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BUT IMMORALITY: porneia de:
(Eph 5:5; 4:19,20; Numbers 25:1; Deuteronomy 23:17,18; Matthew 15:19;
Mark 7:21; Lk 12:15, Acts 15:20; Romans 1:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,
25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32-
From Paul's divinely inspired
"pattern of moral devolution" in Romans 1,
notice how suppression and rejection
of the knowledge of the true God naturally "devolves" into
worship of false gods and how this false worship in turn is intimately
associated with the practice of sexual immorality in all forms!
Upshot?
Knowledge of the one true and living God and growing intimacy with the
Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit
[Gal 5:16-see
notes]
in daily quiet times of worshipful fellowship are the BEST
preventative measure (and cure) for those bound with the cords of the
sin (Pr 5:22) of sexual immorality and better than any of the Christian
books or programs that are flooding the marketplace! Let us return to
the "ancient paths", the "highway of holiness" and as Christian men
begin to experience a freedom in this area that heretofore we never even
thought was possible in light of the pervasive permeation of American
culture by sensuality and sexual seduction.;
Ro 6:13; 1Corinthians 5:10,11;
6:9,13,18; 10:8; 2Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19, 20, 21; Colossians 3:5,
6, 7;
1Thessalonians 4:3,7; Hebrews 12:16; 13:4; 2Peter 2:10; Revelation
2:14,21; 9:21; 21:8; Revelation 22:15)
Note:
All verbs in
bold red
indicate commands, not suggestions!
Also
hold mouse pointer over
underlined links for pop up of Scripture which stays open and can
be copied.
In his summarization of this
chapter Charles Hodge writes...
It becomes saints to avoid not only
the sins of uncleanness and covetousness, but also all impropriety of
conduct and frivolity of language, Ephesians 5:3, 4. Because
uncleanness and covetousness not only exclude from heaven, but,
whatever errorists may say, bring down the wrath of God, Eph 5:5,6.
Christians, therefore, should not participate in those sins, seeing
they have been divinely enlightened and made the recipients of that
light whose fruits are goodness, righteousness and truth. They are
bound to exemplify this in their conduct, avoiding and reproving the
deeds of darkness, Eph 5:7, 8, 9, 10. Those deeds are too shameful to
be named; still they may be corrected by the power of that light which
it is the prerogative of believers to disseminate. Therefore the
Scriptures speak of the light which flows from Christ as reaching even
to the dead, Eph 5:12, 13, 14. Christians therefore should be wise,
making the most of every occasion for good, in the midst of the evils
by which they are surrounded, Eph 5:13, 14, 15, 16. They should seek
exhilaration not from wine, but from the Holy Spirit, and give
expression to their gladness in psalms and hymns, praising and
thanking God through Jesus Christ, Eph 5:17, 18, 19, 20.
In the preceding section the
apostle had spoken of sins against our neighbor; here from Eph 5:3 to
Eph 5:20 he dwells principally on sins against ourselves. Not only
fornication, but everything of the same nature, or that leads to it,
is to be avoided—and not only avoided, but not even named among
believers. The inconsistency of all such sins with the character of
Christians, as saints, men selected from the world and consecrated to
God, is such as should forbid the very mention of them in a Christian
society. With the sins of uncleanness the apostle here, as in the
preceding chapter, Eph 4:19, connects
pleonexia, covetousness. The word is
to be taken in its ordinary sense, as there is nothing in the context
to justify any departure from it. The assumption that sins of
sensuality are alone mentioned in this and the following verse, leads
to very forced interpretations of several of the terms employed. (Ephesians 5:3-20)
But (1161)
(de) conveys a very strong contrast with that which produces a
"fragrant aroma" before God. It is probably not too far fetched to take
from this contrast the implication that the following vices are a
"stench" in God's nostrils rather than a fragrant aroma! Thus Paul carries
the exhortation to be imitators of God (Eph 5:1,2) over to a prohibition expressed
in the strongest terms and which is leveled against one of the deadliest
and most inveterate temptations to which Gentile Christians were
exposed - porneia!
(As an aside, take a moment and hold your pointer over the cross
references listed above in order to get a sense of the seriousness and
pervasiveness of this sin throughout the ages!)
As Eadie
says porneia
was...
a sin which had eaten deep into the
Gentile world (Acts 15:20, 29) (Ephesians
5 Commentary)
Comment: We might paraphrase Eadie's
words in terms of our modern culture -- "Pornography on the Internet
is a sin which has eaten deeply into the culture of America and has
seriously "infected" American Christianity and Christian men." [Covenant
Eyes is
strongly and highly recommended as it is not a "filter" but a "tracker"
of every website visited, with a report to your accountability partner
of those sites, taking special note of those "highly suggestive of
'mature' content".) (See also verse by verse studies on Proverbs 5-7 =
Proverbs 5:1-14;
Proverbs 5:15-23;
Proverbs 6:20-35;
Proverbs 7:1-27])
Hoehner
writes that...
The self-centered vices in conduct
and speech (Eph 5:3-4) are the opposite of the self-sacrificing love
spoken of in Eph 5:1,2-notes.
Since these vices portray selfishness and unconcern for others, a
believer should not have even a hint of these sins in his life. (Walvoord,
J. F., Zuck, R. B., et al: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 1985. Victor).
Among you -
''you'' is plural. There is not to be one loose cannon on the deck. Not
one guy cheating on his wife. Not one church staff member hooked on
internet pornography. We are saints, holy ones of God. We have laid
aside these old filthy garments and are wearing the robes of Christ's
righteousness. We need to live like it, and in context love like Christ.
In this verse Paul shows what love does not look like!
John Piper
warns that...
Fornication should be eliminated from
your life if you are a Christian. It should be shunned like a dangerous
disease. For it is far more dangerous than AIDS. AIDS can only kill your
body. Fornication can kill your soul as we will see from Eph 5:6 (cp Mt
10:28, Lk 12:4, 5).
(Ephesians 5:3-6:
The Enthronement of Desire)
Immorality (4202)
(porneia
from porneúo = commit fornication or any sexual sin)
originally referred to any excessive
behavior or lack of restraint, but eventually became associated with
sexual excess and indulgence. Porneia
originally was used especially to describe the practice of consorting
with prostitutes (porneis = “prostitute”) and eventually came to
mean “habitual immorality.”
Porneia as
used in the Scriptures describes any illicit sexual activity outside of
the divine bounds established by marriage and thus includes the ideas of
unlawful sexual intercourse, unchastity and fornication. Porneia
includes (but is not limited to) adultery, premarital sex,
homosexuality, bestiality, incest, and prostitution.
Porneia is the opposite of the Greek
word
enkrateia/ egkrateia
(word study) (literally
means "holding oneself in"), which usually referred to sexual self-control
(see Acts 24:25)
There are 25 uses
of porneia in the NT - Mt. 5:32; 15:19; 19:9; Mark. 7:21; Jn.
8:41; Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25; 1Co. 5:1; 6:13, 18; 7:2; 2Co. 12:21; Gal.
5:19; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5; 1Th 4:3; Rev 2:21; 9:21; 14:8; 17:2, 4; 18:3;
19:2
There are 36 uses
of porneia in the
Septuagint (LXX)
- Ge 38:24; Nu 14:33;
2Ki. 9:22; Is 47:10; 57:9; Jer 2:20; 3:2, 9; 13:27; Ezek 16:15, 22, 25,
33, 34, 36, 41; 23:7, 8, 11, 14, 17, 18, 19, 27, 29, 35; 43:7, 9; Ho
1:2; 2:2, 4; 4:11, 12; 5:4; 6:10; Micah 1:7; Nah 3:4
Cole writes that porneia...
includes premarital sex, extramarital
sex, incest, homosexuality, bestiality, and the use of pornography. Any
sex outside of the lifelong commitment of marriage is not rooted in love
(as I defined it in our last study [Reference],
“a self-sacrificing, caring commitment that shows itself in seeking the
highest good of the one loved”), but in lust. Outside of marriage, sex
devolves into using the other person for your own gratification. (Ephesians 5:3-6 Clean Up Your Act!)
As an aside, porneia refers primarily to sins of the flesh, but those sins can never
be divorced from the sins of the mind or heart, because all sin is
related. Sin in one area always makes us more susceptible to sin in
other areas (don't be deceived). No where does Scripture sanction the
commitment of any form of extramarital sexual activity...a far cry from
our modern American culture!
Our English word
pornography is from porneia (illicit sexual activity) + graph
(a
writing). Thus pornography ("porn") is a writing
(picture) related to illicit sexual activity of some variety.
Expositors Greek Testament writes that...
The
term porneia (fornication) is to be taken in its proper sense and
is not to be restricted to any one particular form—the license practiced
at heathen festivals, concubinage, marriage within prohibited degrees,
or the like. The moral life of the Greco-Roman world had sunk so low
that, while protests against the prevailing corruption were never
entirely wanting, fornication had long come to be regarded as a matter
of moral indifference, and was indulged in without shame or scruple, not
only by the mass, but by philosophers and men of distinction who in
other respects led exemplary lives.” (Nicoll, W Robertson, Editor:
Expositors Greek Testament: 5 Volumes. Out of print. Search Google) (Comment:
Does this comment remind you of any modern day society?)
Christianity
brought chastity, a virtue that was foreign to the Greco-Roman world.
Into this world of pagan idolatry where sexual immorality was not
only condoned, but regarded as normal, the Christian faith came as a
purifying fire. Twentieth-century America has reverted back to the “normality
of sexual immorality” and the revival fire of the Christian faith is
desperately needed.
