Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks...for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord...For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you."The apostle Paul tells us to "be imitators of God".
This echos what Jesus told us in Matthew 5:48, "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
God wants us all to be like Him. This doesn't mean giving up your individuality. He doesn't want a bunch of "mini-me's" running around. If He did, He could have created perfect little automatons, incapable of free choice. But He wants us to be like Him in character, in righteousness and holiness, and in love.
We know that in our flesh, we don't have the ability to live up to God's standards. But by His grace, and through faith we can. So when He says that we should abstain from immorality, impurity and greed, we can do so by walking in His power.
It's not just our actions He's concerned about, but our words. "And there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks." In other words, cussing, dirty jokes and foolish talk are not fitting for a Christian.
He also warns us, "For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God." [Ephesians 5:5]
Yes, God loves us and forgives our sins. His grace is boundless. Having come to Christ, if you sin, God will be gracious and forgive you. The blood of Jesus is sufficient to cover your sin, and by the grace of God, you will counted as righteous and holy.
But if you continue in a lifestyle of immorality, impurity or greed, your heart is not with God, and you will lose your salvation.
Remember the parable of the sower, "“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
“The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.
“And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
“And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”" [Matthew 13:19-23 NASB]
There are those who would argue that such a person was never saved in the first place. Perhaps so, but Hebrews 6:4-6 says, "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."
Therefore, be careful how you live.
As Christians, we are the light of the world. Therefore we should "walk as children of Light". That is, we should walk "in all goodness and righteousness and truth". We must walk in the Spirit so the fruit of the Spirit will be evident in our lives.
Paul said we should be "trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord". When we are saved, God doesn't perform a "data dump", making us fully mature and perfect. At the moment of salvation, our spirit is reborn. That begins a process of growth from spiritual infancy, through adolescence to maturity. It is expected that every believer will mature, overcome sin, and learn for himself how to please God.
Let us pray for God's grace, and believe by faith that He will teach us how to walk in His light, so that His light will shine on us and through us to the world.
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