Lessons #203 and 204
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Living wisely involves understanding God’s will (Eph 5:15-17)
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
It is quite common for the Holy Spirit through human authors of the Scripture, particularly the NT epistles, to provide us reason or explanation for a given instruction. Therefore, it is not surprising that the apostle provides us a specific reason we should live wisely as Christians on this planet although some take the reason to be related to using up every opportunity that one is provided. The reason that follows which the Holy Spirit gives us through the Apostle Paul is associated with the state of affairs in the world in which we live. We live in a world that is full of evil and so it makes sense that we should be instructed to be careful how we live since we are surrounded by evil. It is this reason that is given in the last clause of Ephesians 5:16 because the days are evil.
There is a translation problem with the clause because the days are evil that affects its interpretation. The problem concerns how we should understand the Greek conjunction (hoti) the apostle used that is capable of several possible meanings but in our passage, it is capable of two meanings. A first possible meaning of the Greek conjunction is to consider it as introducing direct discourse which is not normally translated in the English so that whatever follows it is presented by quotation marks. This interpretation is possible because the sentence the days are evil is quite similar to that found in the OT Scripture, specifically, in Amos 5:13:
Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil.
A second possible meaning of the Greek conjunction is as a marker of reason or cause so that it means “because.” Which of these two meanings of the Greek conjunction did the apostle have in mind? The first meaning of considering the conjunction as a quotation mark is possible because the passage in Amos 5:13 is concerned with being prudent or wise. But it is unlikely the apostle was thinking of this passage since in verse 11 of Ephesians 5 he had instructed believers to speak up against sinful conducts. The passage in Amos is concerned with the opposite situation where it is considered wise for the righteous not to speak out against the evil doers in specific situation so that they will not be hated. It is for this reason that we do not think that the apostle had in mind the passage in Amos so as to be quoting it in Ephesians 5:16. In addition, there is another reason although not that strong, which is that the apostle used the word “days” instead of the word “times” used by Prophet Amos. As we have indicated, this is not a strong reason in rejecting the first meaning of the Greek conjunction used in our passage for after all, the Greek word translated “days” could in some contexts be translated “time.” Thus, the primary reason for rejecting the first interpretation of taking the Greek conjunction as a quotation mark is that what Prophet Amos wrote does not fit the context where believers have been instructed to speak out against sinful conduct. This being the case, we should take the Greek conjunction as providing reason for the instruction given in this passage so that its meaning is “because.”
A question arises as to the instruction with which the clause because the days are evil is associated. This is because as we indicated previously, there are those who take the first part of verse 16 that reads in the NIV as making the most of every opportunity or literally redeeming the time as a command issued to believers. Such an approach makes the clause because the days are evil to be associated with the first part of verse 16. In other words, our clause will give the reason for redeeming the time or making the most of the opportunity that is afforded to an individual. This is possible but unlikely since we indicated that the literal reading redeeming the time should be viewed as providing the result that is expected of one who lives wisely and not an independent command. If it is accepted, as we interpreted previously, that the literal reading redeeming the time is a side comment of the apostle or a parenthetical expression then it is easier to recognize that the clause because the days are evil of Ephesians 5:16 is related to the instruction to be careful to live wisely given in verse 15. This means we are to live carefully because the days are evil.
In any case, what is it the apostle meant in the clause because the days are evil? To answer this question, we need to consider the two key words “days” and “evil” used in the passage. The word “days” is translated from a Greek word (hēmera) that literally refers to day as the period between sunrise and sunset, as the apostle used the word in 1 Thessalonians 2:9:
Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
The word can mean “court of justice”, as the apostle used it in 1 Corinthians 4:3:
I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.
The phrase by any human court is more literally by man’s day that refers to a day of judgment fixed by a judge. The word can mean “time” in the sense of extended period as it is used to describe the period of time the Apostle Paul was in Corinth in Acts 18:18:
Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken.
