Ephesians 5:1-22- Walk in love

Ephesians 5:1-21

                                                                                          Isaiah 60:1-5

                                                                                          Walk in love

Be imitators of God as beloved children

Be imitators of God as beloved children

What do we do with that?

The apostle Paul is giving us an imperative, to be like God.

The apostle Paul is commanding us to live lives that reflect who God is : Holy- Perfect- and so really, Paul is commanding us to be Holy, he is commanding us to be perfect!

What do we do with that?

And not just Paul, but Jesus himself commanded us to be perfect, Jesus taught us from his sermon on the mount, Jesus said  “be perfect just as our heavenly father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

What do we do with this impossible command?

Well, perhaps, first of all, and rightly, we jump straight to the fact that

We are not God!

We are not God!

We are sinful human beings, who were born sinners,

unlike God who never sinned, and never sins.

And so we rightly acknowledge that while Paul and Jesus commanded us to be like God, he didn’t command us to be God. We must rightly know our humble place- God is God and we are not.

This was perhaps at the heart of the issue for Adam and Eve back in the garden.

Satan, that crafty serpent wasn’t just promising the lie that Adam and Eve would be like God, but he was spinning the lie, that they would be really like God- as in gods themselves, if not better.

And so when the apostle Paul commands us to be imitators of God here in Ephesians 5:1, it is important we know that he was commanding us to imitate God by his character and personhood, but not actually commanding us to be gods….that subtle difference makes a huge difference.

So with that in mind, what do we do with this command?

Be imitators of God.

Was Paul just messing with us here?

Asking us to do the impossible?

No, Paul was commanding us….and when I say us….I mean….. all who have already been called into God’s family, those who have been saved by grace, those who have been given His Holy Spirit, to now live lives that show the same characteristics of our heavenly father even though we won’t show those things perfectly.

And perhaps more importantly, we won’t show those same characteristics in the same way, as our heavenly father, or our brother Jesus.

For example, Look at verse 2 with me:

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Paul says, be imitators of God by walking in love, just as Christ walked in love by giving himself up for us.

Christ walked in love by carrying his cross to Golgotha (well part of the way anyway) and then sacrificing himself for us, dying so that we could live. Only Christ could have walked that road of love, because it was only his blood, the blood of God that could cover the sins of the world…….my blood or your blood wouldn’t have been sufficient.

This means that your walk of love will look different from the walk of love that Christ did for you and me, although it will be a walk of love that is driven by the same principles of Christ.

Just as Christ’s walk of love was a sacrificing love for others, our walk of love will also be a sacrifice for others. Just as Christ’s walk of love was a fragrant offering to His father, and a sacrifice to his father, our walk of love will be a fragrant offering to God and our sacrifice will be a living sacrifice to God as we lives that imitate Him.

Friends, as we imitate God, as we walk in love, we must be asking the question each day of how we can walk in a way which pleases God?

Because walking in a way that pleases God, is a walk of love.

Discerning how God wants us to live, is something Paul repeats in this passage.

In verse 10 he wrote…

“try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord”

In verse 17 he wrote…..

“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

Now Paul wasn’t so much concerned with the bigger questions here of discerning the will of the Lord for your life, you know those big decisions, of what Job you take, where to live, who to marry, all good and important things to discern God’s will, but here he is talking more about discerning what God’s will is for you each day in every situation that you may face.

And sometimes, we can really wrestle of exactly what God’s will may be for us, as different situations are complicated, but often it is quite easy for us to discern God’s will because God has spelled it out clearly for us in his word.

For example, look at verses 3 and 4 with me:

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

Paul says plainly that first of all, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality amongst us believers.

Sexual immorality in the Greek is “pornea”, which is where we get the word pornography from.

Sexual immorality means any sexual activity outside of God’s ordained marriage relationship between a man and a woman. That means there should be no hint of any sexual relationship outside of a marriage, not even if there are two consenting adults.

And so God’s will for us, is quite simple for us in this area of our lives….we should not be in any sexual relationship outside of marriage.

But, but, but……

“we love each other….it’s ok”

“we are old….we are passed these silly rules…..its ok”

“we are not hurting anyone….its ok”

“but the smiths and the jones are doing”…..sure, but they don’t profess faith in Jesus, they are unbelievers, they are not trying to be imitators of God, because they don’t even believe there is a God.

