Word Live: Be Who You Are
Knowing whose we are is vital for knowing who we are. As you read today, pray that you will know more about your identity in Christ.
Bible passage
Ephesians 5:1–7
1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: no immoral, impure or greedy person – such a person is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
Verses 1,2. Paul see-saws between commands and their reasons – gospel truths. We are to follow God’s example – as ‘dearly loved children’ (v 1); to live a life of love – ‘as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us’ (v 2). Even in the middle of his writing about Christian behaviour, Paul cannot resist returning to Christ’s victory.
While he describes the cross as being ‘for us’, it is ultimately a ‘fragrant offering’ to God. Here, he picks up imagery from Leviticus about sacrifices in the tabernacle and Temple (eg Leviticus 1:13; 2:1,2). Why do you think Paul does this?
Verses 3–7. Look out for how Paul’s see-sawing of commands and their reasons continues through these verses. Again, he focuses on our words (see 4:29), although it is not restricted just to what we say. His words challenge western Christians who assume that sexual behaviour is the most important ethical issue. Yet, most are unable to point fingers at the world because of their inconsistent application of verse 3. And what is the connection between greed and idolatry (v 5)? What are you most prone to idolising, or relying on, for your security, in place of trusting Christ?
Author
Mark Meynell
Respond
Are there aspects of your identity in Christ that you find hard to accept? Pray for the Lord to deepen your sense of security in those areas.
Deeper Bible study
‘Q: What is the chief end of man? A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.’1
Again, we have ‘therefore’. Removing the textual break, the sense becomes clear: God through Christ has forgiven us (4:32), follow God’s example, therefore (v 1). Forgiving others as we have been forgiven, as Jesus urges us, is hard to put into practice. Yet forgiving others is a key component of ‘living a life of love’ in imitation of Christ (vs 1,2). Also hard is focusing our lives on God rather than ourselves. Sexual immorality and pleasure-seeking dominated the world of the first Christians. The same sins recur in Paul’s writings.2 These are not just dated warnings for an earlier age. God intended us to enjoy sex and the beauty of creation, but there was a reason Paul put sex and materialism together in the same clause (v 5). Illicit sex pervades our TV screens. Varied sexual relationships are constant components of movies. The sexual escapades of celebrities are prime-time news. Sex and materialism have merged to become ever more alluring. Sexually attractive people dress in the glamorous clothes the ads urge us to wear. They eat tantalising gourmet food. They drive the beautiful cars they want us to desire as part of our self-image.
The writer names such materialism for what it is: greed is idolatry, the worst of Old Testament sins.3 Paul said idolatry meant worshipping the creature more than the Creator.4 Idolatry is portrayed as spiritual adultery, flirting with the ungodly, filling our lives with God-substitutes. We Christians are far from immune to it. Materialism is insidious; temptation is everywhere. We Christians can be deceived, too easily accepting the world’s values, too easily lured into its dark web. We must be in the world, but not of the world. Sometimes that requires conscious disconnection – and for that we need power beyond ourselves.
‘Through the cross, Christ’s love empowers us / worldliness and self deny; / by his Spirit it inspires us / him, through love, to glorify.’5
1Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 1 2 Eg 1 Cor 6:18; Col 3:5; 1 Thess 4:3 3Deut 32:16 4Rom 1:25 5 Charles Louis Fouvy, 1928–2015, additional verse in John Bowring, 1792–1872, ‘In the cross’
Author
John Harris
