Back when I was in high school (1968 -1970) I had the privilege of joining the Junior ROTC program. Originally I did it to get out of gym class, but it didn’t take long for me to become totally absorbed with it. I discovered a fascination and admiration for all things military and I poured myself into it and learned all I could. One of the things I really enjoyed was learning how to shoot a rifle (.22 caliber). There was a rifle range right at the school and I was taught how to hit the bull’s-eye on a target. Hitting the target became the primary goal and I wanted to do it.
There’s a lot to it actually. More than just aim at the target and shoot. I had to learn how to properly hold the weapon, how to adjust the sight, how to breathe when firing, and how to squeeze the trigger properly. I also learned how to shoot from three different positions (prone, sitting or standing). The goal was to hit the very center of the bull’s-eye. The closer I got to the bull’s-eye, the higher was my score.
In our personal life it’s all about hitting the target, too. God has given us specific targets we need to learn how to hit, dead center, if we want to be fruitful and successful as Christians. These targets all have to do with behaviors. I’m talking about our actions. How are we acting out our daily life as we walk with Jesus? Are we hitting the bulls-eyes on the targets He posted for us in His Word, or do we miss them? Let me explain this further.
The story of the birth of Jesus records an encounter between Joseph and an angel. He had just learned that his fiancée Mary was supernaturally pregnant with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 20:20-21) “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Missing the Target
The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew name Joshua, which means “Jehovah saves”! So this was a very appropriate name for the Son of God. He was sent by the Father to save people from their sins. Now sin is an interesting word in the original Greek translation of this verse. It is “harmartia” which literally means “to miss the mark“ or, as I will apply it here, missing the target.
Personally, I am very distressed with the trend I see among so many of God’s people today. There is an emphasis that brings spiritual death that has crept into many churches and into the hearts of many who claim to follow Jesus. It is the belief that God overlooks our sin and that we can live any way we want because of His generous grace. This simply isn’t true! Jude, a brother of James, predicted this would happen almost two thousand years ago when he wrote this warning in his letter to “all who have been called by God the Father”:
Jude 1:3-4 NLT Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to His holy people. (4) I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
People who promote this belief have already been condemned. They have developed an ungodly life style and have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Worse yet, they encourage others to do the same by their teaching. When anyone rejects the clear teaching of the Word and decides it is permissible to live in deliberate, unrepentant sin, Jesus is not the Lord and Master of that life. We must shake off these lies and aim for godly behavior in our personal lives. It’s time to hit the target and deal with the sin that keeps us from being all we can be in God. Let’s get some insight about this from the Book of Ephesians in the New Testament.
God’s People are Separated
Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul to “God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 1:1) It was written to Christians, followers of Jesus Christ. So all the things he wrote in that book are instructions on how to live as a believer. In fact, Paul called them God’s holy people. That word holy (in the Greek) literally means “the separated ones”. Separated from what? Separated from the darkness of a life lived sin and set apart instead for God. If we are going to be separated from sin, that means we’re not going to be missing the mark when it comes to our actions, but we will be hitting the bull’s-eye. If we are not separated from sin, it’s time for change in our life. Yes, Jesus paid for our sin and He accepts us unconditionally! But there is no Biblical justification for choosing a lifestyle of sin. Doing so will damage our life and our relationship with God.
Improving Our Aim
Let’s look at some of Paul’s instructions in Ephesians and see how we can improve our aim and hit the Bible’s target behaviors. How can we overcome sin and live in real victory over it. We will look specifically at chapter 5, verses 1-9, quoting from the New Living Translation and examine each verse, one at a time.
(Ephesians 5:1) Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children.
If we are God’s children, we must first realize we are dear to Him. The word literally means “beloved” or “very dear”. Each of us is a precious treasure to Him and He loves us more than we understand. Because He loves us so much, He wants us to imitate Him, follow Him and do what He does. We need to act like God would act in our behavior. Why? Because God knows our life is much better when we live in the light of truth instead of the darkness of sin.
Many years ago when I was involved in youth ministry we would play the Imitation Game. That is where two people stand facing each other and one tries to totally imitate the actions of the other. It was fun and we would all laugh at the participants, but it was usually very hard for the imitator because he didn’t know what the originator was going to do next. As Christians we have a real advantage. We can know exactly what God wants us to do and we can imitate Him. How? Because He gave us Jesus as an example of how to live a holy life and He gave us the Bible, which tells us how to live a holy life so we can hit God’s behavior targets. God expects to be imitated by believers.
(Ephesians 5:2) Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Since God has filled our life with His love, He calls us to live a life filled with love. Love is a behavior. How do we learn to do that? By following the example of the life of Jesus Christ, God’s Son! We can read the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and find out how He walked in love. We can also learn about His life and His behavior as He walked the earth. There are many other verses throughout the New Testament that also talk about Him and what He did. We can find them easily by looking them up in a concordance or by using Bible software.
