Question: What the highest form of praise? Answer: The highest form of praise is not simply to say that you value something supremely, but to actually demonstrate that you do to alter your thoughts, choices, words and actions to more closely resemble what, or whom, you are giving praise to. A better way to say it: The truest praise is the imitation of the object of my praise, becoming as like it as possible.
The words of Robert Murray M Cheyne: The Christian is a person who makes it easy for others to believe in God. Rose early to seek God and found Him whom my soul loveth. Who would not rise early to meet such company? Lord, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be. Our soul should be a mirror of Christ; we should reflect every feature: for every grace in Christ there should be a counterpart in us.
Here in this new chapter we come to what is perhaps Paul s supreme argument, to the highest level of all in doctrine and in practice, to the ultimate ideal. There is nothing possible beyond this. This is the highest statement of Christian doctrine that one can conceive of or even imagine. It is really staggering, it is almost incredible; but here it is. Be ye followers of God! Martyn Lloyd-Jones We get our English word mimic from the Gk term Paul uses here, rendered imitators.
Question: Has Paul gone crazy? Imitate God?? Seriously: we are sinners with desperately sick hearts, with much sin remaining in us, we live in a world that is suffocating on sin, we have bodies that get weak and sick, we have bills to pay, work to do, we have an enemy who loathes both us and our God and Paul seriously wants us to just be like Jesus in every possible way? Ok I just have to be omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, unchangeable, all-sufficient, all-glorious, eternal, transcendent, and absolutely perfect. Fine.
What is Paul saying when he says to imitate God? God has attributes, or characteristics. Some of those attributes are incommunicable, in other words, they belong to Him alone and cannot be shared. However, He has other attributes which are communicable and can be shared with humans. God s communicable attributes: love, knowledge, mercy, justice, wisdom, holiness, righteousness, faithfulness, jealousy, wrath, will, etc all of which we can only ever share in part, never fully (God alone possesses them in their full perfection).
A context question: Why does Paul say this here? The immediate context: 4:32. God Himself is kind and tenderhearted toward all of His children, He has forgiven our sins. So imitate Him. The somewhat larger context: In 4:17 Paul begins laying out the importance of and the means for the purity of Christ s church. Notice that in 5:26-27 Paul writes that Christ, in heaven, will receive to Himself His perfect church: sanctified, cleansed, washed, without spot or wrinkle.
A context question: Why does Paul say this here? The larger context: From 4:2 on through the end of the letter, everything flows from 4:1 walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called This is Paul s reasonable conclusion drawn from the staggering blessings of salvation he has written of in chs. 1-3. Imitate God because He has adopted you, redeemed you, forgiven you, promised an inheritance to you, and sealed you forever by His promised Holy Spirit; He has brought you near.
So, the point: Because you are the beloved children of God through Christ, who gave Himself up for us, love others like He loves you. And, since we re only taking two verses this week, the outline of the passage is fairly straightforward The reason to be an imitator of God: an appreciation of Christ s love v. 1 The result of being an imitator of God: a lifestyle of Christ s love v. 2 So, to start off, a few observations on each verse
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 1. To be an imitator of God, you must be His child. That seems too obvious, but that s what it says. Only God s true children can imitate Him. John 1:12; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 2:112-16; 1 John 3:2. 2. To be an imitator of God, you must be willing. You will have to let go of many things; that is Paul s point in 4:17-32. All is corrupted by sin He can leave nothing untouched. Salvation must end in glorification (Rom. 8:28-30), so transformation will be complete.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 3. To be an imitator of God, you must be assured of His astonishing love for you. It is the beloved children who imitate their God. I could list the entire Bible here as references, but I won t just a few: Isaiah 53:4-6; John 3:16, 14:1-4; Rom. 5:8-10; 2 Thess. 2:16; 1 John 3:1. Never forget the great promises of the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-33; Ezek. 36:25-27), and never forget how astonishing it is that you have been grafted on to that tree (Rom. 11:11-24).
Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering & sacrifice to God. 1. To walk in love, you must trust and pray for the Holy Spirit s work in your heart. The Holy Spirit in you is a clear declaration of your Father s love for you Rom. 5:5. Ask Him, as Paul did, for a growing understanding of that astonishing, lavish love (3:14-19). Notice that one of the effects of the Holy Spirit in you is an increasing love Gal. 5:22.
Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering & sacrifice to God. 2. To walk in love, you must think much on His love for you. This is called scripture meditation, and it is essential Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:1-2, 119:15, 97. To walk in love will require daily biblicallyinformed choices Rom. 14:15. As you see Christ s love in Scripture, strive to make yours like His John 13:34; 15:12-13; 1 John 4:10-11.
Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering & sacrifice to God. 3. To walk in love, you must know the qualities of His love in order to imitate it. He gave Himself up for us Matt. 20:28; Rom. 4:25; Gal. 1:4. Self-giving, not self-centered, love. A fragrant offering See Gen. 8:20-21, a pleasing love to God. Lev. 1:9, notice what God accepts this as. See also Phil. 4:18. A sacrifice to God Heb. 7:27, 9:14, 10:10-12. Note what it achieves/results in.
The concept of imitation is prominent in the NT John 13:15 1 Cor. 4:16, 10:11, 11:1 Phil. 3:17 1 Thess. 1:6, 2:14 2 Thess. 3:7-9 1 Tim. 1:16, 4:12 Heb. 6:12, 13:7 James 5:10 1 Pet. 1:14-16; 2:21 3 John 1:11 Jude 1:7 A composite definition of the word imitate as it is used in the NT means this: what we became at conversion, we must diligently continue to be thereafter. Vine s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
Looking again at the context, we can pick out a couple of practical implications of walking in love: From our vantage point, what is the most prominent aspect of Christ s substitutionary death? The forgiveness of sin Eph. 1:7. To be saved is to be granted forgiveness of sin that we might escape the coming wrath of God Rom. 5:9; 1 Thess. 1:10. The Therefore in 5:1 points immediately back to 4:32, where the focus is on forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Looking again at the context, we can pick out a couple of practical implications of walking in love: Which leads to the question: What was God s forgiveness in Christ toward you like? It was humbling Phil. 2:5-8 It was free and undeserved Rom. 6:23 It was complete Matt. 18:21-35 I was for the glory of God 1 John 2:12 It was supernatural Eph. 1:7
Looking again at the context, we can pick out a couple of practical implications of walking in love: Genuine forgiveness results in: Restoration 2 Cor. 2:5-11 Overlooking offenses 1 Pet. 4:7-8 A deeper love for Christ and a decreasing selfrighteousness Luke 7-36-47
Robert Falconer was witnessing among the poor in a large city, reading to them the story of the woman who wiped Jesus feet with her tears, when he heard a loud sob and looked up at a young, thin girl whose face was disfigured from smallpox. She said, Will He ever come again, the One who forgave the woman? I have heard that He will come again. Will it be soon? Falconer replied, He could come any time. But why do you ask? After sobbing uncontrollably, she said, Sir, can t He wait a little while? My hair ain t long enough yet to wipe His feet. She knew the depth of her own sin, and the glory and relief of forgiveness.
Looking again at the context, we can pick out a couple of practical implications of walking in love: Notice what Paul contrasts the walk in love of v. 1-2 to in 5:3-14 The love in v. 1-2 is beautiful, pure, self-giving, Christlike, forgiving, restoring, tender, pleasing to God, and humble. The contrast in 5:3-14 could not be more stark: immoral, impure, covetous, self-centered, filthy, foolish, crude, idolatrous, unfruitful, & shameful. A walk in love has none of these things.
Which leads to this last observation: It is by our love for one another that those who are outside of Christ will most clearly see Him (John 13:34-35). Since we are to imitate Christ and love one another, it follows that Christ s reputation and honor are at stake here. To bring the appropriate honor to the great Name of Christ, and to keep from dishonoring that Name, we read, study, memorize, & meditate on Scripture, praying that the Holy Spirit will enable us by His working to know and live the love of Christ, that we might not dishonor Him.