her husband's servant leadership is her right to show her love for her Lord and her husband. Without the infrastructure of the Lord's definition of things, the family and the society will suffer great harm.

If parents only knew how our relationship with one another impacts our kids, more than any other relationship, we would take God's instructions to the family far more serious than we do. The relationship of a husband and wife reflect the relationship between the Lord Jesus and the church. The Lord Jesus does not choose His bride because she is lovely but because He is loving. What a picture of what love should be. This type of love withstands the harshest of moments in any relationship, especially marriage.

Finally, our ability to love our spouse parallels our ability to love God. C. S. Lewis put it well: “When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. In so far as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall … not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”

Ephesians 5:21

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And the Spirit makes it possible to submit humbly to one another out of respect for the Anointed.  (Ephesians 5:21 The Voice)

In Hebrews 6:1, we read, "So let’s push on toward a more perfect understanding and move beyond just the basic teachings of the Anointed One."  As noted in Hebrews 6:1, many Christians make Christianity about the lesser teachings in the Bible because of our doctrinal shallowness. We lack depth, spiritual depth therefore we want to keep talking about the basics of the faith. Yet, when we walk by the Spirit and are filled by the Spirit, we will be concerned with that which concerns God. 

Our text today makes it clear that humility, submission, and respect are high on God's list of what is important. The reason these are so important to God is that these qualities provide the rebar for every relationship we have, including our relationship with Him. The remainder of Ephesians bears this out, for Paul talks about our relationships with others beginning with our spouse and ending with our relationship with the Lord Himself.

Despite the fact that the word "submit" is mentioned before the word "humbly" in this verse, we will not be submissive with humility. "God opposes the proud but He gives grace to the humble," we are told in James 4:6. Pride is the opposite of humility and it inaugurated sin.  

Now we come to the second word, 'submit.' Paul uses the Greek word "hupotasso" which is an old military term for lining up under our commanding officer. Hupotasso carries the idea of knowing our commanding officer and following His lead. The Lord Jesus is the ultimate example of humility. He freely gave Himself up in every situation so that Father’s will could be done and God could be glorified through His life.

The problem, however, is that the unregenerate man has an incorrect idea of what gives a person power, and how that power should be used. Over and over in the Gospels the disciples of Jesus argued about who would be the greatest in His kingdom. Each of them thought they had earned power, position and prestige with Jesus.

But Jesus said to them, “You have it all backwards. The kings and rulers of this world seek the greatest positions of power and importance. But it is not this way in My Kingdom. In My Kingdom, the greatest are those who serve.” Greatness in God's eyes begins with submitting oneself to Him and then serving people.

In today's text, Paul writes that we should submit to one another. The Lord Jesus came to be a servant, but about half of His ministry was spent standing up to those who were abusing their power. Twice, He cleansed the temple, He rebuked the religious leaders for their hypocrisy. As the Lord Jesus modeled, being submissive to one another does not include being submissive to those who are working against the will of God. 

Our final term under consideration in today's text is the word respect, "respect for the Anointed." The word Anointed is referring to the Lord Jesus Himself. The anointing came upon the Lord Jesus at His baptism as He humbly submitted Himself to the will of the Father. This act of submission led John the Baptist to conclude, "more of Him and less of me."

The Holy Spirit lives to point us to the Anointed One, the Lord Jesus Himself. The Holy Spirit, one could say, is the shy person of the Trinity. He does not draw attention to Himself. He always points us to the Servant of all, the Lord Jesus Himself. He is the Servant Leader, from whom all of us learn to serve. He is the Suffering Servant of Isaiah who pours out his life unto death and is numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12). He is the Humble Servant who washes the dirty feet (and souls) of his disciples (John 13:4-17). He is the Son of Man who does not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). 

Ephesians 5:18-20

Ephesians 5:18-20 Podcast
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20 NIV)

In our text today Paul tells us, "Do not get drunk on wine." There is a thing called responsible drinking. The problem is we live in a culture which isn't responsible. So, Paul prohibits excessive consumption of alcohol. Paul is not prohibiting the consumption of alcohol, he is prohibiting the excessive consumption of alcohol. 

The problem with the consumption of excessive alcohol is it so easily leads to lack of self control or debauchery. The Greek word the apostle uses here for debauchery is "asotia", means "without any limits, with reckless abandonment." The real issue in our text today is who is in control.

