Ephesians 5:1-17

August 29, 2012 Were to put off the old man and be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Were also to be kind and forgiving towards each other since God has been so towards us: Be ye therefore followers of God, The Greek word here (, mimetes) is connected to our English word mimic. In fact, most of the newer translations tell us to be imitators. Be ye holy; for I am holy (I Pt. 1:16). as dear children; Dear is (agapetos) which is elsewhere translated as beloved.
2And

walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us,

Here it is: imitate God as beloved () by walking in love (). Do what you have seen done; youve seen that Christ has loved () us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. Compare this to Exodus 29:15-18Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 16And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar. 17And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head. 18And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Now compare it to Isaiah 1:11-12To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith theLORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? and Amos 5:21-22I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 22Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

Proverbs 21:27The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? Hebrews 10:5-7Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. God required the sacrifice but refused to accept it from the wicked. All those deaths were only a picture of Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29). This Lamb was perfect and without blemish. The blood of bulls and goats could never atone for sin, but Gods Lamb took it all away (Hebrews 10:4). Now remember that were mimicking Godnot only in love, but also in purity:
3But

fornication,

The Greek is (porneia) which is a big deal in the Bible: I Corinthians 6:13-20Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. 14And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. 15Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are Gods. and all uncleanness, Which is the opposite of our spotless Example, or covetousness, Which also is a contradiction of the one who gave Himself over on our behalf, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; It shouldnt have even the slightest place amongst us. Why not? Because we are saints! The Greek word is (hagios) which is also translated as holy. What

you hold in your hand is called hagios biblos which is simply holy book. Its not a normal bookits a holy book. Were not just ordinary peoplewere holy people; were saints, and darkness has no place at all with us:
4Neither

filthiness,

The uncleanness in verse three is more of a ceremonial or moral uncleanliness. Jesus tells the Pharisees that theyre whitewashed tombs filled with dead mens bones and uncleanness (Mt. 23:27). I think of Isaiah who said that our righteousness is filthy rags (Is. 64:6). Its a state of being. Filthiness here is a little different: it means dishonor or obscenity. Being unclean, they produce filthiness, but weve been cleansed from sin so there shouldnt be any obscenity from us. nor foolish talking, This is (morologia). The first half of this word is where we get our English word moron. The second half refers to speech (logue). Think of a monologue which is a speech (logue) by one person (mono). So literally you could say that were to avoid moron talk. A moron is someone who is deficient in judgment or sense.1 Doesnt the Scripture tell us elsewhere that God has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence (Eph. 1:8)? Dont we have the mind of Christ (I Cor. 2:16)? Havent we been given understanding to discern spiritual things (I Cor. 2:14)? The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever (Ps. 111:10). nor jesting, I dont think this is a commandment against any kind of humor or against saying something funny. The Greek is (eutrapelia). (eu) means to be well or to prosper. Its also used in Matthew 25:21Well done, thou good and faithful servant. The other half of the word is (trope) which means turning. Its used in James 1:17 to show that with God there is no shadow of turning. Put the two words together and you come out with do not be well-turned. Picture what you see in a lot of TV shows where they tear each other down with wit; each taking a turn to deliver an insult. Were not to do that because its not fitting: which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=moron

Were saints, so we should be giving thanks for what we have and not be obscene, unwise, and destructive with our speech:
5For

this ye know, that no whoremonger,

(pornos),
nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. These all come from verse three. They havent learned from Christ to walk in truth (4:20-21): http://newgracebaptist.blogspot.com/