Isaiah - Verse By Verse | Walking through Ephesians

Walking through Ephesians - Day 101

versebyverse | February 25, 2008 18:16

Thought: To me, Christ is the cure for all the ills of society.

Question: Is there even a hint of wrong-doing, immorality or greediness in me?

Scripture: Ephesians 5:3 (NIV): "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."

Paul gives some specific sins here that oppose the life of imitation of God. They are immorality, impurity and greed. The gentiles, in their futile thinking (verse 17 of chapter 4), have these sins. But "God's holy people" are not to perform these sins or have any behavior in their life that even hints at this activity. Christians must be above reproach. Why? Paul says that these sins are "improper for God's holy people," that's why. They do not fit with the clothing of the new man. 1) Immorality is defined by Webster as "violating the moral law", and "moral" is defined as "conforming to right conduct." It could easily be said that our word "moral" is fairly equivalent to the biblical term "righteous." Many sins of vice and illegality could be considered "immoral" behavior, such as crimes of all kinds that create victims in our society. 2) Impurity is defined by Webster as "moral pollution" or "indecency" or "adulteration" and, to me, carries the idea of having mixed or added something in that destroys the original purity of a thing. Adultery, the adding of another sexual relationship to a marriage, is an example. 3) Greed is defined by Webster as "eager and selfish desire" to obtain by grasping and is due to having an "excessive appetite for" a thing, such as food or drink. Immorality, impurity and greed have a few things in common. They are all sins of self-indulgence where wrong desires are fulfilled in lust which grows and is never satisfied. They are all sins that seek to quench human wants and/or needs apart from God, by self-effort and independent behaviors. They are humans looking to other humans for what only God can supply anyway. They are all sins of taking--exploiting another's body or goods to serve self.

God's holiness acts for mankind, not against it. God's holiness satisfies with good desires involved. God's holiness comes back to praise God and does not function independently of Him. God's holiness gives--fulfilling our needs, both in spirit and body, in and through Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Father in Heaven, may Your holiness take over in my life, driving out immorality, impurity and greed forever. Amen.