See therefore how ye walk carefully, not as unwise but as wise,
Ephesians 5 has already told believers what they are: light in the Lord. Now it turns to how they walk, and to what wisdom looks like in a world set against them.
In the Bible, "wise" and "unwise" are not measures of intelligence. Older translations read "not as fools, but as wise":
In Scripture, folly and wisdom are not just matters of intellect. They always have a moral character. It is the fool who says in his heart, "There is no God." The fear of the Lord is called the beginning of wisdom. The believer as a child of light has "the mind of Christ"; he has the Holy Spirit to teach him the deep things of God. He may have little worldly wisdom or knowledge, yet he has "an anointing from the Holy One," and so has the mind of God in all that concerns His things. But the flesh is always there to fight against the Spirit. So it takes careful watchfulness to walk as wise men, and not as fools.
A Christian is not asked to find wisdom somewhere outside himself. He has it already, and this verse asks him to use it:
Wisdom, as well as light, is a distinctive attribute of the new man. The Greek philosopher searched for wisdom in vain. It has come, unasked, to the awakened sinner. Christ, who is the wisdom of God in the eyes of our faith, has also been made our wisdom by God. By the counsels of that wisdom we are taught to walk... Moreover, we need wisdom to use rightly what we know. Careful watchfulness always goes with true wisdom. Those whose road to the kingdom runs through many temptations need it. In a land of danger, we must walk with measured steps... We are in the path of folly the moment we begin to walk at our own discretion.
"Look carefully" assumes there is something to look at. Being honest about your destination does not keep you out of the mud along the way:
Uprightness is not enough. If I have to cross a bog, I may be perfectly sincere in seeking a house on the other side. But if I do not look about me, I may sink in the bog. I must look about me. It takes wisdom to go through this world — I mean as a Christian.
The warning has a target. One error says that careful conduct hardly matters as long as your doctrine is sound:
The main force of this warning seems to be aimed at the deception that would make exact conduct a matter of indifference, so long as soundness of doctrine is kept up. This lowest of fallacies can still be a danger to us, if we are not kept near to God in the spirit of our minds.
Careful walking can sound defensive, like a list of things not to do:
This is not only about avoiding certain things. There is something to gain: divine wisdom to live Christ. We have to walk with all the wisdom of God. Satan is seeking to trip us up, to dim our testimony, to cause that to be seen in us which is not Christ.
The wisdom asked for here has a direction:
We are urged to walk wisely. The first fourteen verses teach that the true measure for a right walk is God's nature of light and love. We are to profit by that teaching, and "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise." In an evil world the Christian will need wisdom, but this wisdom is in regard to what is good. So, in another letter, the Apostle can write, "be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil" (Romans 16:19).
Others put the same warning in terms of the verse's two categories. A person can belong to the second and still live like the first:
For though a believer is not a fool, yet he may be unwise and not use his time to advantage.
This carefulness is also public. Others are drawing conclusions:
Our neighbours who reject Christ still hold us responsible for Christian conduct. So we find exhortations in other parts of the Bible that tell us, in principle, that we have to take heed to what we do. Think for example of Ephesians 5:15... I am sure we all see how necessary this warning is. Our "doings" should match our words and be a bright testimony for the Lord.
- Look. The command starts with the eyes, not the feet. Sincerity about where you are going will not keep you out of the bog on the way.
- Wise. In Scripture the fool is a moral type, not a stupid one; the wise man is the one who fears God and has the mind of Christ.
- Given. We do not search this wisdom out. Christ has been made our wisdom, so failure comes not from short supply but from walking at our own discretion.
- Good. The wisdom points at what is good, not at evil: wise about good, innocent about evil.
- Seen. Careful walking is not only avoidance but gain: divine wisdom to live Christ. And neighbours are watching whether our doings match our words.
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
For this reason be not foolish, but understanding what [is] the will of the Lord.
This call sits in a passage about walking through an evil world. It makes wisdom concrete — knowing what the Lord wants — and raises two questions: what this "understanding" is, and how anyone gets it.
"Foolish" here is not about mental ability. In Scripture folly and wisdom describe where a person stands with God.
Folly and wisdom in Scripture are not merely intellectual qualities, but have always a moral character. It is the fool who says in his heart, "There is no God." Scripture calls the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom. The believer as a child of light has "the mind of Christ"; he has the Holy Spirit to teach him the deep things of God. However little gifted in worldly wisdom or knowledge, he has "an anointing from the Holy One," and so has the mind of God in all that concerns His things.
The word translated "understand" points to something more than hearing a fact.
It is to weigh something, consider it carefully, and so grasp its meaning.
A believer can know the truth and still be unwise with his time.
A believer is not a fool, yet he may be unwise and not use his time well. He should not be like that. He should understand what the will of the Lord is for him (v.17). To understand is not simply to know, but to see rightly what he knows. The will of the Lord is always spiritually profitable.
"Therefore" ties this verse to the call to redeem the time. Knowing a lot about evil is not the same as being wise.
Our wisdom will show itself in redeeming the time and understanding what the will of the Lord is. The days are evil. If the devil could have his way, there would never be a time or an opportunity for what pleases the Lord. To do good we will have to seize the moment from the enemy... Nehemiah learned the will of the Lord for His people by prayer and fasting. So when the opportunity came, standing before king Artaxerxes, he seized it (Nehemiah 1:4; Nehemiah 2:1-5). A person can know a great deal about evil and still not know the will of the Lord, and so still be "unwise".
This knowledge is not picked up at a distance.
"Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." I will never know what the will of the Lord is if I am not near Him in the daily life of my soul. That is a clear case. A man who is doing the will of God is not living for himself. His only thought is to do what God wishes.
Willingness comes before clarity, and the Lord Himself said so.
The Lord deals with us morally. He will not let me find out His way unless there is in me the spirit of obedience... "If anyone's will is to do God's will," says our Lord, "he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority," John 7:17.
The verse expects more than compliance with orders. It expects a person who has learned the heart behind them.
A servant may hear his master say, Do this, or, Don't do that, and share nothing of his master's reasons for either one. The child is under far greater obligation to complete and unquestioning obedience, yet he obeys in a different way. He knows his father's character and habits. He knows his father's purposes and plans. So he is expected to sense at once what will please his father and what will give his father joy.
This verse comes first for a reason. And wine is not the only thing that can intoxicate a person.
I think all that follows rests on this verse 17 — that we understand what the will of the Lord is for us. Once we understand that, the rest will follow. Then nothing in this world will intoxicate us. It need not be wine. Ambition can intoxicate us. So can desires that people around us count as completely acceptable — not gross evil, but things that take us away from the will of the Lord.
- Folly — being "foolish" is a moral state, not a low IQ; the fool is the one who leaves God out.
- Nearness — the will of the Lord is learned close to Him; a willing heart comes before clear knowledge.
- Understanding — to understand is to weigh what you know and see it rightly, not just store it.
- Opportunity — understanding turns evil days into chances to do good. Nehemiah seized his moment before the king.
- Sonship — the end is not a servant taking orders, but a child who senses what pleases the Father. Everything else in the chapter follows from that.