Ephesians 5:6-10

Ephesians 5:6-10

Let no one deceive you all by empty words.  For because of this the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.  Therefore do not become their partner.  For you all were once darkness, but now you all are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light – for the fruit of light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth – while testing what is well-pleasing to the Lord.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

When Paul begins this section, he is still speaking about the sins of the prior section we studied yesterday.  He tells the Ephesians that they should be careful to not be deceived by empty words.  He then says that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.  The sons of disobedience are the ones who speak empty words.  What those empty words are is pretty simple to infer.  There are people who tell us not to worry about sin.  There are people who tell us that we can do whatever we want because God will forgive anything we do.  While God is forgiving of the repentant, we have to be careful that we do not turn God’s grace into empty speech.  God will judge and put His wrath upon those who sin and turn His love into empty words.

Have you ever been told not to worry about sin?  Why is it tempting to listen to such words?  Why would we consider this “empty speech?”

Second Thought:

Notice the vocabulary that Paul gives us when he speaks about light and darkness.  Paul doesn’t say we were once in darkness and now are in light.  Rather, Paul says that we once were darkness.  We didn’t just dwell in darkness, we were the darkness.  Our sinful nature corrupts the world around us.  We are darkness.  But the good news is that in Christ we are light.  We don’t have to be darkness all our life.  We can be light.

Where are you darkness?  Where are you light?  How can you minimize the darkness and maximize the light?

Third Thought:

Paul then encourages us once more to walk as children of light.  We are to be righteous.  We are to be good.  We are to be true.  But Paul also tells to be careful.  He makes sure to tell us to test what is good.  While we may become light, we should face the reality that being good does not come easy to us.  We are prone to darkness.  We need to test good in order to make sure that we are recognizing good properly.

How are you righteous or good or true?  How can you test good without doubting God?

Passage for Tomorrow: Ephesians 5:11-14