Efesios 5:15-21

d. Exhortation to a pure walk, with careful consideration of the Christian position

(Ephesians 5:15-21)

15See then that [how] ye walk circumspectly [strictly], not as fools [unwise men], but as wise, 16Redeeming the time [Buying up the opportunity], because the days are evil. 17Wherefore be ye not unwise [on this account do not become senseless], but understanding32 what the will of the Lord Isaiah 18:0 And be not drunk [made drunk] with wine, wherein is excess [or dissoluteness]; but be filled with [in] the Spirit; 19Speaking to yourselves [one another] in33 psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20Giving thanks always for all things unto [to] God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God [Christ].34

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The exhortation; Ephesians 5:15-16. Ephesians 5:15. See then [or take heed].—Βλέπετε with ἵνα (1 Corinthians 16:10; 2 John 1:8), with the accusative (Philippians 3:2; Colossians 4:17), here as in 1 Corinthians 3:10 with πῶς. Sollicitudo etiam modum spectat (Bengel). They are enjoined to take heed, and because (οὖν) as the comprehensive quotation (Ephesians 5:14) says, they are awake, have arisen, been enlightened by Christ, to a walk such as has been spoken of (ver.Ephesians 1:0 : “beloved children,” Ephesians 5:3 : “as becometh saints,” Ephesians 5:8 : “as children of the light”). Calvin is therefore too limited: Si aliorum discutere tenebras fideles debent fulgure suo, quanto minus cæcutire debent in proprio vitæ instituto; Meyer limits it also to Eph 5:10-11.35

How ye walk strictly [πῶς ].—According to the context πῶς is to be confined precisely to the ἀκριβῶς exacte ad voluntatem divinam (Luther’s rendering: vorsichtlich [so E. V.: circumspectly] is not sufficient); marking with the indicative that it is not first to be considered how this shall be taken hold of, but that it already exists in its best feature, the walk being an actual fact (Winer, p. 282). [Alford: “Take heed not only that your walk be exact, strict, but also of what sort that strictness is—not only that you have a rule and keep to it, but that that rule be the best one.” The indicative is not used for the subjunctive or the future; comp. Ellicott in loco and Fritzschiorum Opuscula, pp. 208 f, note.—R.]

Not as unwise men, but as wise [μὴ ὡς ἄσοφοι ἁλλ̓ ὡς σοφοί].—“As,” marking as in Ephesians 1:8 the actual condition, and not comparative [Vulgate: quasi, is apt), designates the subject referred to in “take heed,” “walk,” as “wise.” Hence “not as unwise” (Bengel: qui præter propter viam ambulant), which is placed first for emphasis, denotes a subjective notion, which is inadmissible and unexpected as regards Christians. Winer, pp. 442, 567. Paul means Christians, in their walk, as indeed σοφός points to practice, walk, in works and evidences corresponding to the aim (Ephesians 1:8; James 3:13), and not philosophers (Grotius), whom he ironically terms ἀσόφους.

Ephesians 5:16. Buying up the opportunity, ἐξαγοραζόμενοι τὸν καιρόν—This describes the “wise” in their walk. The phrase (Colossians 4:5) recalls Daniel 2:8 (LXX.: οἶδα ἐγὼ ὅτι καιρὸν ὑμεῖς ἐξαγοράζετε). Nebuchadnezzar says to the Chaldeans, his servants, plainly, that they only want to gain time. Here however sapienta et ἀκρίβεια præcipitur, non ignavia (Bengel). In distinction from the passage in Daniel, the article and the middle form are to be noticed. The right point of time, the appropriate time is the object of the ἐξαγοράζειν, the middle denotes that it is to be done for themselves, while the preposition ἐξ designates the complete entire character of the verb. Christians then should not allow τὸν καιρόν, to escape them, should seize the opportunity (χαιρός), though it costs them something in self-denial, after they have properly looked at it, like a skilful merchant, and then redeeming it out of the possession of sin, of slothfulness and pleasure, of the flesh and of darkness, should make it their own and use it for Christian walk. The time is then not to be taken as it is, nor is Luther correct: “adapt yourselves to the time.” Nor is it, to wait prudently and to temporize (Bengel), or merely, to use for the ἐλέγχειν (Flatt, Harless).

[In regard to this phrase, we may accept as established: 1. That καιρόν means opportunity, not time, hence that the E. V. conveys a wrong impression. 2. That all special references to those from whom the purchase is made (bad men, Bengel; the devil, Calvin), or to the price paid (all things, Chrysostom and others), are irrelevant and unwarranted. The participle is one of manner, the ἐξ is referred by Ellicott and Alford to the collecting out of, the buying up, “calling your times of good out of a land where there are few such flowers.” The exact sense then is: improve the opportunities which occur, looking out for them as a merchant, because the days are evil, and opportunities are rare; not as is often supposed: Be diligent in the use of time, because the days are few. The reference to Genesis 47:9 will not justify this twisting of the next clause.—R.]

