Ephesians 5:15-17… “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, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”

Circumspectly: (Webster 1828) Cautiously; with watchfulness every way; with attention to guard against surprise or danger.

These are serious words of serious warning to the believer.  The days are evil and only growing more and more so.  We know what makes them evil… the subtilty of satan.  satan, above all else, wants people to believe they are not in need of Gods saving grace in the form of His Son.  he wants people to not believe in a Creator at all, and if they do, to believe they are somehow “good enough” in and of themselves, that God would weigh their good versus their evil deeds, and finally judge them acceptable; or to worship himself outright.  The worlds religious system, no matter the name or denomination, finds a way to lift up the man by finding something of value in him and what he does; and lowers the Lord by making Him imperfect and unjust; that He, by a mans work, might overlook mans sin and not punish it.  A Perfectly Just Creator simply cannot do that, else that Creator would not be Perfectly Just.

Romans 3:23… “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;”

All means all.  All men everywhere absolutely require Christ the Savior (God Himself) to meet Gods Glorious Standard.  To meet that standard all we must do is simply believe!  Without Christ, there is only satan and his deception left in the world: think about it… anything which is not Perfect Truth (as Christ is) falls short, no matter how close the miss.  In the opening Ephesian verses Paul is speaking to brothers already in Christ, so it is these he is admonishing to walk circumspectly, as wise, KNOWING what the will of the Lord is.  The will of the Lord is not some deep and mystical thing, it is written down for all to see and is contained within 13 short books of the Bible.  However, we cannot expect a newly saved man to be wise in the ways of God; these in Ephesus were not newly saved and were thus trying to be faithful to Gods will.

In Paul’s day as in ours there were men who corrupted other men away from knowing what the will of the Lord is.  These men, knowingly or unknowingly, are furthering satan’s subtle agenda of confusion and deception.  There is not much satan has to do in order to have the world follow in his footsteps.  He is not the ugly monster Hollywood makes him out to be.  Quite the opposite actually…

2 Corinthians 11:14… “And no marvel; for satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

All satan has to do to “succeed” in this world is three things: 1) he wants lost people to stay lost (evolution (“science” 1 Tim 6:20) says there is no God);  2) he wants saved people to remain confused about all God has done for them (denominational churches); and, 3) he tries very hard to keep the full knowledge of Gods Will from being made known – he hates right division and will actively discredit those who teach it.  The only way to come to understand the full knowledge of Gods Will for mankind today, is to understand that Paul is the Apostle for today (not Peter and the twelve) – we must rightly divide the Word of Truth.  It is just that simple, yet nearly every religious organization everywhere does not understand this most basic Scriptural FACT.  Why?

2 Corinthians 11:15… “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed AS the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Praise God, His Son and the Holy Spirit that my end is not to be according to my works!  Whether men know it or not, be they pastors, ministers, priests, reverends, imams, monks, “scientists”, atheists, whomever… if they are teaching or believing something, anything, other than what Christ has revealed to Paul and what Paul has revealed to us, they are assisting satan in his evil agenda of confusion and deception in the world.  A “minister of ‘supposed’ righteousness” NOT preaching what God gave to Paul to preach to us, IS a minister of satan.  Sorry if that sounds cold but there is not a catholic priest alive who teaches Paul correctly.  There is not a protestant church extant that does not teach Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as instruction for today.  There is not a baptist alive who is not boastful of their baptism and all the “worldly” things they abstain from.  “How many did you baptize this week brother?”

Ephesians 2:8-9… “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Galatians 6:12-13… “As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.”

They are all wrong; and, regardless of good or evil intent, are thus ministers of satan.  In Paul’s own words, (thus those of the Holy Spirit of God who is God Himself), they are fools.  The Holy Spirit through Paul assures us:

Galatians 1:11-12… “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 3:1-3(a)… “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of grace of God which is given to me to you-ward: How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery;…”

Believers today who are in the will of God, listen to and follow Paul.

As our opening verse states, the days are evil.  Deception away from the simple truths of God, as given to Paul, as found in the King James Bible are the reason.  Other “bibles” are full of satan’s subtle but deadly deceits (see Walk Worthy part 4 for examples).  A believer must be very careful to NOT depend upon the teachings of men (do not depend upon my words); but to open and study very carefully, with all gravity and prayerful sincerity, Gods Word as found in the King James Bible.  Every man that ever lived will one day give account of himself to his Creator.  It is not enough to say; “that man taught me wrong”.  Your eternity is YOUR responsibility ALONE.

