FollowLearning to Follow God
© 2025 C. O. Bishop
Ephesians 5:1-8
Introduction:
When I was a young believer, my dad (who was not walking with God) said, “Chet, the world is passing you by!” I said, “As far as I can see, the World is headed for hell in a handbasket! It is just fine if it passes me by: I don’t want to go there anyway!” Perhaps that was not very polite, but: Jesus said, “the way is broad, and many go there, which leads to destruction.” The way wherein few go, and which is not easy, is the way God chooses for his people.
For the new believer, God calls for a definite change in direction. An unbeliever is just “moving along,” whether randomly, or with great determination and direction, as in the case of Saul of Tarsus. But, when the unbeliever becomes a believer, there is a sharp “change in direction.” He/she has become a follower of God. And God is not going the same way as everyone else.
Whose Voice Are You Following?
Two different friends visited Israel and each happened to be in a taxi, waiting as a flock of sheep crossed the road. As they watched, another flock approached from the opposite side. The two shepherds greeted each other cordially, but they walked on, calling their sheep. My friends had expected pandemonium: “How will they separate all those sheep into the two original flocks?”
But, in both cases, the two flocks simply flowed through one another, as the sheep followed the voices of their respective shepherds. There was no confusion at all from the perspective of the sheep, or the shepherds. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” John 10:27, 28. Jesus is God in the Flesh, and it is He whom we are to follow. He is not going the same way the World goes, and so He calls us to follow Him, and ignore the voice of the World.
Ephesians 5: Becoming Followers of God
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
We see children’s desire to be like their parents as a precious trait. When we see them imitate good things, or even mannerisms, and skills, it pleases and blesses us. When they imitate our sin, we are ashamed: we know where they got that behavior! Then, we either: admit our own shortcoming, and with them, try to change the pattern, or, simply say “Don’t do as I do; do as I say!” God doesn’t have to do either of those options. He is the perfect Father: He leads by example, saying, “Do as I do!” (What did He “do?”) Read the next verse:
2 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.
In the first place, He (as God in the Flesh) obeyed His own command, by continually living out the reality of Agapé Love. He fully demonstrated that love by going to the Cross. And He asks us to follow Him in every way. When we read 1st Corinthians 13:4-8, we can see that every attribute of the Agapé love is an action word. Not one of the attributes of Agapé Love is about feelings. We must act so as to be a blessing to those around us, not continually seeking our own good.
Choosing What to Abandon
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
God then lists some behaviors that don’t belong in our lives at all…they are unbecoming for us: God calls us to be holy! God calls us Saints (it means holy ones), and He intends to “make it stick.” He has created a new nature in us, as well as having given us the indwelling Holy Spirit, and He says that new nature is created completely Holy and Righteous, just like Him. So, uncleanness of any kind; sin of any kind simply does not belong in our lives. It is an unfitting thing!
He calls us to completely abandon sexual immorality. And, He listed “covetousness” along with “fornication.” Fornication (Greek “porneia”)means “sexual immorality.” The word translated “covetousness,” here, is the Greek word “pleonexia.” The Greek word “philargurion”is also translated covetousness: It means “the love of silver—the love of money.” But this one is a much broader term, meaning “plain old greed!” it means the desire to have more (and more!) In Colossians 3:5, Paul says covetousness (greed: “pleonexia”) is idolatry. And God called the idolatry of Israel “whoredom, in Hosea 4:12.” (God names Fornication and covetousness side-by-side, because He sees them as similar sins.)
How God Categorizes Sins: Uncleanness
Do you ever find it odd that God “lumps together” certain sin issues as being “in a similar category,” where we think that one is “really bad,” while the other is just “annoying?” It is interesting to me that if there is a “hierarchy” of “really bad, sorta bad, and not so bad” sins, it is not in the order we think it ought to be. In Romans chapter one, God lists habitual arguing (debate) right along with murder and deceit;and He lists disobedience to parents, side-by-side with being inventors of evil things. And God says all of them amount to uncleanness.
Teaching Cleanliness to Children
When rearing a child, we try to teach them cleanliness. We teach them there are certain things we “don’t do.” We have certain “vessels” we use for certain tasks. A toilet is fairly specific. You may do some things with it that could be done with something else, such as stacking decorations or other stuff on the back of the tank (sigh…), or flushing facial tissue, when you could have put it in the trash, but the primary use for a toilet is also exclusive to the toilet: using anything else for that purpose is not fitting. And children have to learn these things.
Our eldest son, as a toddler, just had to put things in his mouth—if you didn’t watch him closely, he would grab a rock off the street, and pop it into his mouth. We had to train him to not do that. Today, as an adult, he would not consider doing such a thing: but it isn’t because it wasn’t in his nature to do so—it is because we taught him not to do so. And God wants us to learn to obey Him, and to take on His character, to go along with our new Nature.
2nd Peter 1:4 says that we are to become partakers of the Divine Nature…and he goes on to say how to do it. He says we will partake in His Nature through God’s written Word and His “exceeding great and precious Promises.”
What Else Must We Leave Behind?
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
He says to set aside our old ways, and deliberately replace them with something new and clean. I once had a very filthy mouth. (Sorry: it’s just a fact. I was an atheist, and rebellious to the core.) God changed my heart: not only do I no longer rejoice in that sort of folly, but it grieves me when I fail and commit that sin again. My jobs have always been in places full of men who all spoke that way, so I have had to take special care to not relearn that habit.