The word can also refer to “years” as it is used to describe that Zechariah and Elizabeth were of advanced age in Luke 1:7:
But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.
The phrase in years is more literally in their days so it becomes clearer that the Greek word translated “day” can mean “years.” In our passage of Ephesian 5:16, it is the meaning of “time” as an extended period that is in view since the other meanings do not apply. Thus, the word “day” is similar to the word “age” the apostle described as evil in Galatians 1:4:
who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
The word “evil” is translated from a Greek adjective (ponēros) that basically means “evil” that is to be understood in both non-moral and moral senses. In a non-moral sense, the word can mean “bad” in the sense of poor quality or unhealthy as it is used in by our Lord in describing a tree and its fruit in Matthew 7:17:
Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
The clause but a bad tree bears bad fruit is literally but an evil tree bears an evil fruit. A tree that is evil is one that is unhealthy so that the evil fruit is one that no one wants to eat because it tastes bad so we can say the fruit is useless. Still in a non-moral sense the word can mean “painful” as it is used to describe the kind of sores that will break out in the bowl judgment described in Revelation 16:2:
The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
The phrase painful sores is more literally evil sores. The word in a moral sense of right and wrong behavior has a range of meanings. It can mean “malicious” when used with words, as the Apostle John used it to describe an activity of Diotrephes in 3 John 10:
So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
The verbal phrase gossiping maliciously about us is literally disparaging us with evil words. The word can mean “wrong” as it is used in James in commenting about arrogance in James 4:16:
As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
James indicates that every boasting not about God is wrong; this is what he intended to convey in the sentence all such boasting is evil. The word in a moral sense can also mean “guilty” as it is used by human author of Hebrews regarding the conscience in Hebrews 10:22:
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
The phrase guilty conscience is literally evil conscience. Another meaning of our Greek word in a moral sense is that of “sinful” as the author of Hebrews also used it in Hebrews 3:12:
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
Still another meaning of the word in a moral sense is that of “wicked”, as in 1 Corinthians 5:13:
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
In our passage of Ephesians 5:16, the Greek word is used in a moral sense of something wrong or sinful although there are those who take the view that “evil” refers to the distress and hardship believers faced. There is no doubt that such understanding is certainly included in the concept of “evil” but the preceding context that is concerned with the immoral behavior of unbelievers that believers are warned against indicates that the primary meaning of “evil” in the mind of the apostle as he wrote the word is in a moral sense as related to people.
Having examined the two key words used in the clause because the days are evil, we are now in a position to answer the question of what the apostle meant in the clause. Because the word “evil” in a moral sense has a range of meanings, as we have examined, the reason the apostle gave for living wisely in the clause because the days are evil is complex but it is hinged on the sinfulness of mankind. When the apostle states that the days are evil he meant that we live in an age or a period when there is increase in the exhibition of sinfulness of mankind. He would have had in mind the period in which not many have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the apostle mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 3:2:
And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.
The apostle would definitely have had in mind that the period we live in is that period in which man’s sinfulness is more prevalent as he summarized in 2 Timothy 3:1–5:
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
The sinful conducts he mentioned in this passage will become rampart that it can be said that people will become worse and worse not only in their display of the sinful conducts mentioned but they will try to deceive others as the apostle also mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:13:
while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
They will not only try to deceive others but these unbelievers will ridicule anything that is related to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, especially, with respect to the Second Coming, as the Holy Spirit tells us through the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:3–5:
3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.
The point is that the Holy Spirit through the apostle wants believers to live wisely because they are living in a period of great display of human sinfulness. But it is not only that people will exhibit sinful conduct but they will try to influence the believer to join them in their sinful conduct. It is for this reason that the believer should be careful to recognize the ploys of the unregenerate mankind to entrap believers to their sinful conduct. Let me apply this to our nation. There are several concepts that are evil in moral sense that believers are surrounded through our air ways. There is the acceptance of the sin of homosexuality. There are things on the news that promote hatred. There are things in the news that promote idolatry such as pitching human symbols over clearly defined concept in the Scripture such as love and justice. So, believers are surrounded with things that promote idolatry in the sense of devotion to man-made concepts instead of devotion to God and His word.