The bible is consistently clear on this- God has given sexual relationships only within the boundaries of marriage, but often we try and muddy the waters, because we just want sexual relationships outside of a marriage.

We may know what God’s will is, but we just don’t like it.

Look at verses 5-7 with me:

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. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them;

Paul, tells us in verse 7, that a believer should not  become partners with an unbeliever, which ultimate means a believer should not “marry” an unbeliever.

Friends, God’s will for you as a believer, is not to date, not to marry an unbeliever.

Now, Paul also made it clear in 1 Corinthians 7, that as a believer, if you have already married an unbeliever, then you stick with them, praying they will become a believer, but if you are a believer, who hasn’t yet married, God’s will for your life is to marry a believer.

But, but, but……

“I love him, or her…..they are a good person….it really doesn’t matter too much if they are not a believer……”- Nope it really does matter

“But, I know such and such who married an unbeliever and now they are a believer…it can happen with us too……” ……….Sure, perhaps, but more than likely your unbelieving partner will pull you away from your belief.

Friends, I don’t want to deceive you with empty words this morning….I care for you too much to do that.

I just want you to hear God’s word clearly and know his will for your life in these matters.

Paul tells us that God’s will for our lives is not to have any hint of impurity- this is a broader term which requires more discernment, but it is probably referring to filthiness, crude joking and foolish talk in verse 4.

This requires a judgement call from each of each us.

A good tester for whether you are getting involved in foolish talk is to ask yourself:

1.        Is this true

2.        Is it helpful for building others up (as Paul says in 4:29)

If the talk is tearing others down, it is probably foolish

If the talk is simple not true, it is foolish

If the talk is filthy, if every second word a swear word, it is foolish

If the talk is dirty…it is foolish

Paul also tells us the will of God for our lives is not to have a hint of covetousness amongst believers.

Or let me put it plainly

The will of God for your life, is not to have your neighbours wife, it is not to have your neighbour’s car, it is not to have your neighbour’s house, it is not to have your neighbour’s job….The will of God for your life, is to be content with what you have.

The will of God for your life is for you to pray Proverbs 30: 8 and mean it “Give me neither poverty or riches, but give me only my daily bread”

You know, Paul uses a lot of “do not’s” in this passage…….doesn’t he?

Do not have a hint of sexual immorality

Do not be impure

Do not be involved in foolish talk

Later on in verse 18, Paul wrote….do not get drunk….

Now one of the dangers when we hear someone tell us “do not”….we just automatically want to do it…that is just part of our sinful human nature.

Again this was the issue back in the garden of Eden.

God had given Adam and Eve lots of Do’s in the garden….

Do enjoy the fruits of the garden

Do enjoy the trees

Do enjoy the animals

Do enjoy your work

Do enjoy walking with me in the cool of the day……

God gave Adam and Eve so many do’s but then he gave them one “do not”….Do not eat from the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden.

And as soon as Adam and Eve heard, “Do not”….they wanted “to do”.

They thought that God was holding back on them, they didn’t trust that they had all the joy they needed in all the do’s that God gave them and so they broke the one command of do not.

And perhaps when we hear all the “do nots” that Paul gives us here, we are tempted to think well no, I am going to do these “do nots” because they are joyful, we may think God is trying to squash our joy.

But Paul tells us more than “do not”, he actually tells us what we should do instead…..

Look at verse 4 with me again

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving

Paul says instead of speaking rubbish, let there be thanksgiving in your heart, with flows out of your mouth. Thanksgiving for all who God is, and all that God has done for you in Christ.

Paul takes this life of thanksgiving one step further in verse 20.

Look at verse 20 with me:

giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Paul says that if we truly want to live and walk as imitators of God, we walk with thankfulness to God. We give thanks to God always, for everything.

Friends, if we want to be imitators of God, we must spend more time focusing on who God is and what he has done for us, and less time focused on the way the world wants us to live.

We can’t imitate what we don’t know and perhaps more importantly we won’t want to imitate what we don’t love.

Paul commanded us to be imitators of God as beloved children

God is not some heartless dictator who forces you to imitate him.

No, God is a loving father, who out of his love for you, also wants you to walk in love.

God wants us to delight and Joy in Him.

He wants us to see the beauty and Joy and fulfilment of walking in his ways, rather than resentfully walking in his footsteps in worry that we are missing out on what this world may offer in his place.

Friends, let us imitate God as his beloved Children.

Let us pray.