The world claims to want love, and love is advocated and praised from every corner. Romantic love especially is touted. Songs, novels, movies, and television serials continually exploit emotional, lustful desire as if it were genuine love. Questing for and fantasizing about the “perfect love” is portrayed as the ultimate human experience.
Whatever God establishes, Satan will counterfeit. Where God establishes true love, Satan produces counterfeit love. Counterfeit love characterizes Satan’s children, those who are of the world, just as true love characterizes God’s children, those who are citizens of heaven. In contrast to godly, unselfish, forgiving love, the world’s love is lustful and self–indulgent. It loves because the object of love is attractive, enjoyable, pleasant, satisfying, appreciative, loves in return, produces desired feelings, or is likely to repay in some way. It is always based on the other person’s fulfilling one’s own needs and desires and meeting one’s own expectations. Worldly love is reciprocal, giving little in the expectation of getting much. Speaking of that kind of love, Jesus said, “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax–gatherers do the same?” (Matt. 5:46).
A biblical understanding of love with not only help us in genuine worship but in every relationship of our lives. We will know how to properly serve God in our relationships with Him and everyone else. Coming to grips with biblical love will help us distinguish genuine from false motives in others and ourselves. It will help prevent deception from others and in our own actions.
In Ephesians 5:1-7, the Apostle Paul first presents the positive truths about true godly love and then the negative truths about Satan’s counterfeit love and its consequences. He shows this through: 1) The Plea (Ephesians 5:1–2a), 2) The Pattern (Ephesians 5:2b), 3) The Perversion (Ephesians 5:3–4)
1) The Plea (Ephesians 5:1–2a)
Ephesians 5:1-2a [5:1]Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. [2]And walk in love, (as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God). (ESV)
Therefore refers back to the last part of chapter 4, especially verse 32. Kindness, tender–heartedness, and forgiveness are characteristics of God, who is love. God Himself is infinitely kind, tender–hearted, and forgiving. We achieve those virtues by imitating their Source.
Mimētēs (imitator) is the term from which we get mimic, someone who copies specific characteristics of another person. The verb is more strictly ‘become’. Those who by grace are made children of God are by constant perseverance, and imitation of the divine copy (cf. 1 Pet. 2:21), to become more like the heavenly Father (cf. Matt. 5:44–45, 48; Luke 6:36). (Foulkes, F. (1989). Ephesians: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 10, p. 144). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).
As imitators of God, Christians are to imitate God’s characteristics, and above all His love. The whole of the Christian life is the reproduction of godliness as seen in the person of Christ. God’s purpose in salvation is to redeem people from sin and to conform them “to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). To be conformed to Christ is to become perfect, just as God is perfect (Matt. 5:48). The only way we can become imitators of God is for the Lord Jesus Christ to live His perfect life through us. We are totally dependent on His Spirit to become like Him. If we are to obey Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians, “let all that you do be done in love” (1 Cor. 16:14), we must submit to the controlling influence of the Spirit.
Please turn to 1 Peter 1 (p.1014)
When Alexander the Great discovered a coward in his army who also was named Alexander, he told the soldier, “Renounce your cowardice or renounce your name.” Those who carry God’s name are to be imitator’s of His character. By His grace it is possible to reflect Him even in our present limitations.
1 Peter 1:13-21 [13]Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [14]As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, [15]but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, [16]since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." [17]And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, [18]knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, [19]but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. [20]He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you [21]who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (ESV)
• As Obedient Children, believers are redeemed from a previous life of futility. Bearing the name of Christ means to be conformed to a greater and greater degree to Christ; essentially, to show the family resemblance. We are to reflect the glory of God in showing Christ as all sufficient.
It is natural for children to be like their parents. They have their parents’ nature and they instinctively imitate their parents’ actions and behavior. Through Jesus Christ, God has given us the right to become His children (John 1:12; Gal. 3:26). As Paul declared at the beginning of this letter, God “predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Eph. 1:5). Because our heavenly Father is holy, we are to be holy. Because He is kind, we are to be kind. Because He is forgiving, we are to be forgiving.
Because God is love, as His beloved children we are to walk in love as verse 2 states. This ability is not natural, however, but supernatural—requiring a new nature and the continuous power of the Holy Spirit flowing through us by obedience to God’s Word.
The walk of the believer is a key matter to Paul. He has introduced the fact that ours is to be a worthy walk (4:1) and a walk different from the world’s (4:17). He will also call for a walk in light (5:8) and a walk in wisdom (5:15). This is a PRESENT ACTIVE IMPERATIVE, which is a biblical metaphor of lifestyle (cf. 4:1, 17; 5:2, 15). ... It is a point in time, a process through time, and a culmination beyond time! (Utley, R. J. (1997). Paul Bound, the Gospel Unbound: Letters from Prison (Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon, then later, Philippians) (Vol. Volume 8, p. 124). Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International.)