One thing I often did, was, when I heard the filthy language, I responded, under my breath, by praising the Lord, and actively filling my mind with scripture, praise, and thanksgiving. (“I praise you, Lord Jesus, Hallelujah! Let no corrupt communication proceed out of my mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister Grace to the hearer…”, etc.)
I wanted to avoid re-learning their ways, so I reinforced the behavior of God’s way: I fed my new nature. The nature you feed will thrive. Keep that in mind. If you feed the old man, it will take over your thoughts and life. If you feed the new man, it will grow strong, so that you can walk with God. But it requires persistence.
The Old Sin Nature Cannot Be Redeemed
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
People who only have their old nature do not have a part with God. But does this mean that Christians will “lose their salvation” if they commit any of these sins? No! God says you are no longer a whoremonger! You have a new nature! He nailed that old man to the cross, with Jesus. And now He only sees you as “the new you.”
Paul (Romans 7:7-25) recounts his own struggles, “trying to live for God in his own strength:” He concluded that there were two natures living in him; and that he (the new nature) was no longer the one doing the sinning. (Romans 7:17)
He does not excuse himself: He is aware that all sins will have consequences. But he also sees that his old nature is never going to improve. (See Romans 8:7) He rejoices because God set him free from the body of that death. (Romans 7:24, 25 read it!) But are there consequences to sin? You’d better believe there are!
Sowing and Reaping
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Jesus is the Judge: He is God! He not only judges the sin; He also judges sinners, though He offers Grace to them in Agapé Love. Judgment is still coming! And in a believer’s life, God brings chastening: Don’t think you are “getting away with something.”
Yes, God forgave your sins; that is your new position: You are a child of God.
But God’s Children must expect a “trip to the woodshed,” if we fail to confess sin. Your peace will depart. You must expect that your prayers will go unanswered. Your testimony will suffer. Your sin can affect your health , as well as every human relationship you have. Don’t allow yourself to get in that sort of trouble with God. Confess your sins and forsake them, so that you can enjoy your walk with God.
The Law of the Harvest
Galatians 6:7 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap…” This is the Law of the Harvest: (Plant corn, reap corn. Plant wheat, reap wheat. If I plant laziness, I will reap waste and want. When we plant grievous words, we reap strife. If we plant soft, kind words, we can hope to reap peace.) This law was laid down before sin entered the world. Genesis 1 points out that each plant and animal brought forth seed “after its kind.” Like begets like!
You will reap in keeping with what you sowed. Plant the Gospel, and reap saved souls. Plant careless talk, and watch friends die in their sin. You will reap what you sow. Keep that in mind!
No Prosperity (“Health and Wealth”) Gospel is Taught in Scripture
Some people try to teach that the “other side” of this doctrine is a guarantee that, if they walk in obedience to God, they will never get sick. (That is not true!) Godly people sometimes die of bad diseases, and it is not a judgment from God.
In Psalm 116:15, God says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints!” Those who preach a “Prosperity Gospel” are willfully ignoring Hebrews 11:35-39. God lists people who had been tortured, dying horrible deaths; destitute of any human comfort, (food, clothing, and shelter) and were martyred for their faith. These were the “best of the best!” He says that “the World is not worthy of them.” If the ones God called the best were those with the very least in the way of prosperity, how can prosperity be our primary goal and value in life?
In Philippians 2:25-28, Epaphroditus was so sick he nearly died, but he got well in the ordinary, “natural” way, even though he was with the Apostle Paul the whole time. He was not “sick because of sin.” He was sick in spite of righteousness. In Philippians 1:29, we are told to expect suffering, as part of the Christian life. (The “prosperity” doctrine is not from God!)
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
That’s pretty much the bottom line. If you don’t want the kind of fruit they will reap, (those who walk in the World) then don’t sow what they sow! Remember the Law of the Harvest: It does not make exceptions for believers. We may pray for a “crop failure” while we confess our sins, but in general, we will reap what we have sown.
Conclusion: Walk as Children of Light
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
The character of light? Light dispels darkness! In fact, darkness can only be defined in terms of light. We define light in terms of energy, photons, waves, spectrums, refraction, diffusion, lumens, etc. But there are no similar definitions for darkness. Darkness is only defined as the absence of light. The tiniest, faintest light, in some measure, dispels darkness. A single match, or a small candle, is enough to see our path in what would otherwise be total darkness.
“Walking With Jesus” Means “Walking in the Light.”
God says, “Walk as children of light.” Compare this with 1st John 1:5-7. It says “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” The kind of light in question, here, is Moral light. God is the ultimate source. He is the One who shines in the darkness and that darkness can never overpower His light (John 1:5). He goes on to say that the only way we can have fellowship with Him is to walk in the Light, as He is in the light.
And we walk in the light because we want to have fellowship with Him. We want to be allowed to join Him in His work, reaching a lost world. (See John 4:34)
Was I once a truly ungodly young man, utterly committed to the works of darkness? Yes! I truly was! Should that be reflected at all, in my life today? No! I am a child of God, and a child of light, now. I desire to walk in the Light, with Him! So, I need to know how to do that. We will address this more specifically next week.
Lord Jesus, we ask that You will teach us to walk with You as You walk in the Light, and allow us to have unbroken fellowship with You, the Source of all Light!