Ephesians: His Glorious RichesSample

One of the dangers in reading Ephesians is that we forget that the first three chapters come before the last three! The first half of Ephesians is a breathtaking description of our glorious salvation (Eph. 1–3). When Paul moves on to the practical outworking of this salvation (Eph. 4–6), it is easy to turn this into a legalistic, man-centred obedience, in which we try to earn God’s favour by obeying H is commands and living a holy life. This is to put the cart before the horse. A holy life is vital, but it flows out of the experience of grace; it is not a means of securing God’s approval. All of us are legalists at heart and we naturally share this performance mentality. 

This is a particular danger in Ephesians 4:17 – 5:21. Here Paul instructs the Christians in Ephesus how they should live in a pagan world and calls them to live holy lives. We too are to be different from the world in our conduct, passions and goals. As we look at this section, we need to remind ourselves that a holy life flows from the gratitude of a grace captivated heart. Paul begins with some general principles (4:17–24) and then applies it in very practical areas, such as truth, anger and purity (4:25 – 5:21). 

If we are to live holy lives, we must remember from what we have been saved (vv. 17–19). Many of the Ephesians were saved from paganism and so they must no longer live like the Gentiles (4:17; 5:2, 8, 15). Ephesus was a dark and godless place and Paul paints its spiritual condition in three lurid terms: 

It was futile in its thinking (v. 17) – its whole approach to life was vain, empty and fruitless. The world offers satisfaction and happiness, but it cannot deliver (Ecc. 1:2; 2:1–26). God rescued us from this empty way of life (1 Pet. 1:18). 

It was darkened in its understanding (v. 18). The evidence for God’s existence is seen in creation and the human conscience (Ps. 19:1–5; Rom. 1:18–20), but people suppress this knowledge because they do not want to submit to their Creator (Rom. 1:21–23). 

It was reckless in its living (v. 19). Having cut themselves off from God, people lose their moral compass. Overthrowing moral restraints, they live to please themselves. 

The pressures of the world are always around us and the world is very seductive. Do we really have to be different? Paul’s antidote is to remind the Ephesians of how dreadful it was before they were rescued by God’s grace.

Reflection

We are called to live holy lives (1 Pet. 1:13– 16). How does what we have learned today help us to do this? How does it help us to avoid legalism?