Ephesians 5:1

Order of Service

• Sermon
• Prayer of Benediction

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Sermon Title: Imitators of God — Purity, Judgment, and the Light of Christ

Scripture: Ephesians 5:1-14

I. Review and Context: The Pattern of Christian Ethics in Ephesians

A. Paul's overarching theme: Christian theology (what we are) governs Christian ethics (how we behave) B. The new society described in Ephesians 3 — putting off the old life, putting on the new (Ephesians 4) C. Sanctification is not passive — it requires daily commitment and mind renewal

1. "We have learned Christ, we have heard Christ, we have been taught in Christ" (Ephesians 4:20-21)
2. The call to walk worthy of the calling (Ephesians 4:1) D. The sixth example of Christian behavior follows the pattern of the previous five: what not to do, then what to do

II. The Sixth Example of Behavior: Self-Indulgence vs. Thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:3-4)

A. What must not be named among the saints

1. Porneia (sexual immorality / fornication) — sexual activity outside the God-ordained covenant of marriage between a man and a woman
2. Impurity — encompasses all other forms of sexual sin
3. Covetousness — appears twice in this passage; here likely refers to coveting another's body for selfish sexual gratification; connects to the tenth commandment and Ephesians 4:19
4. Background: Ephesus was home to the Temple of Artemis and was rife with prostitution and sexual immorality — this was the world these Christians had been saved from B. Vulgarity of speech (Ephesians 5:4)
5. Filthiness (aischrotes) — a bridge word covering both vulgar language and indecent actions
6. Morologia (foolish talk) — making light of moral standards, thinking obscenity is sophisticated or clever
7. Crude joking — the lowest form of wit; increasingly prevalent in broader culture C. The positive counter: "Let there be thanksgiving"
8. Thanksgiving is god-centered — focusing on what God has done rather than what we want for ourselves
9. Vulgarity is self-centered acquisitiveness; thanksgiving recognizes God's generosity
10. Christians are not anti-sex because of a warped attitude, but because they hold a high and holy view of sexuality as a wonderful gift of God (Stott) — they do not want to see it cheapened or degraded

III. First Incentive for Righteousness: The Certainty of Judgment (Ephesians 5:5-7)

A. Paul gives four incentives for holy living across Ephesians 5:5-21; today covers verses 5–14 B. The body as motivation: created by God, belonging to Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit — the Trinitarian argument of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 C. The sexually immoral, impure, and covetous (idolater) have no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God

1. Paul is not referring to a single sinful thought or act, but to those who have given themselves over to immorality without shame or remorse (Ephesians 4:19)
2. These are idolaters — self is their god; they are never satisfied (e.g., the enslaving pattern of pornography) D. Warning against deception: "Let no one deceive you with empty words" (Ephesians 5:6)
3. Ancient error: Gnosticism taught that bodily sins did not damage the soul
4. Modern error: Universalism — the teaching that God will not condemn anyone regardless of how they live
5. The truth: the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 5:6; cf. Ephesians 2:2) E. "Do not become partners with them" (Ephesians 5:7)
6. The Greek sygkoinonos means participation — not a call to total social withdrawal but to avoid sharing in their sin
7. We are in the world but not of it; we are still called to be witnesses (cf. Genesis 18–19 and the warnings to Lot) F. Reconciling the warning with the assurance of the Holy Spirit's seal (Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesians 1:18)
8. Assurance of salvation is not a license for presumption (Stott)
9. A lifestyle of greedy immorality is evidence of idolatry, not genuine faith — examine your life (cf. 2 Peter 1:10)

IV. Second Incentive for Righteousness: The Fruit and Power of Light (Ephesians 5:8-14)

A. The radical transformation: formerly darkness, now light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8)

1. Paul does not say they were formerly in the dark — he says they were darkness; now they are light
2. This is a union with Christ, the light of the world — a complete transformation of identity
3. Contrast with Ephesians 4:18: formerly darkened in understanding, alienated from God B. Walking as children of light (Ephesians 5:9-10)
4. The fruit of light: all that is good and right and true
5. Children of light continually discern what is pleasing to the Lord (cf. Romans 12:2 — testing and proving God's will) C. The negative and positive duties of light (Ephesians 5:11-13)
6. Negative: take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness
7. Positive: expose them — light inevitably exposes darkness
8. Matthew Henry's four ways of becoming an accessory to another's sin — the four C's: Commendation, Counsel, Consent, Concealment
9. The double value of exposure: (a) evil is seen for what it truly is; (b) what is made visible becomes light — a transforming power D. The evangelistic power of light
10. Christians living righteously may restrain, reform, and even convert evildoers
11. Christ's model: he exposed sin in love — the woman at the well (John 4), the woman caught in adultery (John 8), the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10), the thief on the cross (Luke 23), Zacchaeus (Luke 19)
12. It is not our responsibility to save — that is the work of the Holy Spirit; our calling is simply to be light E. The closing call to awakening (Ephesians 5:14) — likely drawn from Isaiah 61:1
13. "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you"
14. Our former condition in Adam: asleep, dead in sin, in darkness
15. Christ rescues from darkness with his light; we are that light in the world; conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit through us