In contrast, Paul writes, "we must be being filled with the Spirit."  "Be filled" is an imperative, but it is written in the passive voice and indicates that we receive the action being delivered in our lives. The Holy Spirit performs the action, it is He who is filling us. And, with his filling, comes His control. Although, we do not produce the filling, our volition is involved as we choose to be defined by God.

The Greek word Paul uses here for filled is "pleroo" which describes the inertia behind the action. This is a description of the wind blowing the sails on a boat, providing the power to move the vessel across the water. This gives the picture of the Holy Spirit providing the thrust to move the believer down the pathway of wisdom, obedience and Christlikeness. 

When we believed in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came to live within us. At the moment of our New Birth, He awakened our once dead spirit and made it alive to God. At that point in time we received all of the Holy Spirit, but He didn't get all of us. The filling of the Spirit in the believer describes the process of the believer giving up control to the Holy Spirit (sanctification).

As we are being filled by Him daily, we are being changed by His ever increasing control over our souls (our minds, wills, and emotions). Mind you, we are not getting better, He is just able to express Himself through our increasingly yielded lives. The filling of the Holy Spirit is about Him gaining more and more control over us. This filling of the believer by the Holy Spirit happens in our lives when we yield control to Him in a given situation.

There are two specific ways that we know that we are being filled with the Spirit according to this passage: the first is we will have a joyful heart (v.19), and the second is that we will have a thankful heart (v.20). Joy and gratitude are the products of a Spirit-filled life. Note that these psalms, hymns, and songs are from the Spirit. Note, also, that this music is a product of a heart that has been influenced by the Lord Himself. In addition, we sing to the Lord and to other believers. 

When we experiences the tuning of our heart to our creator by means of being filled by the Holy Spirit, joy is created in our heart. In addition, the filling of the Spirit produces a freed heart that sees from a transcendent perspective. This point of view enables us to recognize the sovereign control of God in our lives. The result is the rest the Lord Jesus spoke of in Matthew 11:27-28. The Voice translation puts it this way, "27 The Father has handed over everything to My care. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son—and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal the Father. 28 Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." This rest is non-threatening and freeing. This rest renders in us a joy and a gratitude which flows freely.

Finally, the filling of the Spirit creates in us the ability to stop striving and to begin trusting. We were meant to trust before we were meant to work. Trusting doesn't eliminate working, but it does eliminate striving. This is part of the reason we struggle with surrendering to the filling of the Spirit in our lives. Like Jacob in the Old Testament, our striving and stressing in life is over when we come under the control of the Holy Spirit. When He controls, we discover our sweet spot. When He controls, we find ourselves at home.

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Ephesians 5:15-17

Ephesians 5:15-17 Podcast

15 So be careful how you live; be mindful of your steps. Don’t run around like idiots as the rest of the world does. Instead, walk as the wise! 16 Make the most of every living and breathing moment because these are evil times. 17 So understand and be confident in God’s will, and don’t live thoughtlessly. (Ephesians 5:15-17 the Voice)

In our text today, the apostle is describing how the believer in Christ should live by using the metaphor of walking. We should walk with observant understanding. We are to be aware of the ways of the world and how God addresses it. Since the days are evil, we must make the most of the opportunities which we have to influence others regarding eternity. 

The word for "make the most" in v.16 can also be translated "redeeming" meaning "to buy up." As we look for bargains at the store, we should look for bargaining opportunities that will effect the souls of people because we know these opportunities will not last long; they are passing us by. Therefore, make the most of them and buy them up. 

Years ago, God arrested my attention when I heard Billy Graham say, "there are two things in this world which will last forever, the word of God and the souls of people." He also said, "most people are converted to Christ before they are eighteen years of age." This has largely motivated me in my thirty-seven years of ministry. 

We clearly live in evil times. Most, consider evil times as an obstacle, but not the Lord. He sees them as opportunities. We must have God's transcendent view of this world and eternity, making the most of the opportunities because the evil around us is really making the opportunity possible. If we did not go through trials, how could we show the lost people of this world that God is sufficient for every trial? The evil times create these opportunities. 

Trials come into our lives in order to advance what is most important, getting people into the word of God. When this happens, people will be informed by God's definition of things. Therefore, we must look at trials for what they are, opportunities to demonstrate what it is to be a Christian. Therefore, we must not walk according to the flesh or the evil default mode which we find inside of us. We must walk with the framing understanding that God's word brings to our existence, offering solutions to life's problems, rendering a life that is transcendent with the touch of eternity upon it.

