Paul's Prison Epistles: Paul and the EphesiansSample

Building the Kingdom: Ephesians 5:8-10

One way that we are to express our obedience to God is by remaining fervently and persistently loyal to him, forsaking the powers and principalities. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:8-10:

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light … and find out what pleases the Lord (Ephesians 5:8-10).

We used to be citizens of Satan’s kingdom of darkness. But now our loyalties have shifted. Because God has saved us, we owe him our obedience; we owe it to him to leave behind the sinful ways of the kingdom of darkness and to live in ways that please our new Lord and king.

Paul wrote again of this loyalty in Ephesians 6:24, where he pronounced this conditional blessing:

Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. (Ephesians 6:24)

Our love for the Lord is to be “undying,” never-ending, persistent, devoted, steadfast.

God wants and demands our complete devotion and dedication. It won’t work simply to add him to a pantheon of gods that we worship; he insists on our undivided loyalty. And he does not just want our passive loyalty, as if we might turn away from false gods and then simply rest in the blessings of his kingdom. No, he wants us to obey all his commands, not only forsaking other gods, but also actively doing the many good works he has planned for us.

Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:8-10 offer insight in this regard:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God… For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10).

God did not save us just to keep us from perishing, or just so that we would enjoy a comfortable life in his kingdom. Rather, God also created us anew in Christ so that we would be productive citizens in his kingdom, doing the good works he has assigned to us.

In God’s kingdom, good works play a specific role: they are tools by which God expands and purifies his kingdom, receives glory, and ministers to his people. And according to Paul, God’s purpose in saving us was to ensure that we would do these good works. So, the proper response to God’s grace is to accept our appointment as his servants and ministers. It is to adopt his goal as our goal, his purpose as our purpose. This is why Paul so often encouraged his readers to live in a “worthy” manner, one that reflected the character of the king and of his kingdom.