Light and Dark

Reading:  Ephesians 5:8-14
    
    The Bible often uses light and dark to describe the difference between good and evil.  Paul urges Christians not to involve themselves in worldly activities “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord”(Eph 5:8-10).  Paul does not just say that Christians once were in darkness, but that we once were darkness and now we are light.  We have been shown the goodness, righteousness, and truth that are in Christ and they have become a part of our character.  That now needs to play out in our choices as we “try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”

    Specifically this has applications to our associations with worldly people.  “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.  But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light”(Eph 5:11-14).  We must distance ourselves from the things we once were a part of—and perhaps also from those who continue to practice them.  This is not because we are “too good” for such activities, but because we have learned from Jesus how evil they are and we want to live in a higher, cleaner way.  We have become light, which means that we don’t want to be a part of the darkness anymore.

    Passages like these challenge us because life is rarely so black-and-white.  We must make decisions about our activities, words, friendships, attitudes, and money in which good and evil are not always apparent.  Yet freedom in Christ does not mean that all choices are now fine; Paul’s wording here rules that out.  Our goal is to “discern what is pleasing to the Lord” and “look carefully then how you walk”(Eph 5:15), continually aware of the danger of stepping out of the light and back into darkness.  

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One Thing to Think About: Why is it sometimes hard to tell good from evil?

One Thing to Pray For:  Discernment of the will of God in my everyday decisions 
 

What Is Proper Among Saints

Reading:  Ephesians 5:3-7
    
    Paul continues to detail the shift that occurs when Jesus begins to transform us.  “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints”(Eph 5:3).  Our attitudes toward sex must change when we become saints.  Sex outside our marriage bond pollutes us and compromises our newly-gained holiness.  Likewise “impurity” (things that defile) and “covetousness” (a lust for possessions) must be removed from our lives.  Why?  Interestingly, Paul comments that a covetous person is an “idolater”(Eph 5:5), implying that we can make a false god out of the things we want.  But his thought is even more sweeping:  “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”(Eph 5:5).  It is not enough to be cleansed from these things by the blood of Jesus; if we return to them, we stand to forfeit the inheritance he has given us.

    Paul also sets expectations here for how Christian community should work.  Having already said that some things are not “proper among saints,” he goes further:  “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving”(Eph 5:4).  Because we have experienced sin and its unpleasantness, we no longer want sin to be a part of our speech.  It is “out of place.”  Christians do not talk in crude or foolish ways to one another.  We do not consider sin a laughing matter.  Instead, Christian communities are full of “thanksgiving” as we continually remember and discuss all that God has done for us.

    God has changed us from sinners to saints.  Now we live with respect for what is “proper among saints.”  The idea here is not that we simply keep our desires for evil things quiet around our brethren, but that we no longer want what we used to want.  The Christian community helps transform us by giving us a place where gratitude and holiness are expected.

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One Thing to Think About: Do I bring impurity, evil ideas, or foolish talk to the community?

One Thing to Pray For:  A stronger desire for the pure, good things that God has revealed
 

A Higher Way of Life

Reading:  Ephesians 4:25-5:2
    
    Paul fleshes out what it means to “put off your old self” and “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness”(Eph 4:22, 24).  God has expectations for how his people will live once they are redeemed and he has earned our allegiance by saving and forgiving us.  This higher way of life will mean that we must put away old, evil behaviors and replace them with new, holy behaviors.  “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another”(Eph 4:25).  We must stop lying.  But God does not want us to merely sit silently so that we do not lie; we replace our old habit with a new insistence on speaking truth at all times.  Stark honesty will be an adjustment.  We will still grow angry, but we do not let our anger to lead us to sin as we did before (Eph 4:26-27).  In place of our old habit of thieving and harming others, we “labor, doing honest work with (our) own hands”(Eph 4:28).  Instead of taking from others, we give.  Rather than using our speech to tear down and spread corruption, we speak encouraging words that bless those around us (Eph 4:29).  

    Paul then highlights our reaction when we are wounded by others.  “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you”(Eph 4:31-32).  Each word here (bitterness, wrath, slander, malice) represents a response to harm that God has now deemed inappropriate.  It’s who we used to be.  But now that we have been forgiven, we forgive each other.  Allowing anger to reign in our hearts, poisoning our view of others, is destructive and evil.

