“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them” (Ephesians 5:6-7).
False teachers had begun infiltrating the early church, teaching that “freedom in Christ” meant freedom “from” laws and rules, freedom to live as one pleased. In earlier verses (read Ephesians 5:3-5), Paul mentioned various activities and attitudes that are “not fitting” and as the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) states, “entirely out of place” among believers. The false teachers taught their false doctrines, probably even trying to make evil seem less serious by saying that it was natural to indulge in impurity and might even be good for us at times, that it was useful to society to go after money and possessions (“covetousness”), and that God would not punish clever wit, even if it was in the form of obscenity and vulgarity. The false teachers made up doctrines that allowed for sinful lifestyles. Paul did not want the believers to be deceived by their empty words. Such words have no weight and no depth; they are “empty” because they are lies.
Paul gave similar warnings in many of his letters because false teachers were a constant threat to the new believers. In fact, Paul had told the Ephesian elders:
“So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you” (Acts 20:28–31 NLT).
The “vicious wolves” in the passage quoted above refer to the false teachers that would come and distort the truth. Paul continued to warn the believers in Ephesus against the deceptions that would be placed before them, the tiny distortions, the half-truths, the plausible arguments that were, in reality, lies. The believers should be on guard and not be deceived for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Empty words had already aroused God’s anger (the word “comes” is in the present tense, indicating a present reality). The permissive activities described in Ephesians 5:3-5 (and those who espouse such license) arouse God’s anger because they come from the enemy, “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). Those who thought they could continue in sin as a part of their “freedom” would discover that they were never free but were all the time enslaved to their sin. And they would face God’s wrath both in the present and in the future.
Therefore, because of God’s wrath on sin and because sinful activities are incompatible with life in Christ’s kingdom, Paul told the believers to not be partakers with people who pretend Christianity and practice permissiveness. This “association” refers to joining them in their sinful activities or in justifying sin. To do so would be to mock the sacrifice Christ made in order to take away sin. True believers have been saved “from” that old self in order to “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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