The Apostle emphasizes in v.15, we are to not walk or live as idiots, but we are to be wise. When we live by God's definitions, we will be gracious and loving to those whom we work with in the midst of demanding circumstances. The Bible refers to this as being controlled by the Holy Spirit. We will talk more about that tomorrow.

We are to live biblically informed lives.  As Christians, we know the truth, the truth as it is in the Bible, the basic, fundamental reality of life. We are to walk in that way. Of course, in order for us to live according to His definition of things, we must be in His word daily, allowing Him to teach us. It also helps to be in a Bible believing church where the word of God is considered and taught thoughtfully every week.

Finally, let me conclude with a true story. Many months ago, Debbie and I had a couple come to us who were talking divorce. They had a young son, and they were not happy together. As they discovered, they were not happy because they were not living according to God's descriptions of life. We met with this couple for months, and as time went on, we saw a transformation take place. They started reading the word for themselves, they started attending a Bible-believing church. But, the biggest thing that happened was this: they started praying for and with one another. I have never been more encouraged in ministry that I was when I saw God turn this couple around. I am truly grateful for this young couple for they demonstrated the power of God's definition of marriage and family. They are not perfect, they will tell you that. But, they have learned, when they do it God's way, they experience the eternal type of life that Jesus died to give us.

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Ephesians 5:11-14

Ephesians 5:11-14 Podcast
11 Don’t get involved with the fruitless works of darkness; instead, expose them to the light of God. 12 You see, it’s a disgrace to speak of their secrets (so don’t even talk about what they do when no one is looking). 13-14 When the light shines, it exposes even the dark and shadowy things and turns them into pure reflections of light. This is why they sing, Awake, you sleeper! Rise from your grave, And the Anointed One will shine on you. (Ephesians 5:11-14 The Voice)

The Apostle enlightens the believer to expose the dark nature of sin. The believer is to be the source of correct information on things human to those who are in darkness. And, we will expose it as such when we have realized it is fruitless. However, we will not expose it if we are engaged in it.  

The believer is to influence those who are held hostage in darkness. We are to reveal God's definitions regarding any given subject. In v.11, the apostle writes, "Don’t get involved with the fruitless works of darkness; instead, expose them to the light of God." Paul is saying, "make the fruitlessness of sin obvious." The Apostle does not mean for us to denounce our friends. We are most effective when we show the truth about God's definition on a given subject. To do this, we must know the truth for ourselves. Then we are to let those in darkness know what God intended for us, that His definition of things is for our best.

In v.12, Paul takes us by the hand and charges us to not focus on the sin, but to focus on the explanation regarding why we should not engage in sin. God gave us His word to provide His best for us and to protect us from that which will harm us.

In v.14 Paul directs us to wake ourselves up first. "Awake, you sleeper! Rise from your grave, And the Anointed One will shine on you." We must recognize that all of mankind's hearts and minds are arrested by the enemy and we must be careful turn not just our minds and hearts to the Lord Jesus, but also those whom we have influence over. We must first realize that in the Word of God we have been given the facts as they are, truth as it really is. 

As a result, Christ gives us light. Then, we will be poised to tell those in darkness what we have uncovered. This will lead us to the discovery that helping people to see God's great heart for them through His definition of life is what our calling is all about. Through God's word, we discover that God desires to bring all mankind back into wholeness and fullness. 

Be careful, we are not to be the moral police, condemning people for their sin. After all, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5 that we’re not to judge those outside the church. We expose the deeds of darkness simply by living consistently with God's definitions of things. We must remember those living in darkness are blind. They don’t realize what they’re doing to themselves or what the consequences of their choices will produce. But when they’re exposed to the light, they will see the substantiveness of the new life the Lord Jesus offers us. Then, they will see the contrast, they will see the difference between loving people and using people, between immorality and purity, between walking in truth and fooling oneself. 

Paul concludes, For this reason it says, "Awake, you sleeper! Rise from your grave, And the Anointed One will shine on you." Living consistently with who we really are in Christ, will not only benefit us, it will benefit the people around us. A child of light will never be happy living in darkness. The reason being, we were created to influence others.