Because the days are evil, ὄτι αἱ ἡμέραι πονηραί εἰσιν—See Genesis 47:9; 2 Timothy 3:1. The days, the present period of life, the αἰὼν οὖτος, in which sin has her glory (Olshausen), are therefore “evil” on account of sin, creating hindrances and temptations, leading even to apostasy; hence not simply full of difficulties, unfavorable circumstances (Rueckert).

Ephesians 5:17. The first point of view as respects the wise: the will of God. On this account, διὰ τοῦτο, refers to Ephesians 5:15-16, not merely as [Oecumenius, Rueckert, De Wette, Olshausen] Bleek and others think, to the reason (“the days are evil”) appended to the designation of the “wise.”

Become not senseless but understanding, μὴ γίνεσθη ἄφρονες, ἀλλὰ συνιέντες.—This can be said to those who are wise. For ἄφρον is qui mente non recte utitur (Tittmann, Syn. I., p. 143), and is joined with νήπιος in Romans 2:20. They should not become this; they are not yet so, since they are “wise.” [This is to be maintained against Alford, who as usual objects to rendering γίεσθε, become.—R.] The antithesis (“but”) is συνιέντες, “understanding” they should become discerning, and that is more than γινώσκοντες. A definite object is treated of, which in every case must be clear to the “wise,” but which can however easily remain not understood:

What the will of the Lord is, τί τὸ θέλημα τοῦ κυρίου, i.e., of Christ.—Non solum universo, sed certo Ioco, tempore, etc. (Bengel).36 This will reaching to what is least and most peculiar, is the object of the insight of the wise; the further he advances, the less is any thing to him merely permissible; everything becomes for him a precept and will from above. Acts 21:15.

Ephesians 5:18. The second point of view: Their own person, its inspiration. And be not made drunk with wine, καὶ μὴ μεθύακεσθε οἴνῳ.—”And” adds a second point to the first; it is not then=in particular (Meyer), as though it introduced a single vice, for which there is no occasion given by the context, since no general pleasure has been spoken of, the species of which could be named.—[The view of Meyer is accepted by most recent English and American commentators. The objection of Braune is not valid, it would seem; for the thought of pleasure does not enter in this clause either. The general notion is “not senseless, but understanding,” and the special and emphatic subordinate thought is “not being drunk,” a connection which is obvious enough. The state of drunkenness is viewed not as a sensual pleasure, but as a “senseless” condition. Comp. Hodge.—R.] The precept, after the reference to the will of God and from its position in antithesis to what follows, contains in the special a reference to the general as is allowed and required by the Scriptural view. Luke 1:15; Luke 21:34; 1Th 5:6-8; 2 Timothy 4:5; 1Pe 1:13; 1 Peter 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8. So “the wine of the wrath “(Revelation 14:8; Revelation 14:10; Revelation 18:3; Revelation 19:15). The next clause points the same way.37

Wherein is excess, ἐν ᾧ ἐστὶν .—Ἐν ᾧ refers to the μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ;38 in this there inheres as on a ground the fact (ἐστίν), which at the same time breaks out as a consequence. Ἀσωτία, the character of an ἅσωτος (ἄσωτος from σόω, σώζω), “past redemption” (Titus 1:6; 1 Peter 4:4), in which one’s own character is corrupted (φθείρεσθαι, Ephesians 4:22). Tittmann, Syn. Ι. p. 152 f. [Comp. Trench, § XVI. The N. T. sense: dissoluteness, profligacy, seems to have arisen from the more common meaning of ἄσωτος: one who does not know how to save, i.e., a spendthrift.—R.] Hence Luther is incorrect in rendering it merely: unordentlich Wesen. Jerome incorrectly limits it to lascivious excesses; Koppe, De Wette and others to excess at the Agapæ, which are not suggested as in 1 Corinthians 11:21; Meyer and [most] others to the vice of drunkenness.

