ACC ~ Ephesians 5 v1 - 5

OVERVIEW:

The more God loves us and the more mature we are, the more we strive to reflect his goodness (CHRYSOSTOM, JEROME). Love is the foundation of all virtue (CHRYSOSTOM). Christ remains our pattern, even to death (JEROME). He is one with the father (THEODORET), even in his sacrifice (MARIUS VICTORINUS), and we must be one with him in self-denial (CHRYSOSTOM). No sin is trivial, whether it emerges out of affection or appetite (CHRYSOSTOM, ORIGEN, AMBROSIASTER). A saint reveals faith in both conduct and conscience (JEROME, MARIUS VICTORINUS). Foolish as they are (JEROME), sins of speech lead to much worse sins (CHRYSOSTOM). They are to be overcome by giving thanks to God constantly. Though some sins are not even to be named among the saints (MARIUS VICTORINUS), all sins are resisted (JEROME). Love of money is worship of a creature (AMBROSIASTER), which is idolatry (THEODORET).

5:1 | Imitators of God

HAVING BEEN ADOPTED, ACT AS BELOVED CHILDREN. CHRYSOSTOM: You are called to imitate God, to become like God. This can happen when you are reconciled with him. … Paul then adds another splendid incentive: You are to act “as beloved children.” He is saying, in effect: “You have another reason for imitating him, not only to receive good but also to be fittingly called his own children.” … Not all children imitate their father, but those who know themselves to be beloved act like “beloved children. “ HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 17.4.32-5.2.

WHETHER IT IS POSSIBLE FOR HUMANS TO IMITATE GOD. JEROME: When he wrote to the Corinthians, indeed, he said “be imitators” of me … for though they could not instantaneously become imitators of Christ, it was still a great thing for them if they could be imitators of the imitator. But to the Ephesians, since they are those to whom he has revealed such great mysteries, he neither says “be imitators of me” nor “be imitators of Christ” but “be imitators of God.” This does not imply that it is less to be an imitator of Christ than of God, for Christ is God. … Admittedly much that God has done we humans can hardly be said to imitate. But in the way that he is merciful to all and rains on good and bad, so we may pour out mercy upon all we meet. When we do this, we shall be beloved children. We shall be imitating either Paul or, as I rather think, God himself. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.1.

5:2a | Walk in Love

AS CHRIST LOVED YOU, SO YOU LOVE. CHRYSOSTOM: See how love is the foundation of everything. Where love is present there is no anger, no passion, no railing, no blasphemy. All this is put away. Now he states his chief point: How have you become a child? Because you have been reconciled. On the same basis on which you have received so great a privilege, offer this same gift to others. … And as the Lord has loved you, so you love your neighbor. Even if you are not able to do that completely, you must do it according to your ability. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 17.4.32-5.2.

AS HE GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR US. JEROME: Who is it that truly walks in love? The one who, for the salvation of others, contends against sin to the point of shedding blood, so as even to give up his soul for them. That is the one who walks in love, imitating Christ. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.2.

TO IMITATE THE FATHER, LOVE LIKE THE SON. THEODORET: Here too he reveals the equality of the Father and the Son. For having called them to be imitators of God, he then urges the same pattern with respect to the Son. The Father has bestowed forgiveness. The Son has loved us and gave up his life for us. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.2.

5:2b | A Fragrant Offering and Sacrifice to God

THE AROMA OF SWEETNESS. MARIUS VICTORINUS: As Father and Son are of one substance, so too they are one in will. … The Son offered himself to the Father that through this mystery of his sacrifice all things might be made new by his Spirit. In this way he himself is the aroma of sweetness. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.5.2.

HOW WE IMITATE HIS SACRIFICE. CHRYSOSTOM: You spare your friends. He spared his enemies. … He suffered on his enemies’ behalf. This is the fragrant offering, the acceptable sacrifice. If you suffer for your enemies as a fragrant offering, you too become an acceptable sacrifice, even if you die. This is what it means to imitate God. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 17.4.32-5.2.

5:3a | Impurity and Covetousness Repudiated

FORNICATION AND IMPURITY DISTINGUISHED. ORIGEN: Fornication in the strict sense is consorting with prostitutes. Impurity is the generic name, in the maelstrom of our bodily existence, not only for adultery and pederasty but also all the other inventions of sexual licentiousness in all their many and diverse practices. Greed can be taken either straight-forwardly or, as I have established [with regard to 1 Thess 4:4-6], in the sense of “adultery.” EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

COVETOUSNESS NOT TRIVIAL. AMBROSIASTER: What a grave sin is covetousness, though we gloss over it when compared with fornication and uncleanness. We treat covetousness as a minor fault when in fact it is a grave matter. No one can be a saint in whom is found any of these things that he forbids. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.3.

MURDER AND ADULTERY DISTINGUISHED. CHRYSOSTOM: He has already spoken of the bitterest affection, which is wrath. Next he passes on to lust, which comes after wrath, as we see in the law of Moses, who first says “You shall not murder,” which springs from wrath, and then “You shall not commit adultery,” which springs from lust. For just as bitterness, clamor and every evil, including blasphemy and the like, belong to the anger-prone, passionate nature, so do fornication, impurity and covetousness belong to the lust-prone, appetitive nature. Just as he earlier prohibited clamorous disorder because it is a vehicle of anger, so he now prohibits filthy and loose talk, because it is a vehicle of lust. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 17.5.3.

5:3b | What Is Fitting Among Saints

SOME SINS NOT EVEN TO BE NAMED AMONG THE SAINTS. MARIUS VICTORINUS: The name, the mind and the conscience of the saints demand that the tongue itself should be an agent of holiness. If a person who is holy in his ways speaks unnecessarily of abominable behaviors, he may harbor sin. Even speaking of them may show how well acquainted he is with vices better left unspoken. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.5.3.

PREOCCUPATION WITH SIN. JEROME: Even one who is in fact free of fornication is not holy if he remains mentally preoccupied with some uncleanness or with the avaricious pursuit of the pleasures that have once delighted him. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.3-4.

5:4a | Fitting Speech

SILLINESS NOT UPBUILDING. CHRYSOSTOM: Let there be no obscenities, either in word or deed, that might quench the flame of the spirit. For words often lead the way to actions. Then, in order that it may not appear that he is a spoilsport or too austere, Paul gently shows that he is not an opponent of playfulness. For he qualifies this instruction by explaining its reason: You are not to indulge in that form of silly talk that is “not befitting” to this community. Better to offer thanksgiving than to spew out such talk. What good is it if you make an unbefitting witticism? All you have done is raise a laugh. Tell me, does the shoemaker use any instrument that does not befit his trade? Would he purchase a tool that does not contribute to his craft? Of course not. Similarly, that which is of no use to our purpose is nothing to us. … Inordinate levity may easily open the door to blasphemy, and the blasphemer heaps up countless other evils for himself. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 17.5.4.

DISTINGUISHING SILLINESS AND LEVITY. JEROME: The “silly talk” to which Paul refers occurs not only among those who tell dirty jokes to get a cheap laugh. He is also referring to those who put on frivolous airs and to those who manipulate whoever they are trying to please. There is another kind of silly talk that occurs among those reckoned to be the intellectuals of the age who, when disputing on matters of natural science, imagine that they have fully comprehended the sands of the shore, the drops of ocean, the extent of heavens and the minuteness of earth. … Note that levity follows silly talk. The intent here is to speak of frivolous and inappropriate stories. The difference between silliness and levity is this: silliness has nothing in it that is wise or worthy of the human heart. Levity devolves from a clever mind and deliberately seeks out certain words, be they witty, vulgar, obscene or facetious, in a jocularity the sole aim of which is to get a laugh. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.3-4.

5:4b | Let There Be Thanksgiving

THE ALTERNATIVE TO UNNECESSARY TALKATIVENESS. MARIUS VICTORINUS: Having said what should be the case, he adds what must above all be the case, which is this, that we should “give thanks”—to God, without doubt, but also to other people. Hence he uses the term thanksgiving without qualification. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.5.4.

5:5a | Who Inherits the Kingdom of God?

WHETHER SOME SINS ARE MORE SERIOUS. MARIUS VICTORINUS: Since he has listed three sins first, then added another three, his instruction requires him to explain that the first three are more serious, seeing that he has said that these first three are not even to be named among the saints. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.5.5.

WHETHER WORDS SAID IN JEST CONDEMN US. JEROME: Are those merely guilty of silliness and inordinate levity to be kept out of the kingdom of God? Are they excluded on the same basis as those sins that he has marked off specifically? It would seem a cruel sentence not to pardon the weakness of human frailty, so that our words condemned us even when said in jest. … Yet in making this distinction [between lesser and more serious sins] we are not making excuses for silliness and levity. They do not exclude from the kingdom. But they are not negligible and remind us that just as “the Father has many mansions” and “one star differs from another in glory,” so too will it be in the resurrection of the dead. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.5.

5:5b | Covetousness Linked with Idolatry

THE IDOLATROUS HEART OF COVETOUSNESS. AMBROSIASTER: To teach us that covetousness is such a dangerous thing, he calls it idolatry, no sin being greater than this. But why is covetousness called idolatry? Idolatry usurps the honor of God and claims it for the creature. The holy name of God, which belongs solely to the Creator, is thereby applied to creatures. Covetousness is viewed on a level with idolatry because the covetous person similarly usurps for himself what belongs to God and hides them away. Covetousness withholds the resources offered by God for the common use of all. It hoards them to itself so that others may not use them. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.5.1.

YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON. THEODORET: Paul also makes this point in his letter to the Corinthians. He speaks of covetousness as idolatry, reminding us of the Lord’s saying: “No one can serve two masters; and you cannot serve God and Mammon.” PISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.5.