Ephesians 5:15-16 urges believers to live with deliberate wisdom, carefully considering how they conduct themselves in a fallen world. We are to seize every opportunity to do good and advance God’s purposes, knowing that time is short and the world around us is steeped in evil. Such mindfulness transforms ordinary moments into opportunities for eternal impact.
In Ephesians 5:15-16, Paul exhorts the Ephesian saints to walk carefully and wisely, making the most of every opportunity to do good, because the days are evil and time must be used for God’s purposes.
After exhorting and explaining to his readers that they should not be partakers with the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 5:6b-14), Paul makes another exhortation:
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil (vv 15-16).
Paul begins this exhortation with the word: Therefore.
In a general sense, the word Therefore connects Paul’s exhortation to walk wisely with everything he has already written in this book. But in a specific sense, Therefore connects his exhortation to his preceding thoughts about being imitators of God who walk in love as Jesus loved (Ephesians 5:1-2), living purely and unstained from the world (Ephesians 5:3-6), and to walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:7-14).
Paul’s exhortation at the beginning of verse 15, be careful how you walk, directly follows his exhortations to “walk in love” (Ephesians 5:2) and to “walk as children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8b).
Paul would not be making this warning to the Ephesians saints if, by virtue of receiving the Gift of Eternal Life, they automatically walked in love or as children of light. If every believer automatically walked in love all the time or as children of light all the time, then Paul’s exhortations for them to do so would be redundant or absurd. The reason Paul makes these exhortations and urges believers to be careful how you walk is because it is possible for believers to not walk in love or to live as sons of disobedience.
This is because believers continue to have a fallen nature even though through Christ we also have a new nature and are new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Paul speaks of this in Romans 7:17-18 andGalatians 5:16-17, where he speaks of an internal battle between the “flesh,” our old sin nature, and the “Spirit,” the Holy Spirit speaking to us through our redeemed nature. In saying be careful how you walk, Paul is once again elevating the reality that believers make a choice whether we submit to our flesh or to the Spirit (Romans 6:16).
The fact that Paul says be careful how you walk is a powerful indicator that it is not only possible for believers to not walk in love, etc. but is a common pitfall that can easily ensnare us.
To walk in this context, means how a person lives—the choices they make. Every person gets to decide three things and three things only:
Their own actions
Their perspective/attitude
Who they trust
Paul is urging the Ephesian saints to pay special attention to how they walk. And of course our actions are largely shaped by who or what we believe/trust and what perspectives we choose. In this passage, Paul urges believers to believe that God’s ways are for our best, and choose a perspective that is true. This will lead us to walk in the Light.
It is interesting that Paul warns his believing readers to be careful how you walk and not where you are walking. Because Paul’s target audience are believers in Jesus whom he calls “saints”—literally “holy ones” (Ephesians 1:1b)—and he describes them as being adopted as sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5), redeemed and forgiven through His blood (Ephesians 1:7)—the place where Paul’s readers are going is already settled. The place where Paul’s intended readers are walking is toward God and they will live with God in eternity because they have been saved by His grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8).
Moreover, the Ephesian believers (at least for the moment) seem to be walking well. We will see in Revelation 2:1-7 that at a later time they began to forget their first love, although they continued to stand for the truth. Paul does not criticize them, as he did the Galatians (Galatians 3:1). He does not call out their sins, as he did to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:). Rather, he exhorts them to continue on while being aware of pitfalls along the way. This is similar to the exhortation he gave the Thessalonians, who he exhorted to “excel still more” in walking in a manner that pleases God (1 Thessalonians 4:1).
Although they seem to be walking well, Paul exhorts them to be carefulhow they walk. Because the Christian life is not only about the destination. It is also about the journey.
How believers live and walk matters a great deal to God. And it matters a great deal to their present earthly lives and to the life they will have in the new heaven and new earth (Matthew 25:14-30,2 Timothy 2:11b, 1 Peter 1:3-9). Because how we live and walk as believers has major consequences for our lives now and in eternity, we should be careful how we live and walk.
As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, the will of God is “your sanctification” which is to walk apart from the ways of the world. God is not so much concerned about our circumstantial choices as our moral choices. When God wanted to redirect Paul’s circumstantial choices, He made it clear, as when He appeared in a dream to tell Paul to go to Macedonia rather than Asia (Acts 16:9). But he did this after Paul was in route to Asia, which tells us that God is fine with us using our best wisdom to make circumstantial choices.