But be filled in the Spirit [ἀλλὰ πληροῦσθε ἐν πνεύματι].—The antithesis is strongly marked (ἀλλά) and is to be found in πληροῦσθε, which stands first, as did μεθύσκεσθε, not in οἴνῳ and πνεύματι. [Hodge (with others) overlooks this in remarking: “To the Christian, therefore, the source of strength and joy is not wine, but the blessed Spirit of God.”—R.] The imperative: Be filled! is not to be taken merely as καταλλάγητε τῷ θεῷ (2 Corinthians 5:20), because it can be refused (Acts 7:51) as well as requested (Luke 11:13), but because Christians in the strength of God have to be faithful and to show zeal, in order to increase and become complete; much then depends on themselves. This is an entirely different becoming full from being “drunk with wine.” The qualification: ἐν πνεύματι, and not πνεύματι, is not an antithesis to οἴνῳ), but designates in and upon what the becoming full takes place, not in flesh and blood, but in the spirit of man, his better part. It is not instrumental, which cannot be established by Eph 1:24; Philippians 4:19, as Meyer supposes, nor does it refer to the Holy Spirit (most expositors down to Bleek) or to our spirit and God’s Spirit. That we should be filled with the Holy Ghost is indicated by the context, but not by ἐν πνεύματι. [The instrumental sense of ἐν, if accepted, must not exclude the more usual meaning: “with and in the Spirit” (Eadie, Ellicott). Here also, as in Ephesians 4:23, the exact sense of πνεύματι, in view of the preposition chosen, is neither the human spirit (Braune), nor the Personal Holy Spirit, but the human spirit as acted upon by the Holy Spirit (Alford and others). Comp. Romans, p. 235.—R.] Flacius: præclara ebrietas, quæ, sobrietatem mentis operator! Comp. Psalms 36:8-10; Acts 2:15-18.

Closer definition of becoming full in spirit [or the Spirit]; Ephesians 5:19-21. a. Social Song; Ephesians 5:19 a. b. Singing in private; Ephesians 5:19 b. c. Continual thankfulness; Ephesians 5:20. d. Proper conduct in one’s position; Ephesians 5:21.

Ephesians 5:19 a. Speaking to one another, λαλοῦντες ἑαυτοῖς.—The participle denotes the most immediate expression of this being filled in spirit by the Holy Spirit, and this result as an exercise re-acts as a means for furthering the fulness. Spiritus facit fideles Disertos (Bengel). Ἑαυτοῖς, as in Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:16, is=ἀλλήλοις. In intercourse, in social circles, they return, in every case, to this point of speaking as is here described. [The reference to both social intercourse and public assemblies is now usually accepted. The reciprocal action on their hearts rather than the antiphonal method with their lips, is implied in the reflexive pronoun.—R.] It is not then=meditantes vobiscum (Morus). The double sense: from inward impulse, with one another (Stier), is inadmissible, as well as the limitation to public assemblies for worship (Olshausen).

In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικῖς.—Luther is incorrect: by Psalms. Since ψαλμός is something historical (Luke 20:42; Luke 24:44; Acts 1:20; Acts 13:33), the word should here retain the meaning of Old Testament Psalms, which were well-known and had been accepted in the public service (Apost. Constitutions, II. 57, Ephesians 5:0 : τοὺς τοῦ Δαβὶδ ψαλλέτω ϋμνους); ὕμνος is a song of praise, according to the context (Ephesians 5:19 : “to the Lord”) and to history (Pliny in Gieseler, Kirchengeschichte, Ι. 1, p. Eph 136: Carmenque Christo quasi Deo dicere secum invicem), to Christ, hence more strictly Christian hymns, songs of Jesus; ὠδαὶ πνευματικαί are spiritual songs in general, productions of the Holy Ghost in the department of poetry as regards form, out of the Christian life as regards substance, distinguished from hymns as the spiritual song is distinguished from a song for the Church and congregation, by being more general as regards matter and intended more for individual needs and private use. Stier hits it very nearly with his threefold distinction: Scriptural, congregational, private. It is improper to take the first as applicable to Jewish Christians, the second to Gentile Christians, and the third as referring to an expression understood by every one alike (Harless) or the last as the genus, the first as a hymn with musical accompaniment, the other as a song of praise, improvised, when it is true that out of the head as well as out of the heart only that which is known can be used, or that the heaping of terms is due to the lively and urgent discourse (Meyer and others), since he is not speaking of the day of Pentecost or of the gift of tongues (Acts 2:4; Acts 10:46; Acts 19:6; 1 Corinthians 14:15; 1 Corinthians 14:26) but of the orderly and regular course of things in the church; nor should all distinctions be rejected (Rueckert).39 “Spiritual” belongs to the undefined “songs,” not to “psalms and hymns” (Stier), which are confessedly productions of the Holy Ghost; the word means precisely this however, and not merely that Christian thoughts and feelings find expression therein (Baumgarten-Crusius). Evidently the Apostle marks that Christians should interweave such into their conversation, often passing in joyous mood into united song, not however that such only should be recited, uninterruptedly said or sung.

Ephesians 5:19 b. Singing in private. Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.—Joined as a co-ordinate clause without a connecting particle. The participle ᾅδοντες καὶ ψὰλλοντες designate what is related, singing, the former in melody, the latter in recitative; the added phrase (ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν) however marks something different, that is done alone and inwardly. [So Harless, Meyer, Olshausen, Alford, Ellicott and others. Hodge favors what was once the common view: that the clause is subordinate, defining the mode or moral quality of the preceding one. But Harless has shown that such a view is incompatible with the presence of ὑμῶν, and few grammatical commentators have since differed from him.—R.] Here the social song re-echoes, here also is its ground and source. This is even stronger: not merely when excited in the company of others, to become joyously full of the Spirit, but to be that when alone also in disposition and desire “to the Lord” (τῷ κυρίῳ). Acts 2:47; James 5:13.

