A New Life...Walk in Love

Living Right in a World Gone Wrong…Studies in Ephesians

A New Life…Walk in Love

Ephesians 5:1-7

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 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.

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. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.

There's a lot of confusion in the world today about our topic this morning - LOVE. Some of you might remember a scene from the movie Forrest Gump, where Forrest asks his life-long love, Jenny, to marry him. She turns him down. Forrest is wounded and hurt, and he says, "I am not a smart man, but I know what love is." How many of you remember that scene? Quite a few. How many remember the next scene? Jenny, in the middle of the night, sneeks into Forrest's room, and they have sex. She then wakes up early the next morning, gets a cab, and leaves Forrest behind - again.

It would seem that Forrest knew more about love than Jenny. In fact, the entire movies makes the point that Jenny is like so many people - they really don't know what love is.

Some of you are old enough to remember the song “I Want to Know What Love Is,” by Foreigner. The chorus to the song had some really deep, memorable lyrics:

I want to know what love is, I want you to show me
I want to feel what love is, I know you can show me
I want to know what love is, I want you to show me

As we get started this morning, I want to draw your attention to the last verse of our text before we go to the beginning. We are going to be looking at Ephesians 5, verses 107. If you have your Bibles, please turn there. If you don’t have a Bible, pick one up on the seats around you and use it, and take it home with you a the end of the service. If you have a Bible, but left it at home – well, bring it next week! In a few weeks we’ll be looking at the armor of God, and the Bible is your sword – it’s your weapon – you wouldn’t expect to see a cop in the field without his 9 mm, or a Marine without his M-16 – you gotta bring that Bible man!

Anyway – let’s take just a minute to look at verses 6 & 7. They say, in the New King James Version, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.” That word partakers means literally, “Partners.” Paul is telling us, in these two verses, “Don’t hook up with people who deceive you with empty words.” The reason for this warning is that because of those empty words, and their deceit, “the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

Follow the logic here. People who are deceived by empty words become sons of disobedience, and they, in turn, face the wrath of God as a result. The phrase we have as “empty words” specifically refers to attempts to minimize or trivialize. In his excellent word study of the New Testament, Marvin Vincent explains that the idea here is of an effort to spew out words that are “plausible, but devoid of truth, and employed to palliate heathen vices.” [i] These are words that are meant to make excuses for, or minimize the gravity of an offence. Therefore, Paul says, stay away from those who fill your minds with the notion that the biblical standards of morality and integrity are a thing of the past. Beware when you hear someone say “Those old rules don’t apply any more! Come on, it’s the 21^st Century for crying out loud!”

Let me give you an example. In the September/October 2005 issue of Psychology Today, there was an article entitled, “You, Me and Porn Make Three.” In the article, the author asserts that pornography can be a positive force within marriage. They say that when a wife discovers her husbands pornography habit, and feels jealous, hurt or enraged, it’s because she’s paranoid and over-reacting. Now that’s an example of empty words! But Psychology Today is not the only purveyor of hollow speak. Many churches have abandoned biblical principles and teachings to attempt tickle the ears of more and more people. They are more concerned about offending someone, and losing their money, than challenging them, and sparing them the loss of their soul.

Now, we looked at those last two verses of our text first because I want you to know that you will not be hearing “empty words” today. God forbid you ever do from these lips, or this church. It would be far easier to read the text of the day and dismiss it as “culturally irrelevant to 21^st Century society,” but we will not do so. There exists the danger that some of you may be offended by the words that you will hear and look at today. I cannot and will not apologize for Scripture, and I will not replace the inspired, powerful word of God with empty words that result in deception and the wrath of God.

There are certainly places where you can go and be told that you can live any way you please, follow any lifestyle you choose, and God will understand and welcome you lovingly into His presence – in fact, they will tell you, He’s a loving God, and He’ll figure out a way to welcome everyone into His kingdom. Paul describes people who promote such teaching, and those who are deceived by it, as “sons of disobedience.”