Remember the
context of the society Paul was addressing. In the Greek culture of that
day, prostitution and fornication were considered permissible
activities. A married man in Greece cold engage in extramarital sexual
intercourse as much as he wished, but this practice was forbidden for
the wife! Athenaeus, a writer in the second century AD, quotes from a
speech of Demosthenes,
“We keep mistresses for pleasure,
concubines for daily concubinage, but wives we have in order to produce
children legitimately and to have a trustworthy guardian of our domestic
property.”
Kenneth Wuest records that
The moral life of the Greco-Roman
world had sunk so low that, while protests against the prevailing
corruption were never entirely wanting, fornication had long come to be
regarded as a matter of moral indifference, and was indulged in without
shame or scruple, not only by the mass, but by philosophers and men of
distinction who in other respects led exemplary lives. (Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the
Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)
In the book of Acts the early
church condemned all sexual experimentation outside of marriage James
declaring that the Gentiles who were turning to God from idols be
instructive
that they abstain from things
contaminated by idols and from fornication (porneia - in
this context the reference is to sexual sins in general but orgies that
were associated with the worship of the pagan idols) and from what is
strangled and from blood." (Acts
15:20)
The association of
idolatry and sexual immorality as alluded to in this
passage in Acts is frequently seen in many other passages of Scripture
(Ex 32:4, 5, 6, 28, Nu 25:1, 2, 3,4, 1Cor 10:7, 8, Rev 2:14, 21:8).
In Romans 1 Paul
clearly links idolatry with immorality writing...
"Professing to be wise, they became
fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image
in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and
crawling creatures (idolatry). 24 Therefore God gave them over (a
judicial term in Gr., used for handing over a prisoner to his sentence.
When men consistently abandon God, He will abandon them) in the lusts of
their hearts to impurity (a general term describing decaying matter,
like the contents of a grave and in context speaks of sexual
immorality), that their bodies might be dishonored among them. 25 For
they exchanged the truth of God for a lie (an idol is a lie, a false
representation of God), and worshiped and served the creature (idolatry)
rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this
reason God gave them over (God's judicial sentence because of their
idolatry was to deliverer them over to the power of) to degrading
(dishonoring, disgracing, shameful) passions (which resulted in erotic
activity with members of their own sex); for their women exchanged the
natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way
also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in
their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts
and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error."
(Romans
1:22-27)(see notes beginning with
Ro 1:22)
Comment: When men suppress the truth about God and fail to give
thanks to Him and honor Him (Ro 1:18, 19- note,
Ro 1:20, 21-note), they move away from
one of the greatest "protections" against sexual immorality. Notice the
same relation in 1Thessalonians 4:5 (note) where the Gentiles are "defined" as
those who do not know God and this failure to know God is linked by Paul
with their practice of "lustful passions". It follows that the
way to defeat lustful passions is to know God. In 2Cor 11:3 the deception by the devil is to
draw men's thoughts (the battle is in our mind) away from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
Again it follows that the best defense from being deceived (by the devil
or the lust of our flesh, James 1:14, 15-note) is to maintain a single
hearted (sincere), pure devotion to Christ (i.e., know God!) Sheep are always safest when they
remain close to the Chief Shepherd.
In summary, the best defense in our life long fight
against the pull of our fallen
flesh
to gratify ourselves through illicit sexual activity,
is to cultivate our relationship with the Chief Shepherd. Compare a
similar "pattern" in Galatians 5:16 [note]
where first we choose to continually obey Paul's command, and moment by
moment to surrender to the control and empowerment by the Spirit of
Christ, Who then enables us to not gratify the lusts of the
flesh.
This description is nothing short of the "victorious Christian life."
So let me get practical. How is your quiet time?
That is, are you sitting at the feet of the Shepherd (Lk 10:39, 40)?
Remember as our Lord said, really only one thing is necessary (Lk 10:41,
42). When we are doing the "good part" (Lk 10:42), daily seated at our
Lord's feet, we will be filled with His Word, which the Spirit of Christ
uses to renew our mind, control our thoughts and empower our walk (cp
the effects in Col 3:16-note
with those in Eph 5:18, 19, 20-note).
Are you daily taking in the living word of God
(cp Mt 4:4, 1Pe 2:2-note,
Acts 20:32) and
obeying the word
(James 1:22-note;
James 1:25-note), so that
you are growing in grace and the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
(2Pe 3:18-note)?
If you
are, then the things of this world, including the lusts of the
passing pleasures (Heb 11:25-note,
1Jn 2:17) of this world will be increasingly growing "strangely
dim in the light of His glory and grace" (Hymn)."
(Watch and listen to the poignant video by
Casting Crowns as they sing Slow Fade)
Remember that in Paul’s day
the ancient pagan world in general and Corinth in particular was like much of
modern day post-Christian, anti-God, relative values ruled America is today, for people were strongly
intent on having their own ways and doing what was right in their own eyes
(Jdg 21:25-note). And what they did that seemed "right" to them was
particularly manifest in fulfilling their
lust in illicit sexual activities, even under the guise of "religious
worship.". Corinth in fact was so conspicuous for its practice of sexual
immorality that to corinthianize meant to participate in reckless debauchery.
Given this culture of rampant sexual permissiveness the body of Christ
was sorely affected (pun intended). And so Paul writing to the Corinthian
church declares that
It is actually reported that there
is immorality (porneia) among you, and immorality
(porneia) of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that
someone has (present tense = an ongoing, habitual activity) his father's
wife." (1Cor 5:1 read the entire chapter [1Co 5:2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13] which describes immorality in
the church - and as you read be sure to observe that the admonition and
rebuke in this chapter is directed not so much to
those committing immorality but to the church who stood silently aloof, in fact arrogantly refusing to do anything about
this horrible blemish on their local body!)
Later in this same
letter Paul gives his instruction to individual believers who were being
tempted to play in the sewers of sexual immorality that was so
prevalent. Paul's advice was crystal clear...
Flee immorality
(porneia) (Flee is in the present
imperative =
flee and keep fleeing until the danger is past - when the seductive
commercial comes on the television, change channels or excuse yourself
from the room immediately! You have less than 5 seconds! Don't stay and
let a glance turn into a gaze rationalizing "I can handle this one!" -- In your own
strength you cannot! Remember that you won't fall into an illicit sexual
sin in a moment, but over time, as the little "cracks" in the dam
build up and erode so that one day you "suddenly" [all at
once]
commit an illicit act like the young man in Pr 7:22! Do not be deceived!) . Every other sin that a
man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his
own body (Porneia is more destructive to the sinner than other
sins because the one who engages in it cannot undo their act. In the
Screwtape Letters C. S. Lewis says that each time a man and a woman
enter into a sexual relationship a spiritual bond is established between
them which must be eternally enjoyed or eternally endured! Woe! cp
Paul's teaching 1Co 6:16, 17) Or do you
not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you
(1Co 3:16),
whom you have from God, and that you are not your own (Titus 2:14-note, 2Co
5:15, Ro 14:7, 8-note)? For you have been
bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." (1Cor
6:18, 19, 20, 7:23, 1Pe 2:9-note, Acts 20:28, Gal 3:13, Heb 9:12-note, 1Pe 1:18,
19-note, 2Pe 2:1-note, Rev 5:9- note)
What Paul is
saying in the preceding passage is that sexual sin not
only is against God (Ge 39:9, Ps 51:4) and other persons (1Thes 4:6-note), it is also against ourselves.
Part of our moral responsibility to ourselves is to be sexually pure.
When Christians are immoral, the testimony of the gospel is polluted and
the holy Name of God is blasphemed. Furthermore, we can know all the
truth in the world, and yet by our falling into illicit sexual activity,
we are showing by that activity that we despise not only God (2Sa 12:10)
but also His Word (2Sa 12:14)!
Don't dabble with porneia ("pornography"), trifle with it
(there is no such thing as "soft porn" - it is a lie!), argue about
it, debate it, explain it and certainly don't try to rationalize it as a
"spiritual challenge" to be met but as a "spiritual trap" to be escaped.
Get away as fast as you can! God gives such a clear and strong command
because porneia is so serious, so seductive, so corrupting and so
shattering to spiritual relationships, both human and divine! So flee
for your life.
An excellent
well known illustration of "fleeing immorality" is found in the account of Joseph
when he was tempted to sin by Potiphar’s wife Joseph addressing her
advances declared
“There is no one greater in this
house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because
you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and sin
against God? [Joseph feared Jehovah and so turned away from evil, cf
Job 1:1, Ps 119:104, 128, 168, Pr 8:13, 16:6]”10 And it came about as she
spoke to Joseph day after day, that he did not listen to her to lie
beside her, or be with her.11 Now it happened one day (God allowed this
test - in every test of our hearts there is the potential that it will
turn into a temptation and we will succumb to the lust of our flesh,
James 1:14) that he went into
the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there
inside.12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And
he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.) (Genesis
39:9-12)
While there may be
safety in numbers, sometimes there is more safety in flight! It is like
the pastor who cautioned his handsome new assistant about the dangers of
immorality in the ministry. The assistant said that he always did his
socializing in a group setting and concluded that “there is safety in
numbers.” The wise pastor replied, “Yes, that is so, but there is
more safety in Exodus!”
How serious is
immorality? Paul's rhetorical question indicates the consequences can be
eternally serious asking...
Or do you not know that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of
God. (1Cor
6:9-10)
William
MacDonald commenting on the passage in first Corinthians
adds that Paul...
does not mean to imply that
Christians can practice such sins and be lost, but rather he is saying
that people who practice such sins are not Christians. (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or
Logos)
(Comment: Don't misinterpret what he is saying -- he does not say
Christians can never fall into this trap of sexual sin. When a Christian
commits sexual sin, he or she is one of the more miserable individuals
you will ever meet. And although they may be trapped by the cords of sin
as in Pr 5:22, their heart's desire to not to commit the sin but to come
out of that sin. If they have no desire and make no efforts whatsoever
to be extirpated from that sin, that is when one has to begin to wonder
whether they are truly regenerate.)
