3But 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. 4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7Therefore do not be partners with them.
8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord.
Dig Deeper
Over the years I have been fortunate enough to study the Bible with many non-Christians, helping them come to terms with the Scriptures and what they mean for our lives. Some have become Christians, some have not. While studying what the Bible says about putting off the old man and dying to ourselves and entering into the life of Christ, we always, in some form or another, have several conversations about what that will look like for each individual. What will it mean for them to die to their old life. What I have found is that this is usually something very different for each and every individual, with one exception. Every single man that I have ever studied the Bible with had one element in common that they felt would be particularly difficult in changing their mindset and practices. If you don’t already know what I’m talking about, it’s sex. Sex seems to be at the core of so much of our life in darkness to the point where our culture seems obsessed with it. In fact, we sometimes tend to think that no other society or culture has ever been dominated by sex the way ours is, but that just wouldn’t be true. The Roman culture of Paul’s day was every bit as obsessed with sex as we are. In fact, more so in many ways. It was common, for instance, to have graphic sexual images painted on the walls of the primary rooms in a wealthy Roman house, and many of the pagan religious rituals at temples involved sexual activities and orgies. It was everywhere in Paul’s day in word, thought, and deed just as it is in ours.
This is why Paul turns to this topic in such certain terms. In the previous passage he dealt with the sins that were most likely to cause discord and disunity in the body of Christ, but now he turns to one that would probably be the most universal. If God’s people are truly going to live up to their calling they must transform their mind not just in the acts of sexual immorality, although that is certainly demanded, they must learn to apply the life of Christ to every possible manifestation of sex, including the way they talked about it, and the way they thought about it.
As God’s holy people, the elect who are in Christ, the discussion of sin goes beyond a simple matter of not participating, but there must not be even a hint. What is an important distinction, however, is that Paul says there shouldn’t be a hint of sexual immorality, he at no time prohibits sex, which was seen as a healthy and wonderful blessing from God when used in its proper domain. In Paul’s day, there were not only many people who engaged in every type of sexual immorality, there were, on the other end of the spectrum, religious sects that taught that participation in and enjoyment of any sort of sexual activity was wrong and improper, even within marriage. Paul wants to strike the proper balance between describing the inappropriateness of immoral sexual behavior, while not appearing to condemning the act of marital sex.
There are three general areas of sexual inappropriateness that Paul addresses. The term for sexual immorality, porneia, covered a wide array of sexual activity such as prostitution, adultery, fornication, and promiscuity. Nor should there be, says Paul, any kind of impurity, a term that is probably used to apply to sexual perversions of various kinds. Paul also warns against greed, which in this context likely refers to the constant desire for more sex solely for selfish reasons.
Not only should God’s people not engage in these types of behaviors, they should not even have conversations about such things. Generally when we allow ourselves to become comfortable talking about a subject in a coarse or joking manner, it won’t be long before our standards about viewing, and eventually engaging in such things begin to slip. Rather than engaging in obscene, foolish, or coarse joking about sexual matters, those in Christ should stop wasting their time and linguistic energy and speak thanksgiving. In verse 20, Paul will mark out thanksgiving as a sign of being filled with the spirit. In essence, thanksgiving is the basic mindset of the Christian that focuses on God’s grace, God’s will, and God’s desires rather than our own. Rather than engaging in selfish and titillating conversations, God’s people should be focused on building up one another with their talk. Every time we have an empty conversation, we also lose the opportunity to encourage and build one another up.
Paul cuts right to the heart of matters in verses 5-6. He leaves no room for sentimentality or excuse-making about engaging in certain behaviors as a consistent lifestyle (note Paul talks about an immoral, impure, or greedy person who has turned themselves over to these behaviors as a lifestyle, rather than someone who merely falls a couple of times). Paul’s point is not exactly that this is a list of rules which, if violated, will disqualify a candidate for God’s future, although that’s true in a sense. Closer to his point is that he is describing what those transformed into the image of Christ will and will not look like. If you see any of these things as a normal part of your life and character, then that’s a pretty good warning light that you have not been transformed into Christ’s image. Despite what those with empty words (presumably Paul speaks here more in generic terms of the types of things that those around them might say rather than dealing with a specific individual or false teacher) might claim, God’s wrath will come on those who are disobedient. These words are particularly instructive for those of us who live in a society that seeks constantly to permit whatever behaviors, particularly sexual, in which people choose to engage, as well as to redefine who God is and what punishment of those not in Christ will be. Paul is pretty clear here that those who embrace behavior that is antithetical to the life of Christ will not only have no place in the kingdom of God, but they will feel the full force of God’s wrath.
Because of that obvious fate, it would make no sense for a Christian to join with these people and engage in similar behaviors. Paul does not mean that Christians should never go around immoral people. That would be as impossible as it would be impractical. Christ’s people are to be lights in the darkness, which implies that they must go into the dark, but they are not to douse their light in order to not stand out so sharply from those around them.
There might be a temptation to be drawn into that darkness, because we were all once darkness. Now, however, we are light in the Lord. When we live in contrast to God’s will, we don’t just reside in darkness, we become darkness. On the other hand, when we reside in Christ, we are light to the world around us, so Paul reminds his readers to live that way. The only thing sillier than having no light in a dark room, is to have a light but completely cover it up so that it can’t be seen.
The idea of once being darkness and now being light continues a motif that Paul has used repeatedly in this letter, as he has noted that they were once aliens, separated from God (2:12-22); subject to the powers of the world (2:1-2), and now darkness. In Christ, however, they are brought near to God (2:13), they are victorious in Christ (2:5-9), and have become light. No doubt, in all of this, Paul has baptism in mind. The change from darkness to light was due to their new status in Christ, which they entered by faith at baptism. This change in status allows us to become light in Christ to the world but it also means learning to discipline and control not only actions, but far more importantly our thinking. It means we can’t just go with the flow of things, but must think about the nature of God and what that means for us in our own thoughts and actions.
Devotional Thought
When reading through this passage, do any of the areas that Paul talks about strike a little close to home? Are there any areas in your life in which you have allowed a hint of some of these behaviors? If so, what do you need to do in response to that realization?
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