But when it comes to moral choices, God desires that we walk in purity, apart from the world. It is 100% true that every believer in Jesus is promised to be with God in all eternity (John 3:16,1 Peter 1:3-4). Every believer in Jesus will unfailingly experience this incredible eternal promise, regardless of their faithfulness or unfaithfulness (2 Timothy 2:11a), or in this context regardless of whether they walk as wise or unwise men.
Even though God’s promise of the Gift of Eternal Life stands, our experience of that life depends on our choices. Choices have consequences, both in this life as well as the next. As Romans 1:24, 26 28 makes clear, when we choose unrighteousness, we reap the consequences of unrighteousness, which leads to addiction and loss of mental health. Further, there are eternal rewards to be won or lost depending on how each believer walks and lives their life (2 Corinthians 5:10). These rewards can be called “the Prize of Eternal Life.”
Jesus often describes the Prize of Eternal Life in terms of entering the kingdom or inheriting eternal life.
After receiving the irrevocable Gift of Eternal Life (Romans 11:29) by grace through simple faith in Jesus as God’s Son and their Savior (Ephesians 2:8), born—again believers (John 1:12-13, 3:3) have an opportunity to grow in God’s grace and mature in their faith. This growth depends on making good choices. Which is why Paul exhorts the Ephesians to be careful how you walk. Those who walk in faith have the opportunity to inherit the Prize of Eternal Life (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).
Possessing our inheritance, which is the Prize of Eternal Life, is gained by continuing to trust God and act in His power to take each step of our lives. We see a picture of this with the second generation of Israel coming out of Egypt; they possessed the inheritance of the land by walking in faith to possess it. Their first step was to cross the Jordan River. Similarly, as we learn to trust God with each step, we begin as imitators of God and as beloved children (Ephesians 5:1) to “walk in love” (Ephesians 5:2a) and to “walk as children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8b).
We imitate Jesus’s example of trusting God by faith when we walk in obedience to His ways. We are to walk by faith in God and not by the limitations of our own blurry spiritual vision (2 Corinthians 5:9).
The First Epistle of John promises us that: “If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light” that we will enjoy “fellowship with one another” and continual cleansing of all our sins from the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7). Fellowship with other believers and continual cleansing of our sins are two aspects of the Prize of Eternal Life that believers have the opportunity to experience in this lifetime.
Choosing to trust God through His word and Spirit with each step we take is wise. Relying on our own spiritual understanding is unwise. (See Proverbs 3:5-7).
Believers who are wise grow in God’s grace and mature in their faith, walk in His ways, and partner with God to accomplish many great things in His kingdom. (Note: God defines what is great in His own kingdom. God defines greatness as serving others through selfless acts of love (Matthew 20:25-28).
Believers who are wisewalk in the good works which God prepared beforehand for them and created for them to do in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10).
Believers who walk in and fulfill the good works God created for them to do in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10) will receive their reward and win the Prize of Eternal Life (Matthew 19:27-29). It is encouraging to note that Jesus considers giving a cup of cold water to someone in His name an act worthy of reward (Matthew 10:42). This means God will judge the heart behind what we do more than the results that can be seen by men.
Paul explains why his believing readers should be careful how they walk—specifically: not as unwise men but as wise. Paul wants believers to walk with wisdom so that they can inherit the Prize of Eternal Life.
Unwise men are ignorant or disobedient. Unwise men may not be perceptive to their surroundings or situation. They do not fully understand or they refuse to acknowledge the consequences and/or stakes of their choices. Unwise men often squander the opportunities for great gain that are presented to them because they failed to recognize the opportunity for what it was. Unwise men often bring harm to themselves and others as they stumble and make a mess of things in the darkness of their ignorance.
Wise men have understanding and perception. People who are wise are not only aware of the consequences and stakes of their choices, but also discern which choices will lead to gain (life) and which will lead to loss (death). Most importantly of all, wise people choose what is good and turn from evil. Those who are wise are capable of discerning good from evil (Hebrews 5:14).
In this context, Wise people walk and live in such a way that they are constantly making the most of their time in this lifetime so that they might gain the fulness of life now and fully inherit the Prize of Eternal Life.
The expression making the most of your time refers to understanding the eternal nature of the trials or circumstances you are in so that you can maximize the most good from them.
A person’s time in this life is a fixed and limited resource. It is also uncertain and may end at any moment. This life is a person’s one opportunity to know, love, and serve God by faith. Because once we enter the next life, we will see God in His glory and we will know, love, and serve Him by sight. This is why Peter describes our faith as “more precious than gold” (1 Peter 1:7).
God’s wisdom shows believers how to walk in the midst of any trial so that they can win. We walk by faith in God (2 Corinthians 5:9a) and walk in love toward others (Ephesians 5:2a).
We should be careful how we spend the time we have so that we can accomplish and learn as much as we can with God and in His strength for His kingdom. The growth we experience in this life by faith is part of our eternal reward, as Jesus said “eternal life” is to know Him (John 17:3). It is only in this life we will be able to know by faith.
If we lack wisdom as to how we are to walk productively through a particular trial or circumstance, James exhorts us to ask God for His perspective so that we can be fruitful and win the reward of the crown of life (James 1:2-3. 12).
Paul ends his exhortation: Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time with the clause: because the days are evil.
When Paul writes because the days are evil, he is describing the moral and spiritual climate of the present world system in which believers live.
The Greek adjective that is translated as evil in verse 16 is a form of the word πονηρός (G4190: pronounced: “pon—é—ros”). “Ponéros” carries a sense of active wickedness, corruption, and moral decay.
Paul’s meaning for the days are evil is figurative. He does not mean that the days are literally evil, or that time itself is evil. But he is describing the present age—the present course of the world dominated by sin and rebellion against God—which are filled with temptations, distractions, and opposition to righteousness. These “evil days” are the natural result of humanity’s fallen condition and the pervasive influence of the enemy, whom Paul elsewhere calls:
“the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4)
“this present evil age” (Galatians 1:4)
“the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2)
Believers live in the overlap of these two ages—the current age marked by evil and the coming age of eternal light. Until Jesus returns, Christians must navigate a world filled with moral confusion, spiritual deception, and hostility to truth. These are the evil days that make wisdom, discernment, and faith indispensable. Walking wisely means aligning one’s perspective with God’s eternal purposes rather than being swept away by the fleeting passions and corrupted values of the present world.
Because the days are evil, Paul urges believers to live with spiritual alertness and purpose.
These evil days are filled with traps that can lead believers into wasted time, harmful choices, and unfruitful works. The truth is that every moment is precious and every decision is spiritually significant. To make the most of your time means to redeem the time—to buy it back from the evil influences that constantly seek to steal it. As 1 Peter 5:8 says, the devil is like a lion seeking people to devour with his lies. But James 4:7 promises that if we resist the devil he will flee from us.
The believer’s life is to be marked by deliberate obedience and careful stewardship of opportunities, knowing that the world’s moral corruption threatens to dull our sensitivity to God’s will (Ephesians 5:17).
Paul’s warning implies that if believers do not intentionally walk wisely, the natural pull of the surrounding evil will drag them into unwise and fruitless living.
Throughout Ephesians 5, Paul has been contrasting light and darkness.
He uses the days are evil to remind his readers that they live in a dark world that stands in contrast to the light of Christ shining within them. This echoes his earlier command to “walk as children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8). In evil days, light is rare and precious, and believers are called to shine it all the more brightly. Evil times test faith and expose what is genuine. Rather than retreating from the darkness, believers are to expose it by their faithful conduct (Ephesians 5:11-13). In this way, Paul’s statement carries both a warning and a commission—evil days are not an excuse for passivity but a call to shine with greater diligence and faithfulness.
Finally, although the days are evil, Paul’s exhortation carries a hopeful tone.
Evil is real, but temporary.
God and His goodness will ultimately triumph and evil will be no more (Isaiah 25:6-9,Revelation 21:1-4).
In the meantime, believers should be careful and walk wisely.
These evil days present both danger and opportunity: danger to compromise, but opportunity to display faith, endurance, and love. Every moment of faithfulness in an evil age is eternally significant. And walking as children of Light (Ephesians 5:8b) stands as a testimony that God’s light still pierces the darkness.
Thus, Paul’s exhortation to make the most of our timebecause the days are evil reminds believers that life is short, the spiritual battle is real, and the kingdom reward is worth every effort. Wise believers live purposefully, redeeming each moment to glorify Christ in a world that desperately needs His salvation.
