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Daily Scripture Reading – 1 Corinthians 10
Verse of the Day – Ephesians 5:6-7
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.
Devotional Thoughts
There is a noticeable distinction between the sons of disobedience and the sons of God. One lives only for self, the other abandons self for God. One takes, the other gives. We can even hear a difference in the way members of these different kingdoms talk. Their accent as it were causes them to stand out and be readily identified.
As we have learned to see the difference, and hopefully to live the difference as we are in Christ, we read next that when it comes to the sons of disobedience we are not to be partakers with them. What does this mean? It sounds simple enough, but it is often confused or muddled as people try to interpret the verse to mean all sorts of things.
There are those that would teach us that this is talking about external things, like hair length or hair styles for men and women, or clothing styles, or the kind of music we listen to and enjoy. There are differences of opinion that vary from each end of extremes. So what does the Bible mean when it says, “do not be partakers with them”?
The word “partakers” means to be partners. More than companions, a partner is someone who is actively involved, even entangled in our affairs. There is the pursuit of common goals. This is a term that can be used to refer to fellowship.
Here we see that this phrase means then that we are not to be partners with the sons of disobedience. Another way to say it is to say, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14). I have explained what this verse means in detail in an article available here: The Second Foundation of Fellowship.
Some would say then that this means simply avoiding unbelievers. But in fact this does not mean to avoid them. If we avoid sinners how will they hear the gospel and be saved? We are never told to avoid all contact whatsoever with unbelievers. But we are told not to be partakers with them, not to partner with them. To better understand this I want to break this down into two key areas of partnership.
Partakers in Their Sin
We are not to partake with them in their sin. We can be around them and strive to reach them, love them, minister to them, and witness to them, but we must not partner with them in their sin. Especially here we need to keep in mind the nature of the particular sins and motives of the sons of disobedience. We do not join in their sin. We do not encourage it or enable it. We do not run with them in the same “flood of dissipation” nor do we make ourselves part of the group by endorsing what they do when they sin and chase their lust. As I stated earlier this week that means that we do not laugh at or otherwise encourage sin.
The Bible has plenty of warnings about evil companions. We need to heed those warnings. We need to steer clear of getting involved in a situation where we will either be led into sin or could be put in a position of helping someone else sin. And let us never think that we are above sin. We each face temptation daily and we know what triggers temptation. If people around us are doing things that will encourage us to sin or to be tempted we need to be prepared to flee!
Not many pastors preach on fleeing these days it seems. Too often we are encouraged to embrace our culture and act, talk, and look like those we are trying to reach with the gospel. But what change can we encourage if we do not think, talk, or look any differently than they? We are different. And we must not partake with them in their sin.
Partakers in Their Judgment
The sons of disobedience will suffer the wrath of God. That much we have seen clearly. We are not to be deceived by empty words or lead into a false assurance that we can have Jesus and our sin, walking in disobedience and still hoping for grace to abound. If those who think, talk, and act like sons of disobedience will suffer the wrath of God then this also means that we are not to partake with them in this wrath.
Jesus has born our sin and its penalty for us. He has been our substitute. Why then would we want to live like those who are only sure to receive His wrath? We must not partner with them in their sin or its consequences. We must come out from among them and be separate. We must act like what we are. Otherwise, we prove to be false disciples and we will be judged.
We cannot play with sin and indulge self and hope to be spared judgment. The truth is we will live like what we are! A key passage to keep in mind about the things we do and those with whom we partner in found in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11, 16-20. There we are told:
For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies.
We must live like what we have been appointed by God to be – disciples of Jesus Christ. And that life is distinct. It stands out like a light in a dark world. If people cannot tell that we are different and if we partake with them in their sin then we are living a lie. Either we are not really disciples of Christ, or we are hypocrites. According to some, the last thing the church needs is more hypocrites!
We know the truth. Jesus has told us “without Me you can do nothing”, but with Him and in Him and through Him, we “can do all things.” For nothing is impossible for God. Nothing.
He has saved us. He has made us new. And He has sent us back into the world to serve as His ambassadors, living and preaching the gospel so that others can be reconciled to Him with us. We must keep in mind that if we partake in the sins of the sons of disobedience then we will suffer their judgment as well. There is no room for an identity crisis. All doubts must be overcome with the Word of God, with the truth – Jesus knows those who are His, and those who are His live like it!
