True Wisdom (1)

Eph. 5:15-17a

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise . . .

Doctrine and Duty in Ephesians

THE DUTY	THE DOCTRINE
Walk in unity (4:1‑16)	1:22-23; 2:16,21-22; 3:6
Walk in purity (4:17‑32)	1:4
Walk in love (5:1‑7)	3:17-19
Walk in light (5:8‑14)	1:18
Walk in wisdom (5:15‑17)	1:8,17; 3:10
Walk in submission (5:18‑6:9)	3:8
Walk in victory (6:10‑20)	1:19-21

We enter the fifth section of our study of our “Walk In Christ.” “Wisdom” truly is a fascinating subject. It is spoken of often by Believer and unbeliever alike, but it is often not full understood by either. Wisdom is often defined as “good judgment,” but while that is true to a certain extent, true wisdom goes far beyond that. Let us examine two principles: what wisdom is and what it involves.

I. What Wisdom Is (v. 15c)

but as wise

We first encountered the concept of wisdom back in Ephesians 1:8: “Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.” For the sake of our present study, let us review the two words found there. Wise is the Greek sophia, a word which was very important to the ancient Greeks; they wrote and thought much about it. The word speaks of a quality or an attitude rather than an action. The basic meaning, according to Aristotle, is, “Knowledge of the most precious things.” To be more specific, this is the intellectual knowledge of ultimate realities such as life and death. “Prudence” is the Greek phronesis, and like sophia, it was an important word to the ancient Greeks. The basic meaning is “a way of thinking, a frame, intelligence, good sense.”

But the word often has the fuller idea of “discernment and judicious insight.” Again, Aristotle tells us that this is the knowledge of human affairs and of things in which planning is necessary. Another ancient Greek, Plutarch, describes this as practical knowledge of the things which concern us.[1] That is crucial. It’s one thing to know something, but quite another to put it into practice.

To correlate all that, there are times when these words are interchanged, but again phronesis is more practical than sophia.[2] This is further substantiated by the words being used together. Surely Paul is not being repetitious here; rather he is referring not only to theoretical knowledge, but practical application as well. To the Greek mind, if a man had both of these, he was thoroughly equipped for life. So, may we say that every person needs both of these. Many people are “intellectuals” who have great theoretical knowledge, but they have little common sense and cannot accomplish the practical things of life. On the other hand, there are those who are quite practical and “down to earth” but are not concerned with deeper knowledge of ultimate realities. Every one of us needs both of these, and God has given us both. It is up to us to claim them.

We are now ready to view wise as it used here in our text. Since there is a certain amount of the practical use of knowledge in the Greek sophia,[3] then we see that God wants us to use our knowledge correctly. In fact, this is what Bible teachers usually say about wisdom. However, the fact remains that sophia speaks primarily of knowledge. Therefore, God wants His people to have and use the right kind of knowledge. He want us not only to know things, but to know the right kind of things. And He not only wants us to use that knowledge, but to use it correctly. The question now is, what knowledge is Paul concerned with? This leads us to our second thought.

II. What Wisdom Involves (vs. 15a, 16-17)

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools . . .

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Again, we often hear people speak of “being wise.” We hear such things as, “Oh, that fellow is wise in the ways of the world,” or, “He is wise in business,” or, “He is wise beyond his years,” or “He is wise because of how many years he has lived,” and so forth. On the other hand, some Christians seem to think that just being a Christian makes them wise. Oddly, for example, one respected commentator writes, “Just as in Christ God miraculously makes us immediately righteous, sanctified, and redeemed, He also makes us immediately wise.” If that were true, however, why are there so many foolish Christians today? And why, then, does Paul command it here? Why is he so specific about how to be wise? Why does James ask, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God” (Jas. 1:5)? In fact, if we do not follow Paul’s command here, he tells us that we are actually fools.

No, wisdom is not automatic. It doesn’t come by osmosis; we don’t just absorb it from the flow of the Holy Spirit through us or assimilate it from what is going on around us. Wisdom comes only by God’s Word. Specifically, Paul tells us here that we can only be called wise if four facts are true of us. These facts are the right kind of knowledge and the right use of knowledge.

Walk With Precision (v. 15a)

See then that ye walk circumspectly

The words see then, which could be translated “therefore,” once again show duty that is based upon doctrine. The doctrine of the matter was given first back in Ephesians 1:8—“Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence”—so we are now faced with the practical application of walking accordingly. Paul again mentions wisdom as he prays in 1:17, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” Still again he mentions wisdom in 3:10, where he declares that the main reason for preaching is to “make known the manifold wisdom of God.”

So with the doctrine of wisdom firmly planted in our minds, we come now to the duty of wisdom. And that first duty is to walk circumspectly. As we detailed back in 4:1, walk, of course, is again peripateō, “to walk about,” figuratively, “conduct of life,” that is, how we conduct ourselves as we walk through life. Paul’s point here is that walking the Christian life is not a matter of “winging it,” making it up as we go along. The word circumspectly is crucial. In their zeal for simplicity, modern translations miss the force of this word by replacing it with “be careful.” Circumspectly is from the Latin circumspectus. The verb form, circumspectō, means “to look all around, be on the lookout.” Circumspectly is clearly a better translation; it tells us to look everywhere as we walk.

That is idea also of the Greek, akribōs (English, “accurate”), which speaks of precision, diligence, accuracy, and exactness. It is used in Matthew 2:8, for example, where Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem and told them to “search diligently for the young child.” It is also used in Acts 18:25 to describe Apollos, who was “mighty in the scriptures” (v. 24) and “taught diligently the things of the Lord.” (No better word could be said of a preacher, a word that describes fewer and fewer of today’s preachers.) So the idea is clear that we are to look, examine, and investigate our walk with the utmost care. To be wise is to walk watchfully, look at and carefully examining everything with which we come in contact.

In some European countries, to protect property, the owners often build a high wall, the top of which they cover with broken glass embedded in the mortar to discourage intruders who might try to climb over it. One can sometimes see a cat walking circumspectly along the top of such a wall. You’ll see it cautiously pick up one paw and then place it precisely where there’s no glass. Once that paw is in place, it then moves the next one and so on.[4] That does, indeed, picture it!

Most of us have experienced a situation when a momentary distraction caused an accident. One of mine was several years ago while driving. After allowing a split second distraction to take my eyes off the road, when they returned a deer was standing in my lane. Startled, I did the worst possible thing—I swerved—and ended up off the road with a smashed front end. We must constantly be looking around for the quagmires, snares, and pitfalls that we can easily miss.

This should immediately remind us of the principle of discernment, which we examined carefully back in 4:14. In a day when discernment in the Church is fading into total oblivion, Paul challenges us to investigate and examine everything. Someone has wisely said, “When the pilot does not know what port he is heading for, no wind is the right wind.”[5]

This leads to a second principle.

Don’t Be a Fool (15b, 17a)

not as fools . . . Wherefore be ye not unwise,

It seems obvious, but Paul mentions it anyway, that to be wise, we must not act like fools. In disastrous contrast to the Believer who walks carefully and examines everything, there is the “fool” who examines nothing and easily believes most anything. The word fools translates asophos, which appears only here in the New Testament. It is comprised of the root sophos, “wisdom,” and the prefix a, which is called the “alpha-negative” and makes it the exact opposite. We do this in English with words such as “amoral” and “amillennial.” So “unwise” means without any spiritual wisdom whatsoever, no discernment, no accuracy, no precision, no exactness.

I found it amazing that Paul uses this word instead of the more common word moros (English, “moron”), which means silly, stupid, and foolish. He does, in fact, use a form of moros back in 5:4 for “foolish talking” (morologia), that is, speaking of things that are foolish and pointless. He undoubtedly uses asophos because it is the polar opposite of sophos (or sophia, which we examined earlier). Instead of desiring “knowledge of the most precious things,” (as Aristotle viewed wisdom), the unwise person knows nothing of such matters. Instead of having and using the right kind of knowledge, the unwise person has neither.