Paul goes on to
explain that a healthy sexual relationship within the bond of marriage is one of the main (if not the main) defense against
sexual immorality...
1Corinthians 7:2 But because of immoralities
(porneia - we might paraphrase this in terms appropriate to our modern
culture and say "because of the seductive danger, prevalence and
supposed privacy [cp Pr 5:21, 15:3] of internet pornography"),
let each man
have
(command, not a suggestion) his own wife, and
let each woman have
her own husband.
1Corinthians 7:5
Stop depriving
one another (present
imperative + a negative = command to stop doing
this, implying some were), except by agreement
for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together
again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Solomon echoes this truth in Proverbs 5 calling on married
men to...
Proverbs 5:15 Drink water from your own cistern, And fresh water from
your own well.
16 Should your springs be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the
streets?
17 Let them be yours alone, And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at
all times; Be exhilarated always with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress, And
embrace the bosom of a foreigner? (See
notes Proverbs 5:15-23)
Porneia is
the more general term for all kinds of sexual sins and encompasses the
more specific sin of adultery (moichea
[3430])
which describes sexual sin in at least one person who is married. Jesus
used porneia to describe adultery in marriage, declaring
that everyone who divorces his wife,
except for the cause of unchastity (porneia - fornication), makes her
commit adultery (moichao = verb related to moichea); and whoever marries
a divorced woman commits adultery (moichao = verb related to moichea)
(see note
Matthew 5:32)
Porneia as
used in this verse in the context of marriage always constituted
adultery, which, by definition, is illicit sex by a married person.
In the ancient
world sexual activity (physical unfaithfulness) was often connected with
the idolatrous worship of false gods (spiritual unfaithfulness) (cf Nu
25:1, 2, 3, Rev 2:14-note,
Rev 2:20-note).
The verb form of porneia is used by Paul to describe the
immorality for which 23,000 (of the total of 24,000) Israelites were
killed by a plague in one day ("Nor let us act immorally [porneuo], as
some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.1Cor 10:8;
cf. Nu 25:9). Because the majority, if
not all, of those slain were probably married, porneia clearly
includes adultery.
Porneia is
used most often with its lurid literal meaning but some NT uses (as well
as uses in the Septuagint) utilize porneia in a figurative sense to
picture idolatry or the forsaking of the true and living God to
worship dead idols. Scripture describes God as married to His Church
through Christ, so that any idolatry is unfaithfulness toward God
and is often depicted as analogous to sexual unfaithfulness to one’s
marriage partner! As alluded to earlier, this association between
"spiritual adultery" and idolatry is not at all surprising in view of
the fact that literal adultery was closely associated with the Gentiles,
which by definition did not know God (they knew about Him but did not
really know Him) and so lived in lustful passions (1Th 4:5-note).
To repeat one of the best "defenses" against falling into sexual
immorality is to know God.
In the OT God's
relationship to Israel was pictured as that of a Husband to His wife (cf
Isaiah 54:5). And so in Jeremiah we see
Jehovah describe His punishment of the adulterous northern
kingdom of Israel by allowing her to be defeated and exiled into Assyria
(He gave "her a writ of divorce"). In spite of God's clear warning, the
southern kingdom described as Israel's
treacherous sister Judah did not
fear; but she went and was a harlot (Lxx = porneuo verbal
root of porneia) also (why did she play the harlot? no reverential fear
of the holy God). And it came about because of the lightness of her
harlotry (Hebrew = zenut refers to sexual sin that violates the
marriage covenant; and is used most
often figuratively to describe the wickedness of the nation of Israel,
this wickedness usually being associated with the worship of idols, and
occasionally even descriptive of outright rebellion Nu 14:33; Lxx = porneia), that
she polluted the land and committed adultery (Lxx =
moicheuo [word study]
verbal form
of moicheia) with stones and trees." (Jer 3:8, 9)
Addressing
Jerusalem, Jehovah declares to her that
you trusted in your beauty and
played the harlot (Hebrew = zanah = fornicate, prostitute, figuratively
of Israel's illicit relationship with other so-called gods; Lxx =
porneuo verbal root of porneia) because of your fame, and you poured
out your harlotries (Lxx = porneia), that she polluted the
land and committed adultery (Lxx = moicheuo verbal form of moicheia) on
every passer-by who might be willing...and besides all your abominations
and harlotries (Lxx = porneia) you did not remember the days of
your youth, when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood."
23 "Then it came about after all your wickedness ('Woe, woe to you!'
declares the Lord GOD), 24 that you built yourself a shrine (Lxx says "a
house of fornication" or for harlots) and made yourself a high place in
every square. 25 "You built yourself a high place at the top of every
street (Lxx has "on the head of every way thou didst set up thy
fornications [porneia]") and made your beauty abominable; and you
spread your legs to every passer-by to multiply your harlotry
(Lxx = porneia). 26 "You also played the harlot ("go a whoring"
Lxx = related verb ekporneuo = to be utterly unchaste, to give
self over to fornication; to indulge in flagrant immorality) with the
Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and multiplied your harlotry (Lxx =
related verb ekporneuo) to make Me angry....32 "You adulteress
(Lxx = moichao) wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband!" (Ezekiel
16:15,22-26, 32 read all of chapter 16 to see how God feels
about porneia!)
SEX IS
LIKE
A RIVER
Sex is a gift of
God which is like a great river flowing through life which, kept within
its banks, is a source of pleasure and power. However when a river overflows its
banks it becomes destructive and disaster ensues. In an analogous way,
the water contained within bounds and channeled through the great Hoover
Dam is the source of tremendous electrical power. However, if cracks
were allowed to develop in the dam and allow to grow, eventually the dam
would burst. Sexual impurity, is similar to a river overflowing its
banks or the cracks in a dam. It begins with just a few thoughts (that
come from a few "innocent" images) and grows and festers and is fed more
thoughts (images) until one day it suddenly breaks down. Sexual
immorality is like that. No believer commits sexual immorality in a
moment. It is a gradual erosion of the believer's core values, a
continual ignoring of one's conscience and a repeated repression of the
indwelling Spirit's urgings to refrain, to flee, etc. As godly men and
women, we must recognize the deceitfulness of any sin (Heb 3:13) but
especially the particularly pleasurable (passing Heb 11:25) sin of
illicit sexual activity. When the tempting thoughts come, we must take
them captive by grace and the power of the indwelling Spirit and hand
them over to the Captain of the hosts, our Lord Jesus Christ. (see 2Cor
10:5-). We flee from anything, anyone or anywhere, that improper sensual
suggestive images are portrayed (1Cor 6:18, cp Joseph in Ge 39:12)
Within marriage,
sex is beautiful, fulfilling, creative and has protective effect against
immorality (1Co 7:2, 5). Outside marriage, sex is ugly, destructive, and
like fire. In a fireplace, fire is warm and comforting. Outside the
hearth, fire is destructive and uncontrollable.
Solomon presented
a similar fiery metaphor in asking the rhetorical questions...
Can a man take fire in his bosom
(Ans? Yes if he is a fool!) and
his clothes not be burned? (Ans? No)
Or can a man walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched? (See
notes Pr 6:27,28)
As Billy Graham
has observed...
Satan fails to speak of the remorse,
the futility, the loneliness, and the spiritual devastation which go
hand in hand with immorality.
Jesus explained
porneia declaring that
the things that proceed out of the
mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of
the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications (porneia),
thefts, false witness, slanders. (Mt
15:18-19)
Jesus' point is
that the basis of all sin is the heart which would include our thought
life, the thoughts preceding the sinful outward act.
Porneia begins in the heart (cp Mt 5:28-note;
Job 31:9, cp what Job did "before" he saw a virgin, not after! Job 31:1;
Pr 6:25- note;
James 1:14-note-
where lust comes from within, from our fallen flesh; 2Pe 2:14-note
- eyes full of adultery because of a heart trained in greed causing them
to covet something someone else has -- e.g., their wife!). When a person is defiled on the inside,
what he does on the outside is also defiled. And so beloved,
Watch over your heart with
all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.
(Pr 4:23)
John records that in the last
years just prior to our Lord's return indescribable sexual perversions
will be running rampant. He writes that those who dwell upon the earth
did not repent of their murders nor
of their sorceries nor of their immorality (porneia) nor of their thefts. (Rev
9:21- note)
Porneia is
an all-encompassing sensual or sexual immorality, a perfect description
of modern day America. Let's be honest. Most men (even Christian men!)
have problems with this area that they would not even dare tell anyone!
When you realize that you are complete in Christ and can now say "no" to
this sin, from that point on you are responsible what kind of mess you
get yourself into by not saying "Yes" to Jesus and "No" to immorality.
Remember that "victory" is not so much me overcoming the problem but
it's me having been overcome by Christ and it's now Christ in me who can
overcome. You don't have to live the way you did when you were dead in
your trespasses and sin. Your body is now dead to sin (the power of sin)
and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Immorality is evidence of turning your back on God as (Ro
1:25-note;
Ro 1:26, 27-note)
teaches. God will judge illicit sexual sin (Heb 13:4-note) whether one in a believer or an unbeliever and Peter
adds that but judgment begins at the household of God (1Pe 4:17-note)
because believers are even more accountable in view of the fact that
they have the power (Ro 6:11-note,
Ro 8:13-note,
Ga 5:24-note) to flee youthful lusts
and to abstain from fleshly lusts (1Pet 2:11-note). As Paul explained to believers who thought that now
that they were "covered" by grace and could sin
with impunity since grace abounded where sin increased, he countered
this deceptive teaching with horror
May it never be! How shall we who
died (dead men are positionally uninfluenced and unaffected pleasures of
this life) to (the) sin (the power of sin inherited from Adam is broken
along with the previous powerlessness to say "no" to it's reign and
demands to be gratified) still live in it? (see
note
Romans 6:2)
When we
surrendered to Christ and took him as Lord and Saviour, not as our "fire
insurance" policy!
