Ephesians 5:1-21
This may sound a bit shocking but contrary to the popular opinion and practice in many churches today, there is no such a thing called “Special Easter Sunday” or “Special Resurrection Sunday.” That’s because every gathering on the Lord’s Day is precisely because of the resurrection of Jesus. For Christians, the first day of the week is called the Lord’s Day because Jesus resurrected on the first day of the week. The very definition of “the Lord’s Day” is because of his resurrection. That is why some churches partake in the Lord’s Table every Lord’s Day for the commemoration of death and resurrection of Christ.
In the same way, there is no “special Sunday service for thanksgiving.” That’s because every Lord’s Day is special because God calls his people to worship him with gratitude because Christ is risen. God’s people do not set aside only one Sunday in the calendar year to give thanks to God. Thanksgiving is what worship is, and thanksgiving is deeply reflected in our worship – through prayer, songs, and giving.
Biblically, thanksgiving is the expression of gratitude because of the gospel. Those who are grateful are the ones who truly understand and deeply appreciate the gospel. To say it negatively, those who don’t generally live the life of thanksgiving are the ones who truly don’t understand and don’t deeply appreciate the gospel. They generally complain about life, unhappy, ungrateful, and lacks joy.
In the Bible, gratitude is always shown as a result of knowing the gospel of grace. Gratitude is the byproduct of saving grace. In fact, that is how Romans is outlined – i.e., guilt, grace, and gratitude. Following the outline of Romans, that is how the Heidelberg Catechism is written and outlined – i.e., guilt, grace, and gratitude. All that to say, gratitude is the product of God’s sovereign grace. Grace produces gratitude. That is the proper theological order. God’s redeeming grace produces gratitude, not the other way.
And this is how Ephesians is written. The first three chapters are the gospel, and the last three chapters are the applications of the gospel. The first three chapters are doctrinal, the last three chapters are applicational. In other words, what we have to believe about God (the indicatives) is mentioned before what we have to do for God (the imperatives). And this is how God has ordered the arrangement in the Bible. A creed before a deed. This truth is so important that our catechism points this out early on. For instance, the Larger Catechism #5 says:
Q. 5. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
So, why does our confession mention belief before duty? That’s because Christianity is first and foremost a creed (belief) before it is a deed (duty). The root must come before the fruit, and the root must be healthy before the fruit become healthy. Thus, both biblically and confessionally shatter the faulty and dangerous notion that Christianity is not a doctrine but a way of life.
I can tell you that you should live a life of gratitude and thanksgiving but that doesn’t mean such a message is uniquely Christian. That’s because a Buddhist can teach that. A Muslim can teach that. So, what makes it uniquely Christian? Again, it is the difference of the root! And we’ll answer that question later.
According to Ephesians, the hallmark of a true Christian is gratitude and thanksgiving. He sees the reason to be thankful than to complain.
This is not to say that all complaints are sinful. There are legitimate reasons to complain and even to protest. For instance, when a so-called church deviates from God’s word. This is what eventually led to Protestant Reformation. And there is such a thing called righteous anger. For example, Jesus driving out the money changers in the temple. Also, when God’s name is defamed by professing Christians.
However, outside of those grounds, the hallmark of a true Christian is gratitude and thanksgiving. According to verse 3, there is something that is “proper” or “fitting”[1] among Christians. And verse 4 tells us what this one thing that is “proper” or “fitting” that shows or indicates a Christian, namely “giving of thanks.”
Then in verse 18, Paul implies that Christians are the people who are filled with the Holy Spirit. And beginning with verse 19, Paul describes what being filled with the Holy Spirit looks like. The passage mentions nothing about praying in tongue, prophesying, or behaving aberrantly during public worship in the name of being drunk in the Spirit. Instead, the hallmark of a true Christian is “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ” (vv. 20-21).