I love the story Tony Campolo tells of one of his visits to Honolulu. A few years ago Tony flew to Hawaii to speak at a conference. The way he tells it, he checks into his hotel and tries to get some sleep. Unfortunately, his internal clock wakes him at 3:00 a.m. The night is dark, the streets are silent, the world is asleep, but Tony is wide awake and his stomach is growling.

He gets up and prowls the streets looking for a place to get some bacon and eggs for an early breakfast. Everything is closed except for a grungy dive in an alley. He goes in and sits down at the counter. The fat guy behind the counter comes over and asks, "What d'ya want?"

Well, Tony isn't so hungry anymore so eying some donuts under a plastic cover he says, "I'll have a donut and black coffee."

As he sits there munching on his donut and sipping his coffee at 3:30, in walk eight or nine provocative, loud prostitutes just finished with their night's work. They plop down at the counter and Tony finds himself uncomfortably surrounded by this group of smoking, swearing hookers. He gulps his coffee, planning to make a quick getaway. Then the woman next to him says to her friend, "You know what? Tomorrow's my birthday. I'm gonna be 39." To which her friend nastily replies, "So what d'ya want from me? A birthday party? Huh? You want me to get a cake, and sing happy birthday to you?"

The first woman says, "Aw, come on, why do you have to be so mean? Why do you have to put me down? I'm just sayin' it's my birthday. I don't want anything from you. I mean, why should I have a birthday party? I've never had a birthday party in my whole life. Why should I have one now?"

Well, when Tony Campolo heard that, he said he made a decision. He sat and waited until the women left, and then he asked the fat guy at the counter, "Do they come in here every night?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"The one right next to me," he asked, "she comes in every night?"

"Yeah," he said, "that's Agnes. Yeah, she's here every night. She's been comin' here for years. Why do you want to know?"

"Because she just said that tomorrow is her birthday. What do you think? Do you think we could maybe throw a little birthday party for her right here in the diner?"

A cute kind of smile crept over the fat man's chubby cheeks. "That's great," he says, "yeah, that's great. I like it." He turns to the kitchen and shouts to his wife, "Hey, come on out here. This guy's got a great idea. Tomorrow is Agnes' birthday and he wants to throw a party for her right here."

His wife comes out. "That's terrific," she says. "You know, Agnes is really nice. She's always trying to help other people and nobody does anything nice for her."

So they make their plans. Tony says he'll be back at 2:30 the next morning with some decorations and the man, whose name turns out to be Harry, says he'll make a cake.

At 2:30 the next morning, Tony is back. He has crepe paper and other decorations and a sign made of big pieces of cardboard that says, "Happy Birthday, Agnes!" They decorate the place from one end to the other and get it looking great. Harry had gotten the word out on the streets about the party and by 3:15 it seemed that every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place. There were hookers wall to wall.

At 3:30 on the dot, the door swings open and in walks Agnes and her friend. Tony has everybody ready. They all shout and scream "Happy Birthday, Agnes!" Agnes is absolutely flabbergasted. She's stunned, her mouth falls open, her knees started to buckle, and she almost falls over.

And when the birthday cake with all the candles is carried out, that's when she totally loses it. Now she's sobbing and crying. Harry, who's not used to seeing a prostitute cry, gruffly mumbles, "Blow out the candles, Agnes. Cut the cake."

So she pulls herself together and blows them out. Everyone cheers and yells, "Cut the cake, Agnes, cut the cake!"

But Agnes looks down at the cake and, without taking her eyes off it, slowly and softly says, "Look, Harry, is it all right with you if...I mean, if I don't...I mean, what I want to ask, is it OK if I keep the cake a little while? Is it all right if we don't eat it right away?"

Harry doesn't know what to say so he shrugs and says, "Sure, if that's what you want to do. Keep the cake. Take it home if you want."

"Oh, could I?" she asks. Looking at Tony she says, "I live just down the street a couple of doors; I want to take the cake home, is that okay? I'll be right back, honest."

She gets off her stool, picks up the cake, and carries it high in front of her like it was the Holy Grail. Everybody watches in stunned silence and when the door closes behind her, nobody seems to know what to do. They look at each other. They look at Tony.

So Tony gets up on a chair and says, "What do you say that we pray together?"

