Lesson for June 27, 2021
The Book of Ephesians
Chapter 5:6-14
“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.Therefore, do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason, it says, ‘Awake sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’”
Verses 6 and 7 are warnings against association with reversionistic believers. The Greek word for deceive is “apatao,” whichmeans to cheat, to mislead, to seduce into error, to deceive by false teaching, and to entice. This means that in Ephesus false teachers had come to teach doctrines contrary to the teaching of the Word of God. Those who were deceived by this ended up in a state of reversionism. Anyone can be deceived by association with the reversionist if they are not careful. The false teachers often say things that are true but then add their false doctrine and that is how they deceive people. Therefore, believers are often led into reversionism by those who are all mixed up regarding Bible doctrine.
The Greek word for empty is “kenos,” which means vain, without content, or without truth. Empty words are how believers become associated with a false teacher, or a reversionistic believer, and end up in reversionism. So even empty words have power when believed. This is the technique that Satan has been using on mankind since the Garden of Eden. This is exactly what religion does and how it deceives people into following their rules and regulations.
For because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Those who are disobedient in this passage refer to unbelievers who have rejected the work of Christ on the Cross. Because of this, the wrath of God will come upon them at the Great White Throne Judgment. The wrath of God is an anthropopathism, which assigns to God a characteristic that He does not actually possess but shows His policy toward rejection of Christ. The unbeliever has rejected Christ as Savior therefore righteousness and justice must express an attitude of wrath toward him. The unbeliever cannot be judged for his sins, they were judged on the Cross. However, they will be judged based on the good deeds they are counting on to get them to Heaven, which fall short of God’s righteous that is necessary to enter Heaven. Unbelievers will suffer the wrath of God for eternity in the Lake of Fire.
Therefore, do not be partakers with them. To be partakers with the false teachers and those who follow their teachings leads to reversionism. So, avoid them and have nothing to do with them because the potential exists for even spiritual mature believers to be led astray by false teaching.
For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light. Unlike the false teachers, these believers were no longer in spiritual darkness, positionally. However, they were in spiritual darkness, experientially, because they were following the teachings of a false teacher. These believers were in union with Jesus Christ and as such were Light in the Lord. Therefore, Paul said to walk as children of Light, which means walking in the Light, which is analogous to being filled with God the Holy Spirit and living the Christian Way of Life. The command to walk in the Light is a reference to experiential sanctification.
The Greek word for walk in these verses is “peripateo,” which is used to express the entirety of a believer’s spiritual life. Just as walking in the darkness is incompatible with walking in light, so carnality is incompatible with being filled with the Holy Spirit.Walking in the light is a term used specifically for believers executing God’s will, plan, and purpose. Therefore, walking in the Light is synonymous with the Christian Way of Life.
(For the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth). The fruit refers to divine production. It is a reference to production from experiential sanctification and advance in the Christian Way of Life. The fruit of the Light has three components in these verses. The first component is goodness. Goodness is good based upon the application of Bible doctrine. It means good of eternal value, which only God can produce. It is therefore a reference to the divine production produced by God the Holy Spirit. A list of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is given in Galatians 5:22-23.
The second component is righteousness. The Greek word for righteousness is “dikaiosune,” which means the character or quality of being right, just, or virtuous. Virtue is produced by believers who consistently reside and live within God’s power system. Virtue is strength of character, bravery, courage, capability, worthiness, excellence, and high moral and ethical standards. Virtue is developed through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in positive believers as they learn, believe, and apply accurate Bible doctrine. (II Peter 1:2-4; Philippians 4:8)
The third component is truth. The Greek word for truth is “aletheia,” which refers to the Bible doctrine that resides in your soul, and in your human spirit. Once the Holy Spirit teaches doctrine to a believer’s human spirit, He automatically transfers that information into the soul of a believer. This doctrinal information stays in the mind of believers as academic knowledge until they apply their faith to the doctrine by saying, “I believe it.” When a believer believes what he has been taught, God the Holy Spirit converts that doctrinal information into spiritual, useable information so it can be applied in the life of the believer.
Trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. The Greek word for trying to learn is “dokimazo,” which originally meant testing metal to determine its value. Accurate Bible doctrine in the soul is the means of testing the value of anything in life. Without accurate Bible doctrine in the soul, no matter how smart a believer is, no matter how discerning, he does not have the ability to test what is valuable and what is not in this life, and what is pleasing to God. If you have accurate Bible doctrine in the soul, you have the ability to test everything in life. The more things you can test when they enter your soul, the more you can tell what pleases the Lord and what doesn’t please Him.
Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. Verses 11-13 are an amplification of the principle to walk as children of Light. This makes it even more clear that a believer is not to get involved with false teachers or those who follow them. Their deeds come from darkness, which is Satan’s domain. The false teachings are in essence the doctrine of demons and are unfruitful. The Greek word for unfruitful is “akarpos,” which means barren or unproductive. A believer living in spiritual darkness cannot produce divine good, only human good. Rather than participate in the darkness of satanic doctrine, Paul said to expose it for what it really is. This exposure can be to yourself in your thinking, or it can be exposure to others with whom you have influence regarding spiritual things.
When believers reach blackout of the soul, they start to believe whatever Satanic doctrine appeals to them. Satanic doctrine comes into a local church in a subtle way, often disguised as truth. Secretly Satan and his world system creep into the thinking of a believer who has let his guard down and that believer buys into the false teaching. Once this occurs, it the responsibility of the pastor and those who are aware of these false teachings to expose them.
When these false doctrines are exposed by the light of accurate Bible doctrine, they become visible to all. Once accurate Bible doctrine exposes the false teachings of the reversionist, the light continues to shine upon it as false teaching. In this way, the reversionist has the opportunity to realize the falsehood of satanic doctrine and begin a recovery process into accurate teaching. Accurate Bible doctrine exposes false teachers, false teaching and reversionism.
For this reason, it says, ‘Awake sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you is a quote from Isaiah 60:1. For this reason refers to the preceding commands to teach what is necessary to recover from reversionism and how to accomplish it. The sleeper refers to the reversionistic believer who has “fallen asleep” regarding accurate Bible doctrine. Awake is a command to become aware that you are a reversionist, that you have been deceived and to see yourself as you really are in the light of the Word of God. No one ever recovers from reversionism until they first realize their condition. You have to know you have a spiritual problem before you can do something about it. And arise from the dead is a reference to reversion recovery. Arise means to stand up, to get up, and sometimes it even means to get out. The dead refers to a believer’s spiritual life when they in in a state of reversionism. Letting the light of Christ shine on you is analogous to learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine. All recovery from reversionism begins and is sustained by learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine.