html> Chilren of light

Eph5v3to14: CHILDREN OF LIGHT

Introduction. (Read the reference)

This is a passage I would prefer to skip. I wrote much the same thing in my introduction to 1Corinthians6v12to20. I suppose I would prefer not to deal with Scriptures on sexual sin because they find me out. I am not without sin when it comes to sex. If I take a softer line than most commentators it is because I do not want to be a hypocrite.

Paul tells his readers that Christian conduct should reflect that they are: God's holy people, God's subjects and Christ's light.

So let's look at the conduct expected of:

(B) God's holy people.

Paul lists behaviour improper for God's holy people:

(1) Sexual immorality. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.

The first question to arise is: What is sexual immorality? C.L. Milton in the New Century Bible Series on Ephesians defines it like this: Any sexual indulgence outside the permanent relationship of marriage, in circumstances where the sexual appetites are used merely as a means of pleasure without any sense of responsibility or care for partner.

I have three reservations about this:

    (a) Some people cannot get a wife or husband. As Paul recognised, this makes it very difficult to be without sin when it comes to sex. A strongly sexed, frustrated, single man may act inappropriately to gain some relief. After all, a starving man is likely to drool outside a baker's shop.

    (b) It is quite possible within marriage to take your sexual pleasure without a sense of responsibility or care for partner. Married folk can be selfish and think only of themselves.

    (c) It is also possible to have sexual pleasure with a partner for whom there is a sense of responsibility and care without being formally married.

I would say it is wrong to indulge in sexual gratification outside marriage (or a long-term stable relationship) when it is perfectly possible inside marriage.

Some might say I am not going far enough - and, perhaps, I am not. A stray reader of this exposition might refer to Jesus who said that to look at a woman with lust was tantamount to committing adultery with her in your heart. I believe Jesus at the time he said this was teaching his disciples that it was impossible to satisfy God by our conduct. However good we might be - and the Pharisees prided themselves on their obedience to the Law - we could always be better. We might not commit adultery but can we stop ourselves from fancying a gorgeous young woman. Jesus was probably teaching that the legalism of the Pharisees is not the way forward. In the end we have to depend on GRACE.

(2) Impurity. Or any kind of impurity.

Francis Foulkes writes in his commentary on Ephesians: Impurity occurs when the sexual appetite is not under the control or direction of the law and purpose of God.

I am not sure the Bible says much about the sex drive and the purpose of God. Insofar as sex is really for procreation one might expect the Bible to teach sex should only be indulged in if procreation is the aim.

The fact is sex is pleasurable, just like eating, drinking, sleeping. If the body is denied what it craves problems arise. So most married couples probably have sex most of the time for pleasure and with no real intent to reproduce.

The main guidance the Bible gives is that sex is best enjoyed inside marriage or its equivalent and adultery is wrong. In other words sex is part of the self-giving and commitment that should exist in a healthy marriage. Adultery is at best a partial denial of this.

(3) Ruthless greed. Or of greed.

This ties in what has already been written. A person with a ruthless greed for sex will not be content with it inside marriage or a stable, long-term relationship, but will go looking for sex wherever he or she can find it.

This is what was happening amongst the pagans at the time of Paul. In most great cities there were temples staffed by hundreds of sacred priestesses or prostitutes whose earnings were used for the upkeep of the temples. Men no longer content with their wives but greedy for new sexual experiences could indulge their appetites with temple prostitutes of their choice.

It is this greed or over-indulgence that Paul condemned.

(4) Obscenity.

This refers to foul, gross talk about the sex act. There are those who talk about it with a a terrible, dehumanising coarseness.

(5) Foolish talk.

This is the incessant chattering or gossiping that occurs amongst certain women about their sexual adventures the night before or, maybe, it is a blow by blow account of what went on during their holiday. Such salacious prattling betrays an obsession with sex.

(6) Coarse joking.

There are men who have an enormous repertoire of jokes about sex. Sadly they are never short of an audience for their lewd stories. Others specialise in looking for a double meaning in every conversation or delight in sexual innuendo.

Now, I have to admit to agreeing with C.S. Lewis who wrote that sex shouldn't be taken too seriously. We might sometimes laugh about it. It is possible to talk too reverently about sex. It is not an activity that distinguishes us from the beasts!

Paul concludes by suggesting that if you are going to talk about sexual relationships do so with thanksgiving. Be grateful you have a sexually compatible partner and that you are able to enjoy one another with relatively few problems.