In any case, we contend that the clause because the days are evil is connected with the reason to live wisely. This is supported by the first clause of Ephesians 5:17, therefore do not be foolish. An alternative translation that is more literal is because of this, do not become foolish. The literal translation raises the question of what the pronoun this refers. The context indicates that the pronoun this refers to the clause because the days are evil. The implication is that verse 17 is linked to verse 15 where the apostle is concerned that the believer should live wisely that is stated in a positive manner. To ensure that we recognize that verse 17 is still connected to verse 15, the apostle gives in a negative way the same instruction given in verse 15 with respect to living wisely.
A person who lives wisely is a person who does not live foolishly. Therefore, the apostle issued the command do not be foolish of verse 17. There are two problems related to this command the first is how to understand the word “be” and the second is how to understand the entire command. The first problem arises because the word “be” is translated from a Greek word (ginomai) with a range of meanings. In our passage, there are two possible meanings. A first possible meaning is to understand the word to mean possessing certain characteristics, with the implication of their having been acquired and so means “to be, prove to be, turn out.” It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it in the command he issued to believers about being kind and compassionate in Ephesians 4:32:
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Another meaning of the Greek word is to experience a change in nature and so indicate entry into a new condition or to experience a state hence means “to become.” It is in this sense that the word is used to describe a change in state of an unbeliever the very moment that individual believes in Christ so that the person becomes a child of God, as implied in John 1:12:
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
It is in this same sense that the apostle used it to describe his commission as a servant of the gospel in Colossians 1:23:
if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
The question then is; in which of these two senses did the apostle use it? It is in the sense of “to be” that implies acquiring a characteristic that is intended. This is because the command of the apostle is associated with the word “foolish” that we will get to shortly. For this reason, it is the meaning “to be” in the sense of possessing certain characteristics that is intended in our passage, as reflected in the majority of our English versions although the Lexham English Bible takes the second meaning of “to become” in their translation. The translators imply that it is a condition or a state that is involved in our passage. That is, that the apostle does not want the Ephesians to slip back into their former state that involved foolish conducts. This is possible and may well be the case since foolishness can be a characteristic or a state one enters. What this means is that we cannot be dogmatic as to whether the meaning is “to be” or “to become” since there is not much difference between the too. Nonetheless, it seems that the apostle is concerned with possessing a characteristic since being wise implies acquiring a characteristic rather than a state.
The second problem of how to understand the command do not be foolish of verse 17 arises because of the Greek construction involved. The Greek construction allows for two possible interpretations. It could mean that the command is to stop something that is in progress. It is clearly in this sense that the Greek construction we have in our passage is used with respect to Thomas who doubted the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as we read in John 20:27:
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
The command stop doubting and believe is more literally and do not be unbelieving. This first understanding of the Greek construction used in Ephesians 5:17 is reflected in the translation of the NAB that reads do not continue in ignorance. This translation implies the apostle is indicting the Ephesians for ignorance or for being foolish and so wants them to stop being foolish. A second interpretation of the Greek construction used in our passage is to consider the prohibition as a rule that regulates behavior or thought without any comment about whether the action is going on or not. This interpretation seems to be how the apostle used the Greek construction we have here in several passages. In his epistle to the Romans concerning the appropriate conduct of believers, he used the Greek construction in our passage in Romans 12:16:
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
In his epistle to the Corinthians, he used the same Greek construction in 1 Corinthians 7:23:
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
In this passage, it seems apostle is instructing believers not to be slaves of men in the sense that they should not allow the worldly standards to guide them with respect to slavery or marriage since they belong to Christ. The same Greek construction is found in 2 Corinthians 6:14:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
Here also there is no indication that all believers in Corinth were in partnership with unbelievers to warrant the apostle telling them to stop it and so this may be a case of general instruction regarding their conduct. Anyway, the problem is to determine whether the apostle used the prohibition in Ephesians 5:17 in sense that implies he is indicting them by commanding them to stop something they have been doing or whether he is giving them a general rule of conduct or thought. We cannot be absolutely certain which the apostle meant. Therefore, in terms of translation it is better to use the second meaning as reflected in the NIV and majority of our English versions that read similar to the NIV do not be foolish. This notwithstanding, the application of the command is such that it will always fit any given congregation of believers. By this we mean that on the one hand, there are those who are being foolish as believers in a given congregation and to such individuals the command will mean they should stop being foolish. On the other hand, there are believers who are probably not foolish so that the apostle’s command is for such individuals to ensure that they do not get into foolishness. In this way, we see that the general command could have been what the apostle intended so that it could apply to a group of believers in Ephesus who were acting foolishly but at the same time apply to those believers who were not acting foolishly.