The biblical view of immorality is summarized in (1Th 4:3-note) where Paul records that
this is the will of God, your
sanctification (State of being set apart from sin and the world
to deity God); that is, that you abstain (literally continually
or as the habit of your life - present tense- to hold oneself away)
from sexual immorality (porneia).
Vine
comments that Paul
puts at the beginning of the list the
sins which set at defiance the primal laws of God which govern the
continuation of the human race and are essential to its well-being,
physical and moral...The first in this list is a specific sin; from this
there is a transition to the moral general. (Vine,
W. Collected Writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
William Barclay
has an interesting historical note to put Paul's teaching in the
proper cultural context writing that
Chastity was the one
completely new virtue which Christianity brought into the world. In the
ancient world sexual relationships before marriage and outside marriage
were the normal and accepted practice. The sexual appetite was regarded
as a thing to be gratified, not to be controlled. That is an attitude
which is not unfamiliar today, although often it is supported by
specious arguments. The Christian ethic insists on chastity,
regarding the physical relationship between the sexes as something so
precious that indiscriminate use of it in the end spoils it." (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster
Press)
Paul has
another "vice" list in Galatians writing that
the deeds of the flesh are evident,
which are: immorality
(porneia), impurity,
sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of
anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing,
and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned
you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God. (see notes
Galatians 5:19;
20;
21).
John
records a similar warning writing that
for the cowardly and unbelieving and
abominable and murderers and immoral persons (related noun
pornos) and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part
will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the
second death. (see note
Revelation 21:8)
Neither Paul nor
John is not saying that you won't go to heaven if you slip up and commit
these sins from time to time. But they do indicate that if these sins
are your lifestyle (and if there has never been a time in your
life when you experienced a degree of freedom from them) then you will
inherit not the kingdom of God but the lake of fire.
The Bible
Knowledge Commentary adds this insight on
Revelation 21:8...
"It should be obvious that this
passage is not affirming salvation by works, but rather is
referring to works as indicative of whether one is saved or not.
Obviously many will be in heaven who before their conversions were
indeed guilty of these sins but who turned from them in the day of grace
in trusting Christ as their Savior. Though works are the evidence of
salvation or lack of it, they are never the basis or ground of it." (Walvoord,
J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible knowledge
commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books)
Someone has
written that immorality is like a cat’s paw. When lightly
stroked, it is quite soft and pleasurable, but increased pressure brings
out the claws of sin that will shred your very life.
Pastor Ray Stedman writes
that
Words like immorality do not
seem to register with many people. Let us put it plainly: Immorality
means no sexual wrongdoing; no pre-marital sex (no fornication); no
extra-marital sex (no messing around with someone else's wife or being
faithless to your own husband or wife); No homosexual sex (that is very
clear in Scripture in many places); No pornography (no standing in the
news section at the airport and flipping through Penthouse or Playboy
magazine and getting yourself turned on by looking at the pictures; that
is sexual fantasy and that is wrong, too, as Jesus pointed out). So to
"flee immorality" means to have none of those things going on in your
life. (from
Handling your Sex Drive)
Miscellaneous
related resources from John Piper:
Strategies for fighting sexual sin,
ANTHEM - Strategies for Fighting Lusts;
10 Steps Toward Sexual Sin: Pitfalls
and Protection for Christian Leaders
If you know
someone "wrestling" and being continually defeated by Internet
Immorality (and they want to be set free) have them check
Covenant Eyes
and then agree to be their
accountability partner. Under grace and with the Holy Spirit's
enablement (Gal 5:15, Ro 8:13), I have heard a number of men give testimony of the efficacy
of this tool. The difference between
Covenant Eyes and
other "porneia" blocking software is that
Covenant Eyes logs
every place you visit and keeps that record on a separate computer at
their headquarters. Your site visits are scored as to likelihood that
they have porneia and your accountability partner receives a periodic
report. Men need accountability in this day of widespread, seemingly
"anonymous" access to internet pornography. Remember though my beloved
brethren in Christ
The eyes of the LORD are in every
place, watching the evil and the good. (Pr 15:3)
Thus although there may be so called this "secret
sin" in one's thought life, these "hidden" sins are open scandal in the
courts of heaven when carried out by believers! Moses warned that our
sin would find us out (Nu 32:23). In Proverbs Solomon warned that the
one who chooses to cover over and conceal their sin will not prosper,
but the one who confesses and repents will find compassion from the Lord
(Pr 28:13, 1Jn 1:9).
Listen to the
words of Solomon, who clearly knew this truth but sadly did not practice it
(at least in 1Ki 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and it cost him
his kingdom)
For why
should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress, and embrace the
bosom of a foreigner? 21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of
the LORD, and He watches all his paths. 22 His own iniquities will
capture the wicked, and he will be held with the cords of his sin. 23 He
will die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he
will go astray. ( See
notes Pr 5:20-23)
Thomas
Jefferson although by all accounts not a born again believer
recognized the destructive nature of immorality and advised one
to...
Give up money, give up fame, give up
science, give up the earth itself and all it contains, rather than do an
immoral act.
Lawrence
Richards writes that...
Because sexual relationships between
a man and a woman are intended to reflect the intimate relationship
between God and his people, a covenant of faithfulness between marriage
partners is essential. Adultery and other sex relations outside of
marriage violate something basic to the very nature of God and to our
own nature as beings created in his image. (See SEX) (See MARRIAGE)
Marriage, as an exclusive commitment, is the necessary context for
sexual expression for God's people. Our faithfulness to that
relationship is critical." (Richards,
L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)
William Jenkyn
in describing immorality said that...
The unclean person makes himself a
stigmatic (having or conveying a social stigma); he brands his body, and
leaves upon it a loathsome stain. Other sins comparatively are without
the body, by it, not in it; this is both.
Henrietta Mears
(author of the famous work Understanding the Bible) quipped that...
Savonarola appealed to feelings and
transformed Florence into a model of righteousness. But Robespierre
appealed to feelings and turned Paris into a pandemonium of
immorality. Feelings cannot be made moral absolutes.
A poem on the
dangers of immorality/fornication...
Vice is a
monster of such terrible mien**
That to be hated needs but to be seen.
Yet seen too often, familiar her face
We first endure, then sanction, then embrace.
**Mien = air or bearing especially as expressive of
attitude or personality
David Burnham (in
Discoveries, Volume 3, Number 1) lists immorality as one of the
major "Character Killers"
1. Self-centeredness.
2. Distorting the gospel to serve your agenda .
3. Using your verbal skills to control others.
4. Appetite for power and possessions.
5. Immorality.
In Our Daily Bread
we read that...
The Bible is up-to-date on sexual
matters. Long ago, God warned against adultery and fornication. In
effect, He said, "Say no!" Now, in the 20th century with the awful
threat of AIDS, many lawmakers, educators, and doctors are agreeing with
the Almighty.
The Grand Rapids Press carried an article titled "Abstinence: The New
Emphasis in Sex Education." It told of 16-year-old Will Heiss, a "peer
educator" who challenges younger kids to say no to sexual activity--and
they are listening.
Author and campus lecturer Josh McDowell reminded a college audience
that the seventh commandment is a gracious provision by God, given for
our protection. Josh told of a man who had several sexual relationships.
The man later received Christ and met a wonderful woman whom he married.
"She's precious," confided the man, "but in the intimacy of our marriage
I'm haunted by the 'ghosts' of those previous affairs."
Abstinence until marriage is a sure safeguard. It protects the gift of
sexual intimacy that is to be enjoyed within a lifelong relationship of
commitment and trust. God hates sexual immorality because He has the
highest good of men and women at heart. --D J De Haan (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Lord, grant me
strength from day to day--
How prone I am to go astray!
The passions of my flesh are strong;
Be Thou, my God, a shield from wrong. --DJD
God's commandments
were not given to frustrate us but to fulfill us.
OR ANY IMPURITY: kai akatharsia
pasa : (Eph
5:5; Exodus 18:21; 20:17; Joshua 7:21; 1Samuel 8:3; Psalms 10:3; 119:36;
Proverbs 28:16; Jeremiah 6:13; 8:10; 22:17; Ezekiel 33:31; Micah 2:2;
Mark 7:22; Luke 12:15; 16:14; Acts 20:33; 1Corinthians 6:10; Colossians
3:5; 1Timothy 3:3; 6:10; 2Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7,11; Hebrews 13:5;
1Peter 5:2; 2Peter 2:3,14)
Or any impurity
- is more literally "and all impurity"! Paul demolishes
the belief by some that God's standard for moral purity is relative. To
the contrary God's immutable, eternal standard of righteousness is that
of all moral purity. As the famous Christian pollster, George Barna, has
pointed out, sadly even many professing Christians deny God's absolute standard, so
that in one study in 1991 only 23% of (so called) “born again” or
“evangelical” Christians expressed a strong belief in absolute truth.
One wonders how they can even read the Holy Bible and not cringe with
conviction and a sense of reproof regarding their false belief regarding
God's standards. And
that perhaps is the problem -- they don't read the Word of God (which
reproves us - 2Ti 3:16-note,
2Ti 4:2-note)! The
situation is naturally even worse in the general secular population where
some polls show that 47% approve of homosexuality (83% of liberals, 23%
of conservatives hold this view). Furthermore, among liberals, 89%
approve of sex between an unmarried man and woman and sadly 33% of
conservatives agree. Having a baby out of wedlock is acceptable to 83%
of liberals and 33% of conservatives (The Washington Times [6/5/2007],
p. A6).
As Steven Cole
rightly reminds us that...
God’s standards for moral purity are
not up for popular vote! He designed the sexual relationship for a man
and a woman in a lifelong committed marriage. When practiced within
these boundaries, it is a good gift from God, not something dirty. He
gave us His commandments for our good. When we violate His standards, it
results in short term pleasure (that’s why we’re tempted to do it), but
long term pain and problems. Keeping God’s commandments is often
difficult in the short term, but deeply fulfilling in the long term. (Ephesians
5:3-6 Clean Up Your Act!)
Impurity (167)
(akatharsia
from a = without + kathairo = cleanse)
literally describes any substance that is filthy or dirty and cold refer
to refuse, to purulent (pus) around an open, infected wound or to the contents of graves, causing ceremonial impurity. In
castigating the hypocritical Pharisees Jesus used this word declaring
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside
appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all
uncleanness
(akatharsia). (Mt
23:27)
Figuratively
akatharsia refers to a state of
moral impurity (especially sexual sin).
There are 10 uses
of akatharsia in the NT (Mt. 23:27; Ro 1:24; 6:19; 2Co
12:21; Gal 5:19; Ep 4:19; 5:3; Col 3:5; 1Th 2:3; 4:7) and about 42 in
the non-apocryphal
Septuagint (LXX)
(Lev. 5:3; 7:20f; 15:3,
24, 25, 26, 30, 31; 16:16, 19; 18:19; 19:23; 20:21, 25; 22:3, 4, 5; Nu
19:13; 2Sa 11:4; 2Chr 29:5, 16; Ezra 6:21; 9:11; Pr 6:16; 24:9; Je
19:13; 32:34; La 1:9; Ezek 4:14; 7:20; 9:9; 22:10, 15; 24:11; 36:17, 25,
29; 39:24; Ho 2:10; Mic 2:10; Nah 3:6;
In Romans when men exchange the
glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible
man, etc,
God gave them over in the lusts of
their hearts to impurity (akatharsia), that their bodies might be
dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie,
and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is
blessed forever. Amen. (see notes
Romans 1:23;
24-25)
In the NT
akatharsia was also used in reference to unclean or demonic
spirits. Akatharsia describes a filthiness of heart and mind that
makes the person defiled. The unclean person sees dirt in everything.
What a word picture one gets from the secular medical use where
akatharsia described an infected, oozing wound. Akatharsia
was also the general term often used of decaying matter, like the
contents of a grave. As used in its moral or ethical sense, the word
speaks more of an internal disposition. An immoral filthiness on the
inside. Acts of ''immorality'' are on the outside. A "good" illustration
is what transpires within the soul of one who looks at internet
pornography. Do not be deceived! Do not be partakers with them! Do not
participate in their unfruitful deeds of darkness!
In a parallel passage in Romans
Paul declares to the Roman saints that
just as you presented your members
as slaves to impurity (akatharsia) and to lawlessness, resulting
in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to
righteousness, resulting in sanctification (to live holy lives). (see
note
Romans 6:19)
Finally, Paul uses
akatharsia in his letter to the Thessalonians reminding them that
God has not called us for the
purpose of impurity (akatharsia), but in sanctification. (see
note
1Thessalonians 4:3)
Why do we
evangelicals try to put on these airs that we don't deal with these
problems? The key is that you can overcome these types of things,
because you've understood the truths about your high calling in Christ. The problem is so severe that many true
believers complete in Jesus, made alive in Him, have walked away from
Him and are not walking worthy of Him, having fallen back into the trap
of the sins Paul lists in
Colossians 3:5 (see note).
And after a while you fall even further into the trap so that you think
you can no longer even get out of the particular behavior! Remember:
When Christ died and you believed, you identified with His death and
these sins no longer have any power over you, unless you allow play with
them.
While driving
along a highway, we often see vultures soaring high overhead, swooping
down, and then rising up again with the air currents. Every so often, a
small group of them can be seen sitting right on the roadway, tearing
apart and gobbling up the carcass of some unfortunate creature. One gets
the impression that these ugly birds are on the lookout continually for
what is loathsome and repulsive! Does that describe the desires of
your heart? What kind of "food" do you prefer? Don't be like the
vulture. Rather, "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word,
that you may grow thereby" (see note
1 Peter 2:2).
The new birth creates a new appetite and requires a new diet. Put off
the old and put on the new garments of created in righteousness and
holiness of the truth.
O child of God,
guard well your eyes
From anything that stains the heart;
Forsake those things that soil the mind--
Your Father wants you set apart. --Fasick
OR GREED MUST NOT EVEN
BE NAMED
AMONG YOU, AS IS PROPER AMONG SAINTS: e pleonexia mede onomazestho
(3SPPM) en humin: (Eph
5:12; Exodus 23:13; Lk 12:15; 1Corinthians 5:1)
Not even (3366)
(mede from me = not + dé = but, and) means what it says
"not even" = an emphatic negative.
Phillips
has a vivid paraphrase of greed as...
the itch to get your hands on what
belongs to other people
Expositor's
Greek Testament says
The strong negative mede
gives it this force—‘Not to speak of doing such a thing, let it not be
even so much as mentioned among you.’ “ Commenting on “as becometh
saints (Nicoll, W Robertson, Editor: Expositors Greek Testament: 5
Volumes. Out of print. Search Google)
Or greed must not even be named
among you - The same word pleonexia was used in the preceding
chapter in Paul's description of the
Old Man
or
Old Self
who
was described as practicing "every kind of impurity with
greediness" (Eph 4:19 -note)
There is a parallel instruction by
Paul in Romans 16 where he writes...
I want you to be wise in what is good
and innocent in what is evil. (Ro 16:19-note)
Greed
(4124)
(pleonexia
from pleíon = more + écho = have) (Click
word study on
pleonexia) literally to have more.
Pleonexia is a strong desire to acquire more and more possessions, especially that which is forbidden. It is a desire to have
more irrespective of one's need and is always used in bad sense. It
describes an insatiable selfishness. Is describes the attitude of heart
in which one desires to have more than one's due. (See also
Covetousness)
In short,
pleonexia describes an insatiable craving greed, consuming ambition
and/or giving rein to the appetites and desires which are against the
laws of God and man.
John Eadie writes...
The apostle
uses the noun in Col. 3:5, and in all other passages it denotes
avaricious greed. Luke 12:15; Ro 1:29; 2Co 9:5. And it is joined to
these preceding words, as it springs from the same selfishness, and is
but a different form of development from the same unholy root. It is a
dreadful scourge—saeva cupido, as the Latin satirist names it.
More and more yet, as the word denotes; more may be possessed, but more
is still desired, without limit or termination...It is greed, avarice,
unconquerable love of appropriation, morbid lust of acquisition,
carrying in itself a violation of almost every precept of the Decalogue
(10 Commandments). (Ephesians
5 Commentary)
Pleonexia describes
covetousness, a trait marked by inordinate desire for wealth or possessions
or for another’s possessions (including another person's spouse!). Contentment is the opposite of
covetousness. Attacking covetousness lays the ax to a root cause of sin
because pleonexia is the root of the other sins listed in this
verse. When contentment (and especially contentment in the
supremacy of God and the experience of intimacy and fellowship with Him) replaces
covetousness, the latter is impeded from giving
rise to the process that culminates in commission of sins. This vitally
important principle (which makes victorious Christian living not just a
possibility but a reality) is seen in Galatians 5:16 (see
notes)
in which believers are first (don't reverse the order!) commanded to
(continually) walk (live, conduct oneself) by the Spirit. Then when they
submit and yield to the Spirit's authority and power over their lives
including their thought life and their bodies, the promise of the second
part of the verse supernaturally comes into effect and the believer is
enabled to carry out or gratify the evil desires (which are still
present and trying to usurp the Spirit's control of our mind and body)
of the fallen, evil
flesh
nature (inherited from Adam - Ro 5:12)
Greed is
what you desire and what you desire more of becomes your ''god'' and you
end up serving (latreuo) that ''god.'' In God's sight, greed is
worshipping the god mammon, and "you cannot serve God and mammon" (Mt
6:24 -note)
As noted in Colossians 3:5, Paul equates greed
with idolatry writing...
Therefore
(on basis of the truth in Col 3:1,2, 3,4 as well as Col 1-2)
consider
(aorist
imperative)
the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality (porneia),
impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed,
which amounts to
idolatry. (see note
Col 3:5)
Paul's point is
that greed feeds one's lust or strong desires for more and
more gratification (sex, money, possessions, etc). This greed is
motivated by a desire for selfish pleasure apart from marriage, the
absolute standard dictated by God. In turn, when one seeks pleasure in
anything other than the Almighty God, they are practicing idolatry
(having replaced God with the "idol" of sex). Sexual activity outside of
the bounds of the marriage bed is always based on greed because
the goal is to exploit the other person for one's personal advantage (or
"needs") rather than to meet the other person's needs.
Wiersbe
comments that...
Covetousness may seem out of
place next to fornication, but the two sins are but different
expressions of the same basic weakness of fallen nature—uncontrolled
appetite. The fornicator and the covetous person each desire to satisfy
the appetite by taking what does not belong to them. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor)Vincent notes that pleonexia is...
Covetousness Lit., the desire of having more. It is to be
distinguished from philarguria rendered love of money, 1Ti 6:10, and
its kindred adjective, philarguros which AV renders covetous, Luke
16:14; 2Ti 3:2;
(see note);
properly changed by Rev. into lovers of money. The distinction is
expressed by covetousness and avarice. The one is the desire of getting,
the other of keeping.
Covetousness has a wider and deeper sense, as designating the sinful
desire which goes out after things of time and sense of every form and
kind. Hence it is defined by Paul (see note
Colossians 3:5) as
idolatry, the worship of another object than God, and is so often
associated with fleshly sins, as 1Cor. 5:11; Ep 5:3-note;
Col 3:5- note.