In this verse the apostle pleads with believers to walk in such a way that daily life is characterized by love. Growing in love is a continuing need for every believer, since love fulfills all of God’s law (Rom. 13:8–10). As we grow in love we also see the need to be even more loving. And since biblically defined love is so contrary to the flesh, we are always in need of reminders and encouragement to love.
Illustration: The final chapter of the life-long struggle of Mahatma Gandhi to free India from British imperialism helps us grasp what Paul is calling for in Ephesians. Gandhi was crushed by the defection of his disciples. He had worked sacrificially, and non-violently, to bring freedom to India and unity to India’s divided Muslims and Hindus. But he labored in vain. On August 15, 1947, Islamic Pakistan was partitioned away from Hindu India in a bloody and violent separation. With the division, Gandhi believed that his thirty-two years of hard labor were coming to an inglorious conclusion. He had preached unity and non-violence; his disciples tore at each other with violent animosity. He had failed. Gandhi’s biographer poignantly describes his failure: "Millions adored the Mahatma, multitudes tried to kiss his feet or the dust of his footsteps. They paid him homage and rejected his teachings. They held his person holy and desecrated his personality. They glorified the shell and trampled the essence. They believed in him but not in his principles" (Louis Fischer, The Life of Mahatma Gandhi (New York: Harper and Row, 1950), p. 473.).
His experience parallels that of Jesus centuries earlier. That’s why He warned His disciples, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Cheap lip service can’t fool the Lord of Truth. Only true obedience, only deliberate imitation of God, is worthy of a child of God (Lawson, L. (1987). Galatians, Ephesians: Unlocking the Scriptures for You (pp. 225–226). Cincinnati, OH: Standard.).
2) The Pattern (Ephesians 5:2b)
Ephesians 5:2b [2](And walk in love), as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (ESV)
A young child often learns to draw by tracing. The more carefully he traces, the truer the likeness of his copy is to the original. The pattern for Christian living is Christ Himself, the one by whom every believer is to trace their life. Our part is not so much to pattern our lives ourselves as to allow God’s Spirit to pattern us after His Son (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18).
The ultimate act of Christ that we are to imitate is His love. He loved us and gave Himself up for us. Giving of oneself to others is the epitome of agapē love. Biblical love is not a pleasant emotion or good feeling about someone, but the giving of oneself for another's welfare (cf. 1 John 3:16). Divine love depends entirely on the one who loves and not on the merit, attractiveness, or response of the one loved. Christ did not simply have a deep feeling and emotional concern for humanity. Nor did He sacrifice Himself for us because we were deserving (cf. Rom. 5:8, 10). “While we were yet sinners,” He gave Himself us for us purely out of sovereign, gracious love, taking our sin upon Himself and paying its penalty in our behalf. On the cross Christ gave Himself for us. “For us” means more than “for our benefit.” The preposition (huper) clearly indicates substitution, and thus the vicarious nature of His death is here stated (Kent, H. A., Jr. (1971). Ephesians: The glory of the church (p. 87). Chicago, IL: Moody Press.).
Lovelessness is therefore more than a failure or shortcoming. It is sin, willful disobedience of God’s command and disregard of His example. To love as God loves is to love because God loves, because we are to “be imitators of God, as beloved children” and because Christ also loved [us], and gave Himself up for us...
• The Christian’s walk in love is to extend to every person, believer and unbeliever. If God’s love can reach out even to His enemies, how can we refuse to love our enemies? If He loves His imperfect children with a perfect love, how can we not love fellow believers, whose imperfections we share? And if divine love led Christ to sacrifice Himself for unworthy and ungrateful sinners, how can we not give ourselves to fellow sinful people, unbelievers as well as believers, in His name?
Please turn to Hebrews 13 (p.1019)
Christ’s giving Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God was to His heavenly Father because that sacrifice demonstrated in the fullest and most ultimate way God’s kind of love. The words for us indicate the personal expression of love directed at all who believe. While Christ was the sin–bearer, God could not look on Him or rejoice in Him or be pleased in Him. But when the Father raised Christ from the dead, the sacrifice that caused Him to become sin became the sacrifice that conquered sin. The sin that put Him to death was itself put to death, and that great act of love was a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God That fragrant offering spreads its fragrance to everyone on earth who will place himself under the grace of that sacrifice, and it will spread its fragrance throughout heaven for all eternity. In all aspects, our lives should please God (cf. 2 Cor. 2:14–16). It is not accidental that Paul writes about the supreme sweetness of the odor of Christ’s sacrifice when he purposes to warn against filthiness on our part. The love of God brought forth such a pure, sweet sacrifice for us on his part. Can we, who were made God’s beloved children by this sacrifice on our part return a life that is reeking and stinking with vile odor? (Lenski, R. C. H. (1937). The interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians, to the Ephesians and to the Philippians (p. 595). Columbus, O.: Lutheran Book Concern.)
