Calvins Commentary on Ephesians · John Calvin

010 - Ephesians 51-20

·26 min·40 clips

Paul begins with a warning. The commentator says the apostle is answering the sophistry of scoffers who excuse sin by appealing to the frailty of nature, and he insists that such talk only traps consciences for their own ruin. Wrath is not softened. He reads the phrase because of these things cometh the wrath of God as a plain declaration that divine judgment is not distant or theatrical, but is already seen in common acts of discipline and judgment upon individuals, cities, kings, and nations. The point is pastoral. Believers are not warned to turn God into an object of terror, but to learn from the ruin of the ungodly and keep clear of the same sins. Darkness gives way to light. He returns to Paul’s contrast between what believers once were and what they now are: once darkness, now light in the Lord, and therefore called to walk as children of light. Fruit matters. The fruit of the Spirit is named in its proper order as goodness, righteousness, and truth, and the command to prove what is acceptable unto the Lord becomes a call for discernment, not mere feeling. Works must be exposed. The unfruitful works of darkness are to be shunned and reproved, for it is a shame even to speak of some hidden deeds, and exposure by the light is itself part of their condemnation. Sleep is the danger. He lingers over the call to awake and rise from the dead, treating it as a summons to believers who must not drift into spiritual slumber when Christ stands ready to give light. Then the section turns. The closing verses on psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs receive careful attention, with the note that the exact distinctions are not easy to fix, though the term spiritual is fitting because many common songs are trifling and far from chaste. Thanksgiving is central. He argues that giving thanks always should not be treated as a rare devotion but as a pleasure that never loses its relish, because the benefits received from God are continual and therefore call for continual praise. Hypocrisy is rejected. Praise must be from the heart, not merely from the tongue, and the whole life of the believer is to be spent in the study and exercise of praising God.

As heard by us

A stern, lucid move from darkness into light, ending with thanksgiving as a steady discipline.

The piece keeps close to Paul's warning against sophistry that excuses sin, and it treats judgment as a living warning rather than a distant idea.

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Why you'd press play

For a dense reading of Ephesians 5 on wrath, light, and thanksgiving, with no soft edges.

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