In his book, Listening to the Voice of God, Pastor Roger Barrier shares the account of how he was led by God to preach a one sentence sermon one Sunday morning. The account in the book focuses more on how that was an act of faith on his part than it does on the message itself. But the message itself was actually a very accurate summary of what Paul writes in Ephesians 5:5-6. Here is his one sentence sermon:
It is not possible to be content with your sins and really be a Christian.
Before any of you get your hopes up too much, my message this morning will not be a one sentence sermon. Even our passage for today is two sentences. Let’s read them out loud together.
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. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Ephesians 5:6, 7 (NASB)
This is one of those passages that we can either look upon with dread or delight. At first glance, this passage can certainly create some fear in our lives. We look at our lives and recognize just how vulnerable we are to immorality, impurity and covetousness and we see the serious consequences to those sins.
But as we examine this passage in more detail this morning and understand it more fully, I think that we’ll find that it is indeed a source of great joy for those who are followers of Jesus Christ. The difference between delight and dread boils down to the difference between a lapse and a leap. Let me explain:
1. There is a difference between a lapse and a leap
In our Tuesday morning Bible study, Denny shared with us a thought from his seminary days that well-known pastor Adrian Rogers was also fond of using:
Unconverted sinners leap into sin and love it;
Converted sinners lapse into sin and loathe it.
Every one of us in this room this morning is a sinner. And I think I would be on safe ground if I were to presume that every one of us has at one time or another in our lives been guilty of the sins that Paul has just described in the previous two verses that we looked at last week. In fact, let me take it even one step further. Unless you just became a follower of Jesus Christ very, very recently, I think I’m safe in saying that you have probably committed these very same sins – sexual immorality, impurity and covetousness - since you became a follower of Jesus Christ.
But in this passage, Paul is very clearly writing about those who live a lifestyle that is consistently characterized by those sins and not those who occasionally fall into them. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul very clearly described the difference between those two groups:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7, 8 (NIV)
For those who are sons of God and have the Holy Spirit living in them, they will live their lives to please God. And when they do lapse into sin, they will be convicted of that sin and loathe it. They will be sincerely sorry for their sin and not just sorry that they got caught. They experience the kind of hurt and pain that David went through before he confessed his sin to God.
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
Psalm 32:3, 4 (NIV)
On the other hand, those who are sons of disobedience will leap into sin because they live to please their sinful natures. They will love their sin because they love self more than they love God. That’s why Paul calls the covetous man an idolater. Someone who lives a lifestyle that is characterized by trying to please his own selfish desires has made a god out of self and is therefore an idolater.
Paul was warning his readers against those who were apparently trying to deceive them into thinking that they could still pursue the immoral lifestyle that was totally acceptable to their culture and still be followers of Jesus Christ. He is making the point that that kind of lifestyle is totally incompatible with being a follower of Jesus Christ. Christianity and immorality are like oil and water – they just don’t mix.
Paul also makes it quite clear that there is not just a distinction between leaping in to sin and lapsing into sin, there is also a vast difference between the consequences of those differing lifestyles.
2. Those who lapse:
• Do not lose their inheritance
Remember that all the way back in chapter 1, Paul described the role of the Holy Spirit in guaranteeing our inheritance:
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession - to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:13, 14 (NIV)
For those who are sons of God and who occasionally lapse into sin, we do not have to worry about losing our inheritance. Since it is the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, and not our own merit, that provides the inheritance in the first place, there is nothing we can do to forfeit that inheritance. And the very moment that we become followers of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes permanently into our lives as a guarantee that we will one day receive all that inheritance has to offer.
In other words, once we become children of God as a result of God’s work in our lives, God will never write us out of His will.
• Do not endure the wrath of God.
At the beginning of chapter 2, Paul described how all of us were at one time dead in our transgressions and sins and therefore were children of wrath. But for those of us who have committed our lives to Jesus Christ, God has replaced His wrath with His mercy and grace.
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NIV)
Although God certainly disciplines His children when they sin, He does not pour out His wrath upon them. Those of us who are parents can certainly understand how God treats us in this way. When our children do something that is wrong that will ultimately bring harm to them, we discipline them for their own good. But we would never pour out our wrath upon them.
