Let's start today, by simply reading verses 3-4:
(3) Now, sexual immorality and all uncleanness or greediness must not be named among you,
just as it is fitting for the holy ones,
(4) and shameful behavior and foolish talk or coarse/crude joking,
which aren't proper,
but rather thanksgiving.
(5) For this you know,
knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
(6) No one must deceive you with empty words,
for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of
disobedience.
Paul begins this section of Ephesians by listing three sins that we, as God's holy ones, must completely avoid: (1) sexual immorality, (2) all uncleanness, and (3) greed. Paul knows these sins are wrong, and the Ephesians know these sins are wrong. So Paul can begin here, not by saying "don't do these sins" but by saying, "don't even name these sins among you." What does this mean? "Sexual immorality, and all uncleanness or greediness must not be named among you."
All of us appreciate a good story. If someone has something hilarious happen to them, you want to hear the story, right? As I was writing this sermon, msn.com had a big story up about how a runner was attacked by a mountain lion and killed it by choking it out. No one believed him, but when they autopsied the mountain lion, his story checked out.
Crazy.
These are the kinds of stories we find ourselves talking about sometimes at church-- "the things we name among us." And there is nothing wrong with these stories. But sometimes the stories we tell among ourselves have to do with people getting caught up in sin. We say, "Did you hear what so-and-so did?" Or, "Did you hear about that pastor's affair in such-and-such a town?" And then we tell the sordid tale. Probably, we make all right noises as we tell our story. We shake our heads, we go, "tsk, tsk." We say, "What a shame."
But why are we telling this story? We're making all the right noises, saying all the right things, but if we find these stories interesting, I think it says something about ourselves. For all our talk, we find the deceitful desires of sin appealing. We find ourselves drawn to them. We know these sins are wrong; we know we shouldn't do them. But we're like a kid in a candy store, and we find ourselves wanting to get a close look. They're fascinating.
I think what Paul means when he says these sins must not be named among you, because they aren't fitting, is something like this. We hear stories like this, or we know stories like this, and we want to share. Someone else knows these stories, and we want to hear. But these sins are dangerous, and we need to treat them like they are dangerous. So these sins are not proper topics for casual conversation. If you need to warn someone about these sins, then warn them. If you're up front preaching, and the verse is about sexual immorality, you have to warn. If a fellow believer is doing these sins, you need to warn them. But don't be telling stories about celebrities, or people you know, who have been sexually immoral. This isn't the type of thing that's fitting conversation for God's holy ones.
Paul then gives three more sins to avoid naming. "Shameful behavior, foolish talk, and crude joking." These sins aren't proper. Don't name them either. Most of us, I hope, are aware when we start saying really stupid things. We make a joke we shouldn't have, and we feel gross inside afterward. That was dumb. These sins aren't proper; they aren't fitting for God's holy ones.
What is fitting? What is proper? "Thanksgiving." These are the two choices. On the one side, sexual immorality, uncleanness, greediness, shameful behavior, foolish talk, and crude joking. On the other, thanksgiving. I think at this point we need to just stop and think about this. If I was going to make two lists, a list of things to do, and a list of things not to do, I'd put "obedience" on one side, and "sin" on the other.
This wouldn't be wrong, but that's not what Paul says here. He says, "instead of talking about these things in casual conversation, be thankful."
You know you are keeping the right perspective on everything in life when you find yourself regularly thanking God. People who are thankful value what God has done for them. I was dead in my wrongdoing and sin, and God mercifully forgave my sins and made me part of his family in Christ. By all rights, I was the kind of person who was naturally destined for wrath. But God in his love made me his son.
If I keep this in mind, and I'm really truly thankful to God for what he did for me, I won't sin.
So when you see or hear a story about someone's greed, or moral uncleanness, or sexual immorality, you don't find yourself wanting to tell other people. You see these things, or hear these stories, and you know that these are the types of sins God rescued you from.
These sins are dangers. They aren't entertainment.
