The question of the week is, “what does it take to please God?” Paul in his letter to the Ephesians stated, “Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”[1]
I want to make sure we are starting from the same point as we move forward. Paul is writing to the Christians in Ephesus. They already believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior. Paul is not saying to be saved you must please the Lord. He is not saying that you can be saved through works. He is saying, now that you have been saved by faith in Christ, you should want to please the Lord. He gives us a general place to start in our Christian walk with “the fruit of the light” of “goodness,” “righteousness” and “truth.”
The Greek word used for goodness is [ἀγαθωσύνῃ, agathōsunē]. The word “refers to moral excellence, to being good in both nature and effectiveness.” [2] It is translated by the NASB as goodness and has its widest and deepest meaning “in that which is willingly and sacrificially done for others.”[3]
Another “fruit of the light” is righteousness. Paul talking about our relationship with God tells us in Romans, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”[4] Every Christian is to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”[5]
The third “fruit of the light” is truth. This Greek word [ἀληθείᾳ, alētheia] is “the quality of being in accord with what is true, truthfulness, dependability, uprightness in thought and deed.”[6] When we live a life of truth, we will live in “integrity,” “honesty,” “reliability,” and “trustworthiness.”[7]
Paul uses these three words as a starting point for our Christian walk. Goodness has to do with “our relationship with others,” righteousness has to do with “our relationship to God,” and truth has to do with our “personal integrity.”[8] These are general ideas and that is why Paul focuses in on verse 10 “trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”
The Greek word used here for which the NASB translates in verse 10 “trying to learn” is [δοκιμάζοντες, dokimazontes][9] It can mean “to test” either literally or figuratively. It is also translated “to allow, discern, examine, like, prove or try.” The word also implies to approve of someone or something.[10] So how do we learn what is pleasing to the Lord?
One of the main ways we learn is through our study of Scripture. Another
is by our accountability to God and others. An accountability partner is
beneficial to our walk. As Christians we know what pleases the Lord, just like we
know what displeases Him. Paul in his letter to the Colossians, “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to
please Him in all respects, bearing
fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”[11]
[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ephesians 5:7–10.
[2] John F. MacArthur Jr., Ephesians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 209.
[3] MacArthur, Ephesians, MNTC, 209.
[6] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 42.
[7] MacArthur, Ephesians, MNTC, 210.
[8] MacArthur, Ephesians, MNTC, 210.
[9] Frank Thielman, Ephesians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010), 341.
[10] James Strong, A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 24.