31/12/17 Ephesians 5:11-21 “What communion has light with darkness?”
Ephesians 5:11 – And have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [them].
fellowship – sygkoinoneo (to become partaker
together with others) from syn (together; a synthesis; many being made
into one) + koinoneo – to have fellowship with; be made a partner; join
one’s self to an associate) Used in the following:
Revelation 18:4 – And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come
out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and
that ye receive not of her plagues.
unfruitful – metaphorically: without fruit, barren,
not yielding what it ought to yield.
darkness – metaphorically: of ignorance respecting
divine things and human duties, and the accompanying ungodliness and
immorality, together with their consequent misery in hell; persons in whom
darkness becomes visible and holds sway.
Romans 6:21 – What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye
are now ashamed? for the end of those things [is] death.
reprove – convict; refute; bring to the light;
expose; correct.
“And (as children of the light –
Ephesians 5:8) do not partake
together with the unfruitful works of those who prefer the darkness to the
light; rather (instead;
more willingly) convict them (bring them to the light;
correct them).”
2 Corinthians 6:14 – Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness?
Do not be satisfied
with living a life of light for yourself; rather, cause your life to actively
oppose the unfruitful works of darkness. It is not your words which will
reprove them, but rather your works of righteousness which will convict
them of the darkness of their works. Note what we were looking at a couple of
weeks ago: Neither
give place to the devil. (Ephesians 4:27) Being
unequally yoked means the equivalent of a Christian being partaker together
with one who serves the enemy. Giving place to the devil means setting aside
portion or part of your life for the devil (or one who serves him, including
demons) to influence or take control of. It’s something that a Christian just
should not get involved in. God has promised that, for Christians, all things
work together for good (see Romans 8:28) but if the Christian gives permission
for the enemy to get involved with his life, then the promise of Romans 8:28
has literally “flown out the window”! Note also that the promise that we are
more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) may not apply either!
Ephesians 5:12 – For it is
a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
a shame – or
dishonourable
“For it is shameful
to even speak about those things that such people do in secret, that is,
privately.”
(For such
immorality should not even ever be mentioned concerning the saints!)
Ephesians 5:3 – But fornication, and all uncleanness, or
covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
There is a definite
trend in many churches to shock-preach, that is, use the language and imagery
of the day to teach the Bible. (Eg. years ago with the God Squad who claimed
that you had to speak the gutter-language of the lost; also the alarming
tendency for many neo-calvinists such as Mark “potty-mouth” Driscoll, and the
fascination with using the “s” word by such as Paul Tripp and John Piper.)
There is no place for Christians to “say it as it is”, especially when it is
certain to offend. I note that people would attend potty-mouth’s church to hear
him swear, and if he didn’t, then to wonder if perhaps he might have got saved
since the previous Sunday!
Ephesians 5:13 – But all
things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth
make manifest is light.
manifest – make visible that which has been hidden;
expose to view; to be thoroughly understood.
Those who carry out
all those unfruitful works of darkness (immorality, wickedness) that are
reproved (brought to the light and exposed to view) have been revealed by the
light (which the children of the light should have). For it is light that
reveals what we need to see and know, that is, the truth. It’s the reason why
we are obsessed with torches of all shapes and sizes when camping; we like to
know where we are going in the dark and what we might be stepping in, for
example. Exactly the same logic applies to the truth of the Bible.
A shadow only
occurs when the light is blocked off or lessened in some way. A shadow can
never occur unless something gets in the way of light. The source of light can
never have a shadow unless something obstructs it!
Jesus came into the
world as a light and the darkness could not overcome it.
John 1:5 – And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness
comprehended it not.
Men of darkness
hate the light (of Jesus) because the light exposes their deeds.
John 3:19-21 – 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come
into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But
he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God.
And God Himself is
light dwelling in unapproachable light.
1 Timothy 6:16a – Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light
which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see:
Ephesians 5:14 – Wherefore
he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall
give thee light.
awake – be aroused; cause to rise from sleep,
bed, seat etc. It can have the idea of gathering or collecting one’s faculties,
or coming to one’s senses. It is often associated with being risen from the
dead, as in Luke 24:34 – Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath
appeared to Simon.
sleepest – metaphorically: to give in to laziness
and sin; indifferent to one’s salvation.
arise – metaphorically: to raise up or cause to
be raised up from the spiritually dead.