This brings us to verse 5, where we get a "for" statement. What "for" statements do is explain or strengthen some point just made.
For this you know,
knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
No one must deceive you with empty words,
for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.
Paul just told you that sexual immorality, uncleanness, and greed are not fitting-- not proper-- for God's holy ones. Instead, your starting point should be thanksgiving to God for everything he's done for you.
But, on the off chance that this isn't enough to keep you from doing them, Paul now offers you a serious warning. If you are sexually immoral, or unclean, or greedy, you have no inheritance in God's kingdom.
Before I say anything else, know that I hate talking about verses like this. I take no pleasure in this. I cry almost every time I have to teach through verses like this. Actually, let's do this. Let's turn to Acts 20:25-31. When Paul is saying goodbye to the Ephesians in Acts, he knows he's never going to see them again. This is it. What do you say, as a pastor, the last time you see your flock? Paul says this:
25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God,[a] which he bought with his own blood.[b] 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
As a teacher, it's really tempting to get to scary verses like this, and water them down. Or skip over them. But I think how this works, is when I get to verses like this, God sits up a little straighter on his throne, and listens more carefully, and takes notes. Because these are the kinds of verses that are the basis for how God will judge me as your teacher. If I warn you, and you repent, we are both good. If I warn you and you don't repent, you're blood is on your hands. But I'm ok. If I don't warn you, and you don't repent, your blood is on my hands (Ezekiel 3). I'm determined to be able to say to God, I'm innocent of your blood. If you ignore me, and ignore God, your stubbornness will not be my fault.
So let's start this over. Verse 5:
For this you know,
knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
No one must deceive you with empty words,
for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of
disobedience.
Paul is not talking here about special extra rewards you get. He's talking about eternal life (Galatians 6:6-8; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Romans 6:22; Romans 8:12-13). I SHOULD PROBABLY EXPLAIN THIS THROUGH MATTHEW 19:16-30, COMPARING 16 AND 23.
Do these sins, and you lose your inheritance. And Paul says-- notice this-- that you Ephesians already know this. He's not teaching something new. Every Christian knows that the basis for the final judgment is the works produced by faith, through the Spirit. This isn't controversial. It's not new. But sometimes we forget this.
I would LOVE at this point to offer you some type of reassurance. I'd love to comfort you, and tell you God doesn't care if you are immoral, or greedy, or an idolater. It'd be great if I could do that. And almost every single pastor at this point is going to do exactly this. If Paul left the tiniest opening here, I'd jump through it. Believe me. But what we all need to do is look at ourselves in the mirror, honestly. Are you sexually immoral? Are you morally unclean? Are you greedy? Or have you repented of these sins? If you haven't repented, if you are tolerating these sins, you won't receive eternal life.
I don't even know what else to say. You can't tolerate sin.
Paul knows that it's at exactly this point that we want to water down his words. He knows we don't want to hear this. And so he gives us this in verse 6:
"No one must deceive you with empty words,
for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of
disobedience.
Anyone who tells you anything other than what Paul just said is trying to give you a false hope. The reassurance they give you is hollow-- it's empty. It's because of these sins that God's wrath is coming. Just because God has been patient with us up to this point, doesn't mean that his wrath isn't coming. If you are practicing these sins, stop. Be ruthless in dealing with them. You are placing yourself in terrible danger. God's wrath is coming.
In many churches, people are told something like this: God loves you unconditionally. You have eternal life guaranteed, no matter how you live. This is what you want to be told. You want to hear, "You can live however you want, and God loves you the same. God has a plan for you, to bless you and not harm you." The problem is that almost every single NT book has a verse like this, that destroys this theology. You have to persevere.
Some of you are Calvinists, staunchly, and you find yourself being really unhappy right now. If this is you, let me try to explain it like this. A good Calvinist will say 2 things. First, you must persevere. You have to be faithful to King Jesus to the end to receive eternal life.