As followers of Jesus Christ, there are always consequences when we lapse into sin. That sin hinders our relationship with God. Sometimes we hurt other people or ourselves. Sometimes, God has to discipline us in order for us to recognize that sin and to get us to confess and repent. But if we are truly children of God, we will never lose our inheritance or face the wrath of God.
But for those who live a lifestyle that is characterized by sin, the consequences are much more severe.
3. Those who leap:
• Forfeit their inheritance both now and in the future
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.
There are a couple of very interesting aspects of what Paul write in verse 5. First of all, he uses a present tense verb here – the immoral person has no inheritance. We would expect Paul to use a future tense verse here – the immoral person will not have any inheritance. Keep that in mind for a moment as we consider the second aspect.
This is the only place in Paul’s writings – in fact the only place in the entire Bible – where the phrase “the kingdom of Christ and of God” is used. Paul often refers to the kingdom of Christ and he often refers to the kingdom of God, but never at the same time. If we examine how Paul uses these two concepts in his writings, we find that in general...
o Kingdom of Christ – present
When Paul refers to the kingdom of Christ, he normally uses it to describe the present dominion of Jesus as it contrasts with the dominion of Satan on this earth. That concept is described in the first part of chapter 2, but Paul presents it even more clearly in his letter to the Colossians:
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13, 14 (NIV)
In that passage the kingdom of the Son, the kingdom of Christ, is contrasted with the dominion of darkness, which is obviously a description of the sphere of influence, or dominion, of Satan. Since we know that Satan will have no place in the future kingdom of God, Paul must be describing the current kingdom, which is the sphere of influence, or dominion, of Christ on this earth right here and now. That would also be consistent with Paul’s use of a present tense verb here in verse 5.
So the person who lives an immoral lifestyle and leaps into sin and loves it forfeits his or her right to participate in the kingdom of Christ today. They fail to receive the abundant life that Jesus promised to His followers. That is very clearly demonstrated by the statistical data that I shared with you last week that shows that those who follow God’s blueprint for their sexual lives are much more fulfilled and satisfied than those who choose to live in the kingdom of darkness.
o Kingdom of God - future
When Paul uses the phrase “kingdom of God”, he normally uses it to refer to the future, eternal reign of God. This passage from Galatians demonstrates how Paul uses that phrase in that manner:
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV)
Notice that here Paul does use a future tense verb when he refers to the kingdom of God, just as he does in another similar passage in 1 Corinthians 6. And he makes it clear once again that anyone who chooses to live an immoral lifestyle forfeits his or her rights to participate in this eternal kingdom of God.
By using the phrase “kingdom of Christ and of God”, Paul is emphasizing the fact that those who live an immoral lifestyle have absolutely no part in the kingdom of God, either on this earth right now or in the eternal kingdom in the future.
• Suffer the wrath of God both now and in the future
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Once again, Paul uses a present tense verb here when we might expect him to us a future tense verb. The wrath of God “comes”, not “will come” on the sons of disobedience.
But before we examine that in a little more detail, let’s focus on the phrase “sons of disobedience” for just a moment. Paul previously used that phrase back in Ephesians 2:2 to describe those who continued to follow the ways of this world. In Hebrew thought, the term “sons” was used to describe the quality of a person’s life. So a “son of disobedience” is one whose life is characterized by disobedience. That is why the NIV accurately translates this phrase “those who are disobedient.” So in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul uses the phrase “sons of God” to describe those whose lifestyle is consistent with the character of God and the phrase “sons of disobedience” to describe those whose lives are characterized by immoral living.
When Paul writes that the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience, he is implying that there is also a present and future aspect of God’s wrath that they will experience.
