Gentiles live in moral darkness (4:17–5:21). They have turned away from the light God has given them in their conscience. They have become hard-hearted towards God and ignorant of his ways. As a result, they throw themselves into a life of selfish greed and lust.
The Christian life is the opposite of paganism. Being a Christian means coming to Jesus and learning his truth and purity. It’s like changing clothes—from the filthy old clothes of corruption to the fresh new clothes of Christ. Baptism acts this out—putting aside old clothes and receiving a new white robe. As God makes us new people (something only he can do), we change to new behaviour (something we must do ourselves). Our aim is to become like Jesus.
Paul gives several examples of Christian behaviour. He shows how our Christian beliefs become Christian actions. Each evil thing we stop doing can be replaced by something good which pleases God.
We must stop telling lies and tell the truth instead.
We must only be angry for the right reasons. Jesus was perfectly angry at times. We must get angry about the same things as Jesus and not because we are in a foul mood or not getting our own way. If we realize we are in the wrong, then let’s be quick to ask forgiveness and make peace.
We must stop stealing and start giving. If we work, then we can share our strength, skills and earnings with others.
When we talk, we must be true, positive and helpful. We can build people up or tear them down with the things we say. The words that come from our lips show the state of our hearts. Damaging words, such as lies and dirty jokes, are the fruit of a rotten heart.
The devil is interested in our behaviour. He likes to exploit our anger to break our relationships. The Holy Spirit, too, is affected by what we do. He is hurt when we behave in selfish and cruel ways, because he is God’s mark of ownership within us. Any wickedness in a Christian is a form of torture for God’s Holy Spirit.
We must stop treating one another in spiteful, hurtful and reckless ways. Instead we must treat people as Christ has treated us—with kindness, understanding and forgiveness.
Living as a Christian means copying God—just as a child imitates his or her parents. And, as Jesus shows us, God is absolutely self-giving.
We should treat sex with purity and thankfulness. Pagans wrench sex out of its proper setting of a loving marriage. They take something exclusive and make it common. They take something beautiful and make it ugly. They take an act of selflessness and make it greedy. They crush love with lust.
The leading goddess of Ephesus, Diana, is a goddess of fertility. She is worshipped in orgies of sex. So should the Christians at Ephesus say sex is wrong? Not at all. Paul says his readers should thank God for sex. It is a wonderful gift, but not to be cheapened or abused. And as for immorality—don’t even think about it!
Holiness doesn’t happen by accident. The Christian life has to be learned from Christ. It’s a life of purity in the midst of paganism. It’s a life of holiness whose true home is in heaven.
Paul encourages us to lead lives which are worthy of the kingdom of God. We must have nothing to do with adultery and immorality. God’s kingdom is a place of purity, and no one who is unclean or unfaithful may enter it.
We must wake up from the sleep of sin and death. Paul quotes a Christian hymn. We must wake up to the life and light of Christ. We have come from darkness to light and from death to life.
God cares about every detail of our lives. He has made us wise, so that we can live his way and use our time and opportunities well. At the heart of the Lord’s prayer is, ‘Your will be done.’
Instead of getting drunk on wine, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Wine makes us lose our self-control and behave like animals. The Holy Spirit gives us self-control, making us fully human—like Jesus. Self-control is one of the Spirit’s great achievements in our lives (Galatians 5:22–23). Paul says that we must be filled—and go on being filled, moment by moment—with the Holy Spirit.
When Christians meet together for worship, our talking and singing must be for one another and the Lord, full of thankfulness and praise to God.
We are to be humble in all our relationships—putting one another first, as we all put Christ first in our lives.
ALLOW THIS WORD FROM GOD TO BE A GUIDE UNTO YOUR LIFE.
PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM