“Basic Christianity, Part 29” by Romans
Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnDKD1NMH4
Youtube Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH8_9ojKdI0 (Tonight, the violinist reads for me)
We are continuing in our Series, “Basic Christianity.” Tonight, we are continuing in the review and examination of our Christian walk, as a facet of Basic Christianity. We have looked at Walking In Light, and Walking in Truth. Last week, we looked at the first of a two-part review of the Apostle Paul's twin-admonition that we not walk as the Gentiles walk, and that we “walk in love as Christ also loved us.” This contrast is presented in his Epistle to the Ephesians.
Paul names these two contrasting walks beginning in the middle of chapter Chapter 4, and then ending in the opening of Chapter 5. We have to keep in mind that in the original manuscripts that are no verses or chapter breaks, so it is not unusual that a thought is begun in one chapter, and resolved in the following chapter. Perhaps I will go into greater detail about this practice in a future Discussion. Let's go to the heart of tonight's review of our walk.
As a reminder, last week we looked at the opening of the walk contrast Paul establishes beginning in Ephesians 4:17: “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind...” Tonight, we will review and examine another facet of our Christian walk, and the contrast being resolved in the first two verses of the next chapter: In Ephesians 5:1-2 we read, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
First, the Sermon Bible tells us of these verses, “Christ’s Acts of Love the Christian’s Model. I. Christ took our flesh that in it He might go up and down among us; that in it He might be seen by us; that in it He might speak to us, and leave deeds and words which might, in characters of love, be traced in our souls, and there live on for ever. He came among us in order to set before us, in His own Divine person, the loveliness, and beauty, and majesty of Divine love and Divine holiness.
The life of Christ is the whole sum of the Christian’s life. Whatever holiness the Holy Spirit has wrought in any of the saints is wrought after that pattern. By meditating on that life, we live with Him, converse with Him, enter into His holy and hallowing society. Through studying Him we know how to follow Him; through following Him we understand what we study.
And so, by a continual round, the contemplation of Him kindles our souls to long to be like Him and to copy Him; to copy Him enlightens our eyes, and clears away the film which dims their sight; and that sight, through His Spirit, transforms our spirits into the likeness of Him whom we behold.
II. And now what should we so behold, so adore, so copy, as the love of Jesus in act, in word, in thought? Our love must be (1) supernatural, (2) self-sacrificing; (3) it must embrace all whom Christ loves; (4) it must not be deterred by that which is repugnant to nature. E. B. Pusey, Parochial and Cathedral Sermons, p. 197. References: Eph_5:1.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxix., No. 1725; J. H. Thorn, Laws of Life after the Mind of Christ, 2nd series, p. 61; Homilist, vol. i., p. 241; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. x., p. 239. Eph_5:1, Eph_5:2.—H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Life of Duty, p. 158; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 347; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 156.
I. "Walk in love." Here we have a command founded upon a reason: "Walk in love, as Christ hath loved us." Yes, of all forces love is the most powerful as a force to act upon others. Pure, disinterested love is all but irresistible, all but, not quite; for if it were quite irresistible, then the world had been converted long ago.
I think St. Augustine was right when he said that the most wonderful thing he knew was that God could love man so much, and man could love God so little. It looks sometimes as if God had never loved the world, as if Jesus had never died for the world, as if there were no such thing as love at all.
II. But then we come to the other command: "Walk as children of light." Now light, of course, is put for knowledge, as darkness is put for ignorance. Well, the light shows us what otherwise could not be seen; it reveals to us what otherwise were unknown. Now the one who walks as a child of light sees the things that it is needful for him to behold, if he too would avoid the perils, would escape the evils, of the journey, and direct his way aright towards the everlasting home.
But then, again, remember that the light shines. It falls on others. The child of light not only walks wisely and safely, but he shines; he is a reflected light, not like the sun, which shines with its own inherent intrinsic light, but like the planets, which shine with borrowed light. It is Christ shining on them and in them which makes Christian people to walk as children of light. Bishop Walsham How, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxiii., p. 161. Reference: Eph_5:4.—A. Ainger, Sermons in the Temple Church, p. 296.
