Ephesians 4 - Contrast of Good & Evil

Isaiah 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Sin is a blinder. Living in sin keeps a person from seeing truth and from seeing things from God's perspective. Sin grieves the heart of God. I have heard people say that sin is really no big deal to God and that He is bigger than all of our sin and weakness. I find such a statement almost blasphemous because of the huge sacrifice that was required to atone for our sin. Our sin costed God the death of His only begotten Son Jesus in order to make a way for us to get into a right relationship with God. To think that He was willing to do that for me ( so that heaven will be my eternal home) just fills me with joy and wonderment that He would do that for me. It also causes  a desire to spring up inside me to live my life in a way that pleases Him. I do not care to please the world or to live in its luxuries. My focus is on my Heavenly Father and the blessed hope of being with Him.
As Dr Randy Carlson always used to say ( when he was still on the radio in my area) "Find out what pleases Christ and then do it." So I ask myself - What pleases Christ? The Bible says we are to live a sanctified life. That means to be "set apart". As Christians, we do not live our lives in the same way as a non-Christian does. There is a difference because we seek to obey the Bible which is the Word of God.
In Ephesians 4 we are called to 1) walk no longer as the Gentiles do- in sensuality, and practicing all sort of immoral lifestyles 2) lay aside the old manner of life - falsehood, stealing, unwholesome talk etc. We are called to put on the new self which has been created in righteousness and holiness.

Just to see the contrast in the life of a saved person to a non saved lets look a little more closely into Ephesians 4 and 5. Some people believe that they can say they are saved and still continue living in the ways of the world but here are some  of the distinct differences in the fruits found in the life of the Christian and non-Christian.  Please take the time to read Ephesians 4:17-32 which I have posted below.

Saved                                                      
Light - life, truth                                        
renewal of the mind, holiness                
righteousness, work and share,              
kind, forgiving, tenderhearted,               
forgiving, walk in love, thankful   

Not Saved           
 Darkness - hard hearted , callous
sensuality, impurity, greediness, lust,
deceit, immorality, filthy talk, idolatry
drunk with wine, lies, anger, stealing
slander, malice, coveting
 
This clearly points out that there is a difference between the saved and the unsaved person in his or her desires in living the daily life. The good news is that God wants all of us to come to Him for forgiveness and cleansing.    We can come to Jesus today and be saved.   Ephesians 2:8   For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:        

Ephesians 4:17-32    
     

¹⁷ This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
¹⁸ Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
¹⁹ Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
²⁰ But ye have not so learned Christ;
²¹ If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
²² That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
²³ And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
²⁴ And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
²⁵ Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
²⁶ Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
²⁷ Neither give place to the devil.
²⁸ Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
²⁹ Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
³⁰ And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
³¹ Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
³² And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

                                                            
                                                                      
                                                   
                              

Why does the earth quake??

Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot bear up: That is what it says in Proverbs 3:20 in the NASB. This is rather interesting. That there are actually some things that make the earth so unstable that it quakes. What are these things?  In the KJV the passage states: Proverbs 30 : 21-23
 ²¹For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:
 ²²For a servant when he reigneth;  and a fool when he is filled with meat;
 ²³For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

So the first thing that causes the earth to quake is when a servant reigns. What could this mean? I know that God does things decently and in order according to 1 Corinthians 14:40 - ⁴⁰Let all things be done decently and in order."  So what if an employee somehow tried take the business away from the owner, like maybe not follow company rules but kind of do things whatever way he wished.  That would not be good and a business could not function that way for very long.  But is that not pretty much what is happening in our world today? God created the world and it belongs to Him. Psalm 24:1 ¹The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
So LORD made the earth and everything in it. Then He should also have the authority to instruct those of us in the world how to live, to tell us what is truth, and how to live, which is exactly what He does throughout the Bible. The Bible is the business manual or handbook with instruction as to how things are to be done. So when we are his servants, called upon to take care of business till he comes in the second coming, We are to obey Him and being disobedient to the Master would definitely cause the earth to quake. Just as in any business, when the things are not done right the boss is not pleased, and disciplinary action has to be taken. So it is also with God. He sees our disobedience to His instructions in the Bible and so disciplinary action is happening all around us which are the judgements that we see such as the tornadoes, earthquakes, outbreaks of pandemics, etc.
Next let us consider " and a fool when he is filled with meat;"  I believe this is referring to the luxurious and excessive lifestyle that so many take as "must haves". Trying to keep up with the neighbors in possessions and therefore aquiring unbearable amounts of debt. Instead of living in contentment as we should , we are told that we deserve to be able to live out the so called "American dream". Money and posessions, fame and loose living will never satisfy. This is another thing that the causes displeasure to our LORD and causes the earth to quake.
Verse 23 ^23"For an odious woman when she is married, and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress." The words odious woman simply means a woman who is not loved by her husband. I believe this verse is referring to the problem of adultery and divorce in our culture. Consistantly on the news, we hear of high ranking officials, and evangelical leaders, and politicians involved in an affair and failing in their marriages. We also see this happening in our churches, neighborhoods and families. Pornography, lust and coveteousness is rampant. God's directions are for sex within the bonds of marriage. Any other sex is immorality. God clearly states in the Bible that marriage is to be between one man and one woman and that till death.   Ephesians 5:25 -
²⁵Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Mark 10:6-9 states
 ⁶But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
 ⁷For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
 ⁸And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
 ⁹What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
And one more verse 1 Corinthians 7:39 says ³⁹The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.
There are many more passages that we could reference that say God made marriage to be between only one man and one woman till death.  God does allow divorce in the case of sexual immorality in order to protect the abused spouse but it never was His original plan.
The rampant immorality is abominable in the sight of God and He is prepared to deal with it.
We who are Christians are a sanctified people and not at all like the non Christian.  Our goal is to please our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in our words and our actions and bring glory to Him. This world is not our home.