ACC ~ Ephesians 5 v16

REDEEMING THE TIME. CHRYSOSTOM: His motive for giving this counsel is not to urge them to be more crafty or underhanded. Rather he is saying: “The times do not belong to you. Now you are migrants and expatriates, strangers and foreigners. Do not seek honors. Do not seek glory, authority or retribution. Bear all things. Only by patience will you redeem the time. Pay whatever is required, all that they desire.” OMILY ON EPHESIANS 18.5.15-17.

GOD’S CREATION OF TIME ITSELF NOT EVIL. CHRYSOSTOM: When Paul says “the days are evil,” he does not mean that they are created evil or that they are by their very nature evil. Rather he says this of the troubling events that occur in time. We are in the habit of saying, “I have had a terrible day.” But that does not imply that the day of itself is intrinsically terrible. Rather it refers to what has occurred in the day. Some of the things that occur in it are good, as they are enabled by God. Some are bad, because they are brought about by evil willing. Therefore it is we humans who are the authors of the evils that occur in time. Only on this basis are the times called evil. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 18.5.15-17.

AVOID CONSTANT CHANGE. JEROME: Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, has risen. Rise up from the sleep of the age. Walk cautiously and prudently. Cast off folly. Take hold of wisdom. In this way you will be able to avoid changing yourself constantly as you walk through the vicissitudes of the times. Rather you will find a unity within yourself even amid the diversity of the times. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.16.

Eph