Ephesians 5:20. Continual thankfulness. Giving thanks always for all things, εὐ χαριστοῦντες πάντοτε ὑπὲρ πάντων —Thus by the side of the joy is described that circumspect sobriety and thoughtfulness, which at all times and in all things sees and feels God’s gracious hand, not merely singing, in public and private, in order to ask, but giving thanks uninterruptedly through the whole life. This is no popular, hyperbolical expression (Meyer); it is an established injunction of the Apostle (Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 3:17; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; Romans 12:12). Sufferings are included also (Chrysostom and others). [Hodge follows Meyer, in needlessly limiting πάντα to blessedness.—R.] It is indeed so difficult, that it is possible only for him who has God in Christ. Hence:

To God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ [ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί].—“In the name” designates the manifested, known and acknowledged Person (“of our Lord Jesus Christ”), in whom, that is: in fellowship with whom the situation in question is experienced: giving thanks (Colossians 3:17), asking (John 14:13), commanding (2 Thessalonians 3:6), being baptized (Acts 10:48), reproached (1 Peter 4:14), saved (Acts 4:12). We either bear or experience what He permits to be laid upon us or occur to us, or we act in His service, in longing after Him, or in the consciousness of His mediation (per quem omnia nobis contingunt, Bengel); it is=ἐν Χριστῷ (Ephesians 3:21); similar to διὰ Χριστοῦ (Romans 7:25). Without Him we would have no living God, whom we thanked, least of all in Him the Father. The article (τῷ) points to the God known to us, and the phrase “God and the Father” indicates that the same God is a Father for us, our God and Father. It is incorrect to refer πατρί to Christ (Harless, Meyer). [On this august title, comp. Ephesians 1:3; Galatians 1:4; it seems perfectly proper to accept a reference of a general character: the Father, our Father and the Father of our Lord, without limiting it to either or here emphasizing either.—R.]

Ephesians 5:21. Proper conduct in one’s position. Submitting yourselves one to another.—Ὑποτασσόμενοι, a co-ordinating participle [not to be taken as an imperative, Calvin and others.—R.], refers to the position, also a gift and ordinance of God, in which one should be considerate and contented as regards superiors and inferiors (ἀλλήλοις), in piety, as well as in charity, in service in each direction, but: in the fear of Christ, ἐν φόβῳ Χριστοῦ—According to 2 Corinthians 5:11 (“the fear [not “terror,” E. V.] of the Lord”) and 1 Corinthians 10:22 (“Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than He?”), this means fear before Him, as the present Lord, the Head,40 marking the tender awe of the conscientious, the humble and zealous imitation, not the fear before the Judge (Harless, Meyer and others).

[Hodge connects this verse with what follows, a view which is very convenient, but not grammatically admissible, though Ephesians 5:22 ff. do carry out the thought in detail. He says his view is generally accepted, but the view of Braune is held by Knapp, Tischendorf, Rueckert, Harless, Meyer, Alford, Ellicott, Eadie, in fact by every recent commentator, who gives due place to grammatical considerations, Olshausen excepted. The connection is difficult however. Ellicott finds here named a comprehensive moral duty in regard to man (after the three duties in regard to God) the exact connecting link being “thanking God for all things (for sorrows as well, submitting yourselves to Him, yea) submitting yourselves one to another.” Alford thinks the thought is suggested by Ephesians 5:18 : “that as we are otherwise to be filled, otherwise to sing and rejoice, so also we are otherwise to behave—not blustering nor letting our voices rise in selfish vaunting, as such men do—but subject to one another,” etc. So Eadie.—R.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The Christian mode of life is precisely wisdom, which has first of all as a pre-supposition the possession of the truth, and is essentially the appropriation and acquisition of truth, or the capacity and readiness, clearly perceiving the truth in every case, position and event, to use it in life, by which use it is not squandered, but increased for the possessor. It is truth becoming or already made practical. It is not a knowing much, but a unity of the knowledge of the truth, a unity referred to the kingdom of God, and hence the doing of the truth; Christian morality is true wisdom, it is of a thoroughly ethical nature, although it never renounces its intellectual character. It is the common bond of truth, love, freedom and rectitude. It takes notice of all, world and nature, the heart itself and men about it, sorrow and joy, circumstances and events, rights and duties, the past and future and present, and above all, what concerns the soul, God’s word and counsel, and the course of His kingdom. It learns experience in all and gains a certain tact, which grows in clearness and confidence, so that it readily knows, what it ought to do and why, while at the same time it is willing and able to do it. Accordingly correct life and correct doctrine meet together in wisdom. Prudence is a natural gift; a child, an unsanctified man, may be prudent. It is only formal, mainly without regard to a definite object; you may be prudent in temporal, even in shameful things, as well as in Divine, eternal things; in the latter you ought to be or become so. Prudence is circumspection, insight, intelligence, discrimination, appreciation and estimation; wisdom applies it to what concerns God and the soul, to the department of practical ethics.

