EPHESIANS LIVE-IT-OUT GUIDE

(MEMBER VERSION)

SESSION 9: EPHESIANS 5:1-21

OPENING DISCUSSION:

Imitation Game – I remember writing a letter to a Christian friend once, and the letter began like this: “Dear so-and-so, my true brother in a common faith, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This unusual greeting made my friend laugh. “I know you mean every word, but no one writes like that anymore”, he informed me gently. Well, I wanted to learn how to write like the Apostle Paul. For me, Paul’s letters in the New Testament were the perfect example of writing that was both profound and blood-earnest (some of you might disagree after having to plough through the long sentences in Ephesians). Strangely enough, I have learnt more about argumentative writing by imitating Paul, than I ever did in all my years in school.

We imitate people all the time. It could be a parental figure, a mentor, a celebrity, or just someone you really look up to.

In your life, name one person that you have tried to imitate. What characteristic about this person did you imitate? Share with your group.

GOING DEEPER

Read Ephesians 5:1-21

Brief Recap: Recall Paul’s main exhortation to his readers: chapter 4 verse 1 – you must “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (ESV). We are called to be ‘one Body’, so we must walk in unity (first half of chapter 4). We are also called to be different from unbelievers, so we must change our lives by having our minds renewed in the gospel (second half of chapter 4). Now in chapter 5, Paul reminds us that we are called to be God’s beloved children.

1. Look at verse 1. Paul’s main instruction is for us to “be imitators of God, as beloved children” (ESV). Through the gospel, God has become our heavenly Father, who is perfectly loving and holy. We are called to imitate Him as children.

a. According to verse 2, how should we imitate God?

b. Read verses 3 to 6 again. Imitating God’s love means putting away all sexual immorality and obscene talk.

(In the Bible, “sexual immorality” refers to any sexual conduct that is outside God’s design. This includes pre-marital sex, masturbation, pornography, adultery, prostitution, and any homosexual act.)

What are the motivations given to us in verses 3 to 6?

c. In our personal life and in our LG, how can we better apply these motivations to put away sexual sin and obscene talk?

d. Paul tells us to substitute sexual sin and obscene talk with “thanksgiving” (verse 4). How can we learn to use thanksgiving to put away sexual sin and to walk in love?

2. As God’s children, we must not only imitate His love, but also His light. Paul instructs us to walk as “children of light” (verse 8).

a. According to verse 8, what enables us to walk as children of light?

b. Walking as children of light means “[taking] no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead [exposing] them” (verse 11, ESV). How have you seen or experienced this in your own life?

c. According to verses 12 to 14, why is it important for us to walk as children of light and to expose darkness?

3. Look at verse 15. Lastly, God’s children are called to imitate His wisdom.

a. Walking in wisdom means “making the best use of the time” (verse 16). Why is this important?

b. Wisdom comes from understanding the will of the Lord (verse 17). Here, Paul is not referring to God’s hidden will (what will happen in the future, etc). He is referring to God’s revealed will – God’s instructions as contained in the Bible.

While alcohol does not help us understand God’s will, Paul recommends Spirit-filled worship (v18-20). How does being “filled with the Spirit” and “addressing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” help us to gain godly wisdom and to understand God’s will?

CLOSING PRAYER

Close the session with prayer, thanking God for our adoption as sons and daughters through the blood of Christ, and asking God for grace to imitate Him as beloved children.