Hebrews 13:10-16 [10]We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. [11]For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. [12]So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. [13]Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. [14]For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. [15]Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. [16]Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (ESV)
• Unlike most OT offerings, the tabernacle priests could not eat the sin offering from the Day of Atonement, since it was burned outside the camp (Lev. 16:27). However, all Christians partake of the Christian altar (i.e., Jesus’ sacrifice). Here, the "Sacrifice of praise" (13:15–16) is a concept found repeatedly in the Psalms (Ps. 50:14, 23; 107:22; 116:17). Here it is not an offering of a sacrificial animal but the verbal praise of God’s name (cf. Heb. 12:28–29). "To do good and to share what you have" are also called sacrifices that are pleasing to God. When Christians realize that such things actually bring joy to God (they are “pleasing” to him), they are all the more motivated to do them, and they too find joy in the process (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2385). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
Quote: F. B. Meyer comments: “In love so measureless, so reckless of cost, for those who were naturally so unworthy of it, there was a spectacle which filled heaven with fragrance and God’s heart with joy". (F.B. Meyer, The Heavenlies, p. 25.)
The Lord Jesus pleased His Father by giving Himself for others. The moral is that we too can bring joy to God by giving ourselves for others. As Charles D. Meigs said: "Others, Lord, yes, others! Let this my motto be; Help me to live for others That I may live like Thee". (Charles D. Meigs. as quoted in MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 1941). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 25.)
3) The Perversion (Ephesians 5:3–4)
Ephesians 5:3-4 [3]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. (ESV)
It should not be surprising that the misguided quest for that kind of love leads inevitably to immorality and impurity, because that kind of love is selfish and destructive, a deceptive counterfeit of God’s love. It is always conditional and is always self–centered. It is not concerned about commitment but only satisfaction; it is not concerned about giving but only getting. It has no basis for permanence because its purpose is to use and to exploit rather than to serve and to help. It lasts until the one loved no longer satisfies or until he or she disappears for someone else. Immorality and impurity cannot be sanctified or modified into anything better than what they are, which is wickedness—a crime against the holy God and the loving Savior. In 1 Corinthians 5:1–5 and 6:13–20 Paul shows that there is no place for that in the Christian life.
Porneia (immorality) refers to all sexual sin, and all sexual sin is against God and against godly love. It is the antonym of enkrateia, which refers to self–control, especially in the area of sex. It refers to inappropriate sexual activity of any kind (extra-marital, pre-marital, homosexual, or bestial) (Utley, R. J. (1997). Paul Bound, the Gospel Unbound: Letters from Prison (Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon, then later, Philippians) (Vol. Volume 8, p. 125). Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International.).
Loss of sexual self–control leads to its opposite, which is immorality and impurity. Akatharsia (impurity) is a more general term than porneia, referring to anything that is unclean and filthy. The other ten times the word is used in the New Testament it is associated with sexual sin. It refers to immoral thoughts, passions, ideas, fantasies, and every other form of sexual corruption.
As Paul previously mentioned in Ephesians 4:19, covetousness/greed is inseparable from impurity. Every form of sexual immorality is an expression of the self–will, self–gratification, and self–centeredness of covetousness/greed. It is by nature contrary to love, which is self–giving. Immorality and impurity are but forms of covetousness/greed in the realm of sexual sin. They are manifestations of sexual covetousness and express counterfeit love which is really hate, since love seeks the purity of others and is unselfish. The way to avoid coveting others’ possessions is to concentrate with thanks upon the good things the Lord has given (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2270). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
• They are masquerading as something beautiful, good, and rewarding. Because those sins seem so attractive and promising, spouses are forsaken, children are neglected, homes are destroyed, friends are disregarded, as no effort is spared to fulfill the desire to have the one who is lusted after—all of that in the name of love. Because of the strong sexual nature of human beings, sexual sins are powerful and can become perverted in unimaginable ways. If given free rein, sexual sins lead to complete insensitivity to the feelings and welfare of others, to horrible brutality, and frequently to murder—as news stories testify daily.