In contrast, Paul describes those who follow Jesus as, “dearly loved children” of God, and he calls us to be “imitators” of Him. Last week we looked at Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1, which presents us with that amazing and seemingly impossible charge – to be an “imitator of God, as dearly loved children…” We talked about the fact that this is not some hyperbole – a wishful gesture on the part of Paul who knows that it is not possible – just thrown out there to make a point. On the contrary, this is indeed a command inspired by the Holy Spirit of God – one that we are intended to obey and keep. It is echoed throughout Scripture – from the Old Testament, where God challenged His people to “Be holy as I am holy,” to Peter’s charge that we should live like Jesus, “walking in His steps.”

We said last week that imitating God as a dearly loved child is only possible as I expose myself to Him. A “dearly loved child” only imitates his father as he observes him – and picks up the traits of his father by watching and learning. In the Old Testament, Israel’s kings are often described as “walking in the steps of their fathers,” and in the same way, we are called to walk in a way that mirrors our Heavenly Father. We are told to “walk in love” in verse 2, to “walk in light” in verse 8, and “walk in wisdom” in verse 15. Today we examine what it means to “walk in love.” Paul shows us first what it includes – then what it excludes.

Walk in Love: What it includes

Not surprisingly, Paul tells us that our Walk of Love is patterned after Jesus Christ. Think about the qualities of Jesus’ love. He noticed the overlooked, reached out to the rejected, was generous to the poor, welcomed the outcast. He told stories where minorities were the heroes, at meals with notorious cheats and hung out with women of ill repute. His love was characterized by giving of Himself – ultimately that was shown by his giving of Himself as the sacrifice for our sins, but His entire life was sacrificial. Like in John chapter 4, when Jesus sat down by a well, and sent the disciples into town to get food because He was just to tired to go. Along comes a Samaritan woman – someone from a despised ethnic group, and a woman on top of that – but Jesus laid aside His own need for rest and solitude, to talk with her, and share with her the love of God. Or the day when He was speaking at the local church, and had an opportunity to win a great popularity contest with the movers and shakers of the day – but he ticked them off by caring more about a sick, disabled man than about His own reputation. Jesus lived a life of sacrificial love way before He died a sacrificial death. We are called to do the same.

The rest of the world may be split by racism, bigotry and hatred, but the church may not. In a small, Midwestern community like Mayville, where there are only a few individuals of other races are found, whether they be African, Asian, Middle Eastern or Hispanic, the church of Jesus Christ must the primary place where they feel loved, welcomed and cared for. The church must be the place where those with disabilities – physical or emotional – are embraced. And - dare I say it? – Followers of Jesus must be the leaders in reaching out to and loving those who are trapped in sin – whatever that sin may be. We are to be “walking in love as Christ has loved us.” Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” If we are to walk in that same love, we must love sinners while they are still sinners – just like He loved you and me while we were sinners.” And continues to love us while we struggle with the flesh.

That’s what it means to walk in love like Christ.

OK, let’s close this think down in prayer…Oh, wait a minute, we’re not done! More correctly, Paul’s not done! Look at verse 3 – it starts out with that “biggest three-letter word in the English language”- BUT! Obviously there’s more he has to say. He has shown us what a walk of love includes; now he shows us what a walk of love excludes.

Walk in Love: What it Excludes

He writes: (Now I’m shifting to the NIV for this paragraph.)

Paul has just shown us what real love is. But Paul knows that the world has a different view of what love is. To the world, love is based on the sensual, not the spiritual. In this paragraph, Paul lists 6 ways that love is perverted by the world.

He writes, first, “there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality.”

Not even a hint!

Not even just a…NO!

I can’t tell you how many people over the years have tried to convince me that they can choose how their going to live their lives, and I don’t have the right to tell them what’s morally right and wrong. They are right on both counts – they can choose, and I don’t have to tell them what’s right and wrong – God has already set the standard – “NOT EVEN A HINT or sexual immorality.” Don’t argue with me – take it to God – He said it first!