We can see the present aspect of God’s wrath in Romans 1:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
Romans 1:18, 19 (NIV)
Notice that Paul once again uses a present tense verb here. The wrath of God “is being revealed”. In the verses which follow, Paul goes on to describe how these wicked men worship the creation, rather than the Creator – another way to describe idolatry. And then Paul goes on to describe this present wrath of God.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another...Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Romans 1:24, 26, 27 (NIV)
There comes a point at which God just gives people over to selfish, sinful, desires of their hearts and allows them to suffer the harmful consequences of their lifestyle. We don’t have to look too far to observe this aspect of God’s wrath at work in our culture today. Listen to this excerpt from an article in the USA Weekend Magazine from just 2 weeks ago:
Forget wedded bliss. More and more women are skipping the traditional steps of love and marriage and heading straight into having babies.
Nearly 40% of all American babies were born out of wedlock in 2006, an all-time high, government statistics show. That’s more than twice the rate in 1980, when 18% of children were born outside of marriage.
The fastest-growing group of unwed mothers: women 25 to 29. The number of babies born out of wedlock to women in this age group was 10% higher over the course of one year (2005-06).
"People feel more free to pick and choose their life trajectories and feel less compelled to marry," says Stephanie Coontz, professor at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and research director for the Council on Contemporary Families. "It’s a sea change."
This certainly is a “sea change”, as professor Coontz calls it, but it is the kind of sea change that is going to lead to disastrous results. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It seems to me that God has done exactly what He said he would do. He has turned the sons of disobedience over to their shameful lusts and they are receiving in themselves the due penalty for their perversion – physically, emotionally and spiritually.
But, as terrible as the present wrath of God is, there is something far worse to come, as Paul describes more fully in his letter to the Colossians:
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
Colossians 3:5, 6 (NIV)
One day, all of these people who choose to live an immoral lifestyle will have to stand before God and give an account of their lives. And then they are going to be banished from the presence of God to live in an everlasting place of torment and punishment that the Bible refers to as the lake of fire.
4. The difference between a lapse and a leap lies in your Lord
Here is the real heart of the issue this morning. In our Tuesday morning Bible study we talked a lot about the person who has professed faith in Jesus Christ, but whose lifestyle remains consistent with that of the world – the kind of lifestyle that Paul describes in these verses. Is it enough to just pray a prayer or walk down an aisle and then go on living the same way you live before that act?
Obviously only God know what’s in our hearts. But there is a crucial aspect of becoming a follower of Jesus Christ that we often tend to overlook. We often talk about Jesus being our Savior and our Lord, but I’m not sure we fully understand the full implications of what those terms mean.
There are a lot of people who don’t mind having Jesus be their Savior. But I’m not sure that most people understand what it means to make Him Lord. I’m speaking from experience here. Back when I was a student at the U of A, another student came up to me while I was sitting out on the mall one day and shared the gospel with me. He invited me to pray a prayer and assured me that saying that prayer would make me right with God and ensure that I would go to heaven some day. That sounded liked some pretty good “fire insurance” to me, so I prayed the prayer and this other student went on his way and I never saw him again.
It wasn’t until a couple of years later when I started attending church and heard the gospel message in full that I began to realize that my prayer that day on campus was really pretty worthless. I never had any intention of making Jesus my Lord. I wasn’t willing to give up control of my life. But fortunately, I began to understand the importance of making Jesus my Lord, as well as my Savior, and over a period of time, I did come to the place where I was willing to place Him in charge of my life. Even then, it certainly didn’t mean that I no longer sinned, but making Jesus the Lord of my life had a tremendous impact on how I viewed that sin.
What determines whether my sin is a lapse or a leap is who I make the Lord of my life. That’s exactly the point Paul is making here. He is telling his readers that they have to make a choice. They can either make self the Lord of their life and be an idolater who lives a life that is characterized by consistent immorality or they can make Jesus the Lord of their life and live a life that is pleasing to Him. But they can’t have it both ways.
Here is how John makes this same point:
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:9, 10 (NIV)
This morning, I want to challenge you to take an honest look at your life. Are you living a life that is characterized by leaping in to sin and loving it? Then you really need to consider carefully whether you have ever made Jesus the Lord of your life. And if you have never really done that, I invite you to make that decision today.
Or do you occasionally lapse into sin and you loathe it? If that’s the case, that is pretty good evidence that you are indeed a child of God. But maybe there is some sin that you need to confess before God this morning and turn away from in your life.
Remember...
It is not possible to be content with your sins and really be a Christian.
