Ephesians 5:1-7

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Ephesians 5:1-7

Verse 1: "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children."

This command tells us to follow God, as beloved children who are loved by God.

Repeatedly meditate on Ephesians 1:1-14 regarding God's love.

It's remarkable.

However, it doesn't come from slogans like "let's follow Jesus Christ" or "let's follow God."

It comes from first knowing Jesus Christ, finding yourself in him, accepting Christ's guidance and the Holy Spirit's exhortation, and then approaching the Father.

Based on what has already been accomplished through Christ in Ephesians 2:1-10, as stated in verses 11-22, we must become close to Him through His blood, be reconciled through the cross, become one with Christ in the Holy Spirit, and boldly approach God the Father, becoming God's house based on Christ in the Holy Spirit.

Verse 2: “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given  himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”

He tells us to walk in love, just as God loved us through Christ.

Christ’s love was expressed in his sacrifice on the cross, like a living animal, for our sins, to give us for righteousness (Romans 4:25).

This is what it means to give himself up.

He became a fragrant offering because he is the offering that neutralizes God’s wrath and, through it, becomes the offering that redeems us and reconciles us to God.

Christ is our atoning priest and our living mediator.

He tells us to walk in love toward those who have received and are receiving this same love.

Verse 3: "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints."

He lists things like sexual immorality, impurity, and greed that do not make for a fragrant sacrifice to God.

He says, "Do not let these things chatter among you."

Because they are not appropriate for saints.

 When we are outside of love, the spirit of the law surge forth from within, but we step on the brakes.

However, when we obtain righteousness through the grace of Christ's atonement and are immersed in the anointing of the Holy Spirit, these things become completely out of place, seem trivial, and we do not even look at them.

Verse 4: "Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather thanksgiving."

Verse 3 deals with the internal aspects of a person, while verse 4 deals with the external aspects.

Filthiness, that is, vulgar language.

He urges us to stop speaking foolish words and instead speak words of wisdom.

And the opposite of jesting is the word of truth.

We must become accustomed to the word of truth.

"not convenient" means not appropriate.

We must train ourselves to allow the Spirit of truth to work within us, and to receive the word through our intuition and conscience, expressing it outwardly.

If we fail to follow God's words to "speak words of thanksgiving," it is better to keep our mouths shut and remain silent.

In that sense, silence can be said to be golden.

When the mouth is busy, the ears become dull.

When the ears are busy, the mouth naturally becomes silent.

That's why the proverb says the righteous are eager to listen, but the wicked are eager to speak.

Verse 5: "For this you know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

He says you know this.

Fornication, unclean, and covetousness—these are attributes of the person.

They are all done for the flesh, so they become idolatry.

It is only natural that such people will not inherit God's inheritance.

Fornication, Impurity, covetousness, these are idolatry, but idolatry is not fleshly, but spiritual.

Flesh-based morality becomes idolatry because it is engraved in our conscience and reason.

As we draw closer to God in truth, we come to emulate the Lord's prayer in Gethsemane, modeling his cries, tears, petitions, and longings for deliverance from the flesh.

Verse 6: "Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things come the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."

Vain words speaks of empty words.

"Do not let anyone deceive you with such words."

Disobedience, like Israel in the wilderness, means not trusting God.

Therefore, because we do not believe in Christ, we do not follow him.

Therefore, we become disobedient and fall under wrath (John 3:36).

Therefore, when listening to a sermon, we must carefully observe what the word is beneficial for.

We must examine whether the sermon truly explains how we can be born again in Christ through His death on the cross and being raised, become new creations, and obey the Lord in truth, thus advancing to the glory of God.

Otherwise, we will be deceived by vain words in the long run.

Verse 7: "Be not ye therefore partakers with them."

Otherwise, it says not to be partakers (metochoi) with them.

This means not to be yoked together with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14).

It speaks of a Idolatry faith and a faith of personal fellowship.

The problem is that although we claim to believe in Jesus, Jesus Christ, through his death on the cross, transferred us from Adam into Christ and called us to him. Therefore, through repentance and baptism, we must believe in Christ as Lord, obtain righteousness, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and have a living faith that calls on the name of the Lord who sits at the right hand of God. Otherwise, we must keep in mind that we could end up producing unbelievers who believe in Jesus.

For example, the seventh church, the church of Laodicea, has a sense of faith but does not accept and serve Christ as Lord. Therefore, they are outside Christ, becoming Gentile believers outside of Christ, unable to eat Christ and be seated with Him in heavenly places.

Therefore, such a church, seeking earthly blessings, cannot help but offer the prayers of a Gentile outside of Christ and lean toward worldly pursuits.

This age is a time when a hundred schools of thought contended like the days of the Judges, and a time when the word of truth was obscured like the days of Elijah. Because this is an evil and adulterous generation that acts according to its own opinions, it is a time when we need the prayers of the righteous in heaven who have been justified by the grace of the redemption of Christ's cross, like the sign of Jonah.

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim

Translated by missionary Nancy Kim

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