Links for Further Study
(links to study each daily topic in more detail if you have the desire and the time)
Fellowship with God by Charles Spurgeon
The Perspective of My Life: Obedience by John MacArthur
Bible Reading For Further Study
Phil. 1:7; Col. 1:12; Heb. 3:1, 14
1 Cor. 1:9; 2 Cor. 8:3-5; Eph. 5:11; 1 John 1:3, 6-7
Recommended Songs for Worship
Blessed Be the Dear Uniting Love
O Christ, Who Didst Our Tasks Fulfill
Daily Scripture Reading – Romans 5
Verse of the Day – Ephesians 5:6-7
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.
Devotional Thoughts
Here in our text we see a group of people referred to as the “sons of disobedience.” Who are these people? How do we recognize them? Why are they called the “sons of disobedience”?
The term “sons of disobedience” appears three times in the Scripture. It is here in our verse for today and also earlier in Ephesians 2:2 and also in Colossians 3:6. Let’s look at what the Bible tells us about these people.
The Sins of the Sons of Disobedience
The chief sins of the sons of disobedience center around the lust of the flesh. Ephesians 2:3 tells us that they conduct themselves “fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” The text we have been examining in Ephesians 5 has shown us that they practice sexual immorality living in impurity motivated by greed and that their speech reveals the true condition of their heart as they participate in obscenity, foolish talk, and crude joking. And in Colossians 3 we see that they are involved in “fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” The passage goes on to mention “anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language” and gives instruction that we should “not lie to one another.”
So we see that there is the same basic list mentioned three times. Those who would wear the label the “sons of disobedience” are actually easy to identify. These are people who are driven and motivated by their own lust, whether it be from their fallen minds or the cravings of their sinful bodies. The basic root here for all of these sins of disobedience is found in covetousness and lust. It is greed and idolatry. Unrestrained desire.
But these people do not just give in to their lust and greed. They are in bondage to it. They cannot escape and indeed do not want to escape. They are bound as slaves to the sinful desires of their bodies and the evil thoughts of their depraved minds.
Have you ever heard someone who is not a believer tell a story about something that they did and it is sinful and depraved and reckless and you just sit back and wonder, “What were they thinking?” The truth is that this kind of life is based on thinking and speaking and living with complete disregard for God and His Word. It is living for self.
Sin, Self, and Sons
This is why we who once were “sons of disobedience” and “by nature children of wrath” must understand that the gospel starts with repentance. Jesus never said that just anyone could follow Him. Hear me now! I am not denying that Jesus invited men and women to come follow Him. I am not denying that we must preach the gospel to every creature. But I am saying and affirming that Jesus Himself taught us that in order to come after Him and follow Him we must at the same time deny self. The invitation is an invitation to obey commands. Come. Repent. Believe. Follow.
This is critical in understanding both salvation and discipleship. Jesus came to save us from sin and from self. And if we are going to follow Him we cannot do what we want and disregard what He wants. How foolish is it to think that we are following Him if we are doing whatever we want to do without any care for what He wants?
It is actually quite amazing to think that there are those in the church today who teach that following Jesus does not mean a change in how we live. The command is to “come”, to “follow”, to “deny”, to “put off” and “put on”, and to “repent and believe.” If we do not deny self, if we do not change, if we do not think, talk, and act differently then we have no basis for assurance or hope when it comes to salvation!
If we are following Jesus we cannot be following self or anyone else. The real danger, the true horror, is that so many churches have evangelistic programs and discipleship methods that at their heart deny the gospel. Instead of teaching people how to live like Jesus they teach people how to try and have Jesus and their sin at the same time. How to get what they want from God for their own benefit at no cost. What is even more frightening is the idea that many are appealing to the flesh and to sinful desires and to the pride of individuals all in the name of preaching the gospel. We appeal to the flesh. We lure people by telling them that they can have whatever they want if they just want it bad enough.
The Word Faith movement finds its doctrine rooted in covetousness and greed. Seeker sensitive preachers are the same. Stimulate people’s minds via a worship experience with idols, candles, and cake walks (otherwise known as icons, incense, and labyrinths). We appeal to pride, to lust, to the mind of fallen men. And fallen men and women, while sons of disobedience will be quick converts, though converts to a false, powerless gospel, because there is nothing they would rather do and nothing they are able to do but follow their fallen minds and fulfill their fallen lusts.
The easy-believism and cheap grace being presented today allows people to take Christ and set Him up at the family altar along with all the other gods, images, saints, ancestors, and superstitious relics that give hope and encourage belief! But this is not Biblical hope nor is it saving faith.
