5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; ² 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. ³ But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; ⁴ and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. ⁵ For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man (that is an idolater), has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not be partakers with them; ⁸ for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light ⁹ (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), ¹⁰  endeavouring to learn what is pleasing to the Lord [Eph5:1-10].

“Be imitators of God”, writes Paul. This requires some deliberation, whilst fans of Martin Luther might wish to sign off here. Why? – because according to the initiator of the Protestant Reformation, God’s nature is (at best) incomprehensible. From a human standpoint, applying Reformed interpretations, He appears to be a Monster – creating beings in His own image, the vast majority of whom are to receive eternal torment after their death for failing to do what Scripture  affirms they were incapable of doing, a doctrine (predestination) repeatedly acknowledged by Paul and effectively reaffirmed by Jesus, John and Luke.

In view of the standard (dualistic) interpretation, many “bible-believing Christians”, however unwillingly, denigrate God’s goodness and justice as well as the effectual nature of Christ’s saving work – asserting that all non-Christians are heading for a lost eternity. In reality, very few within the Protestant churches, even within the dogmatically “Reformed” Evangelical circles that I once inhabited, present the gospel in such dire or fatalistic terms, effectively by sweeping predestination under the carpet.

 As for the Roman Catholic Church, since Vatican II (1960s), she has moderated her former stance of “extra Ecclesiam nulla salus” [no salvation outside the Church] to the position that “Divine providence (shall not) deny the assistance necessary for salvation to those who without any fault of theirs have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and who, not without grace, strive to lead a good life” (Vatican II – Lumen Gentium 16).

No doubt this is in part due to a growing awareness that in view of religious and cultural developments through the centuries, God’s redemptive purposes could hardly be restricted to the proportional few who have the opportunity to hear the Gospel, let alone positively respond to it. Vatican II had also been influenced (as was I) by John Henry Newman’s profound reflections on universal revelation and the role of conscience. It is however necessary that such enlightened post-Conciliar reflections be more clearly underpinned from Scripture, especially if those to whom fidelity to the Book is paramount are to give the matter due consideration.

So, my appeal is to Scripture in its totality, starting with the Christmas Angels’ proclamation in Luke that the gospel is “Good News of great joy that shall be to all people”. My task has primarily involved  deconstructing the distinctive teachings of Augustine and the Protestant Reformers regarding law, grace, free will and the role of conscience. Only then can God’s nature be shown for what it is – genuinely good, loving and fair to all – a deity who, in accordance with Paul’s urgings, can be imitated by creatures made in His image, especially those “predestined to be re-formed into the image of Christ” (Rom8:29).      

In terms of “imitators”, Bible Hub appropriately comments that the Greek word (μιμηταὶ)  pertains to “a positive imitation that arises by admiring the pattern set by someone worthy of emulation, i.e. a mentor setting a proper example…the supreme model being God Himself (see Eph5:1)”. Exactly, so how could the Christian be expected to “μιμηταὶ” a Being if His nature and behaviour were incomprehensible, inexplicable and demonstrably unfair? [I explained how predestination is to be reconciled with human free will and God’s equitable justice in the previous post].

WHO SHALL INHERIT THE KINGDOM?

The other point I particularly want to draw out from this passage is from verse 5: “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man (i.e. an idolater), has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God”.  The Church Paul was addressing may have “known these things with certainty” – I am less sure that is the case today. Rather, many understand avoiding immorality, impurity, covetousness and the like to be appropriate and desirable, whereas Paul also insists it is quite essential.

There is never faith without works with Paul; nor merely “standing in the grace of Christ”. Still less, Luther’s assertion that “if men only believe enough in Christ they can commit adultery and murder a thousand times a day without periling their salvation”. Ok, this was his use of hyperbole to make the point that  God’s grace is greater even than the sins of the world. But even that misrepresents Paul in terms of an individual’s salvation, and no such sentiments are to be found in the teaching of Jesus.

Relatedly, Luther defined saving faith as “a living, bold trust in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favour that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it”.  I repeat again Paul’s words: “know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man (i.e. an idolater), has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God”. There is no qualification concerning grace or faith, and it is not untypical of Paul’s  in this area, especially once it is grasped that his references to the actions of the spirit (such as in Rom8:13) often are referring to the human spirit (aka “inner man”) rather than the Holy Spirit.

The apostle summarizes his perspective on God’s thoroughly intelligible judgements and equitable justice in Romans 2, which many regard as anomalous in view of how they have come to interpret the rest of his teaching:

God will repay everyone as their works deserve. For those who aimed for glory, honour and immortality by persevering in good works, there will be eternal life, but for those who out of jealousy have taken for their guide not truth but injustice, there will be the fury of retribution. Trouble and distress will come to every human being who does evil – Jews first but Greeks as well; glory and honour and peace will come to everyone who does good – Jews first but Greeks as well. There is no favouritism with God (Rom2:6-11).

How the above is to be reconciled with Scripture as a whole is set out  in:

The LITTLE BOOK OF PROVIDENCE: a seven-part synopsis of the bible: – available as a paperback from Amazon or FREELY as a PDF file HERE.

Author’s Facebook page HERE