That is why the sins of sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among Christians, as is proper among saints. Those sins cannot in any way be justified, and they should not in any way be tolerated. The meaning of saints is “holy ones,” and those who are holy have nothing to do with that which is unholy. This is a PRESENT PASSIVE IMPERATIVE with the NEGATIVE PARTICLE which usually means to stop an act in process. These sins were occurring in the church. Believers must guard against sins, and rumors/suspicions of sins (cf. 1 Thess. 5:22). We must model as well as speak the gospel. (Utley, R. J. (1997). Paul Bound, the Gospel Unbound: Letters from Prison (Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon, then later, Philippians) (Vol. Volume 8, p. 125). Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International.)
Paul continues his warning in verse 4 against this perversion of love by mentioning an extensive list of related sins that is sure to cover every believer at one time or another. Not only should Christians never engage in sexual sins of any kind, but they should never be guilty of filthiness , foolish talk, nor crude/coarse joking.
Filthiness has to do with general obscenity, any talk that is degrading and disgraceful. It comes from the same Greek root as “disgraceful” in verse 12, where Paul says that such vile things should not even be mentioned, much less participated in, and is related to the term in Colossians 3:8, meaning “dirty speech.”
Mōrologia (foolish talk) used only here in the New Testament, is derived from mōros (which means dull, or stupid, and is the word from which we get moron) and legō (to speak). It is stupid talk, talk only befitting someone who is intellectually deficient. It is sometimes referred to foolish talk that comes from the drunk or the gutter mouth. It has no point except to give an air of dirty worldliness.
Eutrapelia (crude/coarse joking), on the other hand, refers to talk that is more pointed and determined. It carries the idea of quickly turning something that is said or done—no matter how innocent—into that which is obscene or suggestive. It is the filthy talk of a person who uses every word and circumstance to display his immoral wit. It is the stock–in–trade of the clever talk–show host who is never at a loss for sexual innuendo. But the low obscenity of foolish talk and the “high” obscenity of crude/coarse joking come from the same kind of heart, the heart given over to moral filthiness.
Please turn to James 1 (p.1011)
In light of such clear teaching of God’s Word, it is strange that so many Christians not only discuss but laugh and joke with impunity about almost every form of sexual intimacy, corruption, and perversion. But God’s standard is clear: Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place.Tthe reason why Christians should dislike and avoid vulgarity is not because we have a warped view of sex, and are either ashamed or afraid of it, but because we have a high and holy view of it as being in its right place God’s good gift, which we do not want to see cheapened. All God’s gifts, including sex, are subjects for thanksgiving, rather than for joking. To joke about them is bound to degrade them; to thank God for them is the way to preserve their worth as the blessings of a loving Creator (Stott, J. R. W. (1979). God’s new society: the message of Ephesians (p. 193). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).
James 1:22-26 [22]But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [23]For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. [24]For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. [25]But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. [26]If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. (ESV)
• When the word of God reveals one's imperfections (as when looking in a mirror), common sense says something should be done about it. To bridle the tongue, means to keep a tight rein on speech like a bridle controlling a horse (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2392-3). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
Instead of being involved in immorality or filthy speaking, the believer’s mouth should be involved in Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is an expression of unselfishness. The selfish and unloving person does not give thanks because he thinks he deserves whatever good thing he receives. The unselfish and loving person, on the other hand, focuses their life and concern on the needs of others. Whatever good thing one receives from God or from other people, such a person counts as undeserved and gracious. The unselfish and loving person is always thankful because their spirit is one of loving and of giving. Instead of using others, we are to serve them. Instead of trying to turn the innocent into the immoral, we are to seek to change the immoral into what is righteous and holy. The unselfish and loving person is thankful because the holy life is the satisfying life, and people see love for God in the thankful person. Believers have received so many blessings from God, in grace as well as in nature, that thanksgiving should be a dominant note in their speech as well as in their thought. (Bruce, F. F. (1984). The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (p. 371). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Illustration: A man offered his house for sale. His prospective buyer couldn’t afford to pay the full price, so after the usual haggling, the seller came to terms: he would let his house go for less than he asked with only one stipulation. He would retain ownership of a small nail that protruded from just over the door. That seemed reasonable enough, so the buyer took possession on these terms. Several years went by and the original owner decided he wanted his house back, but the new owner refused to sell. So the first man went out, found the carcass of a dead animal, and hung it from the single nail that he still owned. The stench soon rendered the house uninhabitable, and the residents were forced to sell the house back to the owner of the nail. “If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation.” (Dale Hays, “Total Commitment,” Leadership, Spring 1983.)