Ephesians 5:15-16
15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,
16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
Set to dark mode
Ephesians 5:15-16 meaning
In Ephesians 5:15-16, Paul exhorts the Ephesian saints to walk carefully and wisely, making the most of every opportunity to do good, because the days are evil and time must be used for God’s purposes.
After exhorting and explaining to his readers that they should not be partakers with the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 5:6b-14), Paul makes another exhortation:
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil (vv 15-16).
Paul begins this exhortation with the word: Therefore.
In a general sense, the word Therefore connects Paul’s exhortation to walk wisely with everything he has already written in this book. But in a specific sense, Therefore connects his exhortation to his preceding thoughts about being imitators of God who walk in love as Jesus loved (Ephesians 5:1-2), living purely and unstained from the world (Ephesians 5:3-6), and to walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:7-14).
Paul’s exhortation at the beginning of verse 15, be careful how you walk, directly follows his exhortations to “walk in love” (Ephesians 5:2) and to “walk as children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8b).
Paul would not be making this warning to the Ephesians saints if, by virtue of receiving the Gift of Eternal Life, they automatically walked in love or as children of light. If every believer automatically walked in love all the time or as children of light all the time, then Paul’s exhortations for them to do so would be redundant or absurd. The reason Paul makes these exhortations and urges believers to be careful how you walk is because it is possible for believers to not walk in love or to live as sons of disobedience.
This is because believers continue to have a fallen nature even though through Christ we also have a new nature and are new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Paul speaks of this in Romans 7:17-18 and Galatians 5:16-17, where he speaks of an internal battle between the “flesh,” our old sin nature, and the “Spirit,” the Holy Spirit speaking to us through our redeemed nature. In saying be careful how you walk, Paul is once again elevating the reality that believers make a choice whether we submit to our flesh or to the Spirit (Romans 6:16).
The fact that Paul says be careful how you walk is a powerful indicator that it is not only possible for believers to not walk in love, etc. but is a common pitfall that can easily ensnare us.
To walk in this context, means how a person lives—the choices they make. Every person gets to decide three things and three things only:
Paul is urging the Ephesian saints to pay special attention to how they walk. And of course our actions are largely shaped by who or what we believe/trust and what perspectives we choose. In this passage, Paul urges believers to believe that God’s ways are for our best, and choose a perspective that is true. This will lead us to walk in the Light.
It is interesting that Paul warns his believing readers to be careful how you walk and not where you are walking. Because Paul’s target audience are believers in Jesus whom he calls “saints”—literally “holy ones” (Ephesians 1:1b)—and he describes them as being adopted as sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5), redeemed and forgiven through His blood (Ephesians 1:7)—the place where Paul’s readers are going is already settled. The place where Paul’s intended readers are walking is toward God and they will live with God in eternity because they have been saved by His grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8).
Moreover, the Ephesian believers (at least for the moment) seem to be walking well. We will see in Revelation 2:1-7 that at a later time they began to forget their first love, although they continued to stand for the truth. Paul does not criticize them, as he did the Galatians (Galatians 3:1). He does not call out their sins, as he did to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:). Rather, he exhorts them to continue on while being aware of pitfalls along the way. This is similar to the exhortation he gave the Thessalonians, who he exhorted to “excel still more” in walking in a manner that pleases God (1 Thessalonians 4:1).
Although they seem to be walking well, Paul exhorts them to be careful how they walk. Because the Christian life is not only about the destination. It is also about the journey.
How believers live and walk matters a great deal to God. And it matters a great deal to their present earthly lives and to the life they will have in the new heaven and new earth (Matthew 25:14-30, 2 Timothy 2:11b, 1 Peter 1:3-9). Because how we live and walk as believers has major consequences for our lives now and in eternity, we should be careful how we live and walk.
As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, the will of God is “your sanctification” which is to walk apart from the ways of the world. God is not so much concerned about our circumstantial choices as our moral choices. When God wanted to redirect Paul’s circumstantial choices, He made it clear, as when He appeared in a dream to tell Paul to go to Macedonia rather than Asia (Acts 16:9). But he did this after Paul was in route to Asia, which tells us that God is fine with us using our best wisdom to make circumstantial choices.
