In the previous part of the chapter, Paul encouraged the Ephesians to imitate God as children imitate their parents. Our relationship with God should be like that of a family, not a transactional one. He called our two areas where we are to imitate him in particular, in our sexuality and our words – both creative forces that can do great harm if misused.
In the section we’re discussing today, he addresses deception. Deception is a subtle and dangerous thing. If you know you are being deceived, then you really aren’t being deceived at all. It is when you don’t know that you are being deceived – that’s when your are at risk. We can be deceived by others or by ourselves, and once we have been deceived our is difficult to pull ourselves out of it, because we do not want to admit that we were wrong, or that we are gullible.
The Ephesians were dealing with a specific form of deception by a group of gnostics, teaching lies about who Christ is, His relationship with His creation, who we are and how we find a relationship with God. Paul calls these people “sons of disobedience” who were bringing on God’s wrath through their lies about Him.
Paul wants his readers to have nothing to do with those people, because in contrast, they are “children of light” – this echoes the first chapter of John. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men… to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
He calls us to walk as those children of light – live out the declaration that God has made about us. This is the fifth time in this letter that Paul has used this term to urge Christians to a holy life. And it is this walk that sets us up to combat deception.
One example that is particularly prevalent among us today is fear and anxiety – at the end of the day, these are deceptions, because we know the sovereign God of the universe, and know that he holds all things in His hand.
We have God’s word to guide us – it will not necessarily give us the direct answer in specific circumstances, but by immersing ourselves in the word of God, we better understand His character and better form our desires into His desires.
We are called to use this to first discern what is pleasing to the Lord, and then avoid those things that displease Him. And more than that, to expose them.
In fact, Paul connects the exposure of evil behavior to the salvation offered by Christ. It is the recognition of where we are being deceived that we have the opportunity to change course.
Paul also warns the Ephesians to be wise in how they use their time, “because the days are evil.” This is worth applying to our times, as well, even if the specific evils of the days may be different.
Let us walk in that wisdom and walk in that light this week.
– Sermon Notes, Bart Hodgson, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, January 17, 2021