2. A principal trait of wisdom and Christian morality is the improvement of the time, in which it considers and effects what is eternal. Every moment of time is of value to it to be used for the eternal: it perceives the transitoriness of time, but hastens the more to use it as an opportunity, to improve it for eternity. Like a merchant, it makes traffic in time to gain in eternity. Every year, every greater or smaller portion of time, is viewed and treated with reference to the God-appointed duties, so that time appears as measured out eternity. Wisdom fears to destroy time, avoids mere pastime,41 is unwilling merely to enjoy time, regarding it rather as a season, given of God’s eternal grace, in which the power of body and soul bestowed by God, operates for the glory of His name and the soul’s own salvation, so that from this no complaint or accusation arises.—Precisely the evil days, which continue as long as sin has power, it views as the set time and urgent occasion to wholesome improvement.

3. The two main points of view for wisdom are: Understanding of the Divine Will and active circumspection of spirit. The first is the everywhere valid and objectively given foundation of the Divine will, with which nothing that will be moral, Christian, wise, dare enter into opposition. All culture which lacks an intimate, lively regard for the will of God, is without wisdom also, hence foolish, despite all knowledge and clever character. The other however is sobriety. Stier:—“Not only every passion, every merely sensuous pleasure, every dissipation leaving the heart unguarded and lost in the creature, every waste of time called pastime, even the most dutiful, sober ‘business,’ if it entirely absorbs, has in it something intoxicating; before all however is it the fanaticism of opinion, of error, which the devil will present to us in the most various mixtures, often under the most enticing appearance, out of the great intoxicating cup of the spirit of the age, ‘of the power of the air’ (Revelation 17:0).” Or one might present a gradation from the common intoxication with wine or brandy, to the “most spirited” form of a “lay-breviary.”

[The particular precept must not be overlooked in the general application. Eadie well remarks: “There is in the vice of intemperance that kind of dissoluteness which brooks no restraint, which defies all efforts to reform it, and which sinks lower and lower into hopeless and helpless ruin. There are few vices out of which there is less hope of recovery—its haunts are so numerous and its hold is so tremendous.” Especially when the craving opens the door to covetousness on the part of the dealer and manufacturer, so that the victim is poisoned as well as besotted. No wonder that such a tremendous evil has driven most philanthropists and Christians to the advocacy of forcible measures for its prevention. Still the remedy is not law, but gospel. And “the freedom of the gospel” should never become a yoke of bondage. The two apparently contradictory principles to be reconciled in Christian practice, are (Colossians 2:16): “Let no man judge you in eating or in drinking,” and (Romans 14:21): “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine,” etc.—R.]

4. As a help to sobriety the Apostle sets forth first, the use in common of Christian hymns, which should be used, though not exclusively, in public service. In this the Psalms, as Scriptural songs, with their parallelisms, probably gave rise to antiphonal singing between minister and congregation, the songs of praise (“hymns”), as ecclesiastical songs to hypophonal singing, in which the congregation repeated the last line of the stanza sung by the choir, and the spiritual songs, as Christians, to symphonal singing. The Holy Ghost, who presides in the Church, wrought beyond the word of Scripture, made art in word and tone serviceable to the Church, exercising His power in connection with public service and even in social intercourse. So then beside the use in common there must also be a solitary digging into such poetical treasures and a private application of them. Further, every gift should be constantly esteemed, recognized and used accordingly. Finally however in humility every relation of subordination ordained by God is to be regarded and maintained unimpaired; social institutions are God’s institutions.

[In regard to singing in public worship and social intercourse, Ephesians 5:19 plainly shows that other than the Old Testament Psalms were and may still be sung. There is no warrant in the word of God for the exclusion of all hymns composed since the canon of Scripture was closed. Such a view owes its origin to causes quite as much political as religious, and perhaps always more national and local than logical or theological. Still it must be said that this extreme is fostered by a proper antagonism to what is now admitted into the public and especially the social services of Christians. It were better to sing nothing else than the Psalms than to encourage the introduction into congregations of hymn-books, born, not of spiritual feeling, but of pecuniary greed. Especially is it unfortunate that the children in our Sunday Schools are taught bad taste in music, bad morals and worse doctrine by what they sing. The full effect of this mistake has not yet appeared. Comp. Colossians, p. 72.—“Christ is the centre of sacred art as well as of theology and religion. From Him music has drawn its highest inspiration. The hymns of Jesus are the Holy of holies in the temple of sacred poetry. From this sanctuary every doubt is banished; here the passions of sense, pride and unholy ambition give way to the tears of penitence, the joys of faith, the emotions of love, the aspirations of hope, the anticipations of heaven; here the dissensions of rival churches and theological schools are hushed into silence; here the hymnists of ancient, mediæval and modern times, from every section of Christendom, unite with one voice in the common adoration of a common Saviour. He is the theme of all ages, tongues, and creeds, the Divine harmony of all human discords, the solution of all the dark problems of life” (Schaff, Christ in Song, preface). To banish Christian hymns is to exclude from this Holy of holies, but to substitute for them unworthy, unspiritual, and unchristian rhymes is to profane it.—R.]

