By Christopher VanDusen
In Ephesians 5:3-14, the apostle Paul says this:
“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”” (ESV)
In this passage, Paul is continuing to explain to the Ephesians how they are to imitate God and Christ as God’s children. In the first three sentences, he focuses on what they are not to do, and why. Then, he gets to the mainly positive instruction of what they are to do in the rest of the passage. This instruction is what I want to focus on.
In at least one translation of the Bible, this last section is set apart as its own paragraph, and can be divided into five main instructions that Paul gives the Ephesians:
- Don’t Be Deceived About Damnation (v. 6)
- Don’t Be Disobedient with Darkness (vss. 7-8a)
- Be Directed by the Daylight (vss. 8b-10)
- Be Denouncing Disgraceful Deeds (vss. 11-12)
- Be Devoted to Delivering the Dead (vss. 13-14)
First, then, Paul tells them to not be deceived about damnation:
“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
First, he begins with his command — “don’t be deceived with empty words”. Why does he say this? Because he knew that they were vulnerable to being deceived about what he just said to them. And what did he just say? That impure desires and speech were out of the question for them, and that anyone who is characterized by them will not inherit God’s kingdom. So, what is he concerned about? That someone would try to convince them that impure desires and speech was no problem, and that those who are characterized by them will inherit God’s kingdom. In other words, he’s telling the Ephesians to not believe the lie that the sexually immoral, impure, greedy, and idolaters will end up in heaven when they come to the end of their lives in those conditions. In fact, he says that any attempts to say this are nothing but “empty words”, or words that hold no weight of reality at all.
Second, Paul gives the reason for his command: it’s because of the sins he lists in the beginning of this passage that “the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience”. What does he mean by this? First, by “sons of disobedience”, he’s referring to those who are characterized — like sons of the same father — by disobedience to Christ. And he says that it’s because of their disobedient desires and speech that God will show His wrath, or angry hatred, for them. How will He do this? By barring them from His eternal kingdom, and confining them to the outer darkness of the lake of fire, where they will be punished for their sins against Him forever.
The second instruction that Paul gives the Ephesians is to not be disobedient with darkness:
“Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”
Why does he begin this sentence with “therefore”? Because he’s giving the logical application or implication of the fact that God’s wrath will come upon the sons of disobedience because of their sins. And what is his application of this fact? That the Ephesians ought not to be “partners with them”.
In other words, Paul is telling them to not do the sinful things that the disobedient do, especially sexual immorality, impurity, greed, filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking. Why? Because “at one time [they] were darkness, but now [they] are light in the Lord”.
What does this mean? That they once were characterized by the spiritual darkness of sin, but now they are spiritual lights because they are “in the Lord”. Why does Paul use the metaphors of light and darkness? Because, just as physical light involves the presence of light and life, so also spiritual light involves the presence of truth that enlightens, and spiritual life. In the reverse of the metaphor, physical darkness involves the absence of light and life, and thus spiritual darkness involves the absence, and opposite, of truth and spiritual life. This implies that spiritual darkness involves lies and spiritual death. Darkness, then, represents rebellion against God, and hatred for Him.
So, what exactly does Paul mean when he says that the Ephesians were once “darkness, but now . . . are light in the Lord”? He means that they once were a part of the forces of evil that are warring against God, but now they are beacons of truth and life, and are therefore part of the righteous people of God. However, they are only light because they are “in the Lord”. That is, they are only light because they share all that is true of the spiritual humanness of the Lord, or Supreme Authority, Jesus Christ. In other words, because He is Light, and they are in Him, they too are light.
Following from this truth, Paul now instructs the Ephesians to be directed by spiritual daylight:
“Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”
First, Paul gives his general command to the Ephesians: “walk as children of light”. By “walk”, Paul is referring to the habitual and daily lifestyle of the Ephesians — they are to “walk around” as children of light. But what does he mean by “children of light”? He means that they are products of light, or of the light of the truth of the gospel, and of the righteousness of God.
Peter puts it this way in 1 Peter 1:23:
“. . . you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God . . .” (ESV)
Paul has already said something similar to what he says here in Ephesians 4:24:
“. . . put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (ESV)
In fact, Paul explains what he means by walking as children of light when he gives his reason for commanding the Ephesians to do this:
“. . . for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true . . .”
He’s saying that they are to walk as children of light because the fruit, or product, of light, consists of “all that is good and right and true”. In other words, they are to walk in a good, right, and true way because that is what light produces.
But what does Paul mean by these three characteristics? By “good”, he means “useful”, and specifically useful to God for glorifying Himself and His Son, and for conforming His children to the image of His Son. By “right”, he means that which is in conformity to the moral character of Christ, or in keeping with His commandments. By “true”, he means that which conforms to what God has revealed about reality, both in creation, and in His Word. Thus, Paul is telling the Ephesians that they are to walk in a way that is useful, in keeping with Christ’s commandments, and true, or in conformity to the truth.