Hebrews 9:27… “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement:”

For the saved and for the unsaved, I hope that is cause for enough concern to cause you to open and study Gods Word very carefully and reverently.

satan does not want people to know what Christ has done on their behalf.  he will do and stop at nothing; no trick is too dirty or shameless; to prevent people from knowing the will of God, the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.  satan is not yet walking about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8 – those are exalted “in due time” while we are exalted now), this comes post rapture when anti-christ has been revealed.  Today, satan himself will preach Christ bloodied, tortured and forsaken (see Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ”); but not the mystery revealed to Paul: Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27… “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”

Gods own righteousness, Gods very righteous nature itself is made available to me, right now!, through Christ.  Lets examine some of the things that Christ has done for saved men that satan will do anything to prevent us from learning.  This list is by no means exhaustive.

We are crucified with Christ, buried with Christ and made alive in Christ (Gal 2:20).

We are ascended and seated with Christ, joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17).

We are saints and beloved of God (Rom 1:7).

We are dead to sin (Rom 6:11).

We are NOT under the law but under grace (Rom 6:14).

We have eternal life (Rom 6:23, 1 Tim 6:12).

We are free from condemnation (Rom 8:1).

We are sons of God (Rom 8:14).

We are more than conquerors in this life (Rom 8:37).

We are in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 1:9).

We are temples of God (1 Cor 3:16).

We are washed, sanctified, members of His body (Eph 5:30).

We are victorious, triumphant, a new creature reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:17).

We are ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor 5:20).

We have the righteousness of God (Rom 3:22).

We are rich (Phil 4:19).

We are redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13).

We are adopted, free and called unto liberty (Gal 5:1).

We are blessed (Gal 3:19).

We are chosen, holy and without blame (Eph 1:4).

We are sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph 4:30).

We are saved by grace without works (Eph 2:8-9).

We are His workmanship and fellow citizens with Him (Eph 2:10).

We are delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of His dear Son (Col 1:13).

We are forgiven all trespasses (Col 2:13)

We have been delivered from the wrath to come (1 Thes 1:10).

We have peace with God (Rom 5:1).

We have received the atonement (Rom 5:11).

We have the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5).

We have all spiritual blessings (Eph 1:3).

We have obtained an inheritance (Eph 1:11-12).

We have a hope laid up for us in heaven (Col 1:5).

We have a holy calling (2 Tim 1:9).

We have all things (Rom 8:32).

Christ is our wisdom (1 Cor 2:7, Col 2:2-3, Col 4:5).

Christ is our righteousness (Rom 6:18).

Christ is our sanctification (1 Cor 6:11).

Christ is our redemption (Rom 3:24).

Christ is our victory (1 Cor 15:55-57).

Christ is our peace and our hope (Rom 15:13).

WE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM (Col 2:10).

2 Corinthians 9:15… “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”

satan will do anything to keep you from learning these things; and if you do learn them, he will lead you to think you somehow earned and therefore deserve them.  You didn’t, and you don’t.  Christ did, and does.  Being found in Him, we get to share in all He is.

Ephesians 5:15-17… “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, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”

Redeem whatever time you have left wisely.  The will of the Lord is that you know all the above; all what Christ has done on your behalf.  Rejoice!!!  The will of the Lord is that all men be saved and come unto the knowledge of these truths (1 Tim 2:3-4).  Let others know that they would escape the trappings of satan.  Gods longsuffering with humanity will not last forever and it “feels” to this believer as if that time is likely short.  I say “feels” because that time-span of longsuffering is absolutely unknowable.  Press toward the mark for the high calling we all HAVE (right now) of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14) while God gives us this gift of time in grace!  Walk worthy of the vocation to which ye are called indeed.

To the Corinthian believers, Paul writes:

2 Corinthians 11:1-4… “Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”

Another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel…  (inherently implying that there are in fact others); anything other than exactly what Paul is preaching to these believers is no good at all and a deception of the devil himself.  Walk circumspectly indeed that we are found pure in doctrine and in deed when we meet our Lord at His judgement seat.  Deception abounds far more than truth.

Colossians 2:8-10… “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:”

We are complete (made perfect) IN Him, the Head of ALL principality and power, alone.  We require nothing else for an eternity of everlasting life with God, doing whatever He is going to do after this world is destroyed and made new!  How incredibly exciting a prospect is that?

I leave this post with one last thought a wonderful friend and brother reminded me of earlier today in a conversation about the “supreme” court legalizing sodomite marriage (nice that you celebrate the queer 6 color (number of man) “rainbow” flag WordPress…).  To those who are not teaching what God wants us to learn from the Apostle Paul, Paul writes:

Galatians 1:8-9… “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.  As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

That’s more serious than a heart attack.  Bible teachers would do very well to pay extremely close attention.

Next Post: “Walk Worthy, part 6 (Obey).“