Be that as it may, what exactly does the apostle prohibit in the command do not be foolish of Ephesians 5:17? To answer this question requires we understand the word “foolish.” It is a word translated from a Greek adjective (aphrōn) that pertains to lack of good judgment or not employing one’s understanding, particularly in practical matters and so means “foolish, senseless, unwise.” In the NIV, the word is sometimes translated “fool”, as in Luke 12:20:
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
The phrase you fool is more literally foolish one. The context of this passage enables us to understand that a fool or one who is foolish is one that does not include God in his or her plans, as we can derive from the next verse, that is, Luke 12: 21:
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
The meaning “foolish” is used to indicate lack of understanding. It is in this sense that the word is used in our Lord’s address to the Pharisees in Luke 11:40:
You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
The Apostle Paul also used it to describe those who reject the notion of bodily resurrection in that they fail to apply knowledge of agricultural process with respect to planting of seeds to the concept of resurrection as in the declaration he made in 1 Corinthians 15:36:
How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
Of course, the apostle used the Greek adjective to describe himself although the translators of the NIV used the word “fool” in 2 Corinthians 11:16:
I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting.
Our Greek adjective could mean “ignorant, uninstructed”, especially, with respect to truth of true religion. This meaning is possible in Romans 2:20:
an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
The Greek adjective in some context is used to refer to those who oppose God and so are enemies of what is right. It is this sense that the word is used in 1 Peter 2:15:
For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
The phrase foolish men in 1 Peter 2:15 refers to the pagans mentioned in verse 12 of 1 Peter 2 that accuse believers of doing wrong because they are doing what the word of God demands of them. Of course, it is not only in the NT that our Greek adjective is used to describe those who oppose God or are rebellious towards Him. Our Greek adjective is used in Septuagint to describe those who rebel against God or those who deny His existence. It is in the sense of those who rebel against God that the word is used in the Septuagint of Jeremiah 4:22:
“My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”
The sentence people are fools is more literally my people are foolish. Likewise phrase senseless children may be translated foolish children. In this passage, we see that the adjective “foolish” describe those who do not know God in the sense of not being obedient to His word and those who lack understanding of truth so that they are skilled in doing what is wrong or sinful.
Our consideration of the meaning of the Greek adjective translated “foolish” in Ephesians 5:17 enables us to understand what it is the apostle prohibits in the instruction do not be foolish. He instructs believers not to place themselves in a situation where they are incapable of applying the word of God correctly by careful thought so as to lead them to sin or to do those things that are incompatible with God’s word or even to function without regard to God. This will be the case if believers are not clear about what is right and wrong as defined in God’s word. A person who is not knowledgeable in the word of God could hardly distinguish right from wrong or distinguish good from evil as the author of Hebrews indicates in Hebrews 5:14:
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Anyhow, the Holy Spirit through the apostle indicates that believers are not to be those who do things or act without careful reflection of how their actions agree with God’s word. Those who act without careful reflection of God’s word are foolish.
