Avoidance of the old, sinful practices is a common theme in this letter of Paul to the Ephesians. Their doctrine was not assailed, for they had an excellent foundation in the teaching of Paul (over two years), the powerful preaching of Apollos and the personal ministry of Aquila and Priscilla. But their faithfulness to the Lord was tenuous, judging from the amount of space Paul gives to warning them against falling back into old practices.

Here the readers (including us) are instructed not to partner in any way with the sinful life. The term “participate” has the sense of sharing in, together with.  This means to not become actively involved in sinful acts (which we have outlined previously), nor take advantage of the results of sinful acts. Elsewhere Paul speaks of multiple levels of participating in sinfulness, “… although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32). Giving approval of someone’s sin is just as blameworthy as doing the sin itself. Being an accessory to the act is included in this judgment, as does paying money to be entertained by sinful activities, as can often be the case when watching movies or reading stories. When one attends a movie, one supports the making of the movie and thereby supports the activities portrayed in that movie.

Paul says we should rather expose those activities, that is, expose them for the sin that they are, so that we are warned and can avoid them. We should bring them out into the light and judge them in the light of God’s Word, for we are light and should walk as children of Light (5:8). We should promote “goodness and righteousness and truth” (5:9), rather than the fruit of darkness. To even speak of these activities as though they are normal things of life should be shameful for Christians. How could a Christian even think about participating? That is the logic of it, yet, as is all too apparent, it is ever so easy to fall back into the dark side of life. We need to be vigilant and this means seeing the old “Gentile” way of life the way God sees it—as darkness.

The battle between the new-self and the old-self continues throughout life. Christians, secure as we are, need continual reminders against embracing any of the sinful practices of the non-Christian lifestyle.