To conclude this piece of instruction, Paul explains how the Ephesians are to walk as children of light:
“. . . try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”
To put it another way, the Ephesians are to try to learn or find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Obviously, whatever is pleasing to Him will be good, right, and true, but, in the various details of daily life, knowing what exactly that is requires the discernment to find it out. However, the only way the Ephesians will ever do this is by living in goodness, righteousness, and truth, first.
Having given the positive and general instruction on how to walk as children of light, Paul next commands the Ephesians to denounce disgraceful deeds:
“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.”
Again, Paul begins with the command, this time, starting with its negative aspect. The Ephesians are not to participate in the “unfruitful works of darkness”. This is clearly in contrast to the “fruit of light” that is “found in all that is good and right and true”. Unlike the light, the darkness doesn’t bear the fruit of goodness, righteousness, and truth. On the contrary, it bears the fruit of harmfulness, lawlessness, and falsehood. These are the characteristics of the “unfruitful works of darkness”.
But what exactly are these works? Well, in the context, they obviously include the sins that Paul began this passage with: sexual immorality, impurity, greediness, filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking.
And what does Paul say to do in response to the works of darkness? To “expose them”. What does he mean by this? Well, he obviously isn’t saying to “speak of the things that they do in secret”, since he says that this is “shameful”. Instead, he means to expose them for what they really are — things that are harmful, lawless, and untruthful. In fact, the Greek word translated “expose” can also be translated “reprove” or “correct”. In other words, Paul is saying to denounce these sins as what they really are.
Then, Paul gives the reason for this command:
“For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.”
He says that the reason the Ephesians are to reprove these sins is because they are so bad, it’s shameful to speak of them, and they’re also done in secret. Hence, in order to get the condemnation that they need, they have to be denounced.
Having given the confrontational aspect of this instruction, Paul concludes this passage with the constructive aspect of it, teaching the Ephesians to be devoted to delivering the dead:
“But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'”
Having just commanded the Ephesians to expose secret, sinful, deeds, Paul now explains what the practical goals of this are. The first goal is that those who are doing these things “in secret” will be seen as they truly are:
“But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible . . .”
What does Paul mean by “light” in this instance? Well, if we use Paul’s own definition for this in this passage, he means the light of the truth and righteousness. Thus, what Paul is saying is that, when sinners are exposed by God’s Word or the righteousness of God’s people obeying God’s Word, their sinfulness becomes visible, and is shown to be what it really is.
The second goal that Paul gives the Ephesians for their denouncing of sin is that sinners will become light just like they are:
“. . . for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'”
First, the reason Paul gives for sinners becoming visible when they are exposed by the light is that they become light when they become visible. That is, they are transformed into children of light when the Word of God is used by the Holy Spirit to change their hearts, and make them children of God. This is the practical goal of all exposing of sin and sinners, as he makes clear when he explains why visible things become light:
“Therefore it says,
‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'”
These three lines are believed to be a part of one of the earliest hymns of the Christian church, and are basically an appeal to sinners to trust in Christ, and be saved. First, it commands those who are spiritually sleeping to “awake”. How are they to awake? By leaving the dream land of falsehood, and coming to reality, and seeing it as it really is. Second, the spiritually dead are commanded to arise from it. That is, they are to stop ignoring the Lord Jesus Christ, and to enter into a personal, loving, relationship with Him. Finally, they are promised that, if they do these things, Christ will shine on them. This is how they become visible, and thus become light — Christ, who is the Light of truth and righteousness in the flesh, shines His light of truth and life on them. As a result, they see reality as it really is, thus coming awake, and become spiritually alive, thus rising from the dead.
So, are you letting anyone deceive you with empty words about the wrath of God coming upon those who are disobedient to Christ and His Word?
Are you a partner with the disobedient in their disobedience and darkness?
Are you living your daily life as a child of light in goodness, righteousness, and truth?
Are you trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord?
Are you taking any part in the unfruitful works of darkness?
Are you exposing them?
Are you speaking of what the disobedient do in secret?
When you expose disgraceful deeds, do they become visible as they truly are?
Have you become visible, and become light?
Have you awakened from spiritual sleep, arisen from spiritual death, and is Christ shining His light of truth and righteousness on you?
If you’re still characterized by disobedience to Christ, by darkness, and by doing unfruitful deeds of darkness, then you are under the wrath of God. But there’s still hope for you, because God sent His eternal and divine Son to earth to become a man, to punish Him for our sins against Him, to raise Him from the dead, and to make Him the King of the universe. You need to wake up to the reality that you’re disobedient to Christ, are warring against your Creator, and that this good news of Christ is true, and your only hope is Christ, His death for our sins, and resurrection. God commands you to change your mind and trust in Christ, His death, and resurrection as the only grounds of His forgiveness, and He will forgive you, and give you eternal life. Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
All ESV Scripture references are taken from:
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
BEARING CHRIST CRUCIFIED AND RISEN 