5. The principle, impulse and norm of all Christian morality, of the new, Divine life, is Jesus Christ, the Fulfiller of the Law and Divine Will; for He is “the manifestation of the willing Divinity and fulfilling humanity (Harless, Christliche Ethik, p. 362). All other motives adulterate or counterfeit the new life.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The Christian has not like a philosopher first to seek the truth; “as wise,” he possesses it and must evidence it in his walk. With the philosopher all depends upon exactness and acuteness in the tide of his thoughts, with the Christian, however, upon his care in the course of his conduct; the former works out a system, the latter a fine character; the former will grow, while his forerunner decreases, the latter will decrease, but his forerunner must grow in him.—Christian wisdom as manifested in the acceptance and application of three proverbs: 1. Time is money! 2. Time gained, all gained! 3. Good fishing in troubled waters!—He who does not become wise in hard evil days, certainly remains a fool in good days.—It is just the evil days that you should not let pass by unimproved, for in the evil days of earthly life in this valley of tears we must gain for the good days in eternal life on God’s throne.—The evil days are only the so-called bad weather so needed for the growth of the inner min and God’s plants.—There are periodicals and books of all kinds, especially novels, which are like cups full of intoxicating wine, and instead of being bread, they should be burned like the books of magic in Ephesus (Acts 19:19).—The house and household life should not be isolated from the Church and its services, especially its lovely, consolatory, precious hymns.—Thankfulness and humility are two principal emotions of a glad Christian heart: the former sees the gifts, which it has received from the Lord, the latter the duties He has appointed. Without serving love that Christian exaltation is not true, but a lie. The Christian must not ask; Who should minister to me, but: to whom should I minister?

Starke: Foresight and wisdom belong to Christianity: not the cunning of this world, but the prudence of the righteous. It is like a bee, drawing honey from good and bad examples alike.—Redeem the time then, and give good heed to the blessed hours, when the Spirit of God knocks at thy heart. Many men are laden down with so much work in their avocation, that they often do not have the proper time for eating, still less for reading God’s word, prayer, and other godly practices: it is especially necessary for these persons to forestall and even to steal time, that they may gain an occasional opportunity for spiritual exercises and collecting their heart before God; and besides this to accustom themselves to lift their heart to God in the midst of business, and to carry on the same in the fear of God.—The will of the Lord is our rule, to know and follow it is the greatest wisdom.—Wine is a good gift of God; but alas! all gifts of God are abused, and so is wine.—In one heart there may not dwell at the same time the fulness of the Spirit and the fulness of the world: God does not enter unless the creature retires thence.—Our Church has a rich treasure of spiritual songs ever increasing; it is a shame that they are so often sung without knowledge or thought,—Great benefits demand great thankfulness.—The fear of God is the bond, which should so unite all Christians together, that they submit to and serve one another.

Rieger. The evil mixture of light and darkness with which so many are pleased, and in which they seek their wisdom, will, as folly, become their shame. In a wise walk every child of the light looks chiefly to himself and the keeping of his own way.—In the adapting one’s self to the time, or redeeming the time, one looks to others also, how they are to be approached, or to be served, which is not the same in one case as in another.—Luxury in eating and drinking hinders true wisdom very much.

Heubner: One can permit himself to be robbed of much time. Amici fures temporis. Redeeming the time is opposite of whiling away the time. It is a frivolous thought, that of regarding time as an evil. There is a great difference between the worldly wise and the Christian mode of making time profitable. The former seeks to gain as great a pecuniary advantage as possible out of circumstances of time; the Christian regards the pressure and the evil of the time as a means to spiritual gain, as an exercise to faith, and hence places himself in a spiritual attitude to the time; he is for example, prepared for great sacrifices, for privations, sorrows and afflictions, which he has to bear, for difficult duties, disturbances and the like. To the worldly man that time is evil, when his pleasure is interrupted or hindered by sickness, scarcity, etc. The Christian holds that for the evil time, when virtue decreases and is made more difficult for himself, when the good have much to suffer, and the enticements to faithfulness and apostasy are great.—There is also a great inward song, when at work, on a journey or a walk, etc. Such singing imparts a quiet, glad, godly tone to the spirit. Learn good hymns by heart therefore.—The Epistle for the 20th Sunday after Trinity; Ephesians 5:15-21 : The Christian disposition—the best help in evil days. 1. It gives wisdom to understand and to use aright the evil days (Ephesians 5:15-17). 2. It gives us cheerful courage, aroused not by wild intoxication, but by God’s Spirit, fitting us for proper reflection (Ephesians 5:18-20). 3. It teaches the willingness to serve one another in the right way (Ephesians 5:21).—The duty of the Christian, to adapt himself to the time. 1. What it requires? a) Wisdom which bears unavoidable evil as of God’s sending, not murmuring, nor resisting, nor walking uncircumspectly therein, b) Wholesome use of it for the soul’s benefit. 2. Means: a) Knowledge of the Divine Will, of the purposes of Divine Providence and of our salvation, b) Religious inspiration and meditation. 3. The blessing: a) For us; all must serve for our profit, that we give God thanks: b) For others, that we serve and help them.