Robert Hawker adds, “Ephesians 5:1 CONTENTS: The Apostle is still prosecuting the same Subject, as in the former upon the Church to follow God, under the Character of dear Children. He closeth his subject, in a most beautiful Representation of Christ, as the Head, and Husband, of His Body the Church.
I admire the very sweet, and interesting manner, with which the Holy Ghost, by his servant the Apostle, opens this Chapter. How affectionately the Church is called upon to follow God; and the way, in which they are to follow him. Not as children only, but as dear children.
The expression is similar to the one used by our Lord in the days of his flesh, and upon the same occasion, when recommending his disciples to come to God, as their Father: Shall not God avenge his own elect ? Not simply his elect, but his own elect.
In order that the Reader may enter into the full apprehension of this very beautiful Scripture, of following God, as dear children; it will be proper for him to consider, in what terms, the Apostle entered on this Epistle. For, it should be always kept in remembrance, while reading the Epistles, that though divided into Chapters, they are, nevertheless, but one, and the same Epistle.
Now, when the Apostle opened this Epistle to the Church, at Ephesus he began in an hymn of praise to God the Father, for his fatherly love, in choosing the Church in Christ, predestinating the Church to the adoption of children in Christ, and accepting the church in Christ. Hence, now, toward the conclusion of his Epistle, he reminds the Church of their relationship to God the Father, in Christ; and enjoins them to follow. God as dear children.
And as this is a point of infinite consequence in the life of a child of God; and yet, is not, I fear, as much considered by the Church of God in Christ, as it ought; I shall beg the freedom; to follow up what the Apostle hath here recommended, with a few observations. If I may judge of the general state of the Church by what comes within my own knowledge, I venture to believe, that the best saints alive, have too little actings of faith, upon the Person of God our Father, under this endeared and endearing character of Father.
We lose sight of God’s choice, and of God’s predestinating us the adoption of children in Christ. The sweet Abba Father doth not dwell, as much as it ought, in our hearts, and upon our lips. Whereas if we kept in constant remembrance our birth-right, and the privileges arising out of it; should we not follow God as dear children; and go in, and out, the house of God, as our Father’s house; and sit down in our place at his table, as his children; yea; as his dear children?
Do earthly parents love to hear the voice of their little ones, as soon as they can lisp out father? And will not our heavenly Father be pleased with the name, when taught by the Spirit to call him Abba Father? Yea, is it not, as well the duty, as the privilege of his children, his adopted children, in Christ Jesus, so to do?
But let us consider the subject a little more closely. When the Holy Ghost bids the Church be followers of God, as dear children; the Lord doth it, we may be sure, upon grounds of the most sure certainty. They are not only children, chosen of God before the foundation of the world, but dear children in Christ. And the scripture gives the most abundant proof of it.
For, first: what higher proof can we have, than God the Father’s giving them to his dear Son? One, in whom he declared himself well pleased, and his elect, in whom his soul delighteth. Had he not highly prized his children, would he have given them to Jesus, and thereby manifested such a testimony of his love?
Secondly. He commanded Christ, as Christ, to love them. Not that Christ needed other motives, more than his own personal love to the Church, to love the Church when he gave himself for her redemption. But God the Father, in commanding his dear Son to love his brother, plainly testified his love of the Church. Thirdly, and yet more. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, to the end, that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.
And, the ultimate cause of all is, that he might adopt the Church to himself; for so the Apostle declares in the first Chapter, fifth verse. And who shall say, what this adoption of the Church, as children in Jesus Christ, in the fullest sense of the word means? Who shall explain the extent of the dedication of the Church to himself; or the extent of the love of God to the Church?
Are they not then children, yea dear children, concerning whom such things are said ? Nay, what dearness of affection must they stand in to God, when Jesus himself, speaking to the Father concerning them, saith: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou, hast sent me, and host loved them as thou hast loved me.
And, in what an high sense, God’s children, yea, God’s dear children so loved, may be supposed to be followers of God; every part of Scripture testifies. As chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, justified, sanctified, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; obedient children, not fashioning themselves according to the former lusts, in their ignorance; but as he which hath called them is holy, so, are they holy, in all manner of conversation.
