Ehpesians Part 80

INTRO: We have looked at the two-fold command in Ephesians 5:1-2. Love is the theme. We are God's beloved children. We are to follow Him as beloved children. Then we are to walk in love. Walking in love is doing that which seeks to fulfill other people's legitimate need. That need may be financial, physical labor, food, pointing out to them that they are lost, rebuking others when they sin by pointing out that sin and many, many other things. We saw how Jesus did this to those who looked for answers from Him. We saw how He pointed out the failures of the scribes and Pharisees. Unless the lawyer, the rich young ruler and the scribes and Pharisees recognized where they were, they could never get saved. Their first need was to know where they stood with God.

When we tell others God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives and if they accept Jesus then they will have health and wealth, we have helped the devil to keep them in darkness. The greatest legitimate need man has is salvation from sin. Sin is man's problem. Love must recognize that. If we are to walk in love, when we share the Gospel with unbelievers an understanding that they are sinners and lost and going to hell is most crucial. When God sent Jesus into the world and Jesus died for the sin of the world. The whole emphasis of God's love for the world was spiritual, not physical. Man's lostness is a spiritual problem, and that problem is sin. Man's legitimate need is salvation from sin.