The Greek word Paul originally used here is the word, “pornia,” from which we obviously get our “pornography.” Paul’s not just talking about adulterous affairs here. By continuing on with the next phrase, “…or any kind of impurity,” Paul lumps together all forms of perverted sexuality. Lust, fantasy, masturbation, adultery – it’s all included here, and it has no part in the life of a “dearly loved child of God.”

Now before you start thinking that Paul was writing to people who just didn’t face the kind of temptations that we face today, think again. The Roman Empire was rife with sexual perversion. Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, remember. The temple of Diana, was in this city – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. People came from all over the Roman empire to worship this goddess. The worship included ceremonial prostitution. The Greeks and Romans are famous (or infamous) for their sexually perverted culture. It was not only available in that day, it was accepted and expected that men would behave with absolute abandon when it came to sensuality – whatever they wanted to do, they could and should do. Sound familiar?

Into that culture Paul writes these words. Into your culture they still speak. If you are going to call yourself a “dearly loved child of God,” as in verse 1, then you have to live like one as described in the rest of the chapter.

Next Paul says that a walk in love does not contain greed. This speaks to a continual appetite for more and more. If you look over at chapter 4, verse 19, you see this same idea. “Indulgence in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more.” That’s the greed Paul is referring to here. It’s the dirty little truth that Psychology Today left out of their article – that pornography is a never satisfied appetite that leads to death. The Apostle James, wrote, “When lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full-grown, it brings forth death.” (James 1:15) This kind of immorality, impurity, and greed, Paul says, is improper for God’s holy people. We can’t be holy, and live immorally. It is simply inconsistent with being a child of God to harbor these lifestyles.

Paul goes even further. He says that obscenity, foolish talk and course joking are out of place in the people of God. Obscene language is “dirty.” It’s foul language. “Foolish talk” is actually written in the Greek as “morologos” – literally “moron words.” The coarse joking phrase means to take what would normally be innocent and make it dirty. It’s innuendo. You know what Paul is talking about, don’t you? We all do – it’s the stuff of 90% of the humor on television today. If it was just funny, it would be great, but it’s almost always off-color. It’s still funny – but it’s crude. I know it’s all around us, but it’s not right for God’s people. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have a sense of humor – we absolutely should! In fact the book of Proverbs tells us over and again the laughter and joy are medicine for the soul!

Take a look at the last phrase of verse 4. It says, “but rather thanksgiving.” Doesn’t that seem a little out of place there? It did to me – but as I read it again, and saw the context, it does make sense. God doesn’t want us to be so obsessed with, confused about or embarrassed by sexuality that it becomes perverted and crude – instead, He wants us to be thankful for it! This is all written in the context of sexuality – and sex is a wonderful, healthy terrific part of life that God created, and that He intends us to enjoy, and indeed to be thankful for. The Bible contains an entire book that is nothing less than a celebration of sex! But the only way to be truly thankful for it is to have it in it’s proper perspective.

“Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”

If we claim to be followers of Jesus, and claim to believe in Him as our Savior, then our behavior much match our beliefs. We are called upon to “walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling we have received.” (Verse 4:1) That walk includes walking in real love. That means rejecting even the hint of the worlds distorted perverted view of love – it simply does not belong in our lives.

If you are not a follower of Jesus, then this may not make a lot of sense to you. In fact, much of life may not make sense, because you’re out of touch with the One who created life. Do you want to know what love is? Do you want to experience love the way that it was created to be experienced – then know the love of God. An unconditional love; colorblind, without prejudice or bigotry – loving you even though you are not deserving – that’s what love really is. And when you’ve experienced that love, all the other loves of your life will take on new meaning and significance.

Pray with me.

Father, thank You for loving us as dearly loved children. Thank you that You love us while we are Your enemies, still lost in sin. Thank you for Your example of what love really is. Help us to walk in that love, and to reject the poor excuse for love that the world desperately clings to. Beyond that, help us to show that same lost world, your love, as we love those around us with the love of Jesus, in whose name we pray, Amen.

[i] Marvin Vincent, DD. Word Studies in the New Testament, Volume III. © Wm. B Eerdman’s Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 1973 pg. 399.