The fifth chapter of Ephesians begins with these words: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (vs. 1).
What a challenge! Be imitators of God! How? By walking in love. And, that makes a lot of sense in as much as “God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn. 4:16). A Christian’s walk involves “the whole arena of life” (N.T. Com., Wayne Jackson 396). Such is the self-sacrificing love Jesus demonstrated in dying on the cross for us. This love, Paul describes as a fragrant aroma to God. In this love, we walk—we live the Christian life.
Then, a few verses later, he adds: “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” (vs. 8-10). Walk in love as children of light. The two expressions go together like a hand in a glove. As one writer put it, “The walk of love must be accompanied by the walk of light” (Jackson 396).
The walk of love is not merely self-directed emotion—it is directed by the light of divine truth. Apart from the light of God’s word, we would be powerless to know what it means to walk in love. “We love, because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (Jn. 14:15). We cannot walk in love and ignore the light of the gospel. Now is the time to express our love for God in obedience to the light of truth (2 Cor. 6:2).