Culture Changers

Ephesians 5:6-21

The church needs to position herself at the other end of the curve, regain her prophetic voice, lead instead of follow the culture.

"Christian Fundamentalism refers to the movement that arose mainly within American and British Protestantism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, led by conservative evangelical Christians in reaction to modernism and liberalism in the mainline denominations. This movement included not only denominational evangelicals (such as the Princeton theologians B. B. Warfield and J. Gresham Machen), but a growing breed of premillennial and dispensational independants such as D. L. Moody, and R. A. Torrey (and the independant Bible college and Bible church movement). Taking its name from The Fundamentals (1910-1915), a twelve-volume set of essays designed to combat Liberal theology, the movement grew by leaps and bounds after World War I. The term "Fundamentalist" was perhaps first used by Curtis Lee Laws, a British journalist for the Watchman-Examiner, in 1920 to designate those who were willing to do "battle royal for the Fundamentals."
The nature of the Fundamentalist movement, while originally a united effort within conservative evangelicalism, evolved during the early-to-mid 1900s to become more separatist in nature and more characteristically dispensational in its theology. Premillennialism, dispensationalism, and separatism began to overwhelmingly characterize the most popular leaders, which also had an effect on the way that "evangelicals" as a whole were perceived by outside observers. This eventually led to purposeful distinctions between fundamentalism and what was seen as the broader evangelicalism. "
http://www.theopedia.com/Fundamentalism, accessed 03/21/07

The trend has continued as the church feels compelled to respond to felt needs rather than actual needs.

"Recent surveys and research* note that the following are among the things people list as their greatest spiritual needs…maybe they are true of the people in your church and community:
o Maintaining healthy relationships
o Serving other people
o Consistently living out your faith
o Worshipping God
o Leading our families spiritually
o Sharing our faith
o Knowing the content of the Bible
* from The Barna Update (Sept 2005)" (email from BGEA)

Paul gives three exhortations (imperatives) indicating how we are to be imitators of God: walk in love (v.2), spread the light (v.8), act wisely (v.15)

1. Walk in love v.2

live a life of self-sacrifice

keep on walking on the path that our forerunner blazed - Heb_6:19-20 "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

"...this race is run out, as a "forerunner"; Christ is the most excellent runner; there is none like him; there is none that can come up to him; he has out ran and exceeded all others; he has performed in the best manner; he has run out his race first, and has entered into heaven first by his own blood; and he has cleared the way thither, and opened the gates of heaven for his people; and is a guide and pattern for them to follow:" John Gill

Joh_13:35 "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

2. Spread the light

v.6 The Apostle generally condemns all apologists for vice, whoever they might be. Ellicott

Rom_1:18-19 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

Further parallel with Col_2:8, not being captivated by empty deception of a wrong worldview
v.7 do not become partakers with them [again]; implied (stated in verse 8) - going back to former ways, ways that were darkness. Paul doesn't say that we were in darkness, or that we practiced dark things, we were darkness. Eph_5:8

The characteristic of light and darkness describes both the being and behavior, with effects extending to other people. Not only were we in sin and darkness, we were actively contributing to it. The darkness that characterized us spread from us to those around us as they entered our sphere of influence.

In contrast to what we were, we now are and are to continue being light. Being light (children of the light) has three basic characteristics: goodness, righteousness and truth. Eph_5:9

goodness - that which gives the person the quality of moral excellence, makes him suited to the end for which he was designed, causes him to be benevolent or beneficent

righteousness - that which makes a man to be in conformity to the law and ultimately to God's character, just or upright

truth - religious or moral truth, an essential characteristic of God himself;
Joh_14:6 I am the way, the truth and the life; Joh_16:13 ...when he, the Spirit of truth is come; Joh_17:17 Sanctify them through your truth, your word is truth.

It is light that pushes back the darkness, that reproves the works of darkness v.11

It is our task to push back the darkness, spreading light by being light in dark areas of the world. Paul doesn't use the word for lamp (λαμπάς) or candle (λύχνος), he calls us light (φῶς).

Our activity in spreading light centers more on how we live than on what we might say; the living of our lives is to change our surroundings.

Our walking as children of light is to be characterized by "finding out (or trying to learn) what is acceptable to the Lord". Eph_5:10

"The obedience of Christians is not prompted by traditionary or unthinking acquiescence, but is founded on clear and discrinative perception of the law and the will of Christ. ...The believer is not to prove and discover what suits himself, but what pleases his Divine Master. The one point of his ethical investigation is, Is it pleasing to the Lord or in harmony with His law and example?" Eadie

"This, therefore, is one of the numerous passages in the New Testament, in which Christ is recognized as the Lord of the conscience, whose will is to us the ultimate standard of right and wrong, and to whom we are responsible for all our inward and outward acts. It is thus that the sacred writers show that Christ was their God, in whose presence they constantly lived, whose favour they constantly sought, and on whom all their religious affections terminated. He was not merely the God of their theology, but of their religion." Hodge

In our light-living, our aim is to make the contrast between light and darkness obvious to those around us Eph_5:11 Our light must be shining so clearly that we expose the sin in others; in order for that to occur, we can not have anything in common with the sinful behavior it is our duty to reprove.

"Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness but rather expose them." NET

"A line of broad demarcation ws to separate the church from the world; and not only was there to be no participation and no connivance, but there was in addition to be rebuke." Eadie

Radio station theme "pushing back the darkness", tattoos for Jesus, movie theater church, etc.

The church has lost her prophetic voice corporately and individually. In order to begin leading the culture instead of following the culture, she must regain that voice. So long as "quiet witness" has the desired effect, well and good; but, the time will come when we must speak out, expose and rebuke sin openly. In order to be effective in that role, we must take sin seriously.

"Often, of course, open rebuke is necessary. Silent testimony will only go so far. Failure to speak out against and to practically oppose evil things is a failure to obey God. Believers are to expose them in whatever legitimate, biblical ways are necessary. Love that does not openly expose and oppose sin is not biblical love. Love not only “does not act unbecomingly” itself but it “does not rejoice in unrighteousness” wherever it might be found.

Many Christians do not expose and rebuke evil because they do not take it seriously. They laugh and joke about things that are unadulterated wickedness, that are immoral and ungodly in the extreme. They recognize the sinfulness of those things and would likely never participate in them; but they enjoy them vicariously from a distance. In so doing, they not only fail be an influence against the evil but are instead influenced by it—contaminated by it to the full extent that they think and talk about it without exposing and rebuking it." John MacArthur

3. Live wisely

Pay close attention to how you live, that is, what things are a priority and occupy your time and energy. Use your time wisely, not squandering it on things of temporary value.

Parallel passage Col_4:5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. NKJV "making the most of the opportunities" NET, NASB

ἐξαγοράζω also means, in accordance with the sense of the ἑκ in many composites, an “intensive buying,” i.e., a buying which exhausts the possibilities available. It is used in this sense in Col. 4:5 and Eph. 5:16: τὸν καιρὸν ἐξαγοραζόµενοι. καιρός here stands for the opportunities offered by time. These are to be tirelessly snapped up and used at the expense of effort. TDNT

Because sin abounds is a good reason why Christians should seize upon every opportunity to do good; and also why they should make the most of time. "Walk in wisdom, redeeming the time." So that this right use of time, or this seizing on every opportunity for doing good, is in both places represented as the evidence and effect of wisdom, i. e. of divine truth, which is the wisdom of God, which he has revealed. Hodge

Paul next exhorts the saints at Ephesus to acquire the proper foundation for behaving wisely rather than foolishly (in an unthinking or irrational way) - a thorough understanding of the will of the Lord. The only effective means of comprehending God's will as it applies to particular situations is to have a comprehensive knowledge of Biblical principles.

Paul's next instruction deals with the subject of drunkenness - the wise Christian is disciplined and in control of himself, not subject to the vagaries of alcohol, nor does he seek things from alcohol that he should be seeking from the Holy Spirit. The desire for genuine happiness and joy is a God-given desire and it should be fulfilled by him. The happiness that comes from alcohol is temporary and never "fills" us as we desire; we can be and should be filled by the Spirit.

Men are said to be filled with wine when completely under its influence; so they are said to be filled with the Spirit, when he controls all their thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. The expression is a common one in Scripture. Of our Lord himself it was said, "He was full of the Holy Ghost," Luke 4, 1; so of Stephen that "he was full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," Acts 6, 5; and of Barnabas, Acts 11, 24, &c. To the Christian, therefore, the source of strength and joy is not wine, but the blessed Spirit of God. And as drunkenness produces rioting and debauchery, so the Holy Spirit produces a joy which expresses itself in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. Hodge

The verb is in the present imperative; "Be constantly being filled with the Spirit." The interpretation is, "Be constantly, moment by moment, being controlled by the Spirit." Wuest

The filling of the Spirit is evidenced by:

1. encouraging the body - by word and song; the context of corporate worship which includes various forms of singing; one of the notable things to come out of the Protestant Reformation was a renewal of music in the church, hymns in the vernacular

2. a joyful heart - encouragement and singing is to be the overflow of a joyful heart, one that is "tune[d] to sing His praise". True praise comes from the heart - worship in spirit and truth.

3. continual thankfulness - always for the sake of all things; if God is sovereign then all things are part of his plan, come from him, and are ultimately for our good. Therefore we should give thanks to him.

4. mutual submission - our attitude toward others should not be self-promotion but promotion of others. Details to follow: Eph 5:22 - 6:9; marriage, parenting, workplace.