And there they are in a hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon, half the prostitutes in Honolulu, at 3:30 a.m. listening to Tony Campolo as he prays for Agnes, for her life, her health, and her salvation. Tony recalls, "I prayed that her life would be changed, and that God would be good to her."

When he's finished, Harry leans over, and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he says, "Hey, you never told me you was a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to anyway?"

In one of those moments when just the right words came, Tony answers him quietly, "I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning."

Harry thinks for a moment, and in a mocking way says, "No you don't. There ain't no church like that. If there was, I'd join it. Yep, I'd join a church like that."

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Ephesians 5:8-10

Ephesians 5:8-10 Podcast

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8-10)


We were darkness. Darkness defined us. And, darkness is the absence of light. Due to the fact that there is no such thing as darkness, we were defined by that which is non-existent. From the beginning it was a lie.

We all drag around loads we were never intended to carry. Fear. Worry. Discontent. No wonder we get so weary. We’re worn out from carrying this excess baggage. While we were the darkness, hidden from us was the heart of God for us. We naturally concluded that He was out to get us, just like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. So we ran, thinking that we could find our way on our own to no avail.


Do you remember when you realized that you needed Him? I was in my shower, just three days before my dad died on October 29, 1981. I was so broken. My brokenness allowed His light to shine in. This is it, we must be willing to let Him shine in our darkness. This is Christianity, Christ shining through the cracks of our broken existence.


The light is in the Lord Jesus, the Light is the Lord Jesus. He drives out darkness. Darkness frightens us. Not being able to see is scary. But, God's way is to live by faith, to live looking with our hearts.

Paul reminds us in v.8, we "are now light in the Lord." The key is "in the Lord." Living out of this new place where God defines us is what it means for us to be the light now. 
We lack this point of view because it is the product of two things: that we turn to the Lord in the midst of our trials and hearing His voice in that context. We avoid pain, pressure and problems. In so doing, we miss the opportunity to grow in faith or our heart's ability to see God.


Darkness is useful, though, it magnifies the light. The light is the Lord Himself. Without the darkness, we do not know the Lord, we do not know His presence, we do not know His life. 


Paul, in v.8 tells us to "walk as children of the light." Children are helpless and dependent. We are most spiritual when we are children. Christianity is the preoccupation of our hearts with the Lord Jesus. As a result, when something of God comes out of our lives, He gets the credit. He is our pursuit. The fruit of curiosity is fueled pursuit. And, as we have pointed out before, faith is divine persuasion.

Paul mentions the fruit of the Spirit in v.9 because the light is God Himself and His presence is recognized by the fruit of the Spirit. And, the soil of this fruit "is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth."


Goodness here is the Greek noun "agathōsunē." This word  denotes the excellence of the object being described. It includes the idea of "uprightness" and "generosity." 

Righteousness here is the Greek word "dikaiosunē," which means what is right and just. It includes the act of doing what is in agreement with God's standards, the state of being in proper relationship with God.

Truth here is the Greek word "alitheia" which means genuine, reliable, trustworthy, and valid. Knowing the One who Himself is the truth, frees us from the shackles that have long held us in bondage from Him and His perfect ways.

It is out of this threefold soil (goodness, righteousness and truth) that the fruits of the Spirit are expressed in us, to us and through us.

Finally, this fueled pursuit is underscored in v.10 when Paul writes, "finding out what is acceptable to the Lord." It is in the context of relationship that we discover the expression of the Lord Himself, this one who is THE light.

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Ephesians 5:3-7

Ephesians 5:3-7 Podcast
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
(Ephesians 5:3-7)

Why do you think that Paul would tell Christians not to engage in sexual immorality? Because, even though we are born again and guaranteed heaven, we can still do some bad things, like having sex with someone whom we are not committed to. 

In our text today, the Apostle is addressing the alternative for the believer in Christ. These are the appetites of the flesh and even though we should not feed the flesh, we will. And, it is the dumbest thing in the world, because the flesh brings with it destruction.

Paul isolates sexual immorality, impurity (demoralizing behaviors), greed, obscenity, foolish talk, coarse joking, and immorality. He is doing this because these believers in Ephesus had a propensity (natural inclination) toward these sins. Remember, Paul had spend about two and a half years in Ephesus, he knew these believers real well.

Every day, we have the choice to feed the flesh (the sinful desires in us) or to feed the Spirit (letting God's definition of things define us). Having sex with someone who is not our wife or husband is driven by greed or covetousness. Covetousness is a deep discontented craving that dominates us. 