Passavant: It is no easy matter to set the right bounds to our joys; one drop follows another, pleasure entices to sensuality, joyousness to wantonness, forgetfulness to intoxication.—We must give thanks for every gratification even the smallest, which we enjoy from our Heavenly Father through Christ; for every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places and possessions. Whoever understands this, knows how to give thanks to the great Giver for every temporal and earthly good also, even the least.

Stier: The walk of a Christian to his goal is a worthy, exact, correct walking; only thus does he find and follow his path. In continuously increasing exactness and strictness as respects our disposition and conduct, we grow out of folly into complete wisdom.—To gain the time is something other than to gain time.—To seek and to use opportunities, to make a prudent choice of the point of time, to esteem time and be busy accordingly, to use prudently and circumspectly the time with its circumstances, this is the meaning of redeeming the time.—The special public service should not and must not be something altogether sundered from the private life of the Church.—The ministry must always reach the spirit, lay the foundation anew; but the congregation comes in with its praying, responding, singing, praising.—The thankful taking and returning of God’s grace is itself true gracefulness.—The root of all apostasy and disobedience is ingratitude.

On the Epistle for the 20th Sunday after Trinity (Ephesians 5:15-21): Gesetz und Zeugniss, 1862 [a German theological periodical]: How does the wisdom of the Christian display itself in walk? 1. In a circumspect walk (strait gate, narrow is the way; the days are evil). 2. In an industrious use of the means of grace (the Lutheran Church, the triumphing one, with large capital of the Holy Ghost). 3. In humble conduct. (As the most worthy proof of reason is in sobriety, and the greatest blessedness of a correct walk is shown in a life full of thanksgiving, so in various forms of submission the most delicate tact of this life appears. Thus are added the noblest limitations of life and the purest and most considerate forbearance in all relations.—Löhe.)

Brandt: Earnest demands of the gospel in an evil time. 1. It is a time of ignorance respecting Divine things, and it calls out to us in Ephesians 5:17. Ephesians 5:2. It is a time of the dominion of disorderly lusts and propensities, and we are warned as in Ephesians 5:18. Ephesians 5:3. It is a time of ecclesiastical lukewarmness, and enforces the precept of Ephesians 5:19-20. Ephesians 5:4. A time of restless excitement, saying to us as in Ephesians 5:21.

Rautenberg. The prudence of the children of God in the evil time. 1. They secure to themselves a free hand, to seek their safety—amid all the power of the evil time; 2. An open ear for God’s will—amid all self-will of the evil time; 3. A well-prepared heart for the gift of the Holy Ghost—amid all the carnal mind of the evil time, a joyful spirit in the Lord—amid all the complaints of the evil time. Staudt: The life of the new man 1) in foresight, 2) insight, 3) penetration (Durchricht).

Pröhle: Rules of Christian practical Wisdom 1. Prudent foresight. 2. Earnest retrospect. 3. Pious insight. 4. Moderation in pleasure. 5. Practice in sacred Song of Song of Solomon 6:0. Constant thanks to God. 7. Due subordination.—Become Full of the Spirit! 1. Full of the Spirit, 2. Full.

[Eadie: Ephesians 5:15. Wisdom and not mere intelligence was to characterize them; that wisdom which preserves in rectitude, guides amidst temptations, and affords a lesson of consistency to surrounding spectators.—It is a strange infatuation to be obliged in pointing others to heaven, to point over one’s shoulder.

Ephesians 5:18. Drunkenness was indeed an epidemic in those times and lands. Plato boasts of the immense quantities of liquor which Socrates could swill uninjured; and the philosopher Xenocrates got a golden crown from Dionysius for swallowing a gallon at a draught.—It is a sensation of want—a desire to fly from himself, a craving after something which is felt to be out of reach, eager and restless thirst to enjoy, if at all possible, some happiness and enlargement of heart—that usually leads to intemperance. But the Spirit fills Christians, and gives them all the elements of cheerfulness and peace; genuine, elevation and mental freedom; superiority to all depressing influences; and refined and permanent enjoyment.