This again challenges today’s lack of knowledge and discernment in the Church. How much unwise teaching there is! I was remind again of that day in April 1521 when Martin Luther stood before the Diet of Worms and was asked whether or not he would recant his teachings. He replied in those now immortal, though mostly ignored, words:

Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.[6]

In a day when a large portion of the Church is actually trying to undo the Reformation, those words need to be repeated often, posted in our homes and churches. In my humble view, the key to that statement is that to go against a conscience that is “captive to the Word of God . . . is neither right nor safe.” But that is precisely what is happening today.

First, the Gospel has been redefined. There are, for example, a growing number of teachers who, while calling themselves evangelicals, view salivation as not only the result of faith but also of works, a blatant return to Rome. Additionally, salvation is defined in many ways today, from Robert Schuller’s view that “it means to be permanently lifted from sin (psychological self‑abuse . . .) and shame to self‑esteem,”[7] to any nebulous belief in Jesus that will meet each person’s “felt-needs” or give them so-called “purpose.” One example of this today is Rich Warren’s popular book, The Purpose Driven Life. Now, while Warren doesn’t believe that “having purpose” means salvation, his presentation of the Gospel is so weak that an unsaved person who reads the book can come to the conclusion, “As long as my life has purpose, that’s enough.” But that is not the Gospel. The Gospel has been redefined from the sinner needing salvation from the wrath of God to a basically good person who just needs God’s love, self-fulfillment, and purpose for his life, or any other such statement that makes one feel better.

Second, Church ministry has been redesigned. The old method of preaching on sin, wrath, repentance, and other such “negative” topics has been replaced by appealing to every person’s so-called “need for self-fulfillment.” Using entertainment and other user-friendly methods, Church ministry has been totally “rethought” so as to appeal to the flesh. “After all,” it is argued, “Church must never be boring! Church should be fun, exciting, and enthusiastic.” Now, I think Church is very exciting, but for different reasons than what is being taught today. It’s interesting that few people today even know what the word “enthusiasm” means. It is comprised of two Greek words, en theos, literally, “God within.” How many people today are enthusiastic because God is within them instead of the entertainment that appeals to their flesh?

Third, and what is at root of all this, is Truth has been realigned. No longer is Truth aligned with what God says, but rather realigned to what each person thinks or feels truth to be. Truth is no longer prepositional rather experiential. Truth is not made up of propositions, statements of facts, or theorems to be demonstrated, rather it is comprised of what each person feels, what is true for them. Neither is Truth absolute nowadays but relative. It’s not unconditional, definite or conclusive, rather it depends upon each person’s perspective or circumstance, it’s in flux and adaptive. Neither is Truth exclusive rather inclusive. Truth today doesn’t reject anyone, no matter what his view, rather it embraces everyone.

Coming back to Luther’s words, none of this is either right or safe. It is unwise, it is foolish, it is an abandonment of the Truth, and it is dangerous beyond description. Those who teach such falsehood will one day stand before God and answer for their lies. As James declares, “My brethren, be not many [teachers, didaskalos], knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation” (Jas. 3:1).