4) The Punishment (Ephesians 5:5–7)
Ephesians 5:5-7 [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; (ESV)
It is clear that Paul is restating a truth he had taught the Ephesians many times while he pastored among them and, no doubt, one that others had reinforced. For you may be sure of this/you know with certainty, he said. There should have been no doubt or confusion in their minds about what he was about to say, because it was nothing new.
God does not tolerate sin, and perverted false love leads to judgment. Sin has no place in His kingdom and no place in His family. Immoral, impure, and covetous are from the same basic Greek words as immorality, impurity and covetousness/greed in verse 3. Covetousness is a form of idolatry. The covetous person , therefore, is more than simply selfish and immoral; such a one is an idolater (cf. Col. 3:5). Indeed, inordinate desire in any direction can create idolatry, so the second table of the Ten Commandments is inextricably bound to the first. The sinner—whatever the particular sin that entangles him, small or great, whether sins of omission or of commission—wakes up to a similar solemn realization (Uprichard, H. (2004). A Study Commentary on Ephesians (p. 279). Darlington, England; Auburn, MA: Evangelical Press.)
Persons who are characterized by the sins Paul has just condemned in verses 3 and 4 will have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. No person whose life pattern is one of habitual immorality, impurity and covetousness/greed can be a part of God’s kingdom, because no such person can belong to Him. Such would contradict the truths of Romans 6 and 2 Corinthians 5:17, as well as the instruction of 1 John regarding the characteristics of believers. The life described here testifies to an unredeemed, sinful nature—no matter what relationship to Christ a person might claim to have. God’s children have God’s nature, and the habitually sinful person proves that they do not have a godly nature (1 John 3:9–10). The kingdom of Christ and God refers to the sphere of salvation, the community of the redeemed and the place of eternal glory. The kingdom is the rule of Christ and God, which includes the present rule of God, and the eternal state in glory. Every person who is saved, and is therefore a part of that glorious rule of Christ and God, is instructed by the Holy Spirit and by the inclination of his new nature to forsake sin and to seek righteousness. The person whose basic life pattern does not reflect that orientation cannot properly claim God as his Father or the kingdom of Christ and God as his or her inheritance.
Please turn to 1 Corinthians 6 (p.955)
It is dangerously deceptive for Christians to try to give assurance of salvation to someone who has no biblical grounds for such assurance. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul gives an even more detailed listing of sins whose habitual practice proves a person is not saved and has no claim on God
1 Corinthians 6:9-13 [9]Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, [10]nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. [11]And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. [12]"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. [13]"Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"--and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. (ESV)
• A Child of God is not characterized by habitual sin (cf Gal. 5:17–21). The verdict of God is that, no matter what may be the claim, a life dominated by sin like this is running head long into eternal judgment.
People will try to deny that, but Paul warns not to listen to them. He warns in verse 6 to: Let no one deceive you with empty words, telling you that sin is tolerable and that God will not exclude unrepentant sinners from His kingdom. Empty words are full of error, devoid of truth, and therefore they deceive.
It is because of these things, that is, because of the sins listed here and the lies of empty words, that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Such people are called sons of disobedience (cf. 2:2) because it is their nature is to disobey and they are “children of wrath” (2:3; cf 2 Thess. 1:8–10), the targets for God’s judgment. The Lord’s attitude toward such sins as fornication and adultery was seen in Numbers 25:1–9: twenty-four thousand Israelites were slain because they sinned with the women of Moab. The Lord’s attitude toward homosexuality was displayed when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by brimstone and fire from heaven (Gen. 19:24, 28) Those who practice sexual sins experience His judgment in other ways. There are physical effects, such as venereal disease and AIDS. There are mental, nervous, and emotional disorders arising from a sense of guilt. There are changes in the personality—the effeminate often becomes even more so (Rom. 1:27). And of course there will be the final, eternal judgment of God (MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 1942). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.).
In a final warning in verse 7, Paul says, Therefore do not become partners /partakers with them. “Partners” (συμμέτοχοι, symmetochoi) are joint-partakers, people who share completely in full fellowship. The believers of Asia Minor can either become “full partners” with the saints (3:6) or “full partners” with the disobedient, but not with both. The groups are mutually exclusive.( Boles, K. L. (1993). Galatians & Ephesians (Eph 5:7). Joplin, MO: College Press. )
• “Don’t join the world in its evil,” he says. “Don’t be partners with them in wickedness. Be partners with Christ in righteousness. Don’t imitate the world, but rather be imitators of God, as beloved children” (v. 1).
(Format note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1986). Ephesians (pp. 193–203). Chicago: Moody Press.)