They are in Christ; yea, one with Christ. In Him their holiness, their righteousness is found. And hence their confidence, their joy, their peace, the assurance of the present, and everlasting portion. Reader! behold the blessedness in being followers of God as dear children!
At this point in the Commentary, there is a cross-reference to 1 Peter 1:14-16: “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
In his comments on these verses, Albert Barnes writes, “As obedient children - That is, conduct yourselves as becomes the children of God, by obeying his commands; by submitting to His will; and by manifesting unwavering confidence in him as your Father at all times.
Not fashioning yourselves - Not forming or modeling your life. The idea is, that they were to have some model or example, in accordance with which they were to frame their lives, but that they were not to make their own former principles and conduct the model.
The Christian is to be as different from what he was himself before conversion as he is from his fellow-men. He is to be governed by new laws, to aim at new objects, and to mould his life in accordance with new principles. Before conversion, he was: (a) Supremely selfish; (b) He lived for personal gratification; (c) He gave free indulgence to his appetites and passions, restrained only by a respect for the decencies of life, and by a reference to his own health, property, or reputation, without regard to the will of God;
(d) He conformed himself to the customs and opinions around him, rather than to the requirements of his Maker; (e) He lived for worldly aggrandizements, his supreme object being wealth or fame; or, (f) In many cases, those who are now Christians, gave indulgence to every passion which they wished to gratify, regardless of reputation, health, property, or salvation. Now they are to be governed by a different rule, and their own former standard of morals and of opinions is no longer their guide, but the will of God.
According to the former lusts in your ignorance - When you were ignorant of the requirements of the gospel, and gave yourselves up to the unrestrained indulgence of your passions.
But as he which hath called you is holy - The meaning here is, that the model or example in accordance with which they were to frame their lives, should be the character of that God who had called them into his kingdom. They were to be like him.
So be ye holy in all manner of conversation - In all your conduct. The meaning is, that since God is holy, and we profess to be his followers, we also ought to be holy.
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy - This command was addressed at first to the Israelites, but it is with equal propriety addressed to Christians, as the professed people of God. The foundation of the command is, that they professed to be his people, and that as his people they ought to be like their God. It is a great truth, that people everywhere will imitate the God whom they worship.
They will form their character in accordance with his. They will regard what he does as right. They will attempt to rise no higher in virtue than the God whom they adore, and they will practice freely what he is supposed to do or approve. Hence, by knowing what are the characteristics of the gods which are worshipped by any people, we may form a correct estimate of the character of the people themselves; and, hence, as the God who is the object of the Christian’s worship is perfectly holy, the character of His worshipers should also be holy.
And hence, also, we may see that the tendency of true religion is to make people pure. As the worship of the impure gods of the pagan moulds the character of the worshippers into their image, so the worship of Yahweh moulds the character of His professed friends into His image, and they become like him.”
Let's go back to Robert Hawker's original comment on our prime verse regarding our walking in love, as Christ also hath loved us: “We are said to walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet smelling savor!
How gracious was it in the Holy Ghost, to blend this love of Christ with the love, of the Father, that by both, under the blessed Spirit’s influence, the Church might find everything that is persuasive, to a life of faith, in God the Father’s love, and Christ’s redeeming grace, during the whole time-state of the Church.
Surely no motives like these can be found to suppress, and keep under, all the idle, unprofitable, and sinful conversation, of our corrupt nature. And, where the Spirit’s grace reigns in the heart, there will be the surest security to mortify both the words and deeds of the body, in living by him.”
Matthew Henry also has some insights on these verses: “Here we have the exhortation to mutual love, or to Christian charity. The apostle had been insisting on this in the former chapter, and particularly in the last verses of it, to which the particle therefore refers, and connects what he had said there with what is contained in these verses, thus:
“Because God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you, therefore be you followers of God, or imitators of him;” for so the word signifies. Pious persons should imitate the God whom they worship, as far as he has revealed himself as imitable by them. They must conform themselves to his example, and have his image renewed upon them. This puts a great honour upon practical religion, that it is the imitating of God.
