Page 114 - Ephesians

Look at 5:1-2, concerning the same thing,

“Therefore, be imitators of God.”

I wish it said Paul or Peter, James or Timothy, or David, or even
Gabriel. Then, I might have a shot! But it says “Be imitators of
God”. In verse 2, “Walk in love just as Christ loved you.” On
the level of earth, this is impossible. “Be holy as I am holy.”
God is the goal. We have a great responsibility, due to the
abundance we received in chapters 1-3.

To make it even scarier, he adds standards that are absolute.
Chapter 4:28, “Let him that stole, steal no longer.” That’s how
God says it. Not how the world says it. God’s standard is not
tapering off little by little, until you find the power to quit. It
doesn’t say, “Let him who stole, steal a little less today, then, a
little less tomorrow. So hopefully by next week, you will hardly be
stealing at all.” “Let him who stole, steal no more.” It’s over.
Stealing is a representative sin! What’s true of stealing is true of
every sin.

Man’s way of deliverance is cutting down. Behavior modification.
“I lost my temper ten times last week, but I’m doing better. I only
lost my temper five times this week. I expect by next week, I’ll
only lose it three times.” That isn’t the standard. “I’m improving.”
That’s not the point. If I’m to walk according to my responsibility,
“Let him that stole, steal no more” and “Be holy as He is
holy”. Of course, there’s a thrilling side to this. That at any
moment, the Lord can offer me, complete deliverance from sin.

Obviously, the Spirit of God, did not give us chapters 4-6, to scare
us to death. That’s not why He recorded these chapters. He has
not given impossible standards, that we can’t keep. He’s not
standing with a big club, waiting for us to mess up, so He can
whack us. Instead, He’s given us these blessed responsibilities.
He fully intends, that every Christian, who is a multi-billionaire in
Christ, walk this way. We call this, responsibilities unlimited. An