Ephesians 5:1–7

God is love. Without love we are just making noise.

We praise You, God, for designing a new covenant of salvation for Your people (Jeremiah 31:31-33). We praise You, Jesus, for securing this new covenant of salvation by Your death and resurrection (Luke 22:19-20). We praise You, Holy Spirit, for implementing this new covenant of salvation within Your people (Romans 8:4;  Romans 8:10-11). 

By Your strength and power, help us to walk in Your covenant, so that we will no longer live for ourselves but for Jesus, who died and was raised for our sake (2 Corinthians 5:15). In Jesus' name, amen. First5 

Madeleine L’Engle:
This is my charge to you.
You are to be a light bearer.
You are to choose the light.

Ephesians 5:1–7

5 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. 

3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them. The New King James Version

Paul is commanding—not suggesting—that believers imitate God in how they treat one another.

Christ provides the model for how Christians are to live in love; His sacrificial death is the definition of love. This description of Christ’s death draws on language from the sacrificial system in the old testament. The Greek word used here, porneia, refers to any kind of sexual immorality. The Greek word used here, pleonexia, refers to the consuming desire to possess more than others, regardless of actual need. Paul calls greedy people idolaters. Paul instructs believers to avoid crude humor. 

Believers should be known for expressions of gratitude to God. Paul ties idolatry to greed.

In acknowledgment of Christ’s rule, believers are called to exhibit obedience, loyalty, and love. Those who continue to participate in illicit behavior essentially are resisting Christ’s reign and acting as though they reject an inheritance in His kingdom. In the Gospels, the kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven) is a central theme of Jesus’ teaching. Wrath refers to those who oppose God. Faithlife Study Bible

Believers are to follow the example of God’s actions. He loved us when we were still His enemies. As imitators, believers should demonstrate that type of self-sacrificial love. Ephesus, with its pagan temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Diana, was similar to our society in that sexual immorality and greed ran rampant. Paul warned the believers in Ephesus to avoid these pitfalls. The NKJV Study Bible

Because God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven you, therefore be ye followers of God, imitators of God. Resemble him especially in his love and pardoning goodness, as becomes those beloved by their heavenly Father. In Christ’s sacrifice his love triumphs, and we are to consider it fully. 

Walk as children of light, as having knowledge and holiness. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Luke 12:15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

1 Corinthians 6:10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Made in the image of God we are tripartite beings. We have a mind that regulates our functions. We have a body that is under the governing of the mind and we have a heart, our spirit, that makes us who we are and what we believe. As believers, with the heart, the Spirit within us speaks. 

The Trinity in the Bible

The term trinity is not found in the Bible but is a theological word which expresses the clear teaching of Holy Scripture, especially the New Testament. The first theologian of the church to use the term was Theophilus who spoke of God as trias. The great Latin church father Tertullian first developed the concept of trinitas, one God in three persons. Though the fathers of the church in the second and third centuries spoke of the three persons of the Godhead while recognizing that there is but one God, the councils of Nicea (a.d. 325) and Constantinople (a.d. 381) gave the fullest expression to the Biblical doctrine. Belief in one God in the ancient Mediterranean world was unique to the nation of Israel. The faith of Israel is given in the famous Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4). Repeatedly the teaching of the Law and the pronouncements of God’s prophets confirm this absolute truth. The church continued the teaching of the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, that there is only one God (see 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:5). This it did in contrast to the rampant polytheism that permeated the Greco-Roman world with its multitude of gods, including worship of the emperor as a god during the latter half of the first century. As the apostles and later the church began to articulate this monotheism against pagan religion, it was necessary to explain how this belief in one God was consistent with the concurrent belief that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God and yet still only one God. Jesus is the Son of the Father. Jesus calls Himself the Son of God, and He also calls God His Father in a way that implies a profoundly unique association. Moreover, Jesus claims a relationship with God the Father as a partner from all eternity. At other times Jesus makes statements and does deeds that cause others to recognize His claim to equality with God. The specific charge of blasphemy made against Christ was His admission to being the Son of God (Luke 22:70). These texts identify the person Jesus, preexistent to the world, as being God and yet distinct from God the Father. Like Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit is also a divine Person. Before Christ left the earth to be with the Father, He promised a Comforter similar to but distinct from Himself. He and the Father come to the believer through this Person, the Holy Spirit. God is called the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ as well as of Christians (Eph. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; 2 John 3). The apostle John specifically calls Jesus God (John 1:1, 18; 8:58). In several places Paul identifies Jesus as God (Rom. 9:5; Phil. 2:6; Titus 2:13), as does Peter (2 Pet. 1:1). The Holy Spirit is declared to be God by Peter (Acts 5:4) and is listed alongside the Father and the Son (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14). The NKJV Study Bible.