Salvation starts with a change. As drastic as coming to life from the dead! We turn from self and sin and embrace Christ, abandoning all that we were without Him. Discipleship continues, as we take up our cross daily, as we deny self, and as we follow Him.
Remember, if we are doing what we do just for what we can get out of it – even if it seems we are doing what is right – then we are nothing more than “sons of disobedience” being driven by our own lust and pride and greed. You know, we can be greedy for good things and we can be proud about spiritual success. It is called self-righteousness. And God hates it!
If we are to boast may we boast only in Christ, if we are to be proud may we be proud of all that God has done to redeem us, and if we desire something with all our hearts may we desire nothing more than to know Him and love Him more sincerely.
We can walk in love, or in lust. We can serve Christ, or self. We can be “sons of your Father in heaven”, or we can be “sons of disobedience.” And how we think, talk, and live tells us all we need to know about whose son we are.
Links for Further Study
(links to study each daily topic in more detail if you have the desire and the time)
The Enthronement of Desire by John Piper
Life from the Dead by Charles Spurgeon
Bible Reading For Further Study
Titus 1:10-16
Titus 3:1-8
Recommended Songs for Worship
Thou Judge of Quick and Dead
Your Mission
Daily Scripture Reading – Joshua 7
Verse of the Day – Ephesians 5:6-7
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.
Devotional Thoughts
Let no one deceive you with empty words. The key here of course is that there are those who are trying to deceive us. It is basic to fallen human nature that we deceive. We lie. We do not “practice the truth.” We bear false witness. Even as it was in the garden with Adam and Eve after the fall, we hide. We hide the truth. We hide from the truth. That is why we understand that the Bible tells us that the heart of man is deceitfully wicked. Deceitfully – full of and overflowing with dishonesty.
Today I want to take a brief moment and look at what this verse tells us about the deceit at hand. There are two things to examine. First there is the matter of what it is we are being deceived about. Secondly there are the tools used to deceive.
The Truth
We are told, “Let no one deceive you.” What is it that these deceivers are trying to cover up? What is the truth that they want to keep hidden? What are they lying about?
“Let no one deceive you….because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
Because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Because of what things? The things we have been studying. The things that Paul has told us to avoid and to shun. Because of immorality, unholiness, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, and crude joking God’s wrath is coming. These things are not just things we avoid for our health. We avoid them for our LIFE!
These are sins. Terrible sins. Sins that proceed from the heart and corrupt our mouths and our lives. They infiltrate our thoughts. They destroy trust. These things are an evidence of idolatry and as such they are targeted by God’s justice. He is a jealous God. He alone is to be worshipped. And idolatry in one’s life truly does make one a target for judgment.
Because of the very nature of these sins God’s wrath is coming upon the “sons of disobedience”. We will examine that phrase more tomorrow, but for now we need to see that people who live corrupt, unholy, selfish lives are people who have made it clear by their thinking, speaking, and living that they are not part of the kingdom of God.
Those who live like this are described in 2 Timothy 3, where we are told that they will be made manifest. It will be made obvious what they are and who they serve, in due time.
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
The truth that these sons of disobedience are trying to cover, twist, and hide is the truth that they cannot and will not get away with their sin. And they know it. We must not be deceived. We must never fall for the lie that we will get away with sin. There will always be consequences. There will always be discipline if we are followers of Christ and there will always be judgment if we are lost. No one can sin and get away with it. No one. Not ever.
This means that the deception is serious for the lie that is being spread is that it is possible to get away with sin. To embrace sin and Christ at the same time. To love Jesus and love sin. To be a homosexual Christian or a born again serial killer. But this is deception. It is a lie! Those who practice such things will not inherit eternal life.
In this day of television psychologists and talk show divas we must see through the deception for it is coming at us from all sides. Tolerance and Acceptance are the highest virtues while Conviction and Assurance are anathema. According to the world we are all basically good and will all live forever in the love of God. But to buy the lie is to be deceived and to fall once again for that old fable that men without God are good and God without men is incomplete.
The truth that we must not lose is the truth that sin has a consequence – the wrath of God.
The Tools of the Trade
So for those who gain a popular platform and work overtime to seduce us with lies and deceive us regarding the truth, what tools do they use? How do they perpetrate this deception?
They use empty words. “Let no one deceive you with empty words…” There are words that are devoid of truth. They are indeed empty, meaningless, and futile. Words that say, “It is okay to sin from time to time. We all fail. Just confess it and move on.” These are dangerous words, words devoid of truth. God does not tolerate sin. We cannot excuse it! We must deal with it as He does. The wages of sin is death – anything that causes death is to be held in proper perspective.
