Paul writes, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6, NKJV).

Paul has identified those who practice various sins without shame or repentance, the “sexually immoral, or impure, or who is covetous” (Ephesians 5:5, ESV). He has offered a blunt assessment: Those who are in Christ and destined to be participants in His future kingdom should not act like those who are not (Ephesians 5:5). He now worries over the effect of “empty words”; that is, believers might be deceived by explicit language into thinking that sexual sin is not taboo, or might even be drawn into such sins themselves (Ephesians 5:6). To be so deceived, warns Paul, risks God’s end-time judgment, “the wrath of God” that “comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6, ESV).

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The phrase “the wrath of God” is a challenging one. That it is the wrath or anger of God suggests a contrast to the usual, moody human variety (compare Ephesians 4:31). It is the just response of a long-suffering and righteous God against stubborn commitment to evil, not a crazed, volcanic reaction to some minor infraction. Moreover, mentions of divine wrath most often occur in the context of inspired, biblical warnings about the coming judgments of God (e.g., Revelation 6:12-17, Revelation 16:1-16, Revelation 19:11-16). God warns of His own coming judgments — an act of grace, since human beings are “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3, ESV), subject to those judgments.

Why does Paul exhort believers not to become “partners” or “partakers” with sinners? (Ephesians 5:7-10).

Paul exhorts, “Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8) and continues with a further command: “and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:10, ESV). The pagan seeks pleasure through “sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness” (Ephesians 5:3, ESV). The believer’s goal is dramatically different, not to please oneself but to please God (compare Romans 12:1, 2 Corinthians 5:9, Hebrews 13:21, which use the same Greek word, euarestos, “pleasing” or “acceptable”). The believer seeks to reflect the self-sacrifice of Christ (“walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,” Ephesians 5:2, ESV).

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In what sense does Paul intend believers to be “imitators of God”? See Ephesians 5:1-2, NKJV.

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Paul urges the believers in Ephesus to walk in love, a call important to this section (see Ephesians 5:8, Ephesians 5:15). This “walking in love” (see Ephesians 5:2) is to be modeled after Christ’s own love for us (compare Ephesians 4:32), expressed in His atoning sacrifice. Paul affirms four things about that sacrifice: 1. It is motivated by both the love of God the Father (Ephesians 5:1) and of Christ Himself (Ephesians 5:2); 2. It is substitutionary, with Christ dying in our place. Christ is no passive victim, but gave Himself up for us; 3. Under the imagery of the Old Testament sanctuary service, Christ’s death is also a sacrifice, which is made to God; 4. The sacrifice is accepted by God since it is “a fragrant offering” (Ephesians 5:2, ESV; compare Exodus 29:18, Leviticus 2:9, Philippians 4:18).

Ephesians 5:3-5 then introduces a section expressing concern for sexual ethics. The young converts in Ephesus are in danger of reversing their Christian calling and being drawn back into sexual behavior that would negate their Christian witness (compare 1 Corinthians 5:1-11, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, 2 Corinthians 12:21).

On the one hand, the Greco-Roman world of the first century exhibited the moral corruption and debauchery described elsewhere in the New Testament (see 1 Corinthians 6:9, Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 4:17-19, Colossians 3:5). For example, banquets of the wealthy regularly featured the behaviors Paul decries in Ephesians 5:3-14: drunkenness, ribald speech, risqué entertainment, and immoral acts. In addition, urban centers provided anonymity and permissiveness that fostered immoral sexual practices. On the other hand, many in that society lived virtuous lives and served as advocates for strict morality. When the New Testament provides vice-or-virtue lists and household codes (e.g., Ephesians 5:21-6:9, Colossians 3:18-4:1), its authors mirror themes in the wider Greco-Roman world. This world, at once debauched and virtuous, helps explain Paul’s exhortations to avoid the immoral behavior practiced by the Gentiles while wishing for believers to be circumspect in their behavior and so to earn good standing among outsiders.

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