Jesus is the greatest example of perfect love. In fact, He loves us so much He offered Himself as a sacrifice for us. Paul said that sacrifice was a pleasing aroma to God. It smelled good to Him. What does that mean? Well before Jesus died on the cross, the way sin was paid for in the Old Testament era was by killing an animal that was on the acceptable list of sacrifices and burning it on an altar. That burning sacrifice had an odor which pleased God. An animal died, blood was shed, and that process released the forgiveness of a Holy God and held back the punishment that was deserved by the sinner. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. (Hebrews 9:22)
The sacrifices continued for thousands of years until Jesus gave His life for us. His blood permanently paid for all sin forever. God was pleased with that perfect sacrifice and pours out His forgiveness on all who believe. Burned animal sacrifices will never be required again.
What about us? How can we live a life filled with love and sacrifice? According to verse 2, we follow the example of sacrifice Jesus gave us when we live a life of sacrifice. What are some ways we may be called to sacrifice our life? To forsake our will to do God’s will; to put the needs of others before our own; to sacrifice our time to serve someone; to sacrifice some of our possessions or resources to benefit others. We hit many good behavior targets when we sacrifice.
Behaviors that Make Us Miss the Mark
(Ephesians 5:3) Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.
This verse mentions 3 behaviors that we can avoid to improve our aim. The first one is about immorality. How much sexual immorality can we get away with? None! The word in Greek for immorality is “porneia”. Our English word porn comes from that. Porneia covers all illegal sexual behaviors. What determines what is legal? God’s Word! Not man’s laws of lies! Man’s “lie laws” regarding sexuality are clearly opposite of God’s “truth laws” which lead to abundant life. Men create and follows lies based on their own lusts, just as the Apostle Peter predicted: (2 Peter 3:3 NLT) “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.” The path of those who live in lies always leads to darkness and spiritual death.
What’s sexually illegal (porneia) to God? Adultery, lust, viewing images of naked people, sex with animals, sex with someone of the same gender, sex with dead bodies, sex with someone outside of marriage! There are many Bible verses that show God’s hatred for these things. Why does He hate them? Is it because He likes to control our lives and put restrictions on us? No! It is because He loves us and wants us to be free from a perverse lifestyle of self pleasure and darkness. He wants to help us live an amazing life of truth, light and purity. By the way, sex God’s way is truly an amazing gift. When it’s not His way, it will eventually destroy us emotionally, physically and spiritually. We don’t need all the garbage that accompanies immorality.
The second behavior to avoid in verse 3 is impurity. How much is acceptable? None! The word literally means “physically or morally unclean”. The things I already shared about immorality certainly fit here, too. But think of all the ways we can be physically unclean. The way we talk, the way we live, the way we care for our possessions or our bodies. If we are clean on the inside, because we gave our life to Jesus and He forgave our sin, then we must live physically and morally clean. Being pure is a behavior. Our goal is to aim for that target and hit it.
The third behavior to avoid is greed. How much greed is permissible? None! The word has to do with committing fraud, extortion and having a strong desire for things (also known by the old English word “coveting”). There is a lot of fraud and extortion happening in the world. Identity theft, hacking credit card accounts, the Nigerian crooks that send bogus emails promising huge returns for our help, but they actually drain bank accounts, etc., etc! But there’s even more. People, even Christians, lie on their tax returns. Some businesses hire workers “under the table” by paying them cash and not reporting the income. Some workers actually accept this kind of income and don’t report it or pay taxes on it. Why is there is so much fraud and greed? Because people are consumed by strong desires! When a person’s desire to have something, or someone, is that strong, they will do anything to get it. We will see more on greed in verse 5.
Paul said to these Christians, “Let there be no immorality, impurity or greed among you.” Then to reemphasize his point he says, “Such sins have no place among God’s people.” We need to stop giving any place to these behaviors in our lives. We must not let them rest in any compartment of our minds. True Christians hate sin. They don’t welcome it and give it a place to live.
Paul continues with his list of off target behaviors:
(Ephesians 5:4) Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes–these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.
It’s clear here that God is looking for thankfulness to flow from our lips. That is high quality speech! Obscene stories, foolish talk and coarse jokes are not for us. The Greek translation of this verse makes it clear that these things are all vulgar to God and should be totally avoided. These things may be “funny” to people who walk in darkness, but believers won’t find them listed on any behavior target of God, so that makes them sin. How do we deal with this type of sin? Repent and stop doing it! We must replace this ungodly speech with thankfulness to God who gives us a new life through Christ.
Your Inheritance
Paul gives a warning in verse 5 that speaks about our inheritance as believers:
(Ephesians 5:5) You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
Who inherits the forever Kingdom of Christ and God? Well, Paul makes it clear who does not! No immoral, impure or greedy person will! “You can be sure of that”, Paul says. So how do we make sure our inheritance in the Kingdom of God stays securely in our grasp? Paul told the believers in the city of Colasse:
Colossians 1:12 NLT ….He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light.
That’s the key to staying in your Kingdom inheritance. Darkness is not the chosen realm of life for believers. Why can’t we live in darkness and still be part of God’s light? It’s very simple actually. We can’t be part of both realms! I’ll explain that more in another paragraph. But for now, let this truth sink deep into your heart: If we don’t live in that light, if we insist on missing the mark by choosing to live in sin, (like the immorality, impurity and greed Paul speaks of) then it is obvious that the kingdom of darkness is ruling over us.