We must be holy as God is holy, merciful as he is merciful, perfect as he is perfect. But there is no one attribute of God more recommended to our imitation than that of his goodness. Be you imitators of God, or resemble him, in every grace, and especially in his love, and in his pardoning goodness. God is love; and those that dwell in love dwell in God and God in them.
Thus he has proclaimed his name, Gracious and merciful, and abundant in goodness. As dear children, as children (who are wont to be greatly beloved by their parents) usually resemble them in the lineaments and features of their faces, and in the dispositions and qualities of their minds; or as becomes the children of God, who are beloved and cherished by their heavenly Father.
Children are obliged to imitate their parents in what is good, especially when dearly beloved by them. The character that we bear of God's children obliges us to resemble him, especially in his love and goodness, in his mercy and readiness to forgive. And those only are God's dear children who imitate him in these.
It follows, And walk in love. This godlike grace should conduct and influence our whole conversation, which is meant by walking in it. It should be the principle from which we act; it should direct the ends at which we aim. We should be more careful to give proof of the sincerity of our love one to another.
As Christ also hath loved us. Here the apostle directs us to the example of Christ, whom Christians are obliged to imitate, and in whom we have an instance of the most free and generous love that ever was, that great love wherewith he hath loved us. We are all joint sharers in that love, and partakers of the comfort of it, and therefore should love one another, Christ having loved us all and given such proof of his love to us;
for he hath given himself for us. The apostle designedly enlarges on the subject; for what can yield us more delightful matter for contemplation than this? Christ gave himself to die for us; and the death of Christ was the great sacrifice of atonement: An offering and a sacrifice to God; or an offering, even a sacrifice - a propitiatory sacrifice, to expiate our guilt, which had been prefigured in the legal oblations and sacrifices;
and this for a sweet-smelling savour. Some observe that the sin-offerings were never said to be of a sweet-smelling savour; but this is said of the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. As he offered himself with a design to be accepted of God, so God did accept, was pleased with, and appeased by, that sacrifice. Note, As the sacrifice of Christ was efficacious with God, so his example should be prevailing with us, and we should carefully copy after it.”
Finally, tonight, there is a cross-reference directly related to our Christian walk that I would like to quote, review and examine: 1 John 4:11 which says, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
The Sermon Bible says of this: “Sacrifice and Service. I. The sacrifice of love. It is of this that St. John speaks when he says, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us." True, the visible world teems with illustrations of God’s love, but this surpasses them all; true, our houses are filled with proofs of God’s love, but this transcends them all. For "herein is love, not that we loved God." No: we had apostatised from Him; we had cast off His allegiance; we were in arms against Him; yet in this was manifested the love of God, that He gave His Son for us.
Love, then, was the great mission of our Redeemer, to restore, reclaim, sanctify, save. And that love is the theme of the song which St. John heard in heaven, and which he calls a new song, the language of redeemed men. It was never heard there till the soul of Abel, the first martyr for God, leaving its murdered body on the field below, came up and sang it alone, and every harp was hushed to hear.
And we, too, can share this song of love now. It will not sound like presumption from our lips. We are come to the innumerable company of angels; we, though still on earth, stand within the circle of salvation, and join in the everlasting song. They understand its meaning better; they utter it out of a fuller heart, and with a deepened gratitude... And Christ has given us the grandest example of sacrifice, for "He loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood."
Never was the Church so powerful in numbers, in wealth, in influence, in organisation. There is a work for every man and woman, and a place for every little child. What we want is more quiet consecration in all our work, more of the spirit of love in all our religion.Out of sacrifice flows service. For such service as this we live in days of wonderful opportunities.
Opportunities come to all. Like the stones, they lie at our feet; and he shall gather most who stoops the lowest, like Him who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to "give His life a ransom for many." Our responsibilities will be measured by our capacity to do good. Many indeed and splendid are the opportunities of service in our day.” J. Fleming, Penny Pulpit, New Series, No. 723. References: 1Jn_4:11.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 145. 1Jn_4:13.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 36. 1Jn_4:14.—Ibid., p. 127; G. S. Barrett, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 305; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 259.”
This concludes this evening's Discussion, “Basic Christianity, Part 29.”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on April 14th, 2020.
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