On the other hand, if we are overflowing with thanksgiving to God, then we are not dominated and driven by discontentment at what we have been denied. Gratitude is what we feel when we believe God is for us and not against us. Gratitude is what we feel when we believe God . 

So you can see how thanksgiving is the alternative to a life driven by cravings for what you don’t have (whether sex or money). Thanksgiving says, in God I have all that is good for me, and I will not be driven to engage in the alternative lifestyle.

According to v.5, our root problem is this sinful lifestyle is in opposition to God. Paul puts gratitude in the place of covetousness, he is simply putting God in the place of our fleshly desires. Gratitude enthrones God. Greed or covetousness dethrones God. Gratitude says that God is the satisfaction of all my longings. Covetousness says that God is not adequate . I must have money or I must have sex, God is not sufficient!

And, those who are defined by the sinful desires, not those who are occasionally tripped up by these sinful desires, will not be found in heaven. There is a huge difference between dabbling and totally embracing. Mind you, to give in the least bit will be bad for us. You see, this is where the battle is won. God is not out to rob us of our fun, the problem is that we have long believed a lie. The enemy has convinced us that feeding the flesh is the answer, yet the second we finish feeding the flesh, we feel that sense, that convincing message in the back of our heads that says, that was wrong. This is where confession comes in. Confession is agreeing with God that this behavior which is contrary to His way, is wrong.

Finally, Paul ends our text for today with a very important principle: do not hang with those who embrace such a lifestyle. He says this because it is much easier to pull someone down than it is to pull them up. When I was a kid, I spent most of my summer days in the neighborhood pool. By the end of each day, I was like a raisin. I remember vividly all those times when my friend, Billy Herrin, would yell at me to help him out of the pool. I would go over to him, grab his hand, and you guessed it, he would pull me in. You see, it is much easier to pull someone down than it is to pull them up. This principle is also true in the world of whether we feed the Spirit or whether we feed the flesh. The first builds us up. The second invites destruction. It doesn't take a PHD to figure out the smart decision.

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Ephesians 5:1-2

Ephesians 5:1-2 Podcast
1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Christianity is not about getting us ready for heaven, though many falsely teach this.Christianity is a personal relationship with the Father through the Son, designed to equip us for influencing others for Christ.

The Apostle writes,"Follow God’s example." This is the goal of a personal relationship with God. Mind you, we can not produce this, He must. The role we play is to resist the flesh and to appropriate His presence and person in and through our lives. There is no strength like God's strength. His is the greatest strength. His is a different kind of power. It is quieter and less obvious. It changes us from the inside out. Make no mistake, we aren't getting better, but He is getting more prominent.

Paul identifies in v.1 the inertia behind our desire to follow God ... "loved." This is a foreign love to us fallen humans. It is a love that loves no matter what. You're thinking, "if God loves like this, then why doesn't He love everyone? Why do some suffer the penalty of hell?" He does love everyone. By nature, He loves, but He does not force His love on us. This is why we have a choice to access His love through the Lord Jesus. He desires us to desire Him. This is a true love story of the best kind. The kind that led Him to drink every drop that hell threw at Him. He did this for love for you and me, He did this for the willing. 

This kind of love not only breaks our hearts, but fills our hearts. This love reshapes our hearts, it enables us to see others as the people they are, made in His image. Just like Bruce at the end of the movie Bruce Almighty, we want to see others through His eyes. Once we wanted to use people and love things. Now we discover we want to love people and use things. 

The more we get to know the Lord Jesus, the more we will see Him in all of life. In fact, we will find ourselves looking for Him in everything, even in that which we do not expect. This is what Christ is like. He emptied Himself and embraced the cross on behalf of those who hated Him.

Chuck Colson tells a story of a group of American prisoners of war during the Second World War, who were made to do hard labor in a prison camp. Each had a shovel and would dig all day, then come in and give an account of his tool in the evening. One evening 20 prisoners were lined up by the guard and the shovels were counted. The guard counted nineteen shovels and turned in rage on the 20 prisoners demanding to know which one did not bring his shovel back. No one responded. The guard took out his gun and said that he would shoot five men if the guilty prisoner did not step forward. After a moment of tense silence, a 19-year-old soldier stepped forward with his head bowed down. The guard grabbed him, took him to the side and shot him in the head, and turned to warn the others that they better be more careful than he was. When he left, the men counted the shovels and there were 20. The guard had miscounted. And the boy had given his life for his friends.