Second, you will persevere. A Calvinist will say that God makes sure you don't, in the end, fall away. You won't be sexually immoral, you won't be greedy, you won't be morally unclean. So the difference between a Calvinist and me on this isn't on whether or not you must persevere. Everyone is supposed to say, you must persevere.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And this is why, classically, Reformed theologians prefer to talk in terms of "perseverance of the saints" rather than "eternal security." It helps maintain a more biblical balance.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The difference between us is that I don't know how to take these warnings seriously, without concluding that it's possible to fall away. I'm a simple Bible-believing Christian. If Paul warns congregations day and night with tears (Acts 20), worried about them, I assume he's worried for a reason. And I know myself, and I know I'm perfectly capable of sexual immorality, or moral uncleanness, or greed. And I know if this is who I am, I won't have eternal life with God.
Either way, what we have to do is take verses like this seriously. I've heard many pastors come to verses like this, and "accidentally" hop over them, or they spend 20 minutes trying to sooth you. Hopefully, when they do this, you see them squirming. They stammer; they stutter; they're embarrassed by the passage. They shift around; they get sweaty. When you see someone up front doing that, that's a good sign of two things: (1) it's a warning passage, and (2) they are refusing to take the warning seriously. Any reassurance people give you at this point is empty. It's hollow. If you ever see someone doing this, you should stop listening to them for a minute, and actually read what the Bible says.
Verse 5-6 one last time:
For this you know,
knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater,
does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
No one must deceive you with empty words,
for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of
disobedience.
Verse 7:
Therefore, don't be/become fellow sharers with them,
for you were formerly darkness.
Now you [are] light in the Lord.
So if Paul's convinced you that you must avoid sexual immorality, uncleanness, and greed, what's the next step?
We all know people who do these sins. Don't join them in these sins. Don't do it. Maybe you feel peer pressure. Maybe the sins look tempting. Don't do it. This doesn't mean you can't hang out with non-Christians. It means, don't hang out with them when they are doing these sins. Don't share in their sins.
These sins belong to the darkness. You were formerly darkness; now you are light.
Hopefully, you remember what life looked like before you were saved. You were darkness; you were dead. And you know God's wrath is coming on the disobedient. This used to be you.
Now, though, you are light. God has given you a higher calling; he's made you part of his family, creating peace with you.
It's interesting in these verses how Paul talks about light and darkness. What I want to say is, you were walking in the darkness, and now you are in the light. But that's not quite what Paul says. You were darkness. Now you are light in the Lord-- in Jesus.
Paul then grabs this image of light and darkness, and runs with it. Continuing in verse 8:
As children of light walk,
for the fruit of the light [is] in all goodness and righteousness and truth,
testing/examining what is pleasing to the Lord.
You are children of light. So walk as children of light. What does this mean? Paul gives us another "for" statement to explain this. The fruit of light is in all goodness, and righteousness and truth. We are all familiar with the idea of the fruit of the Spirit, probably, from Galatians 5. You can tell if someone is walking in step with the Spirit, because their lives look like the fruit of the Spirit-- love, joy, peace, patience, and so on. Here, "fruit of the light" is basically the same thing. If you walk as children of the light, you will bear the fruit that is found in goodness, righteousness, and truth.
So as you walk through life, you will find yourself having to make choices about right and wrong. How do you make that decision?
The last line explains what this looks like. "Testing/examining what is pleasing to the Lord." The question you are supposed to ask is this: "Does doing or saying this please Jesus?" Some things are wrong; some things are right; and some aren't one or the other. Choosing a cheeseburger or a taco for lunch-- I don't think Jesus cares. But when it's a moral decision, we need to think about what we are doing. You need to stop, and ask, "If I do this, or say this, am I walking in the light? Does it lead to goodness, righteousness, and truth? Does it please Jesus?" Your goal is to please Jesus. So walk as children of light.
Verse 11:
And don't be co-partners in the unfruitful deeds of darkness,
now rather even expose them.
