Christians are called to imitate God
The audacity of Paul’s statement that believers are to imitate God (TNIV: “follow God’s example”) leads many to write off this verse as an impossible goal. But Paul has a specific focus in mind that he thinks is completely within the believer’s capability. In 4:32, believers are enjoined to forgive each other as God forgave them in Christ. Paul focuses on this attitude of forgiveness in his encouragement that believers become imitators of God. The verb implies continuing behavior repeated so as to become habit.
This sentiment of forgiveness matches the Lord’s Prayer, wherein Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt 6:12). In 1 Cor 4:16, Paul uses the same verb and noun (become imitators), but there he asks the Corinthians to imitate him. The context is the Corinthians’ failure to appreciate Paul’s apostolic authority, and also their disregard of his role as their father in the Lord. In both cases, the audience is understood as dear and beloved children. One reason, then, that Paul asks believers in Ephesians to imitate God is the connection between God the Father and his children, the church.1 A second possible reason is that Paul will go on to emphasize walking as Christ walked. Finally Paul might be reflecting the charge in Lev 19:2, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” Jesus speaks similarly in Matt 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.”2
Paul’s second command follows closely on the first, and also imagines a daily commitment to act in line with God’s truth and love. Believers are to walk in love; this image is found throughout the Old Testament as the manner in which a faithful follower of God lives obediently each day. Everyone can visualize walking; it implies a goal and a gait. The goal is the kingdom of God (5:5). The gait is a pace whose rhythm is love, so one travels as fast or slow as is needed to display charity similar to the self-giving love of Christ. Paul uses this verb repeatedly in ch. 4 as a word picture of the Christian life. Both in 4:1 and now in 5:2, Paul stresses that the believer is to walk in love. As explained in 4:2 and 5:2, this love involves the decision to act humbly, self-sacrificially, and patiently. Christ’s love is expressed as a sacrifice on our behalf to God.
Believers are described in this section as dearly loved children (5:1) and as the Lord’s people (“holy ones” 5:3), those who will inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God (5:5). Because of their standing before God and their new nature in Christ, the injunctions to love and the warnings against idolatry are possible to live out. The expectation is that just as children imitate their parents because they want to grow up to be just like them, so too children of God will desire to emulate the character of their Father and their Brother. In other words, the moral obligations outlined by Paul are given to those who have been made new so as to fulfill those imperatives.
Walking in love is antithetical to acting with base motives, greed, sexual impropriety, or moral bankruptcy. Walking in love cannot countenance impure language, loud-mouth braggarts, and jokes that shame others. Said positively, believers are distinguished by their moral honor and sexual propriety, by their generosity in speech and action, and by their contentment. In sum, they act in character with the God they worship. This is why Paul can say that greed, fornication, rude jokes, and moral impurity are examples of idolatry—these deeds reflect the character of false gods. These are acts of disobedience, done, not by children of God, but by “those who are disobedient” (5:6).
The call to walk in love comes with a warning not to be deceived (5:6). What is this deception and who is promoting it? Paul does not reveal who might be arguing that sexual and moral impurity, avarice, and covetousness are of no concern to God. But the deception seems to be centered on a wrong belief about the kingdom of God. Several times in his letters, Paul warns his readers that the immoral person will not inherit God’s kingdom.
Paul’s second command follows closely on the first, and also imagines a daily commitment to act in line with God’s truth and love. Believers are to walk in love; this image is found throughout the Old Testament as the manner in which a faithful follower of God lives obediently each day. Everyone can visualize walking; it implies a goal and a gait. The goal is the kingdom of God (5:5). The gait is a pace whose rhythm is love, so one travels as fast or slow as is needed to display charity similar to the self-giving love of Christ. Paul uses this verb repeatedly in ch. 4 as a word picture of the Christian life. Both in 4:1 and now in 5:2, Paul stresses that the believer is to walk in love. As explained in 4:2 and 5:2, this love involves the decision to act humbly, self-sacrificially, and patiently. Christ’s love is expressed as a sacrifice on our behalf to God.
Believers are described in this section as dearly loved children (5:1) and as the Lord’s people (“holy ones” 5:3), those who will inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God (5:5). Because of their standing before God and their new nature in Christ, the injunctions to love and the warnings against idolatry are possible to live out. The expectation is that just as children imitate their parents because they want to grow up to be just like them, so too children of God will desire to emulate the character of their Father and their Brother. In other words, the moral obligations outlined by Paul are given to those who have been made new so as to fulfill those imperatives.
Walking in love is antithetical to acting with base motives, greed, sexual impropriety, or moral bankruptcy. Walking in love cannot countenance impure language, loud-mouth braggarts, and jokes that shame others. Said positively, believers are distinguished by their moral honor and sexual propriety, by their generosity in speech and action, and by their contentment. In sum, they act in character with the God they worship. This is why Paul can say that greed, fornication, rude jokes, and moral impurity are examples of idolatry—these deeds reflect the character of false gods. These are acts of disobedience, done, not by children of God, but by “those who are disobedient” (5:6).
The call to walk in love comes with a warning not to be deceived (5:6). What is this deception and who is promoting it? Paul does not reveal who might be arguing that sexual and moral impurity, avarice, and covetousness are of no concern to God. But the deception seems to be centered on a wrong belief about the kingdom of God. Several times in his letters, Paul warns his readers that the immoral person will not inherit God’s kingdom.
For example, in 1 Cor 6:1–11, the Corinthians are chastised for cheating each other, and for failing to resolve such issues within the church. Paul continues with an extensive list of defining behaviors that expose those who will not inherit God’s kingdom. He adds that among the Corinthians, some of them were indeed the drunkards and thieves who had no claim to the kingdom. But, Paul assures them, they now stand washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Christ and by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:11, see also Gal 5:21). Perhaps it is true in every generation that believers presume on God’s love and assume that their behavior has no significance. Paul clearly thought otherwise. Believers—beloved children—simply do not live out their redeemed life in a debauched manner.
Cohick, L. H. (2010). Ephesians (pp. 121–123). Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
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Cohick, L. H. (2010). Ephesians (pp. 121–123). Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
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