Can you imagine the emotions that must have filled their hearts as they knelt down over his body? In the five or ten seconds of silence, the boy had weighed his whole future in the balance, a future family, an education, a new truck, a career, fishing with his dad—and he chose death so that others might live. Jesus said in John 15:13, ""Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." To love is to choose suffering for the sake of another.

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Ephesians 4:29-32

Ephesians 4:29-32 Podcast
In Ephesians 4:29, Paul literally writes, "let no decomposed words come out of your mouths." Decomposed words are decayed and smell really bad. These words came along with our flesh. Those who are characterized by these words are being defined, ultimately, by Satan himself. The Evil One has so twisted God's definition of things to the point that his definition renders corruption and foulness.

In addition, using such words cheapen us in the eyes of others. It only hurts us to use such speech. This is the goal of the Evil One, he wants to corrupt and destroy our lives, especially in the eyes of others. He knows this cheapens our influence upon others.

The words that we should use, according to v.29, are those which build up others. Our goal should be the health of others. Of course, if we lack this health for ourselves and we are using words that are cheapening life, then we will live unwholesome lives. Our lives will be full of holes and we will be in no position to build others up. No wonder we tear down others from this posture, because when we are living out of a torn down posture, we can't build up.

The key to all our behavior lies in our relationship with God, not with our relationship with others. The latter is an effect which comes after the cause. The key is in our relationship with God, that He is defining us.

The word "grieve" is related to love. It is impossible for you to grieve someone who does not love you, nor can you be grieved except by those whom you love. This word, grieve, reveals that God loves us, and that the Holy Spirit lives in us.

We should not grieve the Holy Spirit because we have been sealed by Him until our redemption day, that is the day Jesus returns to take us home. A seal is a protective device. It is designed to prevent loss or invasion. The Holy Spirit has been given to us to seal us, to guarantee that we will arrive at our home, heaven.

The Holy Spirit will never stop his work in and through us. He is in us to stay. Therefore, if we grieve Him, we will be miserable due to the grieved Spirit of God living in us. Who accomplishes their calling with a grieved Holy Spirit living in them, anyway?

Note the wrong attitudes mentioned in v.31. Bitterness is a cynical hateful outlook toward someone else. The word "rage" describes someone who is hotheaded, and losing their temper. Anger means an inward boiling resulting in a desire to punish somebody, to seek revenge.

The word for "brawling" means "to shout, to rail on someone." "Slander is speech that is injurious to someone else -- gossip, rumor spreading. Malice is the desire to injure someone else. When we feed the flesh, we can expect a list like this to describe us. Paul tells us to put away these things, and feed the Spirit who lives in you.

The Apostle ends our text with forgiveness which is shown by being kind and compassionate. In the same way we have been forgiven, we should forgive one another. Our problem is we do not know the depth of God’s forgiveness of us. If we did, we would not withhold our forgiveness from others.

In Israel there are two bodies of water: the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee is alive, filled with fish and surrounded by lush foliage. The Dead Sea lacks life. No seaweed or plants of any kind live in or around the water. There are no fish or any kind of swimming, squirming creatures living in or near the water. Both the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea are fed by the Jordan River. 

There is really only one difference between these two bodies of water. The difference is that the Sea of Galilee takes water from the Jordan River, and then it gives water. The water simply passes through. As a result, the Sea of Galilee is full of life and beauty. The Dead Sea, on the other hand, only takes water, but it gives nothing back, and as a result it sustains no life. 

Those two bodies of water bear witness to a truth of human life. It is in receiving and then giving back that life and hope are sustained. In other words, The Sea of Galilee is a conduit, The Dead Sea is a container. The first is full of life, the second is full of death! Which are you?

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Ephesians 4:25-28

Ephesians 4:25-28 Podcast

Our faith is best seen in our deeds. The Lord Jesus said, "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adultery..." (Matthew 15:19). And, our new life literally is Christ, Himself. If we do not have Christ we do not have new life.

Now, the Apostle is not actually telling us to literally put off our old self. He is saying to deny the urges to fulfill our God-given desires in a non God-defined way. There are those who have the idea we are to go about crucifying ourselves, putting the old self to death. But we are not told to put the old man to death, we are to appropriate what Christ accomplished in His cross and in His resurrection. 