But how interesting it is that Paul is not done dealing with the fool. In verse 17, he says again, Wherefore be ye not unwise. Like the word “fools” (asophos), unwise translates another Greek root that is then made the opposite with the prefix a (aphrōn). The root phrēn is interesting. As Greek scholar Spiros Zodhiates writes, it literally referred to “the diaphragm, that which curbs or restrains” and figuratively spoke of the “seat of all mental and emotional activity.” He goes on to explain:

It was the diaphragm which determined the strength of the breath and hence also the human spirit and its emotions. It precisely refers to the ability not only to think, but also to control one’s thoughts and attitudes. It is the heart as the seat of passions as well as the mind as the seat of mental faculties.[8]

Therefore, with the “alpha-negative” added, aphrōn means the exact opposite. In all the other ten occurrences of aphrōn in the New Testament, it is translated “fool, “fools,” or “foolish.” Such an unwise, foolish person not only does not think correctly, but also cannot control the thoughts and attitudes he does have. He not only doesn’t think the right things, but when he does think, that’s not right either. Joseph Thayer, 19^th Century Greek scholar, defines it, “Without reason . . . senseless, foolish, stupid, without reflection or intelligence, acting rashly.”[9] In Luke 11:40, the Lord Jesus calls the Pharisees “fools” because they thought doing something external would satisfy God. Nothing is more foolish than thinking that a Holy God could be satisfied by any works a man could do. Likewise, He called the rich farmer a “fool” in Luke 12:20 because he thought wealth and possessions were all he needed. Here again is the height of folly. Paul uses the term “fool” in I Corinthians 15:36 to refer to someone who rejects the resurrection by using the analogy of a seed, that it must die before it can truly live.[10]

The classic example of the foolish Christian appears in Galatians 3:1 and 3, where Paul writes, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth . . . Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” The Greek here behind “foolish” is still another alpha-negative, anoētos. The root nous means “mind, intellect, understanding, reason, and thought,” which is then made the opposite by the prefix a. The Judaizers had infiltrated the Church and were undermining the very core of Christianity, namely, justification by faith alone, teaching that to be Christians, Gentiles had to become Jewish proselytes and obey the Mosaic law. Appalled that the Galatians would tolerate, much less embrace, such heresy, Paul called them people without understanding, reason, and thought, people who had abandoned the very Truth they had been taught.

This is just as true today as then. With the growing denial of justification by faith alone, the continuing onslaught against the true Gospel message, and the growing challenge to Biblical ministry, there are countless “foolish” Christian teachers and followers.

When we stop and really ponder the growing trends of our day, we find that today’s “fool” can be described in three ways.

First, the fool is concerned about the abstract instead of the absolute. Facts are really not important today. In fact, they get in the way and disrupt unity. After all, it is argued, doctrine divides, love unites. Truth is relative to each person’s point of view. The more abstract, the more “open,” the more broad we are, the more people we will appeal to. This is the height of folly because nothing is absolute, nothing is sure.

Second, the fool is concerned about wants instead of the Word. Most churches being built today, both liberal and evangelical, are not being founded on a ministry of the Word of God, rather upon what people want. To build one of the most famous and largest churches in America, Willow Creek Community Church, Bill Hybels did a survey in the community to ask people what they wanted in a church and then he supplied it, from entertainment to every appealing program imaginable. Where is that method to church building revealed in Scripture? Rather, that approach comes from the popular notion that the Church is to appeal to the “unchurched” and to “seekers.” But where does the New Testament teach that? The answer is: It doesn’t. It’s as simple as that. Scripture alone simply is neither the foundation nor the emphasis.

Third, the fool is concerned about feelings instead of faith. True faith must have an object, and that object must be Christ and his Word. Today, however, feelings drive people’s belief system. Whether they are voting for a political candidate, looking for a church, or accepting a new teaching, it’s all based on feelings. Facts aren’t the issue, faith in what God says in His Word is not the issue, rather how it makes them feel is the issue. It’s not the intellect that rules, rather it’s an impulse that rules. There is great zeal, but nothing real. This has even kick open the door to the growing frequency of mysticism, which teaches finding God through visions and revelations.

All this reveals a total lack of any spiritual wisdom whatsoever (asophos) and reveals that which is without reason, senseless, without reflection or intelligence (aphrōn). As we’ll see later, the only way to avoid being foolish is to “[understand] what the will of the Lord is.”