Matthew 20:19 – And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and
to scourge, and to crucify [him]: and the third day he shall rise
again.
shall give …
light – to shine upon. That
is, Christ will pour upon you the divine truth as the sun gives light to men
aroused from sleep. Also translated as “rose again” in 1 Thessalonians 4:14.
Rise up from your
spiritual sleep, you that have given in to laziness (slothfulness) and sin;
rise up from being spiritually dead and Christ shall give you the light of His
gospel, for satan blinds the eyes of the lost lest the light of Christ’s gospel
should expose the deeds of darkness and they be saved.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 – 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that
are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Ephesians 5:14 could
be a paraphrase of Isaiah 60:1 – Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory
of the Lord is risen upon thee.
But no exact match
can be found for the quote. However, who is Paul quoting? It is quite possible
that Paul is quoting some unnamed person here. The subject here (that is, the
speaker) doesn’t seem to be determined by the grammar and could be translated
as “”it may be said” or “someone has said”.
Ephesians 5:15 – See then
that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
walk – to conduct one’s self; live or control one’s
life
circumspectly – exactly; accurately; diligently. Related
to a word meaning “the most precise and rigorous in interpreting the Mosaic
law, and in observing even the more minute precepts of the law and tradition”.
That is, crossing all t’s and dotting all i’s. Translated as “diligently” in
the following:
Acts 18:25a – This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and
being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things
of the Lord
The Bible defines a
fool as a person who says that there is no God.
The
fool hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. (Psalm
14:1)
This wisdom is of
God and not of the world; note the following:
1 Corinthians 1:21-23 – 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by
wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the
Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But
we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks
foolishness;
Ephesians 5:16 – Redeeming
the time, because the days are evil.
Amos 5:13 – Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that
time; for it [is] an evil time.
redeeming – here it is said to mean to make wise and
sacred use of every opportunity for doing good, so that zeal and well doing are
as it were the purchase money by which we make the time our own.
evil – full of labours, annoyances, hardships;
harassed by labour and toil (noting Christians who are harassed because of
their faith and steadfastness); in an ethical sense, evil, wicked, bad.
The idea here is
that we have somehow by our sin sold our time to satan; we are slaves under his
control, for the whole world lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19). Also note 2
Timothy 4:2. It can have the idea of buying some time, a breathing space so to
speak, such as in Daniel 2:8 – The king answered and said, I know of certainty
that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
Paul is probably
telling the Ephesians that they need to take back control of the time they
have. They need to make every minute count doing the will of God (see next Vs).
They need to redeem the time, that is, buy up (or buy back) every opportunity
for service to God (by using the light of the gospel of Christ to overcome
darkness while the time for such still exists). The days are evil such that we
must buy up every opportunity to be lights on a hill, for only light can dispel
the darkness. We must buy back (redeem) that time from those evil days.
Ephesians 5:17 – Wherefore
be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord [is].
understanding – syniemi (to set or bring together
like hostile combatants, but also bringing together or joining together things
in the mind, thus coming to an understanding) from syn + hiemi –
to send.
The world is
unwise; not one lost person understands the wisdom of God; not one lost person
even wants to know about God.
Romans 3:11 – There is none that understandeth, there is
none that seeketh after God.
“But you, the saints of Ephesus, you must not be unwise (that is, you must not be fools), but instead you should understand what the
will of God is concerning
you.”
Romans 12:1-2 – 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, [which is] your reasonable service. 2 And be not
conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will
of God.
Not all who claim
to be Christians, not all who call God Lord, Lord, will enter heaven.
Matthew 7:21 – Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which
is in heaven.
If a man hears the
word of God but doesn’t ponder its meaning (he understands it not), then the
seed of the sower is snatched away by satan.
Matthew 13:19 – When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and
understandeth [it] not, then cometh the wicked [one], and
catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed
by the way side.
Note that this seed
was sown in the person’s heart, yet even then it was snatched away.
