[This year, the little Bible study group that meets around our kitchen table is working  through The Wiersbe Bible Study Series, “EPHESIANS: Gaining The Things That Money Can’t Buy,” by Warren Wiersbe, published by David C. Cook, 2008. 

I pray this series of reflections continues to be a blessing and encouragement that reaches far beyond our kitchen table.]

. . .

KEY TAKEAWAYS from LESSON SEVEN

(Ephesians 5)

Imitation takes discipline!  In a simple Google search, one definition for disciple is: “a devoted learner and follower who closely imitates a teacher’s life and puts their teachings into daily practice.”  

This thought reminded me of a blog post about the book “Joyful Surrender” by Elizabeth Elliot, our summer reading that complimented a year-long study about surrender last year ( https://coverofHisPresence.com/2025/07/25/surrender-study-summer-reading-joyful-surrender-by-elizabeth-elliot/ ).

Elizabeth Elliot states it with such clarity: discipline is simply the life of a disciple.  As followers (and students) of CHRIST, our choices, our mindset, our very lifestyle are not determined by our own preferences – we are directed by the One whom we follow.

She suggests that when we fully appreciate the One to whom we have pledged our allegiance, discipline is not resigned drudgery, but joyful surrender to the One who is worthy of our trust and our unquestioning obedience.

Wiersbe opened this lesson with the following comment (p 95):

“If we are the children of GOD, then we ought to imitate our Father.  This is the basis for the three admonitions in this section.  GOD is love (1 John 4:8); therefore, “walk in love” (Ephesians 5:1-2).  GOD is light (1 John 1:5); therefore, “walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:3-14).  GOD is truth (1 John 5:6); therefore, walk in wisdom (Ephesians 5:15-17).”

Love, light, truth, and wisdom (all of which come from GOD alone) contribute immensely toward our endeavors towards unity (the focus of lesson six).  Love genuinely cares for others.  Light exposes misunderstandings and inconsistencies and points us to our Savior.  His immovable truth gives us a commonly held foundation to stand on, and wisdom from His Spirit helps us navigate differences in understanding or convictions.  We need His help to walk in any of these three heart postures.  Complete dependence on the LORD will guard us from being blinded or sidetracked by our own desires or agendas (a sure detriment to unity).

As we seek to reflect the true heart of GOD, CHRIST is our ultimate example.  He pleased the Father when He sacrificed Himself to take away our sins (Ephesians 5:2).  He was devoted to the Father’s will.  He was humble, willing, giving, and self-sacrificing.  

It may be difficult for us to fully understand how those attributes can be displayed in our own day-to-day lives, but we can ask the LORD to point out areas where we can grow in likeness to CHRIST.  Ultimately, we long for our hearts to beat with the same impulse of His love.  As a result, our actions will demonstrate Godly wisdom and grace and we will be equally confident in the Father’s plans and devoted to fulfilling His will.

Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of CHRIST … [with whom] GOD was pleased, because [His] sacrifice was like sweet perfume to Him. (Ephesians 5:2)

It is touching to consider that we have the opportunity to please the Father, like sweet smelling perfume, to delight His heart, as He sees us extend self-sacrificial love to others.  There are so many important aspects in the character of CHRIST for us to emulate, but it seems the core of it all is a love we can’t even fully comprehend.  Genuine.  Pure.  Willing to do whatever is necessary to secure the best outcome for someone else.

After Paul admonished his readers to walk in love, he listed a number of behaviors to avoid: sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscene stories, foolish talk, coarse jokes, idolatry (worshipping things of this world), and disobedience toward GOD.  How are these behaviors evidence of not walking in love?  (Wiersbe, p 97)

Love for GOD and others will lead us to respect and honor Him and them.  Each of these behaviors demonstrates some form of disregard for GOD and callousness toward others, valuing things GOD calls evil and failing to value what He holds dear (righteousness and a heart to serve others with care and compassion).

As we learn from this passage, our behavior should show that we are full of light from the LORD, which produces only what is good and right and true. (Ephesians 5:8-9)

Pursuit of greedy pleasure will never be satisfied – instead, it will leave us hungry for more.  When we feed those desires, we will find ourselves in bondage to an increasing requirement to satiate them.  That process will turn our focus inward, exclusively centered on our own wishes, drawing us increasingly away from the LORD and His intentions for us.

If we truly love JESUS, we will long to delight His heart, not grieve it.  We will eagerly embrace the freedom from any lesser love that might distract or derail us from His better path for us.  There is nothing else, no one else whom we can trust to lead us to a path of life and light, love and peace.  The alternative is stubborn rebellion against GOD, which only leads to complications and struggles He never intended for us to endure.  