Redeem Your Time (v. 16)

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

It is vital that we understand the word time as it is used in this text. There are two basic words in the Greek that are translated time. Interestingly, both are used in Acts 1:7: “And he [Christ] said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” The word “times” is the Greek chronos (English, “chronometer”), which basically means “time, course of time, passage of time.” More precisely it means, “Space of time whose duration is not as a rule precisely determined.”[11] It is used, for example in Acts 19:22 which says that Paul “stayed in Asia for a season” (i.e. “for awhile,” an indefinite period). Now, there are examples where chronos is used in a more specific sense, but in light of the other word used here, chronos speaks of a time period which is not precisely known. The word “seasons” is kairos, which refers to “a decisive point in place, situation, or time,”[12] such as a date.

So, the point being made here in Acts 1:7 is that it is not for us to know either the indefinite time or the definite time of Christ’s return to the Earth. Some teachers say that we can ascertain the “date” when Jesus will come, but that is plainly false, for any “date” is a definite time. Other teachers insist that while we can’t know the exact time, we can still know the “year.” But that too is false, for a year would be an indefinite time. There is a reason for all this. It’s not that Christ’s earthly kingdom is not important, rather we are not told when Christ is coming back because He has given us a task that is much more pressing. This task is spoken of in the next verse: “But ye shall receive power, after [literally, when] that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The most pressing thing for us to do today is not to try to figure out when Jesus is coming, but to be active witnesses for our Lord. There is, of course, nothing wrong with studying prophecy, but there are some who get so absorbed in prophecy that they begin to neglect the commission God has given them, not to mention the false predictions and silly applications that many such students make.

Here in our text, then, we find the word kairos, the word which speaks of a more definite time. The application is clear: God wants us to be concerned with decisive points of time and specific situations of life. In other words, God wants us to consider each and every moment to be an opportunity for growth, service, and witness. The fool wastes time, but the wise man makes the most of time.

The Greek for redeeming (exagorazō) is a market term that literally means “to buy up.” The imagery here is vivid and vital. The root agora literally referred to the ancient market-place. The same word is used in verses that speak of Christ redeeming us, buying us out of the slave-market of sin (e.g., Gal. 3:13; 4:5). So, with the same imagery Paul is telling us that we are to “buy up” all our time and devote it God. Martyn Lloyd-Jones offers the translation, “Buying up the opportunity,”[13] and one Greek authority says “to buy up intensively.”[14] No one is wise who does not use his time for growth and service. Practical wisdom means we “buy up” and make the most of every opportunity for witness and service for our Lord. Just as a good shopper seizes on a bargain when he or she finds it, the faithful Christian recognizes an opportunity to glorify the Savior.

It continues to burden me how modern translations try so hard to be relevant but still miss the point, power, and purpose of the text and therefore mislead readers. Instead of redeeming the time, the NIV, for example, reads, “Making the most of every opportunity,” and the NASB says, “Making the most of your time.” The ESV is similar with “making the best use of the time.” But that’s not what the text says. To say that exagorazō means any of the above is patently false; it never means that.[15] Modern translations are not actually translating rather interpreting. The text plain says “buy up” (or redeeming as in the AV, NKJ, and Young’s Literal Translation). Paul is purposely being graphic here. He’s not just saying to “make the most of your time;” he’s saying more than that, to “buy it” and make it yours and use it correctly. Recognizing that fact, the respect 19^th Century commentator R. C. H. Lenski writes: “We say ‘use’ the opportunity; Paul says “buy it out,” purchase all that it offers. That means: pay the necessary price in effort and exertion.”[16] In other words, we don’t just use the time; we buy it, no matter how much it costs. Wisdom does not come cheap. It takes time, effort, dedication, and, in fact, a lifetime of investment.