    With just a few verses, Paul throws down the gauntlet.  Each one of these areas holds a deep challenge.  Many of these practices have been burned into us as deeply ingrained habits.  Some of them are now parts of our personalities:  we are crotchety or loose with the truth or swift to anger.  Paul does not say this change will be easy.  But God has forgiven and changed us by his grace and now renews our minds.  These changes are possible and the higher way of life God calls us to, by his power, we can reach.

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One Thing to Think About: In which of these areas do I need the most work?

One Thing to Pray For:  Courage to confront my bad habits and power to overcome them
 

We Live Like We Think

Reading:  Ephesians 4:17-24
    
    Paul grows increasingly practical in this part of the letter, emphasizing that what we believe about Jesus must begin to affect our behavior.  “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds”(Eph 4:17).  The Gentiles were notorious for low moral standards (see 1 Cor 5:1 and Matt 5:47), so Paul wants these Gentiles to make some changes from their former way of life.  But before they can learn to “no longer walk as the Gentiles do,” they must first see the mental world from which such actions spring:  “the futility of their minds.”  

    He goes on:  “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.  They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity”(Eph 4:18-19).  The descriptions here center around the mental world.  Pointless, darkened, ignorant, callous thinking leads somewhere.  When we give ourselves up to sensuality, it is no surprise when we live sensual lives.  When we are “greedy to practice every kind of impurity,” it is no surprise when we end up practicing every kind of impurity.  When our thoughts are dark, our lives inevitably become dark.  We live like we think.  So when Paul teaches Christians to “put off the old self” and “put on the new self,” he stresses that we need “to be renewed in the spirit of (our) minds”(Eph 4:22, 24, 23).  Without new patterns of thinking, we will find long-term behavior change impossible.  We live like we think.

    What we dwell on, desire, and aspire to affects our behavior.  We are misguided if we believe that our thoughts don’t matter as long as we don’t act on them.  Serious sin emerges from a bubbling inner cauldron of seriously dark thoughts and emotions.  The good news is that Jesus provides renewal for our thinking:  new thoughts, wholesome and good, producing new emotions and leading to a completely fresh, holy way of life.  When we ingest and delight in his words and goals, letting his word dwell in us richly, we can begin to live in higher ways.

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One Thing to Think About: What do I spend most of my time thinking about?

One Thing to Pray For:  The renewal of my mind
 

The Goal of Gifts

Reading:  Ephesians 4:7-16
    
    Paul has already spoken about God’s rich grace in saving us from our sins (Eph 1:6-8, 2:5-8) and the grace he received by being named an apostle to the Gentiles (Eph 3:2, 7-8).  Now he discusses how God has given all of us further gifts:  “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men’”(Eph 4:7-8).  As part of Jesus’ victory over sin and death, he also gave unique blessings to all Christians, to be used in his service and to further his will.

    What gifts?  “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”(Eph 4:11-12).  Jesus has given far more gifts than just these (see, for example, Rom 12:4-8), but Paul wants to focus on the gifts that directly benefit the growth of the body.  Each of these (apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds) speaks to a unique role in communicating God’s will and drawing disciples closer to Jesus.  These gifts “equip the saints for the work of ministry,” preparing and inspiring us to serve others.  We continue to grow “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine”(Eph 4:13-14).  Steady teaching and consistent progress protect us from false ideas and immaturity.  Every part of the body contributes to the whole.  Every part grows stronger.  Every part builds up the others.  All of us together reflect the greatness of the Lord we serve.  

    When Jesus gives us gifts, they have a purpose.  My gifts are not intended to give me power over others, to benefit my ego, or to enrich me.  Jesus has given us special talents and roles so that we can help our brothers.  We can “equip the saints for the work of ministry” and “(build) up the body of Christ.”  As we grow to recognize our unique set of skills, relationships, and influences, we must begin to ask the question:  how can I use this to bless my brothers and strengthen Christ’s body?

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One Thing to Think About: What are my gifts?  How am I tempted to use them only for myself?

One Thing to Pray For:  The building up of the body of Christ