Ephesians 4:32–5:8
Chapter 5
Follow the way of love, just as Christ loved you. He gave himself up for us and became the offering and sacrificial victim, whose fragrance rises to God.
Since you are holy, there must be no hint of sexual immorality, greed, or any kind of impurity among you; these should not be named among you.
Likewise, avoid using scandalous words, nonsense, and foolishness, as they are inappropriate; instead, give thanks to God.
Know this: no depraved, impure, or greedy (that is an idolater) will have a part in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
The Kingdom of Light
Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for these are the sins God is about to condemn in those who do not obey.
Avoid associating with such people.
You were once darkness, but now, you are light in the LORD. Behave as children of light;
Commentaries
Christian Conduct.
The first thing Paul asks of his communities is a complete break from their pagan past. The descriptions are direct and blunt: darkness, ignorance, hardness, impurity, deceit. The Apostle sees the new life of the Christian expressed in concrete actions: honesty, dedication to work, truthfulness, kindness, respect for others, compassion, and forgiveness. This is the image of the Christian: someone who lives and goes out of their way to help others, a creator of the alternative community that Christ brought us through his death and resurrection.
The Kingdom of Light.
Light and darkness: here is another image with biblical resonances that Paul uses to exhort the Ephesians to conduct themselves as “children of light,” reminding them that “once you were darkness” (8). Most of Paul’s Christian communities lived in the great cities of the Empire, where the widespread moral decay of the time was most evident and notorious. Paul, in the end, seems to invite the Christian community to remain vigilant, like the wise virgins of the Gospel, waiting for the bridegroom with their lamps lit with hymns and songs inspired by the “night” of the evil times in which they live (Mt 25:1-13).