Paul's Letter to the Ephesians | Ephesians 5:8-14 | J. Allen Mashburn

Ephesians chapter 5 is all about change. It is designed to teach us that we are different from the world around us, and since we are different, we should live lives that are different. The simple truth is that believers should be different from those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.

A brief review of the first seven verses of this chapter clearly demonstrate this truth.

• In verse 1, we are commanded to live like God.
• In verse 2, we are commanded to love like God.
• In verses 3-7, we are commanded to leave this world and its ways behind.
• Beginning in verse 8, the Apostle tells us why we are to be different.

This is something we need to hear and heed. After all, we are living in this world. We are “strangers and pilgrims” here, 1 Pet. 2:11. While we are “strangers and pilgrims,” in this world, there was a time when we were citizens of this world. We lived like they live. We thought like they think. We did what they do. We were part of them. But, when we were saved by the grace of God, we were delivered from our old life of sin, and we were given a new life of righteousness.