The Holy Spirit through the apostle not only states the negative that involves lack of reflection in what a believer does but He gives us the antidote to foolishness which is to live a life of understanding of God’s will. This antidote is given in the second clause of Ephesians 5:17, but understand what the Lord’s will is. There is a manuscript problem with the Greek word translated understand in the NIV. The manuscript problem is reflected in the translation of the NET in that the authors instead of the command understand translate by understanding. They justify this translation on the ground that although the best manuscript witnesses support the reading that demands the Greek word being translated as a command but that the reading that is reflected in their translation that is found in Western and Byzantine manuscripts is probably the original, being the harder reading. Furthermore, they argue that to maintain the symmetry of the apostle in the section of Ephesians 5:15-21 which is such that a command is followed by a participle in each of the three main sections (vv. 15–16, v. 17, vv. 18–21) then it is necessary to accept the reading that is reflected in their translation. The implication of their translation is that what follows gives the means of avoiding foolishness. This may well be true but in application there is not much difference between taking the Greek as a command or as a participle since the result of each is related to knowledge of the Lord’s will.
Living wisely requires for the believer to form the habit of grasping the will of God. We say this because the word “understand” is translated from a Greek word (syniēmi) that means to have an intelligent grasp of something that challenges one’s thinking or practice and so it means “to understand, to comprehend.” It is in the sense of grasping or understanding of what is in the Scripture that the word is used to describe the illumination of the minds of the disciples after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 24:45:
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
The translators of the NIV rendered the word with the meaning “to realize” in connection of what Moses expected of the Israelites of the time of exodus, as recorded in Acts 7:25:
Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.
This meaning seems to be that adopted by the translators of the NJB with their use of the word “recognize.” This notwithstanding, it is in the sense of to know and comprehend the nature or meaning of something that the word is used in our passage. The apostle used a present tense in the Greek in issuing the command associated with the word “understand.” The implication is that the apostle laid a general rule that should govern the thought and so the conduct of believers. It is expected that believers should form the habit of comprehending or grasping what the apostle mentioned that we will get to shortly. The instruction of the apostle is to be understood in a broad manner that is applicable to any local congregation. There are those who have not formed the habit of doing what the apostle commands and so the instruction would be that they should on hearing the command of this section begin and continue to obey it in order that what is instructed will become habit on their part. Those who have already begun doing what the apostle states should simply continue what they are doing. In either case, the apostle is concerned with forming a habit with respect to what he wants believer’s to understand.
Understanding should not be limited to intellectual perception of facts but should reflect in what one does. It is for this reason that understanding is explained differently in the Scripture. For example, avoidance of evil is described as understanding in Job 28:28:
And he said to man, ‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’”
Those who obey God’s instruction are described as having understanding, in Psalm 111:10:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
The point is that we should not limit understanding to intellectual concept although our passage is focused on a particular thing the Holy Spirit wants believers to understand.
The thing the Holy Spirit through the apostle wants believers to ponder so that they can grasp or comprehend its nature is the will of Lord as in the clause what the Lord’s will is of Ephesians 5:17. It is interesting that the apostle did not use the normal phrase God’s will that he and all the other NT writers often used; instead, he used the phrase the Lord’s will that is used two other times in the NT. It is used in Acts 21:14:
When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Here the word “Lord” is clearly a reference to Jesus Christ. The other passage is in James 4:15:
Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
The word “Lord” in James is not used to refer to any member of Godhead and so may be simply used in the sense of God. Nonetheless, the fact that the Apostle Paul used the phrase Lord’s will instead of God’s will is significant. Its significance is that the apostle is Christ centered. His thought is focused on the Lord Jesus Christ who accomplished on the cross the work necessary to ensure that believers are in God’s will. There is more to the use of this phrase, it is the apostle’s way of conveying the deity of Jesus Christ since the apostle usually uses God in connection with the word “will” then by associating the Lord Jesus with the word “will” he meant for us to recognize that Jesus Christ is God. Of course, there are those who take the word “Lord” as God in the phrase we are considering but that is unlikely because the apostle often uses the word “Lord” for Jesus Christ in his epistles unless he quotes a passage from the OT Scripture.