The well-known author and lecturer John Erskine said that he learned the most valuable lesson of his life when he was only fourteen years old. His piano teacher asked him how much he practiced each day. Probably thinking he would be praised for his efforts, Erskine replied that he usually sat down for an hour or more. But the teacher warned, “Oh, don’t do that. When you grow up, time won’t come to you in long stretches like that. Do your practicing in minutes wherever you can find them—five or ten before school, a few after lunch or in between chores. Spread it throughout the day, and music will become a part our your life.” Erskine said that he later applied thar principle to his writing. He wrote nearly all of his most famous work, The Private Life of Helen of Troy, on streetcars while commuting between his home and the university.[17]

Others have done this in history. 19^th Century English historian Thomas Macaulay learned German during a sea voyage. American inventor Robert Fulton was also a painter and invented the steamboat in his spare time, as did Samuel Morse the telegraph. The famous Scottish physician John Abercrombie wrote many valuable books with a lead-pencil while visiting his patients. Likewise did another well-know physician, Mason Good, translated the works of the 1^st Century Roman poet Lucretius in his carriage while he rode from door to door. Irish mathematician Sir William Hamilton read 10,000 books in his lifetime. Benjamin Franklin taught himself math, grammar, logic, and several languages while working in a printer’s shop. [18] And the list goes on.

I’ve experienced this myself. In the early 1980s, while having to make my living as an electrician waiting for the Lord to open a door of service, I read J. Sidlow Baxter’s trilogy on sanctification and holiness during my 30-minute lunch breaks, which to this day has been the most valuable study I have ever done on that doctrine.

The story is told of a young man who was five minutes late in arriving at a committee meeting. “You have made us lose a whole hour,” said one of the gentleman to the young man. “Beg pardon, sir, that is impossible,” he replied, taking out his watch, “I am only five minutes late.” “Very true,” replied the gentleman, “but there are twelve of us here, and each one of us has lost five minutes; so that makes an hour.”[19]

That is the meaning of redeeming the time. Each and every moment of the day is an opportunity. May we, indeed, guard each moment. As the old Latin expression goes, tempus fugit, “time flies;” or as the 1^st Century B.C. Greek poet Virgil elaborated, fugit irreparabile tempus, “Time irretrievably is flying.”[20] Missed opportunities can never be recaptured. That great 19^th Century expositor Alexander MaClaren changes us further:

“Redeeming the time” does not merely mean making the most of moments, but means laying hold of, and understanding the special significance of, life as a whole, and of each succeeding instant of it as the season for some specific duty. It is not merely “time,” it is “the time”; not merely the empty succession of beats of the pendulum, but these moralized, as it were, heightened, and having significance, because each is apprehended as having a special mission, and affording an opportunity for a special work.

Why is this such an important issue? Why use such a graphic image? Because the days are evil. The Greek behind evil is ponēros, which in the passive sense originally referred to “laden with toil, suffering, suffering, unfortunate, to be pitied, unfit, miserable.” In the active sense, however, it spoke of “bad, causing disaster, dangerous . . . and ethically reprehensible.”[21] In Greek literature, for example, this word was used to describe Hercules as ponērotatos kai apiston, “wicked and untrustworthy.”[22] This word appears some 78 times in the New Testament and, therefore, speaks of “evil in a moral or spiritual sense, wicked, malicious, mischievous.”[23] Our Lord uses it in Matthew 5:11 for malicious speech, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” He uses it to refer to false prophets, “which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves,” and that we will know them by their “evil fruit” (7:15-17). He uses it again in 12:34 in reference to the Pharisees, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” He also refers to Satan himself as the “wicked one” (13:19), as does Luke of King Herod (Lk. 3:19).

So, Paul’s readers clearly understood this Greek word. They lived in a horrifically wicked day, and so do we. It is because of the evil all around us that we must [redeem] the time. A few years after World War II, English historian Herbert Butterfield wrote, “Every instant [of time] is ‘eschatological,’ or as one person has put it, like the point in the fairy tale where the clock is just about to strike twelve.”[24] May we each of us live every moment as if the clock is about to strike twelve.

There is one other principle involved in true wisdom, to which we will devote a separate chapter.

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