The Pagan Lifestyle
4: 17-19
The pagan lifestyle DIG: In what way is life prior to knowing Messiah pointless? How is the knowledge and wisdom of the world actually foolish? What is the natural result of people turning away from God? How does a person become numb to ADONAI?
REFLECT: Why is it important for you to remember what life apart from Yeshua was like? How do you keep from being lured into the pagan actions of the world? What do you do if you find yourself slipping back to that old lifestyle? Who are you accountable to?
Our lives are restless and unfulfilled until we make the connection with God.
This therefore refers back to what Sha’ul has been saying about our high calling in Yeshua Messiah. Because we are called to salvation, unified in the Body of Messiah, gifted through the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, and built up by godly examples, we should not live as the pagan Gentiles do. We cannot accomplish the glorious work of Messiah by continuing to live the way the world lives.173 Do not love the world or the things of the world. If someone loves the world, then love for the Father is not in him; because the things of the world – the desires of the old sin nature, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life – are not from the Father but from the world (First John 2:15-16).
Therefore, with the Lords’ authority, I say this: Live no longer as the pagan Gentiles do (4:17a ESV). Although Jewish believers from the local synagogue had started the Messianic community in Ephesus, many new believers from the Gentile community soon joined them. In the first century, Gentiles practiced rampant paganism. The only way to break free from that lifestyle was to affiliate with the Jewish people and the God of Isra’el. As a result, a number of former pagans became either a God-fearer or a proselyte of the Covenant (see the commentary on Acts, to see link click Bb – An Ethiopian Asks about Isaiah 53). With the arrival of Yeshua and the Messianic fulfillment, there was another viable option. Gentiles were then invited to participate equally in the B’rit Chadashah faith and thus be directly connected to YHVH. Of course, it would have been a poignant reminder to the Messianic Jews of Ephesus as they too could fall to the temptations of the pagan world. In fact, all believers in Messiah must stay vigilant in their focus on maintaining a godly walk.
For they walk in the futility (Greek: mataio teti, meaning vanity or emptiness) of their minds (4:17b ESV). This is an appropriate description of the pagan lifestyle. If a person has no relationship with the living God, then what is his purpose? Ultimately, there is no point to all the effort, time, and resources put into seeking the meaning of our lives without being connected to our Creator. Many are aimless and empty today and thus try to fill the void with all sorts of worldly substitutes (see the commentary on the Life of Solomon Cd – The Search for Satisfaction). Some of them are obviously destructive like bad relationships and addictions, while others may even seem like good things like commitment to career or good relationships. Ironically, some people even use religious observances in their quest to find true meaning. But they are all inadequate substitutes for a real relationship with ADONAI. Messiah has come to connect us to the Source of blessing and peace. Our lives are restless and unfulfilled until we make the connection with God.
Their minds are full of darkness (4:18a). The world places great value on academics and information. It all sounds good and convincing to the multitudes, but once again it is a deception. When Solomon reflected on this, he concluded that the fear of ADONAI is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). Wisdom and knowledge of the world is no doubt impressive, but it pales compared to knowing God. There is a spiritual deception that can take place when we seek intelligence without the knowledge of our Father in Heaven. Ironically, even Sha’ul calls such intelligence foolishness, as the pagan values of the world actually resist the will of YHVH (see the commentary on First Corinthians An – The Foolishness of Worldly Wisdom).174
They wander far from the life that God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him (4:18b NLT). When people continue to sin and turn away from God, they become apathetic and insensitive and do not care about the consequences of their unrighteous thoughts and actions. Their conscience even becomes scarred with tissue that is not sensitive to wrong (First Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:15). Our wicked society is so determined not to be discovered for what it is, that it has become callous both to reality and to the consequences of sin. On the other hand, sins that were hidden or excused are now indulged in, brazenly and blatantly with no semblance of morality. When self-desire rules, indecency runs wild and proceeds to cauterize the conscience, the God-given warning light and pain center of the soul. Those who are dying are desensitized to that which is killing them – because they chose it that way. Even when held up shamefully in full view of the world, their sins are not recognized as sinful or as the cause of increasing meaninglessness, hopelessness, and despair (see the commentary on Romans An – The Depraved Mind of the Gentile Pagan).175
Every time a person fails to respond in faith to the prompting of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh through the truth of the Scriptures, his or her heart becomes a little harder. With every act of disobedience, it becomes a little bit easier to disobey the next time.176 They have lost all feeling (4:19a). This is the natural result of a mind and heart far from God. Once again the context of Ephesians is informative (see the commentary on Revelation Az – The Church at Ephesus). The city was the headquarters for the Roman Temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of antiquity. The Romans had embraced Artemis, the Greek goddess of fertility, and rebranded her for their purposes, which included sexual immorality. This verse implies that there is a progressive inability of the conscience to do its work as a person keeps resisting the truth of Ha’Shem. There is a danger in such a case that one’s heart and moral values will become calloused, much like Pharaoh’s did in ancient Egypt. It is even more difficult at that point to understand and discern the will of God.
As the mind and heart turn away from the values of God, the bad fruit in the person’s life becomes obvious. The Rabbi notes a short list of examples including sexual immorality and greed. So they have abandoned themselves to sensuality, practicing any kind of impurity and always greedy for more (4:19b). As a traditional Jew, Sha’ul had a high view of the Torah, God’s blueprint for living. There are many aspects to the Torah, but part of it was to keep Isra’el on the right track. Rabbinic tradition teaches that there are two main sections of the Torah: 248 positive commandment and 365 negative commands, which together comprise the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. 248 is said to be the number of bones in the human body and 365 represents every day of the solar year. Hence, Jews are called on to perform the mitzvot every day of their lives with all their being (Tractate Makkot 23b). In contrast, the pagans walk in such a way that breaking the Torah mitzvot becomes a habit. They would by definition be considered ritually unclean (see the commentary on Leviticus Bk – Ritually Clean and Unclean Animals) and forbidden to come close to YHVH.177
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being such a wise and fantastic Father! As I follow Your ways, I know with absolute certainty that I am following the best path. I desire to keep my heart soft and tender to hear from You and to obey Your Word. Sometimes I look around and we see the ungodly flourishing; but their happiness lasts only for a blink and then an eternity of intense pain and suffering. You hurled them down to destruction. How suddenly they became a ruin – terminated, consumed by terrors (Psalms 73:17c-18). However, for those who love You, there will be an eternity of great peace and joy with no pain. It is so worthwhile to follow You now. Yet I am continually with You. You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me into glory (Psalms 73:23-24)
I desire to follow Your ways for the joy of pleasing such a wonderful Father. You not only rescue and deliver those who love You from sin’s penalty, but you promise to bring us into Your eternal Kingdom! He rescued us from the domain of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom He loves. In Him we have redemption – the release of sins (Colossians 1:13-14).
How gracious of You to promise an additional blessing of rewarding Your children (John 1:12 and Ephesians 1:5) for their works done from a loving heart. For no one can lay any other foundation than what is already laid – which is Yeshua the Messiah. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear. For the Day will show it, because it is to be revealed by fire; and the fire itself will test each one’s work – what sort it is. If anyone’s work built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward (First Corinthians 3:11-14). Thank You for being the best Father that ever could be. You are so holy, perfect and wonderful. It is a joy to walk in Your ways! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
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