Lightfoot says:
“Impurity and covetousness may be said to divide between them nearly
the whole domain of selfishness and vice.”
Socrates quotes an anonymous author who compares the region of the
desires in the wicked to a vessel full of holes, and says that, of all
the souls in Hades, these uninitiated or leaky persons are the most
miserable, and that they carry water to a vessel which is full of holes
in a similarly holey colander. The colander is the soul of the ignorant
(Plato, “Gorgias,” 493). Compare, also, the description of covetousness
and avarice by Chaucer, “Romaunt of the Rose,” 183–246. (Vincent's Word
Studies) (Bolding added)
Torrey's Topic
Covetousness (Greed)
Comes from the heart -Mark 7:21, 22,23, Mt 15:17, 18, 19, 20
Engrosses the heart -Ezekiel 33:31; 2 Peter 2:14
Is idolatry -Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5
Is the root of all evil -1 Timothy 6:10
Is never satisfied -Ecclesiastes 5:10; Habakkuk 2:5
Is vanity -Psalms 39:6; Ecclesiastes 4:8
IS INCONSISTENT
In saints -Ephesians 5:3; Hebrews 13:5
Specially in ministers -1 Timothy 3:3
LEADS TO
Adultery (coveting another's wife Ex 20:17, 14) - 2Sa 12:1,2, 3, 4, 5
Injustice and oppression -Proverbs 28:20; Micah 2:2
Foolish and hurtful lusts -1 Timothy 6:9
Departure from the faith -1 Timothy 6:10
Lying -2 Kings 5:22, 23, 24, 25
Murder -Proverbs 1:18,19; Ezekiel 22:12
Theft -Joshua 7:21
Poverty -Proverbs 28:22
Misery -1 Timothy 6:10
Domestic affliction -Proverbs 15:27
Abhorred by God -Psalms 10:3
Forbidden -Exodus 20:17
A characteristic of the wicked -Romans 1:29
A characteristic of the slothful -Proverbs 21:26
Commended by the wicked alone -Psalms 10:3
Hated by saints -Exodus 18:21; Acts 20:33
To be mortified by saints -Colossians 3:5
Woe denounced against -Isaiah 5:8; Habakkuk 2:9
Punishment of -Job 20:15; Isaiah 57:17; Jeremiah 22:17-19; Micah 2:2,3
Excludes from heaven -1 Corinthians 6:10; Ephesians 5:5
Beware of -Luke 12:15
Avoid those guilty of -1 Corinthians 5:11
Pray against -Psalms 119:36
Reward of those who hate -Proverbs 28:16
Shall abound in the last days -2 Timothy 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1, 2, 3
EXEMPLIFIED
Eve, in desiring the forbidden fruit,
Ge 3:6.
Lot, in choosing the plain of the Jordan, Ge 13:10, 11, 13.
Laban -Genesis 31:41
Laban, in giving Rebekah to be Isaac's wife, Ge 24:29-51;
Laban deceiving Jacob when he served him 7 yrs for Rachel, Ge. 29:15-30;
Laban deceiving Jacob in wages, Gen. 31:7, 15, 41, 42.
Jacob defrauding Esau of his father's blessing, Ge 27:6-29
Jacob defrauding Laban of his flocks and herds, Ge 30:35-43
Jacob buying Esau's birthright, Ge 25:31.
Balaam in loving the wages of unrighteousness, 2Pe 2:15 with Nu 22.
Achan -Joshua 7:21
Eli’s sons -1 Samuel 2:12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Samuel’s sons -1Samuel 8:3
Saul -1Samuel 15:8, 9,19
David, of Bath-sheba, 2Sa 11:1, 2, 3,
4, 5.
Ahab -1 Kings 21:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Gehazi -2 Kings 5:20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
Nobles of the Jews -Nehemiah 5:7; Isaiah 1:23
Jewish people -Isaiah 56:11; Jeremiah 6:13
Jews, in exacting usury of their brethren, Neh. 5:1, 2, 3, 4,5,6,7, 8,
9, 10, 11;
Jews, in keeping back the portion of the Levites, Neh. 13:10;
Jews, in building fine houses while the house of the Lord lay waste,
Hag. 1:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Jews, in following Jesus for the loaves and fishes, John 6:26.
Babylon -Jeremiah 51:13
Money changers in the temple, Mt.
21:12, 13; Lk 19:45, 46; Jn 2:14, 15, 16.
Young man -Matthew 19:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
The rich fool, Luke 12:15, 16, 17,
18, 19, 20, 21.
Judas -Mt. 26:14, 15, 16; Mark 14:10, 11; Lk 22:3, 4, 5, 6; Jn 12:6.
The unjust steward, Luke 16:1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Pharisees -Luke 16:14
Ananias and Sapphira -Acts 5:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Simon Magus, in trying to buy gift of
Holy Spirit, Acts 8:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
The sorceress filing complaint
against Paul and Silas, Acts 16:19
Demetrius raising a riot
against Paul and Silas, Acts 19:24, 27.
Felix in hoping for a bribe from
Paul, -Acts 24:26
Demas, in forsaking Paul for love of
the world, 2 Ti 4:10.
Balaam -2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11
Naves General Cross References on Greed (Some Repetition with
above).
Ex. 18:21; Ex. 20:17 Deut. 5:21. Neh. 5:7; Job 20:15; Job 31:24, 25, 28;
Ps 10:3; 119:36; Pr. 1:19; 11:24, 26; 15:27; 21:25, 26; 22:16; 23:4, 5;
30:8, 9; Eccl 1:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 4:7, 8; 5:10, 11; Is 1:23; 5:8;
56:11; 57:17; Je 6:13; 8:10; 17:11; 22:17; 51:13; Ezek 22:12, 13; 33:31;
Ho 4:18;10:1; Mic. 2:2; 3:11; 7:3; Hab 1:15, 16; 2:5, 6, 7, 8, 9; Hag
1:6; Mal 1:10; Mt 6:19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 31, 32,33; 13:22 Mark 4:19; Luke
7:14. Mt 16:26; 19:23, 24; Lk 18:24, 25. Mt 22:5, Mt 22:1-14.; Mark
7:21, 22, 23; Lk 12:15, 12:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21; Lk 12:33, 34 Mt.
6:21. Lk 14:18, Lk 14:16-24.; Jn 6:26, 27; Ro 1:29; Ro 13:9; 1Cor. 5:11;
Ep 5:3, 5 1Co 6:10. Col 3:2, 5, 6; Phil. 3:18, 19; 1Th. 2:5; 1Ti 3:2, 3;
6:5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,11, 17; 2Ti 3:2; Titus 1:7; Heb 13:5; James 4:2,4,
13, 14, 15, 16, 17; 1Pe 5:2; 2Pe 2:3, 14, 15,16.; 1Jn 2:15, 16,17; Jude
11
Named
(3687)
(onomazo from onoma = name) means to name or call by name.
The verb is in the
present imperative
commanding this to be
their habitual practice (not to even pronounce the name). It is not even
to be mentioned among you which of course means that it certainly is not
to actually even be practiced.
Barnes
explains that lit it
not be named means...
let it not exist; let there be no
occasion for mentioning such a thing among you; let it be wholly
unknown. This cannot mean that it is wrong to mention these vices for
the purpose of rebuking them, or cautioning those in danger of
committing them--for Paul himself in this manner mentions them here, and
frequently elsewhere--but that they should not exist among them.
William
MacDonald writes that...
It goes without saying that
they should never have to be named as having been committed by
believers. They should not even be discussed in any way that might
lessen their sinful and shameful character. There is always the greatest
danger in speaking lightly of them, making excuses for them, or even
discussing them familiarly and continually. Paul accents his exhortation
with the phrase, as is fitting for saints. Believers have been
separated from the corruption that is in the world; now they should live
in practical separation from dark passion, both in deed and word. (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)
The KJV Bible
Commentary adds that...
These sins must be dreaded and
detested. Christians are saints and are to live like saints. They are
separated unto God, and therefore separated from sin. These sins are not
to be mentioned, much less permitted. Such terms taint the imagination,
soil the lips, and cultivate sensual lusts. Such conversation is
unbecoming saints and incompatible with Christianity. (Dobson,
E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV
Bible Commentary: Nelson)
Jon Courson
has a strong warning explaining that...
According to Proverbs 6:32, he who is
involved in fornication or adultery destroys his soul, his inner person.
The world doesn’t understand this. The world thinks fornication is
nothing more than two bodies coming together in a moment of ecstasy. But
the Bible says it’s actually two souls being joined as one. Thus, a
person who engages in fornication or lives in adultery will become only
a shell of a person, as layer after layer of his inner person is
stripped off with each different encounter. That’s the tragedy of sexual
sin. The issue is not AIDS, sexually transmitted disease, or unwanted
pregnancy. The issue is that of losing part of one’s soul. (Courson,
J. Jon Courson's Application Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson)
Some like John Eadie take Paul
more literally (although I think his primary intent was as discussed
above)...
Not only were these sins to be
avoided in fact, but to be shunned in their very name. Their absence
should be so universal, that there should be no occasion to refer to
them, or make any mention of them. Indelicate allusion to such sins
should not soil Christian lips. (Ephesians
5 Commentary)
AS IS PROPER AMONG SAINTS:
kathos prepei (3SPAI) hagiois: (Ro 16:2; Philippians
1:27; 1Timothy 2:10; Titus 2:3)
As is proper
among saints - The appeal for separation from all sin such
covetousness, etc, is based upon the character of the saints; not upon
fear of the law. Is it difficult to cleanse ourselves? Sure it is
because sin is pleasurable. At least for the moment. But the
consequences NEVER are! And as God's people we need to keep a holy focus
(Col 3:1, 2, 1Jn 3:2, 3), that we have a holy love for God and this love
fired by the indwelling Spirit will motivate us to make those moment by
moment choices which are proper among the saints.
