Ephesians 4:17 Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts… 20 But that is not how you learned about the Messiah… 24 you put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth. 25 Since you put away lying, Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and don’t give the Devil an opportunity… 29 No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. 30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by Him for the day of redemption. 31 All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

Ephesians 5:1 Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. 2 And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God… 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light — 9 for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth — 10 discerning what is pleasing to the Lord…15 Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk —not as unwise people but as wise — 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit: 19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.(HCSB)

I admittedly skipped over parts of the passage and I encourage you to read the whole passage in Scripture, but I did it this way to point out some specific things.  I want to start at the beginning of the passage with the discussion of Gentiles.  If you notice Paul is saying that his readers are no longer Gentiles because Gentiles are “excluded from the life of God”.  They are not apart of His family.  That may sound harsh, but Paul is definitely using them as a stark contrast to what a believer is and looks like.  Gentiles live in darkness, in every aspect of their life, and a believer in Yeshua is the exact opposite, they are people of the Light.

When a person becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ they are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and what a masterpeice God makes of them.  In this passage Paul says that they are created in God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of truth.  Did you catch that?  They are created in God’s likeness, in His image. What was twisted and marred with the fall, God repairs.  We were always intended to be in Him, to be like Him, to be imitators of Him.  We are to reflect Him and so our actions must match that.

That is truly what this passage is about.  We are His and we are to be like Him.  Therefore, we are to look dramatically different than the rest of the world who live in darkness.  We are to live differently and live in such harmony with our fellow believers that it marvels this dark world. 

We are members of one another and as such we are to live with each other in certain ways.  We are to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave us in Christ.  We are to speak to each other in such a way as to only say what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.  How do we do this?  We speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from our hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  All the while submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.

Is that to say that one believer never gets angry at another?  Not at all.  But we do not allow that anger to take root by “sleeping on it”.  We speak the truth to one another, in love.  And yes, expect them to do the same.  The main game of the enemy is to divide us.  He wants to put a wedge between us.  Makes since doesn’t it?  Jesus prayed that we would be one and so the Devil seeks to do the exact opposite, tear us apart.  Question is, who do we allow to win those battles in our lives?  I pray the answer is that we always seek to make the prayer of Yeshua a reality through the power of the Spirit, who fills us and seals us.

As we live, filled with the Holy Spirit, we are not only capable of living as children of light (discerning what the Lord’s will is), but we are expected to.  Children of the One Light, whose light they reflect, are expected to walk step by step with that One Light.  Otherwise they stray into darkness and when there we become easy targets for the enemy to pick off and destroy. 

And what is the Lord’s will for us as children of Light.  It is to be one with one another, living out the mystery.  Submitting to one another.  How we do that in our daily lives in everyday relationships is what Paul deals with next.  I look forward to talking to you about that.

In the Light,

Vicky