Pathways For Sojourners

[Beetow]

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175) Eph 5:4 . . Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which
are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

"out of place" is a pretty good way to put it; sort of like a fish out of water, viz:
heavenly people are mature up there, and really ought to be down here.

The Greek word translated "foolish talk" basically means silliness, viz: buffoonery.

Webster's defines a buffoon as: 1) a ludicrous figure; viz: a clown, and 2) a gross,
and usually ill-educated stupid person; viz: an ignoramus. I think I would put
"gross" high on the list of undesirable buffoon-type behaviors. It's okay for kids to
be gross, but thoroughly unbecoming for a mature adult.

The word for "coarse joking" basically means witticism in a vulgar sense; viz:
ribaldry. Double entendres would probably fall into that category along with
suggestive remarks.

The word for "thanksgiving" basically means gratitude; viz: grateful, appreciative
language.

You know "thank you" is not a dirty word, nor is gratitude a bad habit. Christ's
people should never take the attitude that just because somebody is doing their job
that they don't deserve recognition.
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[Beetow]

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176) Eph 5:5-7 . . For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy
person-- such a man is an idolater --has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ
and of God. Let no one deceive you with futile words, for because of such things
God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be numbered
among them.

Immoral is translated from a Greek word related to prostitution, viz: naughty.

Impure is from a word related to filth, i.e. dirty habits.

Greedy is from a word related to avarice, i.e. grasping; never content with enough.

It appears then, that idolatry isn't limited to the respects one might pay to a tin
God like Ganesha, Persephone, and/or Minerva but includes an all-out ambition for
life's guilty pleasures.

Seeing as it's an absolute certainty that those three impious behaviors are all Hell
worthy; then we must concede they are thoroughly unbecoming for a people so
closely associated with God as are Jesus' followers.

● Col 3:1-4 . . Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on
things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on
things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with
Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with
him in glory.
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[Beetow]

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177) Eph 5:8-9 . . For you were once darkness, but now you are light in The Lord.
Live as children of light (for its fruit is in all goodness, righteousness and truth)

Goodness is from a Greek word pertaining to benevolence, i.e. kindness.

Righteousness is from a word pertaining to fairness, i.e. lacking bias, disparity, and
or favoritism.

Truth is from a word pertaining to verity, i.e. fact; actual.

When a Christian is exemplifying and/or practicing those three elements of light,
something miraculous is taking place that's best described by the verse below:

● Rom 8:11 . . If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you,
then He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His spirit, who lives if you.

That verse isn't talking about the resurrected bodies that Jesus' followers are on
track to receive in the future. Those bodies won't be mortal; they will be immortal.
So then, the verse is speaking of improvements that take place for us now, prior to
our passing on.

According to Rom 7:5-25 the bodies we have now literally drive us to sin. However,
the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus is well able to overcome those drives; thus
freeing his followers from permanent slavery to their natural impulses. (cf. Jer 31:31-34
& Ezek 36:24-27)
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[Beetow]

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178) Eph 5:10 . . Find out what pleases The Lord.

This is speaking of the process of discovery, i.e. research and investigation; which
involves learning by means of books, sermons, lectures, seminars, radio Bible
teachers, Sunday school classes, and personal Bible reading.

● Isa 55:6-9 . . Seek The Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to The
Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon. For
My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways-- declares The
Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your
ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

This work has to include the old testament in total to avoid the possibility of
missing important principles because that which pleases The Lord isn't limited to
commandments carved in stone.

● Rom 15:4 . . For whatever things were written before were written for our
learning

● 1Cor 10:11 . . Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they
were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
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[Beetow]

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179) Eph 5:11-12 . . Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but
rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of what the disobedient do in
secret.

For example: Genesis is mute about the despicable things that the Sodomites had
in mind for the two men sheltered in Lot's home. It's as if inspiration drew a curtain
over Sodom and said: This is just too shocking. I'm not going to spell out what the
people of Sodom wanted that night. You will just have to use your imagination.

Jude didn't give away much either. He simply, and concisely, wrote that they were
utterly unchaste, and longed for inappropriate relations; even to the point of having
their way with innocent visitors. (Jude 1:7)

I think it's fair to ask just exactly how one might "expose" shameful deeds without
at least identifying them and/or describing them to some degree.

The Greek word for "shameful" basically pertains to indecorum; defined by
Webster's as: impropriety. In other words, despicable acts should never be
described explicitly in polite company, nor in the presence of children; which quite
obviously precludes the use of a pulpit for explicit descriptions since congregations
are an aggregate of men, women, wives, husbands, dads, moms, and underage
children.

I don't think The Lord's instructions forbid any and all mention of despicable acts.
In other words, they don't say that we cannot speak in polite company about how
that the Bible disapproves gays, lesbians, bestiality and pedophiles, etc. just so
long as we don't start describing those disturbing facts of life in all their lurid detail.
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[Beetow]

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180) Eph 5:14 . .Wake up, O sleeper! . . rise from the dead, and Christ will shine
on you.