Proper
(4241) (prepo)
has the basic meaning of being prominent or conspicuous and came to be
used of a distinguishing characteristic. Thus a "distinguishing
characteristic" of saints should be a lifestyle of love and absence of
these vices so common and "beloved" to the Gentiles. This is the
standard of that which is fitting to their position as those set apart
from the profane things of the world and to the pure and holy things of
God and His high and holy purpose for their lives. (Eph 2:10-note)
As do many other
Scriptures, this verse shows the close connection between sexual sin and
other forms of impurity and greed. An immoral person is inevitably
greedy. Such sins are so godless that the world should never have reason
even to suspect their presence in Christians.
Expositor's
Greek Testament says
"The position of sainthood or
separation to God, in which the gospel places the Christian, is so far
apart from the license of the world as to make it utterly incongruous
even to speak of the inveterate sins of a corrupt heathenism.” (Nicoll,
W Robertson, Editor: Expositors Greek Testament: 5 Volumes. Out of
print. Search Google)
Saints
(40)
(hagios)
(Click
word study on
hagios) are literally holy ones and
refers to those who have been supernaturally set apart (sanctified by
the Holy Spirit, 1Pe 1:2-note;
2Th 2:13, Ro 15:16-note,
Acts 20:32, 26:18, 1Co 1:30, 6:11) for a special purpose, in our case
set apart from the world (Gal 6:14), the flesh (Ro 6:6) and the devil
(Col 1:13, Acts 26:18, Heb 2:14, 15-note)
and unto God (Mt 5:16-note,
Is 43:7, Php 2:15-note,
Titus 2:14-note). Hagios
is Paul's favorite description of believers and specifies our position in Christ
(see discussion of
in Christ
&
in Christ Jesus) as set apart from that which
is secular, profane, and evil and dedicated to worship
and service (note order - worship always precedes service) of God. We are
now to live in this present evil age like what we are "re-created"
(redeemed) to be (cp 2Co 7:1 -
note), holy ones in character
(character is what God knows we are; reputation is who other people
think we are) and
conduct, set apart by God to be exclusively His, dedicated to Him and
manifesting holiness of heart and all conduct. As an aside, contrary to
some religious teachings, the Holy Bible itself never
uses the word hagios or saint to refer to a special class of believers who are a "notch
above" the rest. We are all equal at the foot of His Cross! (cp
2Cor 3:5,6)
If you are a
believer, you are sanctified or set apart as holy unto the Lord and are
to live a holy life before unholy men so that they might see the
holiness of the Lord in your holy lifestyle!
Hagios was
used throughout the NT to speak of anyone or anything that represents
God’s holiness: Christ as the Holy One of God, the Holy
Spirit, the Holy Father, holy Scriptures, holy
angels, holy brethren, and so on.
The Gentiles
understood this term because among the pagans, hagios signified
separated and dedicated to the idolatrous gods and carried no idea of
moral or spiritual purity. The manmade gods were as sinful and
degraded as the men who made them and there simply was no need for a
word that represented righteousness! The worshipper of the pagan god
acquired the character of that pagan god and the religious ceremonies
connected with its worship. The Greek temple at Corinth housed a large
number of harlots who were connected with the "worship" of the Greek
god. Thus, the set-apartness or holiness of the Greek worshipper was in
character licentious, totally depraved, and sinful.
John Eadie
writes...
Were the apostle to say, Let
despondency be banished, he might add, as becometh believers, or, Let
enmity be suppressed, he might subjoin, as becometh brethren; but he
pointedly says in this place, “as becometh saints.” “Saints” are not a
higher class of Christians who possess a rare and transcendental
morality—all genuine believers are “saints.” The inconsistency is marked
and degrading between the purity and
self-consecration
of the Christian life and indulgence in or the naming of those sensual
and selfish gratifications. “Let their memorial perish with them.” (Ephesians
5 Commentary)
Wayne Barber
comments on this verse reminding us that...
the devil is
after us to put on the old garment. Why? Because when we give him
opportunity and we grieve the Spirit of God, as we have already seen,
then we become one who destroys instead of one who builds up. So now
Paul is going to show you the immoral kind of relationships. He is going
to show you what happens when you put on the old garment.
Ephesians 5:3, 4, 5
read,
But do not let
immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is
proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness
and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather
giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or
impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in
the kingdom of Christ and God.
You have to agree
with me that the context here is immoral people, people who are not
living on a divine, moral level. When I put on the old garment, I am
living in the dregs of what the old life used to be. But when I put on
that new garment, it raises me up to a much higher standard,
particularly in my morality and in the way I relate to people around me.
Let’s take it
apart and see what we’ve got to look at. First of all he says,
"But do not
let
immorality or any
impurity or greed even be named among
you."
The word immorality
there is the word porneia. That is an important word because that
word encompasses every immoral, sexual act with another person that you
can possibly name. Let me give you some examples.
In 1Corinthians
5:1 the first thing we look at is the sin of incest. The word
"immorality" is associated with the sin of incest. Why is it that so
much of this garbage has gotten into the church? Because people
evidently don’t know or have not chosen to put on the new garment. We
have to choose it every day of our life. Whenever we choose the old
garment, it is an immoral garment. It’s a garment that will drag us down
and flush us down that old drain of the cesspool of self. I Corinthians
5:1 says,
"It is actually
reported that there is immorality [porneia] among you, and
immorality of such a kind as does not
exist even
among
the Gentiles."
Paul is saying,
"Listen, you
actually have reported that there are people in your midst who are doing
things more vile than what
is
going on in the
Gentile world."
He goes on in
verse 1:
"that someone
has his
father’s
wife."
There is a
relationship here that is illicit. It is an incestuous relationship.
Folks, I want to tell you straight out, if you are involved in any kind
of sin that would be qualified in the area of incest, you need to repent
of that and make it right as quickly as you possibly can. This is a
serious matter.
Let me show you
the verse again in Ephesians.
"But do not let
immorality or any impurity or greed
even be named among you."
The word means
don’t even let people hint that this kind of sin is among you. Paul is
saying on one side, walk in love which is the kind of relationship you
want with people. On the other side, if you put on that old garment,
it’s going to end up in this kind of awful, awful immorality.
Look at
1Corinthians 6:13, 14. Here "immorality" refers to having sexual
intercourse with a person outside the bonds of marriage. Here Paul is
talking about the importance of the body. He says,
"Food is for the
stomach, and the stomach is for food; but God will do away with both of
them. Yet the body is not for immorality,
but
for the Lord; and the Lord is for the body. Now God has not only
raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power."
What he is saying
here is,
"Listen, any kind
of
immorality that is illicit, that is outside the bonds of marriage, then
that particular sin is outside
the
body."
God has redeemed
the body. That is very, very important to understand. When we put on the
new garment of Christ, then He gives us a morality that is divine and we
are not going to have illicit sex with other people. It is a sin against
the body as well as against the Lord.
Look in Matthew
19:9. We find, not only incest and illicit sex, we find adultery which
is illicit sex in a category really by itself. This involves married
people who have sexual intercourse with somebody outside of that
marriage bond. The Lord Jesus is answering some of the badgering of the
Pharisees. They said,
"Moses
commanded to give a
certificate of divorce."
He said, "Oh,
no." It says in verse 9,
"‘ And
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality
[porneia], and marries another woman commits adultery."
That word
"immorality" is not just a man with a woman. It is any kind of illicit
sex outside of what God has outlined in Scripture. It is incest, it is
illicit sex or adultery, but it goes beyond that. It is homosexuality.
In Romans 1 it
talks about God giving the people up to depraved minds. It said these
depraved minds cause men to go after men and women to go after women,
unnatural desires for one another. God said homosexuality is a sin. God
says incest is a sin. God says anything outside the bond of marriage is
sin, adultery, illicit sex, wherever you are. Your body is important to
God and is one day going to be redeemed. Illicit sex is a sin not only
against God, it is a sin against the body that He died for. We have to
realize this.
Let me show you
another place it is used. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6 says,
"For this is the
will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from
sexual immorality; that each of you know how to
possess his own vessel in
sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the
Gentiles
who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his
brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger of all
these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you."
Now this leads up
to that immorality. This is defrauding. It means to take advantage of
somebody.
Secondly, he
mentions impurity which is difficult to define putting it right
alongside immorality. Every time I found the word immorality it had to
do with relationships with somebody else, the actual act. But it seems
like when I found the word impurity, it covers all the other bases. You
see, there may be somebody saying,
"Alright, I have
never
done anything with anybody else. I must be pretty good. I am okay. I am
clean. I am pure. I can keep on justifying certain things in my life
because I have never had an
actual relationship with anybody else."
Jesus told the
Pharisees,
" You
say that you
shall
not commit adultery. I say unto you if you have lusted in your heart,
you are already guilty of that sin."
In other words,
it is not necessarily even the relationship. Yes, that is immorality,
the actual act, the actual thing that took place. But he covers al the
other bases by this word when he uses the word "impurity."
Go back to
Ephesians 4:19.
He has already used it and shown us the context where it comes from:
"and they, having
become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the
practice of every kind
of impurity with greediness."
Now who are the
"they"? That is the Gentile world. That is the people who have darkened
minds. That is the people who don’t know the Word of God. These are
people who have given their bodies over to pleasure. He calls it
impurity.
Romans 1:24 gives
a perfect definition of impurity:
"Therefore God
gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their
bodies might be
dishonored among them."
Anything that
dishonors the body qualifies as impurity. The word means to be without
cleansing, that which is unclean, that which has never been cleansed by
God’s blood.