For the things being done in secret by them are shameful even to speak.
Now, all things being exposed by the light are made visible.
For everything being made visible is light.
You are children of light. So you walk in the light. You don't do the unfruitful deeds of darkness. Instead, you expose them. As you go through life, you are a light. And everyone who is around you is exposed by that light. You are not greedy people. You don't love money; you don't live for money and the things it can buy. And when you around people who are greedy, their greed is exposed. People see that you are content with what you have, and it shines light on their own sin.
You are not sexually immoral people. You are children of light. And when your co-workers share dirty videos on their smartphones, and you are in the room, they glance at you. In that moment they pass their phone, they know their sins are exposed. They feel like the light coming off you. And they know that what they are doing, is a deed of the darkness. It's the kind of sin that people hide, because it's shameful. But because you are there, their sin is exposed.
I'm not saying you should go around at work or school calling out people for their sins. You can't expect non-Christians to walk as children of the light. That's not how it works. You aren't children of the light, unless you repented of your sins, gave your allegiance to Jesus, and were baptized as an appeal to God. You can't expect people to be content, and not greedy, if they aren't Christians. But people see the light coming off you, and it forces them to be honest with themselves about how they are living. You expose their sins, simply by being living as people who are holy-- who are set apart for God.
This brings us to the interesting quote in verse 14.
Therefore it says,
"Rise, the sleeper,
and rise from the dead,
and the Messiah/Christ will shine on you.
There's a lot of discussion about what exactly Paul is quoting here. There's no single verse that says this. Or really, anything close to this. So most scholars think Paul is quoting an early Christian hymn. But that's about as far as their agreement goes on this. I think it means something like this, in the context of Ephesians:
You used to be dead in your wrongdoing and sins. You were excluded from God's family, and you lived in the darkness, as children of the darkness. When you gave Jesus your allegiance, Jesus shined on you. And he continues to shine on you. Maybe we are like the moon. We walk as children of the light, because Jesus shines on us. We reflect Jesus' light. So when people see our light, it should point them to Jesus.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When we take a step back, what does this part of Paul's argument teach us?
For all of us, there are basically two ways to live. The first option, is to live as children of the darkness.
This means walking through life in the way you used to, before you became part of God's family. You could walk in sexual immorality, uncleanness, and greed. You could act shamefully, talk foolishly, and tell crude jokes.
The question you need to ask yourself is this: "Should I?" "Should I go back to my old way of life, to my old road of sin and wrongdoing?"
Paul says, "Don't do this." These things aren't fitting-- they aren't proper-- for people who God has set apart for himself as holy. More than this, these sins will kill you. They will keep you from inheriting your share in God's kingdom. They will keep you from eternal life. If there was any wiggle room on this, I would be happy to share it with you. But the truth is what it is. And anyone who tells you otherwise, is teaching you hollow and empty words.
The bottom line is this: You can't walk as children of darkness. You gave that up; don't go back to it. Instead, please, walk as children of the light.
Translation:
Now, sexual immorality and all uncleanness or greediness must not be named among you,
just as it is fitting for the holy ones,
and shameful behavior and foolish talk or coarse/crude joking,
which aren't proper,
but rather thanksgiving.
For this you know,
knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater,
does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
No one must deceive you with empty words,
for because of these things God's wrath is coming on the sons of disobedience.
Therefore, don't be/become fellow sharers with them,
for you were formerly darkness.
Now, you [are] light in the Lord.
As children of light walk,
for the fruit of the light [is] in all goodness and righteousness and truth,
testing/examining what is pleasing to the Lord,
And don't be co-partners in the unfruitful deeds of darkness,
now, rather even expose them.
For the things being done in secret by them are shameful even to speak.
Now, all things being exposed by the light are made visible.
For everything being made visible is light.
Therefore it says,
"Rise, the sleeper,
and rise from the dead,
and the Messiah/Christ will shine on you.