One of our study friends described what each of us can be vulnerable to, if we are not careful: “if we keep one foot in the world, while also trying to put one foot on a committed path with the LORD, we are not steady… we are easily tossed about, quickly swayed from one school of thought to another, never on firm footing.”

In Priscilla Shirer’s study, Elijah: Faith and Fire (Lifeway Press, 2025, p 127, 133), she states it this way:

“This kind of disjointed lifestyle keeps us off-balance.  When we refuse to let other, idolatrous allegiances fall away, we’re left to trip through life, limping along, tossed around by worldly philosophies and misguided patterns of thinking, overwhelmed by hardships that are too much for anyone to walk through without holding tightly to GOD’s hand.  Worse, we negate our access to His choicest blessings – the sense of His nearness, the fire of His empowering – reserved only for those who choose to seat Him by Himself on the throne of their lives.  Yahweh must be GOD alone to us, or He is not our GOD at all.”

“’The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry’ (Psalm 34:15).  His face is set ‘against evildoers’ (v 16).  Those who continue opposing Him, resisting Him, and refusing to respond to His calls for repentance are revealing by their actions and attitudes that they have not surrendered their will to His.  They have set themselves against the desires of GOD for their lives.”   [How terrifying!]

Wiersbe adds these thoughts:

“In 1937, Deitrich Bonhoeffer wrote “The Cost of Discipleship”.  In one famous passage he writes, “Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession… Cheap grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without JESUS CHRIST, living and incarnate.”  This book was written as Hitler was coming to power, and Bonhoeffer himself became a voice of opposition to Hitler’s leadership.  Just one month before Germany surrendered, he was hanged along with six other resisters.” (Wiersbe, pp 98-99)

Mr. Bonhoeffer took a stand for GOD’s truth, against a powerful earthly leader.  His unwillingness to compromise what he knew to be right in GOD’s eyes cost him his life.  

Grace is “unmerited favor” from GOD.  It is no favor to live in unrepentant sin, with its consequences and complications.  It is no favor to live undisciplined, reckless and ungrateful, with no accountability to our Maker and Redeemer.  To align with ungodly men may earn their favor, but it is cheap grace when it prevents us from receiving with joy the true grace and favor of GOD that comes from delighting in His ways and obeying His commands.

Why do people choose to hide things from each other?  If we can’t hide things from GOD, why do we try?  What does this walking as “children of light” (Ephesians 5:8-13) look like in everyday terms?  (Wiersbe, p 99)

Many people hide details about themselves or their circumstances because they feel insecure, embarrassed, or ashamed … or they lack trust in others to handle what they hear with wisdom and discretion.  We don’t feel safe exposing the most tender parts of our struggles with other flawed humans.  Most of us prefer to share the “highlight reel” of details that show ourselves in the best light.  Even though we know we cannot hide anything from GOD, it is difficult for us to have open and honest conversations with Him about things we fear will displease or dishonor Him.

Walking as “children of light” (Ephesians 5:8-13) might mean:

• valuing open, honest communication with GOD and others,
• courageously calling sin “sin” rather than explaining it away or justifying it,
• trusting GOD’s forgiveness and transforming power enough to lay our hearts, attitudes, and actions bare before Him, asking for His help to repent and move toward a pure path.

“Drifting with the wind and tide” likely speaks to being easily swayed in our thinking by whims or fads in our society, the latest popular opinion or school of thought, the newest “great idea” or perspective that catches our attention (or is simply communicated by loud and bossy voices in our world).  

Instead of leaving themselves vulnerable to crowd mentality, Paul challenged his readers to be wise, to be careful how they live, to “learn what is pleasing to the LORD”, to live in a way that demonstrates enlightened understanding of GOD’s truth (Ephesians 5:8, 10, 15).  He encouraged them not to adopt the conventions of the world around them “just because everyone else was doing this or that,” but to learn GOD’s heart and follow the example He gave us in CHRIST.

How do we walk as those who are wise?

• get to know GOD’s Word well enough to quickly discern departures from His pattern
• spend time in prayer with Him, so He can alert us to areas of our own heart/life that need realigning
• become sensitive to prompting from His Spirit that lets us know something is out of step with Him
• compare any new “wind of doctrine” to the unchanging Word of GOD
• cultivate friendships and Bible-based conversation with others who hunger to know GOD’s heart and follow CHRIST (others can provide us much needed clarity and accountability)

In Ephesians 5:20, Paul says we should be thankful for all things.  Paul spent a lot of time in prison, yet still found joy in his relationship with CHRIST.  He wasn’t glad he was in prison but he found things to be thankful for in his painful and dangerous situation (Phil 1:12-26).  What are modern-day examples of this sort of joy in difficult times?  (Wiersbe, p 101)

Paul taught us by word and by example what it looks like to live a life of gratefulness to GOD despite painful losses, unjust treatment, suffering, and disappointment.  He spoke of joy in trials (like James), counting them as opportunities to know by our own experience a measure of the suffering of CHRIST, to be considered worthy of persecution because of our devotion to CHRIST, to endure hardship if it might be the means by which someone else might hear and receive the Good News of eternal life through JESUS.