Ephesians 5:18 – And be
not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
be … drunk – methysko (be drunken; intoxicated)
from methyo (drunken; metaphorically: one who has shed blood or murdered
profusely) Being drunk carried the idea of literally having no limits to
behaviour. Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu,
“wine”)
be filled – pleroo
This appears to be
a seeking after Mammon, a hedonistic pursuit of the vanity of the pleasures of
the world in a frenzy of riotous living.
1 Peter 4:1-4 – 1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in
the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath
suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 2 That he no
longer should live the rest of [his] time in the flesh to the lusts of
men, but to the will of God. 3 For the time past of [our] life
may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in
lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable
idolatries: 4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not
with [them] to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of [you]:
Instead they were
to be filled (pleroo) with the Spirit of God, that is, to have the
fulness of the Spirit who indwelt them.
Ephesians 5:19 – Speaking
to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in your heart to the Lord;
psalms – psalmos (a striking, twanging, of
chords of musical instrument; a pious song; a psalm)
hymns – hymnos (a song in praise of gods,
heroes, conquerors; a sacred song; hymn) from hydeo – to celebrate.
spiritual – pneumatikos (relating to the human
spirit, or rational soul, as part of the man which is akin to God and serves as
his instrument or organ; pertaining to the wind or breath; windy, exposed to
the wind, blowing)
songs – ode (song; ode)
making melody – psallo (pluck; cause to vibrate by
touching, to twang, especially of musical instrument; to sing to music of a
harp; sing a hymn or song of praise) From psao – to rub or touch the
surface.
to yourselves – to one another
The terms do not
actually specify hymns as we would understand them, but simply singing a hymn
or song of praise. If it doesn’t praise God, then it doesn’t apply, and that
has to include the music as well as the lyrics. The next verse gives much more
clarity to the meaning: that it must give thanks always for all things; it must
be literally praise given to God, the Father, and Jesus Christ.
Colossians 3:16-17 – 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all
wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And
whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
This does add,
however, that our singing must be with grace in our hearts.
Ephesians 5:20 – Giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ;
unto God and the
Father – literally “to the
God and Father”.
always, all
things – both are absolutes
that, lacking any definable limits of any sort, must be taken at face value to
mean all-ways, all things.
Some teach that
“all things” can actually mean “all people”. Barnes says: The sense, according to this, would be, that we are to
praise God for his general mercy to mankind; for all the happiness which
mortals are permitted to enjoy; for the love of God to mankind in creation, in
providence, and in redemption - just as a grateful child will give thanks for
all the kindness shown to his brothers and sisters.
It is true that the
grammar does not say “things”, nor does it say “people”, but simply
“all” (pas). Thus, we give thanks for all (which includes both things
and people!).
Ephesians 5:21 – Submitting
yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
submitting – to be subject to; obey; submit to
another’s control; yield to admonition or advice. A Greek military term meaning "to
arrange [troop divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a
leader". In non-military use, it was "a voluntary attitude of giving
in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden".
fear – fear; dread; terror; that which strikes
terror; reverence for one’s husband (see following verses next week for
context).
This is leading
into a passage that many militant feminists challenge as a male chauvinist
translation, and that if women had been translating the Bible, they would have
written it otherwise. Of course, the Bible might well have been written many
different ways according to the politics of the translators (and all too often
today many versions are just that, full of political correctness). However, the
meaning is not a put-down of women (as is all too often found in Muslim
writings) but a simple statement of the lines of authority. Such lines of
authority do not create greater and lesser beings, but rather a difference of
responsibilities. In particular, those who have greater responsibility will
have the greater scrutiny in judgment, and if those who consider themselves the
downtrodden desire more authority, then they will answer to God concerning that
greater authority. Authority without responsibility is dictatorship.
James 3:1 – My brethren, be not many masters (teachers), knowing that we shall
receive the greater condemnation (judgment).
However, while the next passage teaches on submission of some to
others, here we are to submit to one another (mutually) according to this
verse. That is, this verse does not specify who submits to whom, and actually
teaches that we are to submit one to another, reciprocally. The word itself
means “reciprocal”.
We are to submit to one another in the fear (dread; terror) of how we
are going to answer to God when He judges us on such.
Matthew 10:28 – And fear not them which kill
the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able
to destroy both soul and body in hell.
2 Corinthians 5:10-11 – 10 For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in
[his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good
or bad. 11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we
persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made
manifest in your consciences.
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