Ephesians 5:19. Mere music is but an empty sound; for compass of voice, graceful execution, and thrilling notes are a vain offering in themselves.

Ephesians 5:20. So many and so salutary are the lessons imparted by chastisement—so much mercy is mingled up in all their trials—so many proofs are experienced of God’s staying “his rough wind in the day of His east wind,” that the saints will not hang their harps on the willows, but engage in earnest and blessed minstrelsy.

Ephesians 5:21. This Christian virtue is not cringing obsequiousness; and while it stands opposed to rude and dictatorial insolence, and to that selfish preference for our opinion and position which amounts to a claim of infallibility, it is not inconsistent with that honest independence of disposition and sentiment which every rational and responsible being must exercise. It lays the foundation also, as is seen in the following context for the discharge of relative duty,—it should be seen to develop itself in all the relations of domestic life.—Schenkel: The duty of subordination in the Christian Church: 1. It rests on the recognition of natural and historical distinctions, ordained by God Himself; 2. It has its pattern in the relation of believers to Christ, which is not one of servile fear, but of moral reverence.—R.]

Footnotes:

Ephesians 5:17; Ephesians 5:17.—The reading of the Rec. (συνιέντες) is supported by D.3 K. L., nearly all cursives, many fathers and good versions (Tischendorf, Ellicott and most); συνίοντες is found in D.l F, G., some versions (Harless, Meyer, Alford, earliest editions); the imperative: συνίετε has good support (א. A. B., 6 cursives, Chrysostom, Jerome), accepted by Lachmann and Alford (Exodus 4:0). The last appears to be a correction, the participle being lectio difficilior, so that of the two participial readings the first is to be preferred on external grounds.—R.]

Ephesians 5:19; Ephesians 5:19.—[Lachmann and Alford insert ἐν in brackets before ψαλμοῖς, but as it is found only in B., 5 cursives, some versions, and could so readily enter into an explanatory gloss, it is generally rejected.—Both editors bracket πνευματικαῖς on much the same authority, doubting it as a probable interpolation from Colossians 3:16; but it might readily be omitted in a few cases from homœteleuton (Meyer).—Ταῖς καρδιαις, instead of τῇ καρδίᾳ (Rec. א.1 B. K. L.) is found in א.3 A. D. F., but is rejected by Teschendorf, Ellicott, Alford and most, as an emendation derived from Colossians 3:16.—R.]

Ephesians 5:21; Ephesians 5:21.—[The reading of the Rec. (θεοῦ) has no uncial support; while Χριστοῦ is found in nearly all MSS., and accepted by all recent editors.—R.]

[35][Eadie follows Calvin, Hodge follows Meyer, as respects οὖν, while Alford and Ellicott take the particle as resumptive from the περιπατεῖτε in Ephesians 5:8, and what followed it there. This is preferable unless the extended view of Braune be accepted.—R.]

[36][The E. V. with its order: “what the will of the Lord is,” suggests this definite knowledge in special circumstances, hence to alter it, as some propose, to: “what is the will of the Lord,” would be not only unnecessary, but unfortunate.—R.]

[37][It is to be feared that the rising from the spiritual to the general renders too indefinite the very important precept of the Apostle. We may well hold fast to the plain literal meaning: “do not be made drunk with wine;” this is an injunction deserving all the prominence it receives, even if no general sense be appended.—R.]

[38][In which vice, in the becoming drunk (Meyer, Alford and most), not in the wine, the use of which is not forbidden (comp. 1 Timothy 5:23; Colossians 2:16; Colossians 2:20-23), although our passage proves that it was intoxicating.—R.]

[39][While rigorous distinctions are not to be insisted upon, we may accept in the main the view of Braune. Ellicott: “Much curious information Will be found in the article, ‘Hymni a Christianis decantandi,’ in Deyling, Obs. No. 44, Vol. III, p. 430 sq.: for authorities, see Fabricius, Bibliogr. Antiq. XI. 13, and for specimens of the ancient ὕμνοι, ibid., Bibl. Græca, Book V. I. 24.” In the fourth volume of Tischendorf’s Monumenta Sac. Sued., some hymns are found at the close of the Psalter, but the MSS. is incomplete, leaving us with a hymn incomplete.—In the face of such testimony there can be no question that the early church was not confined to the Old Testament Psalms.—R.]

[40][“Rara phrasis, Bengel; of Him, whose members we all are, so that any displacement in the Body is a forgetfulness of the reverence due to Him “(Alford).—R.]

[41][What relaxation the body demands is certainly not forbidden by Ephesians 5:16. If any one thinks that he is better redeeming the opportunity by so overtasking his brain or his conscience either, as to die early or be laid upon a bed of sickness, or unfitted for duty by dyspepsia, melancholy or what not, he makes a great mistake. What God says so plainly in our frames is not to be overborne by seemingly pious principles; if it is, God punishes us.—R.]