Walk Circumspectly

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WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY
A study of Ephesians 5:1-20

Verse 1,2   Be therefore followers (mimetai – mimics) of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. 

Now how can we hope to mimic God, if we don’t know Him, or haven’t experienced Him?  The better we know Him, the more He knows us, the better we can mimic Him. 

When I was in my 20’s, I had a beautiful male Samoyed (white sled dog), who always squatted when he urinated.  Until one day I watched him as he watched another dog lifting his leg to pee against a tree.  From that moment on, my dog went around lifting his leg and urinating at every possible opportunity.  For at least a couple of weeks, he lifted his leg against everything, until the novelty wore off.  He was patterning himself to what he’d observed.

So it is with our observance of our heavenly Father.  As we spiritually observe Him do toward ourselves and others, so we are encouraged to believe and behave the same way.

The way we mimic God is to live out of the Christ in us.  For Christ was the perfect expression (mimic) of God.  This does not mean that what we do in the flesh must look like what Jesus did in the flesh.  What it means is that our lives will take on the same flavor as Christ had.  (See study  Flavored by Christ)

Verses 3-7  But fornication (pornos) and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becomes saints;  Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient (fitting); but rather giving of thanks.  For this you know, that no whore monger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.  Be not therefore partakers with them.

So verses 3-6 are set in juxtaposition to verses 1-2.  Being mimics of God and walking in love, versus unclean, covetous, foolish behavior and talk.

In verse 3, it’s interesting that God lumps fornication and uncleanness (sexual perversion, specifically relating to homosexuality) with covetousness.  So all you wonderful believers out there who are lusting after your next new pickup truck, or big screen TV…..look and see what company you’re in here. 

By saying, let it not be once named among you, instead of saying “don’t do it,” God finds it distasteful to even have to tell His children not to do these things.  Rather, He uses a figure of speech to emphasize this command, almost as if another force outside of the believer is the one causing it!   (which is the truth!)

Now a lot of people use verse 4 to say we shouldn’t use 4-letter words, but this verse is a direct reference to the first phrase of verse 6, (let no man deceive you with vain words)  and indicates a talking about these very things that are “not to be named among us.”  So filthiness, foolish talking, and jesting directly references talking about the very things that are not to be named among us.   Homosexual jokes, putting everyone down with your humor, empty talk about getting more more more! Rather, giving of thanks, which is indicative of someone who lives his life as a recipient of all good things from God.

The wrath of God indicates the consequence to be visited upon the whole human race shortly after Christ gathers us together in the air.  This is not God punishing everyone for being bad.  This is the consequence visited upon mankind by Satan himself, which he is able to do because man has departed from God and walked in such vain, pornographic, sexually unclean, covetous behavior. 

(Romans 1:18-32 goes into more detail concerning this unGodly behavior and the consequence suffered, called “the wrath of God.”)

Verse 7 indicates that we are to resist getting pulled into going along with others regarding this unfruitful behavior….both talking and acting.

Verses 8-14  For you were once darkness, but now light in the Lord; walk as children of light; (For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)  Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.  For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.  But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light; for whatsoever makes manifest is light.  Wherefore it is said, “Awake you that sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.” 

Imagine growing up in a huge warehouse….10 times the size of a football field.  And that warehouse was filled with treasures, and was yours to explore, and enjoy the benefits of.  But the big problem was that the warehouse was pitch black!  No Light!  At All!  So you banged your head, your shins, you tripped over things, fell down, smashed your knee, your fingers, stubbed your toes…..all the time.                                                                       And you found things, but didn’t know what they were, exactly, or how they operated, or how to get the most out of them.  You achieved some success, but it was pretty much hit and miss.  And even after you found something and got some benefit out of it, you would often misplace it and be unable to find it again.

NOW…..the lights go on.  Little by little, the lights start coming on, illuminating more and more.  At first, it was so different to have any light, that you still walked around as if there were no light, and you banged into things, tripped over things, didn’t use things that were right in front of your face.  But as the light grew, and you grew used to the light, and it’s wonderful benefits, you began falling less and less, hitting your head less, stubbing your toe less, etc. etc. 

You started finding a lot of really useful things, and were able to use them to maximum benefit, because they came with a set of directions.  You began to see where you wanted to go, and realized there were limitless ways of getting there.  Sometimes, on your way from one place to another, you even took side trips, as new treasures revealed themselves to you.  You did this, knowing you would still be able to get back on the right track to where you wanted to go…..because you could see!

Our light?  Christ Christ Christ Christ Christ.  It’s Christ that gives us light.  It’s a flashlight that gives us physical light.  It’s a lightbulb that gives us physical light.  It is Christ that is our light in the spiritual realm, called heaven.

Verses 15, 16   See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

See is blepo, one of 13 different Greek words translated “to see.”  It specifically means to make use of your power of vision to see….not necessarily physically.
Circumspectly means literally “to look around”, to look carefully.   To walk in a circle around something, viewing it from different angles.  View an event, an experience, a person’s behavior, a personal challenge, an inner influence….from different angles.

We are to use the power we have to see spiritually, to view things from different angles, so as to actually see what is there, so that we can redeem (restore to value) the time.   A fool thinks the world revolves around him, that if he thinks a thing, it must be right.  A fool does not consider the ramifications or consequences of his actions.  He does not consider any other way of looking at or understanding things.

In the warehouse, when the lights were off, we could throw paint against a canvas and fool ourselves into thinking it was a work of art.  As a fool, I wouldn’t even want the lights to go on, lest my vanity (really ugly, bad painting) be discovered.  But God says, “NO, open your eyes and really see what is there, so that you can make really good, wise decisions that will produce good fruit and wonderful effects.”  With the lights on, we can actually start to become better painters.

Here is a how these 2 verses could read.
Use your power of spiritual vision to actually SEE what is going on around you, not as a fool who only sees what he wants to see, but as a wise person, who desires to make profitable decisions, so that you can give the most value to your time, which, without this spiritual effort, is only evil all the time. 

Verses 17-20  Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the spirit, speaking to yourselves.  In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Speaking to yourselves is speaking in tongues (speaking by the spirit).  Spiritual songs means singing in tongues, by the spirit.  I Corinthians 14:17 says that speaking in tongues is “giving thanks well.”                                                                                                    All things means all things of the spirit of God.  Romans 8:28 says that ….all things work together for good to them that love God……  Some people say that everything that happens is God’s will.  So if my uncle gets killed in a car accident, for instance, God is trying to accomplish something by killing my uncle.  How stupid!  All things of the spirit work together for good to them that love God.  Look at the context.  Read I Corinthians 2:10-15 for a clearer understanding of what all things is really talking about.

Give thanks for all things …….of the spirit of Christ, which you are now able to discern and walk in, as children of light…….unto God, who is your Father, in the name of (in the spirit of) our Lord Jesus Christ.
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