Joy in difficult times could look like:

• cultivating a habit of praise on the hardest days (like Job, “yet will I trust Him”),
• recounting the mercies in a devastating circumstance,
• singing genuine worship through tears as we bid a loved one farewell until reunited in glory,
• embracing family or friends or community when we’d rather hide away until our pain subsides,
• putting our own legitimate struggles aside to be present, listen, or care for someone else, comforting others with the comfort we have received (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

It is most difficult to be thankful when our hearts are broken, when loss is blindingly real, numbing, or paralyzing, when we battle discouragement or depression, when we rise up in anger or self-defense in the face of injustice or careless oversight, or when everything seems to go wrong and we are stretched beyond the limits of what we believe we can endure.  

But Scripture reminds us: “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment.  For we know how dearly GOD loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.” (Romans 5:35)

Reminders of GOD’s grace always soften our hearts and quiet our knee-jerk responses because we remember just how many abundant gifts we have received from GOD’s hand (and will continue to receive).  We realize that expecting more or being dissatisfied or disappointed with what He has given will dishonor His graciousness.  It humbles us to consider where we would be without His preserving hand on our very breath or His redemptive power in our lives.  We are quick to conclude that even on our worst day, living our worst nightmare, there is always a long list of things for which we can offer the LORD praise and thanksgiving! 

“We do not use the Holy Spirit; He uses us.  There must be a deep thirst for GOD’s fullness, a confession that we cannot do His will apart from His power.” 

What is your initial response to the statement: “We do not use the Holy Spirit; He uses us”?  How does the Holy Spirit use us?  How does He help us as we attempt to imitate CHRIST?  (Wiersbe, pp 102-103)

The Holy Spirit has been given to us as a gift from the Father.  He invites us to enjoy His presence and His role in teaching us, in reminding us of the truth in GOD’s Word, in convicting us, and in guarding and guiding us.  So, we can be tempted to think of the Holy Spirit as a tool or resource we are welcomed to tap into whenever we need to do so.  

The statement that “we do not use the Holy Spirit; He uses us” grabs our attention and turns us around!  We are rightly reminded that GOD is sovereign and holds all authority over our lives.  Our earthly days unfold according to His plans for each of us (not our own).  We want to be fully at His disposal, not expecting Him to be at our beck and call!  

How might the Holy Spirit want to use us?  Here are some thoughts shared in discussion:

• To recognize the hand of GOD and praise Him for it,
• To willingly repent of anything that dishonors GOD and commit to His ways,
• To embrace the truth of GOD’s Word and desire to obey Him,
• To reflect the heart of CHRIST so others will come to know and trust JESUS,
• To meet the needs of others (to be His hands and feet as a “ground angel”).

What does Ephesians 5:22-27 say about marriage?  What is the most important takeaway from these verses?  In what ways does this passage paint a picture of our desired relationship with CHRIST?  (Wiersbe, p 101-102)

Paul spoke about marriage as a beautiful example of CHRIST’s love and devotion to the Church, His Bride.  He called both wives and husbands to reflect the heart of CHRIST in their attitudes and actions toward one another, to be surrendered to GOD’s plans and to start from a place of self-sacrificial love and commitment toward one another.  This is a place of covenanted unity, just as CHRIST and the Church are one (5:32).  As His Bride, we trust His leadership because we know without question how deeply and genuinely He loves us!

Wiersbe concluded this lesson asking us to take a closer look at “walking in love” (Ephesians 5:1-2).  (Wiersbe, p 105)

One definition of “walking in love” that comes to mind is: “Love GOD, and love others” (love, treasure, value, and honor what and whom GOD loves).  If we truly love GOD, we will follow His commands, all of which are wise choices.  If we honor GOD by loving those He loves – every created soul for whom JESUS died – we will make wise choices about how we interact with others, what we think of them, and even how we think of ourselves.  We will ask Him for eyes to see what He sees, hearts that feel what He feels, and the help of His Spirit to do what He would do.

By this all people will know that you are My disciples if you have love one another.  (John 13:35)