Eph 5:1, 1Th 1:6 | Barnes | STEP | Ephesians Chapter 5 This chapter is a continuation of the practical exhortations commenced in chapter 4. It comprises the following points, or subjects:-- 1. The exhortation to be followers of God, and to walk in love, . 2. The duty of avoiding the impure practices of the surrounding heathen, and of wholly breaking off from the vices in which even they themselves had indulged, before their conversion to Christianity, . 3. The apostle cautions them particularly against the use of wine, and the revelry which attends its use; and exhorts them rather to engage in the exercises to which the Holy Spirit would prompt them, and to the services of praise and thanksgiving, . 4. He exhorts them to mutual subjection; and particularly enjoins on wives the duty of being subject to their husbands, . 5. The chapter closes with a statement of the duty of husbands to love their wives, illustrated by that which Christ showed for the church, . Verse 1. Be ye therefore followers of God . Gr., "Be imitators-- μιμηται--of God." The idea is not that they were to be the friends of God, or numbered among his followers, but that they were to imitate him in the particular thing under consideration. The word "therefore"--ουν--connects this with the previous chapter, where he had been exhorting them to kindness, and to a spirit of forgiveness, and he here entreats them to imitate God, who was always kind and ready to forgive. Comp. . As he forgives us, ( ) we should be ready to forgive others; as he has borne with our faults, we should bear with theirs; as he is ever ready to hear our cry when we ask for mercy, we should be ready to hear others when they desire to be forgiven; and as he is never weary with doing us good, we should never be weary in benefiting them. As dear children . The meaning is, "as those children which are beloved follow the example of a father, so we, who are beloved of God, should follow his example." What a simple rule this is! And how much contention and strife would be avoided if it were followed! If every Christian who is angry, unforgiving, and unkind, would just ask himself the question, "How does God treat me?" it would save all the trouble and heart-burning which ever exists in the church. (*) "followers" "imitators"

Ephesians 5:1

Ephesians Chapter 5

This chapter is a continuation of the practical exhortations commenced in chapter 4. It comprises the following points, or subjects:--

1. The exhortation to be followers of God, and to walk in love, Eph 5:1,2.

2. The duty of avoiding the impure practices of the surrounding heathen, and of wholly breaking off from the vices in which even they themselves had indulged, before their conversion to Christianity, Eph 5:3-17.

3. The apostle cautions them particularly against the use of wine, and the revelry which attends its use; and exhorts them rather to engage in the exercises to which the Holy Spirit would prompt them, and to the services of praise and thanksgiving, Eph 5:15-20.

4. He exhorts them to mutual subjection; and particularly enjoins on wives the duty of being subject to their husbands, Eph 5:21-24.

5. The chapter closes with a statement of the duty of husbands to love their wives, illustrated by that which Christ showed for the church, Eph 5:25-33.

Verse 1. Be ye therefore followers of God. Gr., "Be imitators-- μιμηται--of God." The idea is not that they were to be the friends of God, or numbered among his followers, but that they were to imitate him in the particular thing under consideration. The word "therefore"--ουν--connects this with the previous chapter, where he had been exhorting them to kindness, and to a spirit of forgiveness, and he here entreats them to imitate God, who was always kind and ready to forgive. Comp. Mt 5:44-47. As he forgives us, (Eph 4:32) we should be ready to forgive others; as he has borne with our faults, we should bear with theirs; as he is ever ready to hear our cry when we ask for mercy, we should be ready to hear others when they desire to be forgiven; and as he is never weary with doing us good, we should never be weary in benefiting them.

As dear children. The meaning is, "as those children which are beloved follow the example of a father, so we, who are beloved of God, should follow his example." What a simple rule this is! And how much contention and strife would be avoided if it were followed! If every Christian who is angry, unforgiving, and unkind, would just ask himself the question, "How does God treat me?" it would save all the trouble and heart-burning which ever exists in the church.

(*) "followers" "imitators"

1 Thessalonians 1:6

Verse 6. And ye became followers of us. "You became imitators-- μιμηται of us." This does not mean that they became followers of Paul, Silas, and Timothy, in the sense that they had set themselves up as teachers, or as the head of a sect, but that they imitated their manner of living. 1Cor 4:16; 1Cor 11:1.

And of the Lord. The Lord Jesus. You also learned to imitate him. From this it is evident that the manner in which the Saviour lived was a prominent topic of their preaching, and also that it was one of the means of the conversion of the Thessalonians. It is probable that preaching on the pure and holy life of the Lord Jesus might be made a much more important means of the conversion of sinners than it is. Nothing is better adapted to show them the evil of their own guilty lives than the contrast between their lives and his; and nothing can be conceived better fitted to win them to holy living than the contemplation of his pure and holy deportment.

Having retired the word in much affliction. That is, amidst much opposition from others. See Acts 17:5-8. It was in the midst of these trials that they had become converted--and they seem to have been all the better Christians for them. In this they were imitators of the Saviour, or shared the same lot with him, and thus became his followers. Their embracing and holding fast the truths of religion amidst all this opposition, showed that they were controlled by the same principles that he was, and that they were truly his friends.

With joy of the Holy Ghost. With happiness produced by the Holy Ghost. Though they were much afflicted and persecuted, yet there was joy. There was joy in their conversion, in the evidence of pardoned sin, in the hope of heaven. Acts 8:8. However great may be the trials and persecutions experienced in receiving the gospel, or however numerous and long the sufferings of the subsequent life in consequence of having embraced it, there is a joy in religion that more than overbalances all, and that makes religion the richest of all blessings.

(e) "followers of us" 2Cor 8:5 (f) "Holy Ghost" Acts 13:52