Our Redemption “in Christ” Detailed to the Ephesians Volume 49

Paul Urges the Ephesian Believers to Prove their Union with Christ by Walking in Light Part 3

Ephesians 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. KJV

We discovered in the last study Paul warning these Ephesian believers and we true believers in our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ today of not being a partaker with the worthless works, acts, or deeds of darkness and now he immediately declares to them and to us why this is vital for the child of God to heed or listen to because Paul declares “it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Ephesians 5:12). The little phrase “a shame” Paul uses here is translated by the Greek word aischron meaning a shameful thing, that is, indecorum: a disgraceful thing something that is base or specifically venal. In aligning this statement with the previous verse, Paul exposes or reveals that these things are done by people “in secret” and this little English phrase is translated by one Greek word kruphe meaning privately concealed or covered up.

Paul was most probably referring to the ancient Greek mass religious event that took place every year in which a sacred brew was drunk by initiates in a ritual setting during which sacrifices were made, this was all done in honor of the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. On the sixth (6) night the Eleusinian ceremony took place in the inner sanctum of the temple where only the pagan priest and the initiates would enter, then the initiates were given this potion made of barley and mint called kykeon which caused them to hallucinate making them believe they had seen a vision of the beginning and end of birth and death. It was perhaps the LSD of the time and only caused these initiates to be deluded into thinking they had encountered God, when in actuality they were giving themselves over to demonic spirits just as many people today who practice occult rituals such as séances believe falsely that they are in touch with God when they are not.

Whether Paul was privy to the actual details of this practice during his day before his encounter with Christ on the Damascus road is unclear, but it is certain that after his reception of Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit he surely was made known of all of these dark things done “in secret” by many Greeks and Romans during his time and so he warns these new Ephesian believers (who some may have been initiated into these rites and rituals) to no longer have fellowship with such darkness now that they are “in Christ” being adopted into the Father’s Family. Today we still find many of these “secret societies” alive and well and we also find that the same secrecy and darkness is attached and associated with many of them. Paul’s warning for us today is the same and that is to have no participation in these societies, clubs, fraternities, lodges, or any organization that conceals, cloaks, or covers itself in secrecy that only a special or privileged hierarchy are allowed to have knowledge of its workings.

Certainly we have learned that it is often true that where there is secrecy in an organization, a Church, or an individual person there you will always find liberality that encourages, exalts, and even engages in doing/practicing whatever feels good or gratifying to the flesh. However, this must not be the practice of the redeemed as we find this same Apostle Paul warning throughout all his letters to turn away from those things that would separate us from the “love of God” found in Christ Jesus our Lord such as, “Stay away from sexual sins. Other sins that people commit don’t affect their bodies the same way sexual sins do. People who sin sexually sin against their own bodies. Don’t you know that your body is a temple that belongs to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, whom you received from God, lives in you. You don’t belong to yourselves. You were bought for a price. So bring glory to God in the way you use your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

Paul perhaps gives his most detailed rebuke for any believer to shun or turn away from these secret societies that practice concealing from the majority the inner workings of their group when he writes these words also to the Corinthian believers, “I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that all our ancestors [who left Egypt] were under the cloud, and they all went through the sea. They were all united with Moses by baptism in the cloud and in the sea. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet, God was not pleased with most of them, so their dead bodies were scattered over the desert. These things have become examples for us so that we won’t desire what is evil, as they did. So don’t worship false gods as some of them did, as Scripture says, ‘The people sat down to a feast which turned into an orgy.’ We shouldn’t sin sexually as some of them did. Twenty-three thousand of them died on one day. We shouldn’t put the Lord to the test as some of them did. They were killed by snakes. Don’t complain as some of them did. The angel of death destroyed them. These things happened to make them an example for others. These things were written down as a warning for us who are living in the closing days of history. So, people who think they are standing firmly should be careful that they don’t fall. There isn’t any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who faithfully keeps His promises, will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. But when you are tempted, He will also give you the ability to endure the temptation as your way of escape. Therefore, my dear friends, get as far away from the worship of false gods as you can. I’m talking to intelligent people. Judge for yourselves what I’m saying. When we bless the cup of blessing aren’t we sharing in the Blood of Christ? When we break the bread aren’t we sharing in the Body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we are one body, although we are many individuals. All of us share one loaf. Look at the people of Israel from a human point of view. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices share what is on the altar? Do I mean that an offering made to a false god is anything, or that a false god itself is anything? Hardly! What I am saying is that these sacrifices which people make are made to demons and not to God. I don’t want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot participate at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons. Are we trying to make the Lord jealous? Are we stronger than He is?” (1 Corinthians 10:1-22).

My own Personal Note: Just as light in the natural world shines brightly and illuminates or makes clearly visible what is in a dark building or dark room in a building, so does the Light of Christ, the Light of the Gospel, and the Light of the Word of God shine brightly upon the darkness of sin and makes its  presence known giving clear irrefutable evidence or proof of the truth and this is exactly what the Apostle conveyed again to the Corinthian believers with these words, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5), therefore, knowing this truth as was also written by the Psalmist in this manner, “You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.” (Psalm 90:8), we who love our Lord Jesus Christ should continually make these words written by the Psalmist likewise our prayer, “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.” (Psalm 19:12).    

“God would not mock a man by telling him to do what he cannot do. And it is perfectly clear that the one attitude in which we may be sure of God’s help to keep any of His commandments, and this amongst the rest, is when we are trying to keep them. ‘Stretch out thy hand,’ said Christ to the man whose disease was that he could not stretch it out. ‘Arise and walk,’ said Christ to the man whose lifelong sadness it was that his limbs had no power. ‘Lazarus, come forth,’ said Christ unto the dull, cold ear of death. And Lazarus heard, wherever he was, and, though his feet were tangled with the graveclothes, he came stumbling out, because the power to do what he was bid had come wrapped in the command to do it. And if these other two men had turned to Jesus and said, ‘What is the use of telling me to stretch out my hand, or me to move my limbs? Thou knowest that I cannot,’ they would have lain there paralysed till they died. But when they heard the command there came a tingling sense of new ability into the withered limb. ‘And he stretched forth his hand, and it was restored whole as the other.’ Ay, but the process of restoration began when he willed to stretch it out in obedience to the command, which was a promise as much as a command. So we need not trouble ourselves with the question how the dead man can arise, or how the sleeper can wake himself. This, at all events, is clear, that if what I have been saying is true as to the main point in view in both the metaphors, viz. the unconsciousness of the unseen world, and the slumbering powers that we have within us, then the remedy for that is in our own hands. There are scarcely any limits to be put to a man’s  affection, or his pursuits. You can withdraw your desires and contemplations from the intrusive and absorbing present. You can coerce yourselves to concentrate more thought than you do, more interest, affection, and effort than you have ever done, upon the things that are unseen. You can turn your gaze thither. You cannot directly and immediately regulate your feelings, but you can settle the thoughts which shall guide the feelings, and you can, and you do, fix for yourselves, though not consciously, the things which shall be uppermost in your regard, and supreme in the ordering of your life.” Alexander MacLaren

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…