(C) God's children.

Paul makes 3 comments about God's subjects:

(1) Disqualification. No immoral, impure or greedy person - such a man is an idolater - has any inheritance in the kingdom.

Someone who habitually engages in sexual intercourse outside their marriage, who is unfaithful to a willing partner and greedy for as much sex as they can get is not a fit subject of God's kingdom. Such a person has made sex their idol; it, rather, than Christ's will, has become their chief priority.

(2) Beware. Let no one deceive you with words .. .

Pay no attention to those who teach a Christian is free to do just as he pleases. There were those at Corinth who taught, "Everything is permissible for me." 1Cor6v12. See exposition on 1Cor6v12to20.

It is easy to presume that God's grace makes it safe for us to sin. I am afraid this is often my fallback position when I fail Jesus. I confess my sin and trust to Jesus' sacrificial work for forgiveness.

Paul warns that, "Everything is permissible" - but not everything is beneficial. There is a price to pay for habitual sin. It weakens the Christian and means he loses effectiveness. He or she may not be fit for purpose. I believe my usefulness has been limited by a certain coarseness of character. We certainly see this in the Old Testament. David was forgiven a truly horrendous combination of sins - adultery, deceit, manipulation and a contrived death. But it left him weakened and without the moral authority to control his children.

(3) God's wrath. Because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

God is angry with those who make an idol of sex, who are obsessed with it and are not satisfied to practice it within marriage.

(D) Christ's light.

There are three things the children of light should do:

(1) Bear fruit. (For the fruit of light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth.)

Let us look briefly at these three virtues:

    (a) Goodness or benevolence. A Christian should display generosity of spirit. People are given the benefit of the doubt. Every opportunity is taken to praise warmly. The needy are not without a benefactor. See exposition on Mt6v22to33.

    (b) Righteousness. This involves giving God and men their due. God is honoured, obeyed and worshipped. Men are treated with respect, fairness and compassion.

    (c) Truth. We should stand for it, live by it and never deviate from it. Christians should be men and women of integrity - possessing hearts of oak.

(2) Please Jesus. And find out what pleases the Lord.

William Barclay observes in his commentary on Ephesians: It is the Christian's duty to expose every action, every decision, every motive to the light of Christ. It is in that light that we must judge everything in life.

(3) Expose the fruitless deeds of darkness. But everything exposed to the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible.

Paul states:

    (a) Christians shouldn't expose the wickedness of the world by talking at length about it. The apostle said it was shameful to go into too much detail about dark deeds. The danger of doing so is that some will find it extraordinarily titillating.

    In his memoire, 'Hell Fire and Herring,' Christopher Rush recalled a preacher in the late 1940's who roared, "Copulation is friction of the members and an ejaculatory discharge, that's all." The author went on to write of the old chapel ladies in the congregation: You could hear their knicker elastic go twang with holy horror, in the echoes of which there sang a terrible glee.

    Perhaps to my shame this made me laugh. I knew prudish old ladies like this. They would profess disgust while actually revelling in a bit of smut.

    However, the preacher was foolish to say what he did because it undoubtedly proved a huge distraction from whatever else he said.

    I can remember as an undergraduate in the 1960's being urged to talk about and denounce sexual sin by a fellow student. He feasted on this sort of talk with great relish - a bit like a gourmet swallowing oysters with much smacking of lips.

    (b) If we are light we will shine brightly for Jesus. Consequently our lives will contrast with those still in darkness. The bright nature of our lives will show up what is tawdry and base in the lives of others. There should be such a contrast in the way we live and the way the ungodly live that the difference Jesus makes to those who believe in him is plain for all to see.

    This is something Alexander Solzhenitsen recognised in Stalin's forced labour camps. The Christians may have died, he said, but they were not corrupted. The first to be corrupted were those who lived for pleasure.

Paul reinforces his points by quoting from what was probably a chorus sang as someone emerged from the waters of baptism. In my church we used to sing, "He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today; He walks with me and talks with me along life's journeys way." But in Paul's time they may have sung: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

The baptism of a believer signifies that the candidate has come to new life in Jesus. Christ's light shines upon them and from now on they, as his beloved followers, must reflect that light for the benefit of others. No easy task!

Well, this has not been one of my better expositions. I cannot write with quite the same conviction on this passage as the commentators to whom I go for guidance.

ANY COMMENTS FOR JOHN REED: E-mail jfmreed@talktalk.net

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