That exhortation seems sort of like preaching to the choir especially when it's
considered that the letter to the Ephesians was written to Christian folk for whom
Paul said all that glowing stuff in the very first chapter.

Sleeper and dead are probably talking about indifference. So Paul's remark likely
targets Christians who honestly think that compliance with their Lord's commands
is not all that important.

● Rom 8:12-13 . . Brothers, we have an obligation-- not to the sinful nature, to live
according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die." ( cf. John
15;1-11)

Christianity is not only a faith to believe in, but it's also a faith to live by

● Jas 2:17 . . Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Dead faith is still a faith, but it's not a vigorous faith, viz: dead faith lacks a lifestyle
that's compatible with divine values. (cf. 1Thess 5:5-11)
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[Beetow]

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181) Eph 5:15 . . So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are
wise.

"Wise" of course meaning to live your life in such a way that it counts for Christ
instead of only counting for yourself and/or counting for the world. For example: if
you get pulled into the worlds of corporate management, political activism, and/or
civil disobedience; I can just about guarantee that your life is not counting for
Christ because those are really big distractions and sometimes its players have to
break the law, compromise their integrity, and/or play dirty to be effective.

The "fools" then can justly be described as people who live with little regard for
scruples; defined by Webster's as an ethical consideration or principle that inhibits
action. For example, the pioneer of a currently very popular social network stole the
idea. That particular theft of intellectual property broke no laws, but it was
unethical, ergo: it was the work of a fool rather than wise.
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[Beetow]

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182) Eph 5:17 . .Therefore do not be uninformed, but understand what The Lord's
will is.

In other words: Christians are not supposed to fly by dead reckoning, rather, fly by
instruments: viz: fly intelligently; and that entails ground school before going up in
the air at the controls of an actual airplane.

Certain kinds of "play books" are essential to one's success. For example war lords
can profit from studying The Art Of War by Sun Tzu, politicians can profit from
studying The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, and socialists can profit from studying
Utopia by Thomas Moore.

Moses instructed his people that there is no need to go on a special "golden fleece"
quest to discover what The Lord's will is; either out in space nor across the ocean in
a foreign land. No, The Lord's will is easily accessible between the covers of even
the cheapest second-hand Bible on the shelves of a thrift store.

However; no Bible-- no matter how cheap, nor how expensive, nor what version--
is of any real use if it's not studied. But even systematic Bible study is quite
thwarted when the information isn't heeded.

● Jas 1:22-25 . . Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do
what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a
man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and
immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the
perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has
heard, but doing it-- he will be blessed in what he does.
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[Beetow]

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183) Eph 5:18 . . Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead,
be filled with the Spirit.

( It isn't forbidden to drink; only to get intoxicated, a.k.a. hammered. )

Webster's defines "debauchery" as extreme indulgence in bodily pleasures. Alcohol,
then, can be a gateway vice leading to something much worse.

Some people can limit themselves to one drink. But for many, that one drink quickly
becomes six.

I've heard of studies indicating that some people have a genetic weakness for
alcohol, viz: a natural-born predilection. Nevertheless, drunkenness is sin and
Christians are under orders to subdue it.

● Col 3:5 . . So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.

Why do people get plastered anyway? Isn't it to make themselves feel good and
better able to cope with life's difficulties? Alcohol therefore could be said to be an
antidote to one's existence.

So in that respect, alcohol is a crutch. I'm not saying a crutch is a bad thing; I
mean, after all, God created Eve as a crutch for Adam so then if all crutches are
bad, then women are bad too. No, crutches per se are not bad; it's one's choice of
crutch that matters.

God's Spirit is a crutch for believers; but His effectiveness is moderated by their
conduct.

● Rom 8:13 . . If you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the
Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

In other words; Christ's followers should not expect to be filled with the Spirit when
their conduct is unbecoming.
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[Beetow]

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184) Eph 5:19 . . Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs:
singing and making melody with your heart to The Lord

That verse is actually pretty good justification for a church choir; but I really think it
should also be used to justify hymn books in the pews too so the congregation can
all sing together. And make very sure the topics of your music are a credit to The
Lord rather than tradition's celebrities; e.g. saints, angels, and/or Jesus' mom.
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[Beetow]

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185) Eph 5:20 . . Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Moses' people were so accustomed to their divine benefactor's providence that they
began to take it for granted, and would get upset with Him when He failed to
produce. Be on your guard; don't let that happen.

"We should not test the Lord, as some of them did-- and were killed by snakes. And
do not grumble, as some of them did-- and were killed by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings
for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are
standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (1 Cor 10:9-12)

"in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" indicates that any and all providence that
comes our way is due to Christ's work on the cross. It was his sacrifice for the sins
of the world that makes it possible for God to come alongside and bless rather than
curse. We don't ever want to forget that.
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