The word “will” is translated from a Greek word (thelēma) that basically means “will” that can be used either in objective sense of what one wishes to happen or in a subjective sense of desiring something. In the objective sense, it can mean God’s will as the Apostle Paul used it in Romans 2:18:
if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;
Another objective sense of the word refers to what one wishes to bring about by the activity of others, to whom one assigns a task. It is in this sense that the apostle used it to describe God’s perfect will in Romans 12:2:
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Still another objective sense of the word refers to what one wishes to bring about by one’s own action, since one has undertaken to do what one has willed. It is in this sense that the word is used in connection with salvation plan and work of God in Ephesians 1:9:
And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,
There is nothing about salvation that is left to man so God carried it out to ensure that what He willed with respect to salvation comes into fruition. In a subjective sense, the word relating to God refers to what He purposes or has purposed, what He regards, or does, as good. It is in this sense that the apostle used the word in describing his plan to come to the Roman believers in Romans 15:32:
so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.
It is also in this sense of what God purposes or has purposed that the Apostle Peter used our Greek word in connection with suffering of believers in 1 Peter 3:17:
It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
The conditional clause if it is God’s will is more literally if the will of God wills. The literal word “wills” suggests doubt that believers would suffer and that it is God’s will but in reality, believer’s suffering is God’s will in accordance with His plan. So, Joseph suffered in Egypt because it is in conformity with God’s will so that His plan will be manifested through Joseph. Anyhow, we are concerned with the word “will” as used in our passage of Ephesians 5:17 whether it is in objective or subjective sense. It is in the objective sense of that which God wishes to bring about through the activities of believers that the word is used in our passage. Thus, the Holy Spirit wants us to grasp or comprehend what God wants the believer to do in order to be considered as living wisely.
To understand the will of God requires that the believer should know the Scripture or should be taught the word of God. It is as a believer studies or is taught the word of God that such a person will understand or grasp what God desires the individual to do. In the context, a person who studies the epistle that we are considering up to this point will have recognized negatively what God does not want believers to do. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul has conveyed that believers should not live like unbelieves so it should be clear to such a person that it is God’s will that believers should not imitate the lifestyle of unbelievers, especially their lifestyle of sexual immorality. This requirement is stated to mean that believers should live a holy life that involves avoidance of sexual immorality, as we read, for example, in 1 Thessalonians 4:3:
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
Studying of the Scripture should reveal other things that God expects of us as part of His will. It is as a believer studies or is taught the word of God that such an individual will understand or grasp the concept that God does not want believers to live a life of disarray because of circumstance of life. In fact, the word of God reveals that believers should be those who are capable of being thankful to God in all circumstances of life, as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:18:
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
The moment you study this passage or you receive teaching about it then you come to understand that it is God’s will for you to be thankful in all circumstances. The implication is that any time the believer falls apart or gets depressed because of the circumstances the individual faces, then immediately such a believer would recognize that he/she is acting contrary to God’s will. Another will of God that a believer would learn through the word of God is that God expects believers to silence their critics not so much with words as it is by their lifestyle, as stated in a passage we cited previously, that is, 1 Peter 2:15:
For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
In any case, the result of understanding of God’s will should be to live wisely. Hence, the message of this section that we have considered which is that living wisely involves understanding God’s will. Let me end by stating that part of living wisely is never to follow the crowd in doing wrong as required in Exodus 23:2:
“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,
[End of Lesson #203 and 204]