John Stott reminds us that there is value in reading passages that appear to be for unbelievers only (passages like Eph. 5:1-6). His words are another way of saying that we need the gospel every day. We live dependent on gospel truth every moment of our lives:
It would be easy for Christians to speed-read a paragraph like this, without pausing for reflection, on the assumption that it applies to unbelievers, not to us. Has not Paul assured us in the earlier part of his letter of our heavenly inheritance, taught us that the Holy Spirit within us is God’s guarantee, even foretaste and first instalment, of it ‘until we acquire possession of it’, and prayed that our eyes might be opened to see ‘the riches of the glory of the inheritance’ which will one day be ours? Yes, indeed he has. At the same time he also addresses to us this warning about the danger of forfeiting our inheritance in God’s kingdom. How can we reconcile these things? Only by recalling that assurance of salvation is neither a synonym nor an excuse for presumption. And if we should fall into a life of greedy immorality, we would be supplying clear evidence that we are after all idolaters, not worshippers of God, disobedient people instead of obedient, and so the heirs not of heaven but of hell. The apostle gives us a solemn warning; we shall be wise to heed it. [The Message of Ephesians, p. 198.]
Words of Grace 