Denying the old life, and putting on the new life is done whenever we face temptation. Paul writes, "having put away falsehood", that is don't feed the flesh or don't do it the world's way. The he writes, "let each one of you speak the truth." He is saying be defined by God's definition of things.

In Galatians 6, Paul wrote, "If we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption." Lying brings with it corruption and subsequent death to relationships. Lying, along with all other sin, was judged at the cross, so we should be defined by truth. We should tell the truth because that is God's culture, this is what is right.

Paul then writes, "for we are members one of another." This means, as members of Christ's life, we do not live on an island. And, if we lie, we not only hurt ourselves, but we hurt others as well.

Next Paul writes, "Be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the Devil."

Our capacity for anger is part of the image of God in man. God gets angry, but He does not sin. We can be angry and not sin. We sin when our anger is self-motivated. Sinful anger is anger that comes when our feelings have been hurt, or our pride has been injured, or we have been mistreated in some way.

God-like anger is that which is concerned with others' wrongs. When people are unjustly treated and it bothers us, even to the point of standing up to it, this is righteous anger.

We should not let the sun go down on our anger because anger has a tendency to simmer and fester. When this happens, the Evil one is given an opportunity to make the situation worse.

When I was a kid, I deliberately annoyed my sisters. What younger brother doesn't? Well, when they had had enough, they would come after me. There were three doors that locks on them in our house, the front door, the back door and the bathroom. Guess where I would run to flee my angry sisters? Yep, the bathroom. If I could get the door locked, I was safe. If any one of them could get their foot wedged between the door and the doorframe, I was toast. This is the idea, when we hold on to anger and do not solve the issue, the Devil gets a foothold.

Finally, in our text today, Paul commands us to not steal but to work for what we get. The believer is commanded to do all our secular work with a view to meeting the needs of others. We can live to HAVE or we can live to GIVE. The potential behind this is life-changing not just for those who benefit but for those who give. We are most like God when we are giving, and there is much more to this than meets the eye.

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Ephesians 4:20-24

Ephesians 4:20-24 Podcast
In Christ, we have a different way of living, a different way of thinking. In Christ, we have been given the truth by which we can test everything. We have found in Jesus Christ the truth about life, about ourselves, about the world, about the makeup of all things. 

Christ is the truth who reveals to us the truth. Truth is realistic and it reveals to us the senselessness of the alternative.

The key is we have heard the Lord Jesus and we have been taught by Him. In Romans 10:17, Paul writes, "Faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of Christ." Faith is created by hearing the spoken word of Christ. The word used for "word" in Romans 10:17 is rhema, meaning the spoken word.

You are probably thinking, "the world knows truth. In fact, the discoverer of the Laws of Gravity wasn't a Christian." To which I would say, the world doesn't have God's vantage point on this life, they don't know God's principles of dealing with relational issues. In Christ, we have the tape measure for recognizing the false. 

The Apostle Paul uses a metaphor. He says, "put off" and "put on." Put off means to rid ourselves of something, to get rid of something that is destroying us. We reject the thinking and the culture which is contrary to Christ's, putting them off, just as we would put off our dirty clothes.

We do this because, from these, comes corruption. He says our old life is corrupt, decayed, selfish, and dead. These are the things which make our lives miserable.  Paul identifies these ways as "deceitful lusts." This word lust is any urge or basic drive. It is the drive to fulfill our desires in ways God has told us not to.

God intends for us to recognize the false from the truth. Put off the old way,  lay it aside, refuse to accept it, no longer give it place in our lives. Then recognize the new life that Jesus died to give you.

Paul writes, "be renewed in the spirit of your minds." This is the fundamental difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. The Christian has the possibility of living on a different level, because we have been renewed in the spirit of our mind.

In v.22, we are told to "put off our old man (our old nature)." In other words, we do not have to live the old way. We now can live differently. The new man has within him the life of God. So, we are to appropriate His life because it is available to us. It is not something put on the for the moment, it is real and alive if appropriated. 

And, not only that, it is holy. An accurate translation of this word holiness is wholeness. As God intended us to be. Again, we must appropriate His life by not feeding the flesh (the old man) and feed the Spirit (the new man).

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