Greed is Wrong Worship
Paul gives us more insight on greed in Ephesians 5:5. He defines a greedy person as “an idolater who worships the things of this world”. Greed does not lead us to worship God. It turns our hearts away from Him and turns us into a worshiper of things that we love more than or in place of God. Does that mean we can’t have possessions? Of course not! It means that if our motivation, focus and life is consumed by getting things, then that is what we worship, not God. Greed reveals itself to be our master. That lifestyle is outside the behavior standards God has established for us. When we live in it, we are missing the mark!
(Ephesians 5:6) Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey Him.
This truth is so clear I don’t know how any true believer could miss it. Yes, God loves us unconditionally and has extended His grace to us freely. But He is not beyond anger toward those who live in continual sin and disobey the truth of His Word. In fact, His anger falls on anyone who tries to excuse these sins. Don’t be fooled, be fueled! Be fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit to resist the deep darkness that has covered this present world and instead shine with the light of God (See Isaiah 60:1-2).
(Ephesians 5:7) Don’t participate in the things these people do.
This is a key verse! Don’t participate in any of these things Paul is talking about here: sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes. We need to take a stand and exempt ourselves from these things. Why should we do that? Because we have light from the Lord!
Live as People of Light
(Ephesians 5:8) For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!
Those who don’t know God are full of darkness. They can’t understand spiritual things. As Christians, those who have received light from the Lord, who have been granted a new life and forgiveness of sin, we are instructed to live as people of light. We must do the things light filled people do. We must do the things our light filled God does. We must imitate God and walk in His truth. It’s all about behavior. Are we hitting the target of truth or missing the mark by walking in the lies of darkness? Why is it so important to live as people of light?
(Ephesians 5:9) For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
God’s light in us produces only what is good, right and true, so if we have His light within us that is the kind of behavior we will produce. We can infer from that verse that everything that is bad, wrong and false comes from darkness. Bad behavior is darkness. There is no other word to call it. True Christians will choose to live as people of light. John, the closest friend of Jesus, provided some insight on this when he wrote this:
1 John 1:5-10 NIV This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (6) If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. (7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (8) If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
There is no darkness in God. He IS light. We are liars and don’t live by the truth if we claim to have fellowship (relationship) with Him but walk in the darkness. It’s a fact. We must accept it. Any other belief is a lie that we must reject. In fact, if we claim we have not sinned when we do the deeds of darkness, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not even in us. John takes it even further by saying that living in a lifestyle of lies, by not admitting our true spiritual condition, is like telling God His truth is a lie and that means His Word has no place in our lives.
Remember what Paul said about the sins we have looked at in this study? They are to have no place in our lives if we are believers. So we have a choice to make. We must determine what we are going to give a place in our lives? Will it be the truth of the God’s Word? If we choose it, our lifestyle will prove it, because we will be doing the deeds of light. Or do we give place to the sins of darkness? A Christian who makes this choice is a liar and makes God’s Word a lie in His life.
According to John in verse 7, walking in the light also enhances our relationships with others in the Church. When we chose those behaviors that line up with God’s Word, we have fellowship, a common bond, with other true believers. There is nothing better than having deep connections with other Christians. God uses His people to help complete us and make us into an awesome family of faith.
John also points out that when we walk in the light the blood of Jesus does a powerful work! It purifies us from all sin. We are all still going to sin and miss the mark from time to time. Coming to Jesus doesn’t stop that from happening. For the rest of our natural life we will be tempted to sin by the world, our own human nature and the devil. All of these sources derive their influence from the kingdom of darkness. When we fail, we can choose to forsake those deeds of darkness and walk in the light again. When we do that, Jesus purifies us from every sin.
John amplifies this even more when he says that if we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (wrong behavior). To confess simply means to agree with God that we have sinned. He shows us what sin is in the Word. When our life is not shining the light of the Word but instead the darkness of the world, we must admit this is what we have done, turn away from it, and then receive His promised forgiveness and His cleansing!
Let’s Get Personal
So what are you aiming at in your personal life? Do you desire to walk in the fullness of the Kingdom of light by hitting those behavior targets we have examined in this study? Or are you content to live in darkness in your daily life by yielding to sin and fulfilling the desires of your own human nature? The first choice will enable you to have a dynamic relationship with God that will cause you to grow and fully experience the abundant life Jesus came to give (John 10:10). The second choice is nothing but a lie, a false life with a religious label on it.
It’s time to stop making excuses for sin and start hitting the target of righteous behavior. Do you want to be a sharp shooter? Ask God right now to make you one. He would love to do that. Pick up the rifle of your life in your hand. Now look down the barrel and point it right at the center of God’s Word. Tell Him you want to live in the light of that truth. Focus on the target. Take a breath. Let it out. Gently squeeze the trigger. Bang! Did you hit it? You will, every time you make that choice with a sincere heart.
© 2014 Randy Hartwig Ministries. All rights reserved.
