Following Christ’s Example of Love and Compassion
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children, and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God Ephesians 4:31 – 5:2 (NIV)
In this passage Paul is giving his fifth illustration of kinds of behaviour that belong to the old creation and not to the new. ‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice’ (4:31). ‘Bitterness’ is a resentment that refuses reconciliation; ‘rage’ was used for hot-tempered anger; ‘anger’ of an underlying, settled, seething hostility; ‘brawling’ of the shouting of an angry man; ‘slander’ of abusive speaking against God or others to defame them; and finally, ‘malice’ of ill-will, wishing and plotting evil against others. This last word had a broader meaning than any of the others and Paul might have used it to sum up the preceding five – silently, harboured grudge, indignant outburst, seething rage, public quarrel and slanderous taunt.
All of these are to be replaced by being ‘kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other’ (4:32; cf. Colossians 3:12). ‘Kindness’ is love in practical action; ‘compassionate’ means literally ‘well (or good) hearted’; ‘forgiving each other’ can have the wider meaning of ‘dealing graciously’ with one another, although forgiveness is the dominant thought here (cf. Colossians 3:13). The final example of all Christian forgiveness is God’s forgiveness, ‘just as in Christ God forgave you’ (4:32). He has done this once and for all and completely. God’s forgiveness cannot be received by the heart which is itself unforgiving (Matthew 6:12,14,15; 18:21-35).
There is to be a real likeness between God forgiving us and our forgiving others (‘just as’). Our forgiving others must be as free and complete as God forgiving us. We are to act in grace to others as God has acted in grace to us. Because of God’s gracious attitude and generous actions to us, we are to ‘follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children’ (5:1). The word translated ‘follow’ is used a number of times in the New Testament for following the human example of others but only here of God. The verb is more strictly ‘become.’ Those who by grace are made ‘children of God’ are by perseverance and imitation of the divine copy (cf. 1 Peter 2:21) to become more like the heavenly Father (cf. Matthew 5:44,45,48; Luke 6:36).
We are to ‘walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us’ (5:2). The same verb for ‘giving up’ was used in 4:19. Pagans ‘gave themselves up’ to sensuality. We are to ‘give ourselves up’ to love. This self-giving for others is pleasing to God. As with Christ, so with us, self-sacrificial love is ‘a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God’ (5:2). The words Paul uses for ‘fragrant offering’ and ‘sacrifice’ are used in the Septuagint of Psalm 40:6 (quoted in Hebrews 10:5). The leading thought here in 5:2 is how Christ was an ‘imitator’ of God the Father and how we, as ‘dearly loved children,’ need to similarly walk in obedience to Him. The Old Testament sacrifices were spoken of as a ‘sweet savour’ (Authorised Version) to express metaphorically their acceptability to God (Genesis 8:21; Exodus 29:18,25,41; Leviticus 1:9,13,17). The sacrifice of Christ was infinitely more pleasing to the Father. The life that those in Christ live in sacrificial self-giving to God has a fragrance to God and in the world. Paul’s other two uses of the expression illustrate the point. To Paul the gift of the Christians in Philippi was a fragrance (Philippians 4:18), as he saw his own life calling to be ‘an aroma of Christ’ to God (2 Corinthians 2:14-16) and to spread the ‘fragrance of the knowledge of him’ (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Lay aside bitter words, temper tantrums, revenge, profanity, and insults. But instead be kind and affectionate toward one another. Has God graciously forgiven you? Then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ’s love.
Follow God and imitate all he does in everything you do, for then you will represent your Father as his beloved sons and daughters. And continue to walk surrendered to the extravagant love of Christ, for he surrendered his life as a sacrifice for us. His great love for us was pleasing to God, like an aroma of adoration – a sweet healing fragrance in heaven and earth Ephesians 4:31 – 5:2 (the Passion Translation)