The word
impurity is always associated with two other words, immorality
and sensuality. It is like an unholy trinity. When you find one,
you’ll find the other two. So you not only have the thought processes,
you not only have the personal type of situation to where you think you
can do something, but you also have the acts involved of one with
another. Paul says none of these things are a part of the new garment we
put on, which is Jesus Christ.
Then he throws in
another one, which to me is sort of surprising. In the midst of all of
this, he throws in the word greed.
"But do not let
immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is
proper among saints."
Now why in the
world would he mention greed? The context in verse 5 is certainly
immorality. It is talking about relationships that tear down instead of
relationships that build up. Why would he put greed in there? Because a
person that is immoral is a person who is greedy and he never gets
enough. Greed is one of the basic motivations of his life.
This is
especially true of individuals who have not found what they are looking
for in Jesus Christ, who don’t realize all the acceptance and all the
love is found in Him. You don’t have to find that in a relationship.
They want people to want to be close to them and they want a
relationship so when a person comes along and says the right words,
immediately they give in. Usually, behind what he is saying, he wants
something from you that you don’t want to give him and don’t ever do it.
You see, that is a part of the old life. It is never to be named among
us.
The word greed,
pleonexia, means basically to never be able to get enough. You
always want more and more and more. If you will look over in Colossians
3:5 it tells you pretty clearly what greed is:
"Therefore
consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality,
impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry."
(See note
Colossians 3:5)
I want you to see
something here. There are two strange bed fellows here. You’ve got
immorality and you’ve got idolatry. You will always find them
together. Now what is idolatry? It is worshiping anything but
God. When an individual begins to worship himself and serve another
master, immediately he becomes immoral. Why? Because he can no longer
relate on a divine level. Now he is caught in the trap of wanting more
and more and never being satisfied.
I talked to a man
one day who had been effected by pornography for years. He said,
"When I first got
started, it seemed that anything would excite me. But after a while, I
had to have more and more and more. It got worse and worse."
He lost his
family over it. Why? Because when you are an idolater, nothing but Jesus
will ever satisfy you. You go after self or anything else in that
immoral tailspin, but you will never find what you are looking for.
Don’t even let it be named among you. Don’t let there be a hint that you
permit that kind of garbage in your midst. Greedy persons are idolaters.
They do not love God. They do not serve God. They serve themselves.
Remember in
Matthew 6:24 it says that no man can serve two masters.
"No one can serve two masters; for
either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one
and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
He will love one
and hate the other. Someone may say,
"No, no, no. I
love one and
maybe I will kind
of like the other."
No way! You will
love one and hate the other. You cannot wear the old garment and love
the new garment. You cannot do it. You have to make up your mind which
garment you are going to put on. That is the key, if you have the
garment to put on.
Then Paul moves
on. He says,
"None of this is
proper among the saints."
The word
proper means becoming. In other words, you have a garment now that
fits you. It is a becoming garment. That garment that is so becoming on
you is the garment of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t put any other garment
on because it won’t be fitting, it won’t be becoming to you. (Ephesians 5:3-4: Be Imitators of God's
Love - 2) ><> ><> ><>
Enslaved - The story is told
that a friend of Augustine named Alypius was often urged by his neighbors
to watch the gladiators in combat. He refused to do so because he abhorred
the brutality of those barbaric contests. One day, however, he was forced
into the amphitheater against his will. Determined not to witness the gory
spectacle, Alypius kept his eyes tightly closed. But a piercing cry
aroused his curiosity so much that he peeked just as one of the fighters
received a fatal wound.
J. N. Norton says of
the incident, “No sooner had Alypius discovered the bloody stream issuing
from the victim’s side, than his finer sensibilities were blunted, and he
joined in the shouts and exclamations of the noisy mob about him. From
that moment he was a changed man—changed for the worse; not only attending
such sports himself, but urging others to do likewise.” Even though
Alypius had entered the arena against his will, his exposure to evil and
eventual addiction suggests what can happen to the best of people when
they get one small taste of lustful pleasures. Their appetite is whetted.
They develop a liking for what they once abhorred. And without realizing
it they become enslaved. (Original source unknown from
10000 Sermon Illustrations. Dallas: Biblical Studies Press)
><> ><> ><>
Wholesome Humor - Abraham Lincoln faced enormous
pressures as president during the US Civil War. Without humor, it's
doubtful he would have been able to bear the strain. When emotions ran
high in cabinet meetings, he often told a funny story to break the
tension. Laughing at himself kept him from becoming defensive. And a good
story with a strong point sometimes won over an opponent.
The spontaneity of humor reflects the way God created man. It is both
physically and emotionally beneficial. Laughter can keep a tense situation
from ending in bitter words or hard feelings.
Although Jesus was a "Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah
53:3), I believe He laughed often. Sometimes Jesus used humor to make a
point. Imagine a camel trying to squeeze through the eye of a needle!
(Matthew 19:24).
But there's also a dark side to humor. Paul called it "coarse jesting" and
said that it should have no place in the believer's life (Ephesians 5:4).
It demeans, degrades, and defiles those who use it and those who hear it.
So what do we laugh at? What kinds of stories do we tell each other? Would
Jesus laugh with us? I believe He would—if it were wholesome humor.
—Dennis J. De Haan
(Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Give us a sense of
humor, Lord,
Give us the grace to laugh and smile;
But check our lips from needless jest
That what we speak may be worthwhile. —Anon.
To laugh is to be fully human.
><>><>><>
Steven Cole (Clean
Up Your Act!) has a
poignant introduction to his message on this section of Ephesians...
The way that God designed our five
senses so that they adjust to minimize harsh stimuli is amazing! Your eyes
adjust to bright sunlight so that it doesn’t seem so bright or to a dark
room so that it isn’t so dark. Your ears filter out certain noises so that
you don’t even think about them. In Dallas, our apartment was on a busy
freeway. We got so used to the noise that it seemed weird to wake up in
the middle of the night when it was quiet. Then a car would go by and we’d
realize that the usual freeway noise was missing. Your sense of smell
works the same way. When I used to paint houses, the customers would come
home and complain about the terrible smell of the paint. I honestly
couldn’t smell anything, because I had grown used to the smell. The same
thing happens with your sense of taste. Not many people like the taste of
coffee at first. It’s too bitter. But after you develop a taste for it,
the bitter tastes good. And, your sense of touch develops calluses so that
what at first felt rough no longer bothers you. Our spiritual senses also
work like our physical senses, but with a crucial difference. While it is
to our advantage in most cases to adjust to harsh physical stimuli, it is
to our disadvantage spiritually.
When we first hear of some terrible
sin, we shrink back in horror and disgust. But if we are exposed to this
sin repeatedly, so that it becomes commonplace, we tend to accept it or at
least shrug it off. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) saw this when he wrote
(“Essay on Man,” in Familiar Quotations, by John Bartlett [Little, Brown,
and Company], 13th ed., p. 317),
Vice is a monster
of so frightful mien [appearance]
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
I fear that the American church is in
grave danger of pitying or embracing the sexual immorality that has
engulfed our nation. (From here on, this message is probably rated PG-13,
although I’ll try to keep it to a PG rating!) Twenty years ago, Leadership
journal did a survey on sex and the American clergy. Of the pastors
responding to the survey, 20 percent said that they looked at sexually
oriented media (print, video, or movies) at least once a month (Winter,
1988, p. 24). This was before the Internet made such material easily
available in your own home or on your laptop computer when you travel! And
38 percent of these pastors said they find themselves fantasizing about
sex with someone other than their spouse at least once a month.
The same survey asked these pastors,
“Since you’ve been in local church ministry, have you ever done anything
with someone (not your spouse) that you feel was sexually inappropriate?”
Twenty-three percent answered yes. The inappropriate behavior was left
undefined and could have ranged from unguarded words to flirtation to
adultery. When asked specifically about adultery, 12 percent of pastors
answered yes (since entering local church ministry)! Leadership asked the
same questions of readers of Christianity Today magazine who were not
pastors. The incidences of immorality were nearly double, with 45 percent
indicating that they had done something inappropriate, and 23 percent
admitting to extramarital sex (p. 12)!
Again, this survey is now 20 years old.
I’m sure that the increases in the availability of pornography, along with
the increasingly degrading content of movies and television, have not
improved those statistics! Several years ago, Al Mohler wrote...
The statistics are truly frightening.
According to industry studies, 70% percent of 18-24 year old men visit
pornographic sites in a typical month. These young men represent something
like one-fourth of all visitors to pornographic sites on the internet. The
next largest group of users are young men in their 20’s and 30’s, 66% of
whom report being regular users of pornography….
Today the average teenage boy is likely
to have seen thousands of explicit sexual images, ranging across the
spectrum of sexualities and perversions. Many of these boys and young men
are driven by sexual fantasies that previous generations of young men
would not have even known existed….Today Americans rent more than 800
million pornographic videos and DVD’s every year. About 20% of all video
rentals are pornographic. At least 11,000 pornographic videos are produced
annually, amounting to revenue for the adult film industry estimated at
between 5 and 10 billion dollars a year….
Mohler also cites a November, 2003, “60
Minutes” report that many of the largest hotel chains, including Hilton,
Marriott, Hyatt, Sheraton, and Holiday Inn, make most of their in-room
profits from the sale of pay-per-view porn—with half of all guests
purchasing erotic video products
Since we’re all swimming in this filthy
cesspool, the apostle Paul’s commands in our text become even more urgent,
that as God’s saints, we eliminate sexual impurity from our thoughts,
words, and deeds. The reasons that he gives for his commands are not so
that you will have a happy marriage (although eliminating this filth is an
essential part of a happy marriage). Rather, he tells us that those who
practice such things will not be in heaven, but will come under God’s
wrath! Thus is it to your eternal advantage to understand and apply Paul’s
words here. (Ephesians
5:3-6 Clean Up Your Act!)
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