Ephesians 5:1-20 “Walking in Christ: The Sequel”

Ephesians 5:1-20 “Walking in Christ: the sequel”

1. 2 Walk like God: in love: Imitate God’s others centered Love, not Satan’s counterfeit self-serving lust.  When you recognize God’s goodness, grace, forgiveness and give of yourself, you will imitate Jesus and walk in love, and it’s a particularly pleasant aroma to the Lord. So walking in love means in whatever I do, in thought, speech and behavior, I ask, is this selfish or am I blessing others in my action? Is this something Jesus would do? Is it loving?

2. V.7-14 Walk as children of Light. How?

V.10 Test everything by shining God’s light on it.  Is this pleasing to God?

V.11 Expose means to convince or convict (shining light on it, not beating them with the

flashlight).

3. V.15 Walk Carefully. Literally: See with eyes wide open in your walk.
4. V.16 Redeem the time– Literally: Ransom or rescue every. single. moment. Submit every moment to the walk of Jesus. How? By shining light on every moment of my day, but I can’t do that unless I understand V.17.
5. V.17 Walk in the will of God. If we walk carefully, this is the actual path that we walk.
6. V.18 Walk by the Spirit. Why? We can’t walk V.16-18 without it. How? The same way we get drunk. Luke 11:3 Ask for lots of it (good gift).  This keeps us on the path. The result:

V.19- walk a life of praise.  Constantly setting your affections on things above .

V.20- Walk thankfully. Acknowledging that God is the source of every good thing. Thankfulness takes me off the throne and recognizes it isn’t up to me to provide.

 Grow Group Questions:

1. Why is it essential to have a biblical definition of love? What problems may ensue if we lack such a definition? How does Satan counterfeit God’s good gifts?
2. If we openly rebuke someone for a coarse joking or foolish talk, it may cut off all future opportunity for witness. How do we “shine light” that is tactful and not show approval?
3. To effectively redeem the time means that I must be very intentional. Prayerfully write out a one-sentence purpose statement for your life. It should describe what you think God wants you to be if you live to be 80 (or older). You should base it on biblically determined criteria. Then, underneath that purpose statement, write out some short-term goals that will move you toward your life purpose in each area (spiritual, relational, intellectual, moral, physical, financial, and vocational).
4. Does “redeeming the time” imply that every Christian must devote every spare minute to serving the Lord in ministry? How do we determine the balance between leisure and service? How does 1 Cor. 10:31 help me understand?