But when it comes to moral choices, God desires that we walk in purity, apart from the world. It is 100% true that every believer in Jesus is promised to be with God in all eternity (John 3:16, 1 Peter 1:3-4). Every believer in Jesus will unfailingly experience this incredible eternal promise, regardless of their faithfulness or unfaithfulness (2 Timothy 2:11a), or in this context regardless of whether they walk as wise or unwise men.
Even though God’s promise of the Gift of Eternal Life stands, our experience of that life depends on our choices. Choices have consequences, both in this life as well as the next. As Romans 1:24, 26 28 makes clear, when we choose unrighteousness, we reap the consequences of unrighteousness, which leads to addiction and loss of mental health. Further, there are eternal rewards to be won or lost depending on how each believer walks and lives their life (2 Corinthians 5:10). These rewards can be called “the Prize of Eternal Life.”
Jesus often describes the Prize of Eternal Life in terms of entering the kingdom or inheriting eternal life.
After receiving the irrevocable Gift of Eternal Life (Romans 11:29) by grace through simple faith in Jesus as God’s Son and their Savior (Ephesians 2:8), born—again believers (John 1:12-13, 3:3) have an opportunity to grow in God’s grace and mature in their faith. This growth depends on making good choices. Which is why Paul exhorts the Ephesians to be careful how you walk. Those who walk in faith have the opportunity to inherit the Prize of Eternal Life (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).
Possessing our inheritance, which is the Prize of Eternal Life, is gained by continuing to trust God and act in His power to take each step of our lives. We see a picture of this with the second generation of Israel coming out of Egypt; they possessed the inheritance of the land by walking in faith to possess it. Their first step was to cross the Jordan River. Similarly, as we learn to trust God with each step, we begin as imitators of God and as beloved children (Ephesians 5:1) to “walk in love” (Ephesians 5:2a) and to “walk as children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8b).
We imitate Jesus’s example of trusting God by faith when we walk in obedience to His ways. We are to walk by faith in God and not by the limitations of our own blurry spiritual vision (2 Corinthians 5:9).
The First Epistle of John promises us that: “If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light” that we will enjoy “fellowship with one another” and continual cleansing of all our sins from the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7). Fellowship with other believers and continual cleansing of our sins are two aspects of the Prize of Eternal Life that believers have the opportunity to experience in this lifetime.
Choosing to trust God through His word and Spirit with each step we take is wise. Relying on our own spiritual understanding is unwise. (See Proverbs 3:5-7).
Believers who are wise grow in God’s grace and mature in their faith, walk in His ways, and partner with God to accomplish many great things in His kingdom. (Note: God defines what is great in His own kingdom. God defines greatness as serving others through selfless acts of love (Matthew 20:25-28).
Believers who are wise walk in the good works which God prepared beforehand for them and created for them to do in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10).
Believers who walk in and fulfill the good works God created for them to do in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10) will receive their reward and win the Prize of Eternal Life (Matthew 19:27-29). It is encouraging to note that Jesus considers giving a cup of cold water to someone in His name an act worthy of reward (Matthew 10:42). This means God will judge the heart behind what we do more than the results that can be seen by men.
Paul explains why his believing readers should be careful how they walk—specifically: not as unwise men but as wise. Paul wants believers to walk with wisdom so that they can inherit the Prize of Eternal Life.
Unwise men are ignorant or disobedient. Unwise men may not be perceptive to their surroundings or situation. They do not fully understand or they refuse to acknowledge the consequences and/or stakes of their choices. Unwise men often squander the opportunities for great gain that are presented to them because they failed to recognize the opportunity for what it was. Unwise men often bring harm to themselves and others as they stumble and make a mess of things in the darkness of their ignorance.
Wise men have understanding and perception. People who are wise are not only aware of the consequences and stakes of their choices, but also discern which choices will lead to gain (life) and which will lead to loss (death). Most importantly of all, wise people choose what is good and turn from evil. Those who are wise are capable of discerning good from evil (Hebrews 5:14).
In this context, Wise people walk and live in such a way that they are constantly making the most of their time in this lifetime so that they might gain the fulness of life now and fully inherit the Prize of Eternal Life.
The expression making the most of your time refers to understanding the eternal nature of the trials or circumstances you are in so that you can maximize the most good from them.
