Ephesians 4:25–5:20 Bible Study Notes
(avg. read time: 5–10 mins.)
Translation
4:25 Therefore, ridding yourselves of the lie, “speak truth, each one, with his neighbor,” because we are part of one another; 26 be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your indignation, 27 nor give the devil a place. 28 The thief must no longer steal, but rather he must labor, producing with his [own] hands the good, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 29 Not a single rotten word shall come from your mouths, but only if there is any good word for the edification of the need, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you, together with all malice. 32 [But] Be kind to one another, compassionate, giving grace to each other just also God in Christ gave grace to you.
5:1 Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself over for/because of us as an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. 3 But sexual immorality, and all impurity or covetousness/greediness must not even be mentioned/named among you, just as is proper among the saints, 4 nor shamefulness and foolish speech or ribaldry, which are not fitting, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For this you ought to know with certainty, that not one sexually immoral, impure, or greedy/covetous person, which is to say an idolater, will have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of this the wrath/anger of God is coming upon the children of disobedience.
7 Therefore, do not become partners with them; 8 for you were once darkness, but now are light in the Lord; walk as children of light—9 for the fruit of light is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth—10 by testing what is pleasing to the Lord; 11 do not participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead even expose them, 12 for what is done in secret by them is disgraceful even to speak; 13 but all things become exposed when they are revealed/made visible by the light, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 For this reason, do not be fools/foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, by/in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 [by/in] speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual/Spiritual songs, singing and making melodies in your hearts to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks for/because of all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and Father,
Observations
As in the previous unit, Paul illustrates here how truth is crucial to unity. After all, he says we are to speak truth to one another “because we are part of one another.” Being truthful is good for the body as a whole and our health as a body is only improved by living properly in light of the truth that constitutes us.
One of the most notable ethical directives here is “be angry and do not sin” (4:26). Anger itself is not identified as sin. After all, indignation can be a proper cause or source of anger. But overweening anger gives the devil a place. When one holds on to anger for too long or gives it too much control over one’s heart and mind, it becomes corrupted to another fount of sin that leads to division. Anger becomes a sin if it contradicts Christian identity and undermines proper Christian unity.
As we see from vv. 28–29, how we speak is also crucial to unity, the integrity of the body, and one’s own integrity. We are to produce good both by hand and by word. Emphasizing the one at the expense of the other leads to stunted growth. And here is where the instruction about speaking truth to one another is reinforced in its importance, because truthfulness edifies.
Another noteworthy feature of ch. 4 before we move on to ch. 5 is Paul’s reference to grieving the Holy Spirit. From the beginning, Paul identified the Spirit as our seal for the day of redemption. Throughout the letter, he has emphasized the eschatological work of the Spirit in transforming us for the inheritance we will receive of God’s kingdom. But we can grieve the Holy Spirit, as in squelching the life-giving fire he produces in us, specifically by clinging to the old life. The Spirit takes us wherever we are, but, thank God, he does not leave us where we are. He has a purpose in making us like Christ, and we are at cross purposes with him if we seek to cling to our life before he sealed us.
As such, he tells us to be “imitators of God” (5:1). Just as God’s commands to be holy are best summarized as “be holy as/because I am holy,” the essence of theological ethics is to become what God declares us to be and made us to be. That is, we are to be the bearers of his image and likeness that he designed humans to be. To imitate God is also to become more fully human. And to imitate God is to become more like the Christ in whose image the Spirit is shaping us by his work of making us holy (i.e., sanctification).
It is interesting how thanksgiving is presented as the contrast to all the sinful conditions of vv. 3–4. More specifically, thanksgiving is something that is the transforming initiative and replacement of these conditions. For when one lives in thanksgiving for what God has given, for who God is, and for where God has placed one, that person does not engage in these other behaviors.
As earlier in ch. 4, Paul defines sin in terms of idolatry. That is, sin is that which denies or defies the truth that God is God. As such, the root sin of idolatry includes consequences of sexual immorality, impurity, and greed/covetousness. And as in 1 Cor 6:9–10 and other such texts, Paul says those who form their character with such actions will not have an inheritance in the kingdom of God (5:5). And to suggest otherwise is to give validity to “empty words.” Empty words are the speech that belongs to idolatry, just as those statues represent empty claims to godhood and contrasts to the living God.
Verses 7–14 are defined by the imagery of going from darkness to light. Darkness hides and light reveals. Thus, to walk in light leads to bearing fruit revealing what the Spirit has planted inside of the believer, as the fruit that comes forth is goodness, righteousness/justice, and truth, all of which Paul has emphasized in ethical instruction to this point. And it all concludes with a double allusion to Scripture in the declaration, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” This is a combination of allusions to Isa 26:19 and 60:1–2. The resurrection imagery comes from the former passage. One can awake in the present time in anticipation of the resurrection to come, when we will be raised “from” the dead, in separation from others as Christ was thus separated. The light imagery comes from the latter passage as Christ, the one typically referred to as “Lord” in the NT, is identified with the Lord in that text, and this text is in turn linked with the new Jerusalem and (later in Isaiah) the new creation. As in the prologue of John, the light that Christ shines on us is life, his life, the everlasting life, the life of the age to come. We have it now, but we will receive in full when we receive the inheritance promised us, as Paul spoke of in ch. 1. Thus, we see again the connections of resurrection and new creation, and Christ is the one who holds those promises together.
The final section serves as a hinge leading into the household codes that we will review (all too briefly) next time. He frames his instruction with the command to “redeem the time.” This is to act with eschatological awareness because the current age in which we are operating is one of evil. But we can act in anticipation of the coming kingdom now because of what Christ has already accomplished.
In the Ephesian context, the background for Paul’s description of being filled with the Spirit is the negative contrast from certain cults. Namely, the cults of Isis and Dionysus featured drunkenness and bawdy songs that were designed to arouse (the cults also practiced castration and sexual immorality respectively). By contrast, to be filled with the Holy Spirit rather than the kind of spirits that accompany these religions has outcomes including speaking in psalms (as from the Scriptures), hymns (that is, poetic ascriptions of praise), and songs. The description of “Spirit-inspired” may apply to the last one or (whether by grammar or by implication of being linked to the most general category) to all of them.
Reflection Questions
What does this text say about God the Father?
He has given us grace in Christ. God made us to be imitators of him. He has a kingdom that excludes sexual immorality, impurity, and greediness/covetousness, all signs of idolatry. The wrath of God will wipe out these things that are not allowed in his kingdom. We give thanks to God.
What does this text say about God the Son?
He is the means by which God has dispensed grace. He gave himself as a sacrifice to God out of love for us. His love and his will define us. We are in him. He is the light that gives us life. We give thanks to God in the name of the Son.
What does this text say about God the Holy Spirit?
We can grieve the Holy Spirit. He is our seal for the day of redemption. We are to be filled in/with the Spirit, which results in speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual/Spiritual songs, singing and making melodies in our hearts to the Lord, as well as always giving thanks for all things.
What does this text say to or about the people of God?
We owe truthfulness to each other because we are part of one another. It is acceptable to be angry, provided it does not lead to sin. We serve each other’s needs. Our words should edify rather than produce rot. We ought not grieve the Holy Spirit. We are to be kind to one another, compassionate, giving grace to each other just as also God in Christ gave grace to us. In other words, we are to be imitators of God as his children. We are to love as Christ first loved us. We are to be a thankful people. We are children of light and are thus to be characterized by goodness, righteousness, and truth. To be in the light is to be and to live in Christ. We are to understand the will of the Lord. We are to redeem the time. We are to be filled with the Spirit.