Commenting on Eph. 5:20, John Calvin said, “This is an exercise of which we ought never to weary. Innumerable benefits which we receive from God yield fresh cause of joy and thanksgiving,” and not being thankful is “ungodly and disgracefully lazy.”[2]
If Christ is the source of joy and happiness, then being grateful and thanksgiving is the evidence that Christ is the source of all joy and happiness. One of the scholars in Ephesians said, “In difficult circumstances, an attitude of thanksgiving is easier to achieve with the knowledge that God is always in control.”[3] I love that quote because it is a biblical and theological truth! Having a robust knowledge of God is the healthy root, and gratitude and thanksgiving is the healthy fruit. This is why studying Christian doctrines are essential to Christian thinking and living. Because at the end of the day, what’s going to help you get through dark times is knowing and relying on this trustworthy God! And how are you going to rely on a God that you don’t know much?
As I mentioned earlier, I can tell you that you should live a life of gratitude and thanksgiving but that doesn’t mean such a message is uniquely Christian. That’s because a Buddhist can teach that. A Muslim can teach that. So, what makes it uniquely Christian? Again, it is the difference of the root! Both Ephesians 5:4 and 5:20 are found in the context of what Christians must do (the imperatives, the duties, the deeds). But what Christians must do (the duties, the deeds, the imperatives) is always built on the foundation of who God is and what God has done (the indicatives). And that is what the gospel is. How we live as Christians (the deeds) is never isolated from the doctrines.
So, if you’re taking notes, here are the basis for which Christians live the life of gratitude and thanksgiving.
1. Because of who God is and what he has done for us (cf. Eph. 1).
Who is God and what did he do for us, according to Ephesians 1?
Just like Genesis 1, the starting point of the gospel is not us but God. According to Ephesians 1, God is a Triune God – i.e., three Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one Godhead. And each Person of the Trinity is directly involved in the redemptive work of his covenant people. For instance:
Christians live the life of gratitude and thanksgiving because God the Father has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world (1:4). God the Father adopted us as his children through Christ (1:5).
Christians live the life of gratitude and thanksgiving because God the Son redeemed us through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (1:7).
Christians live the life of gratitude and thanksgiving because God the Holy Spirit sealed us in him with the covenant promise (1:13), who is given as a pledge of our redemptive inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession (1:14).
2. Because God has saved us from ourselves and from God (Eph. 2).
This is twofold.Christians live the life of gratitude and thanksgiving because God has saved us from ourselves and from himself! First, God has saved us from ourselves. One of the reasons why people are ungrateful is because they fail to see who they were (and are), their true self, and the true condition they were in (or currently in). When you have a high view of yourself, you will naturally have a low view of God. That is the indication that you are still in your sin. When you fail to understand the doctrine of sin, you will not understand and appreciate the doctrine of God’s sovereign grace. There’s a reason why the book of Romans and the Heidelberg Catechism begin with guilt. If you don’t understand that man is guilty and what guilty deserves, you wouldn’t understand sovereign grace. And if you don’t understand grace, you wouldn’t understand gratitude.
Secondly, God not only saved us from ourselves, but he saved us from himself. According to Heb. 10:31, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” The fact that we were by nature, children of wrath (2:3) is a sufficient reason for a holy God to send everyone to hell. A holy God is fully just in exercising his justice and sovereign rights by punishing the guilty. Hence, if you want to talk about what’s fair, it’s fair for God to send all who are guilty to eternal condemnation and in hell, which you and I deserve.
But here’s the good news and the sweetest words in the entire Ephesians, if not the entire Bible: “But God” (2:4).
And the following words from those two words are the beautiful words of the gospel (vv. 4-9).
3. As a result of the gospel, God has given us a new family, namely his church (Eph 3).
To watch this sermon, you may click here.
[1]The Greek word prepo is in present active indicative singular, translates to “proper” or “fitting” in most translations.
[2] John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries Vol. XXI (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979 Reprint), 316.
[3] Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2004), 714.
Pastor's Perspective 