A person’s time in this life is a fixed and limited resource. It is also uncertain and may end at any moment. This life is a person’s one opportunity to know, love, and serve God by faith. Because once we enter the next life, we will see God in His glory and we will know, love, and serve Him by sight. This is why Peter describes our faith as “more precious than gold” (1 Peter 1:7).
God’s wisdom shows believers how to walk in the midst of any trial so that they can win. We walk by faith in God (2 Corinthians 5:9a) and walk in love toward others (Ephesians 5:2a).
We should be careful how we spend the time we have so that we can accomplish and learn as much as we can with God and in His strength for His kingdom. The growth we experience in this life by faith is part of our eternal reward, as Jesus said “eternal life” is to know Him (John 17:3). It is only in this life we will be able to know by faith.
If we lack wisdom as to how we are to walk productively through a particular trial or circumstance, James exhorts us to ask God for His perspective so that we can be fruitful and win the reward of the crown of life (James 1:2-3. 12).
Paul ends his exhortation: Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time with the clause: because the days are evil.
When Paul writes because the days are evil, he is describing the moral and spiritual climate of the present world system in which believers live.
The Greek adjective that is translated as evil in verse 16 is a form of the word πονηρός (G4190: pronounced: “pon—é—ros”). “Ponéros” carries a sense of active wickedness, corruption, and moral decay.
Paul’s meaning for the days are evil is figurative. He does not mean that the days are literally evil, or that time itself is evil. But he is describing the present age—the present course of the world dominated by sin and rebellion against God—which are filled with temptations, distractions, and opposition to righteousness. These “evil days” are the natural result of humanity’s fallen condition and the pervasive influence of the enemy, whom Paul elsewhere calls:
(2 Corinthians 4:4)
(Galatians 1:4)
(Ephesians 2:2)
Believers live in the overlap of these two ages—the current age marked by evil and the coming age of eternal light. Until Jesus returns, Christians must navigate a world filled with moral confusion, spiritual deception, and hostility to truth. These are the evil days that make wisdom, discernment, and faith indispensable. Walking wisely means aligning one’s perspective with God’s eternal purposes rather than being swept away by the fleeting passions and corrupted values of the present world.
Because the days are evil, Paul urges believers to live with spiritual alertness and purpose.
These evil days are filled with traps that can lead believers into wasted time, harmful choices, and unfruitful works. The truth is that every moment is precious and every decision is spiritually significant. To make the most of your time means to redeem the time—to buy it back from the evil influences that constantly seek to steal it. As 1 Peter 5:8 says, the devil is like a lion seeking people to devour with his lies. But James 4:7 promises that if we resist the devil he will flee from us.
The believer’s life is to be marked by deliberate obedience and careful stewardship of opportunities, knowing that the world’s moral corruption threatens to dull our sensitivity to God’s will (Ephesians 5:17).
Paul’s warning implies that if believers do not intentionally walk wisely, the natural pull of the surrounding evil will drag them into unwise and fruitless living.
Throughout Ephesians 5, Paul has been contrasting light and darkness.
He uses the days are evil to remind his readers that they live in a dark world that stands in contrast to the light of Christ shining within them. This echoes his earlier command to “walk as children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8). In evil days, light is rare and precious, and believers are called to shine it all the more brightly. Evil times test faith and expose what is genuine. Rather than retreating from the darkness, believers are to expose it by their faithful conduct (Ephesians 5:11-13). In this way, Paul’s statement carries both a warning and a commission—evil days are not an excuse for passivity but a call to shine with greater diligence and faithfulness.
Finally, although the days are evil, Paul’s exhortation carries a hopeful tone.
Evil is real, but temporary.
God and His goodness will ultimately triumph and evil will be no more (Isaiah 25:6-9, Revelation 21:1-4).
In the meantime, believers should be careful and walk wisely.
These evil days present both danger and opportunity: danger to compromise, but opportunity to display faith, endurance, and love. Every moment of faithfulness in an evil age is eternally significant. And walking as children of Light (Ephesians 5:8b) stands as a testimony that God’s light still pierces the darkness.
Thus, Paul’s exhortation to make the most of our time because the days are evil reminds believers that life is short, the spiritual battle is real, and the kingdom reward is worth every effort. Wise believers live purposefully, redeeming each moment to glorify Christ in a world that desperately needs His salvation.