These are words that tell us that we can have our sin and Christ, we can repent and remain unchanged, we can be saved and live like the lost. These are lies! They are empty words – words that lead to destruction, swift and sure.
These are the words that say that it is easier to get forgiveness than permission. These are the words and the thoughts our flesh uses to try and lure us into sin and talk us into disobedience. These are the same old lies that have been around since the garden.
Just as with the serpent and Eve, these are words that assure us that what we want to do is okay and what we have reservations about is nothing to worry about or give a second thought. They are words used to frame temptation. Words that deny the penalty for sin. Words that deny that sin is even sin. They are words that call evil good and good evil.
These empty words are full of false doctrine. They replace God with man, shame with success, and joy with happiness. When our conscience tells us that we have sinned and we are ashamed and we are guilty these empty words tell us that everybody does it, it isn’t that bad, and that our guilt is misplaced. After all, if we want to succeed and be happy we have to “play the game”, right?
Beside that now a world full of people who do not find the consequences and guilt for their sin acceptable simply get a prescription and pop a pill and they feel all better. But they are EMPTY! The promises of guilt free, consequence free sin never delivers. The warranty is voided before you even go for the test drive.
Biblically these empty words are used to deny the truth that we reap what we sow.
Isn’t it interesting that the text presents us with an overview of sin that includes 6 areas of sinfulness? There is fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking, and coarse jesting. And look – speaking of empty words, half of those involve talking. Filthiness is obscene and disgraceful speech. Foolish talking is speaking as if there was no God. And coarse jesting is turning the innocent into the vulgar through innuendo. Here are the empty words! Words that tell us that we can sin, we can say whatever we want without consequence. We can sin and get away with it – after all our favorite emerging and relevant preachers can talk any way they want in order to shock, I mean “reach” their audience.
But let us not apply this to others. Let us apply it to self. How often do we deceive ourselves? How often do we tell ourselves that sin is a private matter that will not hurt anyone else? How often do we believe the lie and think that we can sin and get away with it?
Another way to learn the truth of this verse is found in Numbers 32:23:
“…be sure your sin will find you out.”
Links for Further Study
(links to study each daily topic in more detail if you have the desire and the time)
Honest Dealing with God by Charles Spurgeon
The Evil Tongue by Thomas Watson
Bible Reading For Further Study
Isaiah 59:4; 1 Cor 15:54; Col 2:8
1 Cor 15:33; Gal 6:7; James 1:26; 1 John 1:8-9; 3:7
Recommended Songs for Worship
When by Sin Deceived
Nothing But Leaves
Daily Scripture Reading – 1 Peter 1
Verse of the Day – Ephesians 5:5
For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Devotional Thoughts
We are learning how to live as is fitting for saints. How should His “holy ones” present themselves? How should they think, talk, and act? So far we have seen that saints should not live a life of fornication (immorality), uncleanness (impurity or unholiness), or a life driven by covetousness (greed). We have also seen that saints should not think, talk, or act in a vulgar, profane, obscene, or improper manner. Our heart is revealed in our words and our thoughts influence behavior.
Moving on to verse 5 we see that if we are to truly live like what we are then we should live as an inheritor, not an idolater. And idolater is unredeemed. He worships another god, a false god, usually the god of self will. The idolater wants what he wants and will do whatever he has to do to fulfill his desires. He worships himself and his own desires and lust.
This is the picture we have been given that stands in contrast to the life of a saint. A “holy one” then lives in an opposite manner to the unholy. The unholy idolater lives and thinks only for self, fulfilling his desires for pleasure in any way that he is able. Whether it be fornication, impurity, or covetousness, the idolater will sacrifice everything for just a little more pleasure and a little more sin.
But the text is clear. “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” The idolater is not saved, he is not part of the kingdom of God, he is not a believer in Christ – no matter how good a show he puts on.
This is the danger of the self help, self esteem, seeker sensitive movement. They teach you how to get what you want right now – at little to no cost to self. They teach you how to worship an idol! Of course they use Christian words and even read passages from the Bible, but they are blind leaders who lead the blind. They give people what they want, not what they need. And this verse says that if we live as idolaters then we are not going to inherit the kingdom, we will not have eternal life with Christ!
Why? Those who worship at the altar of self prove that they are unregenerate. A saved person cannot and will not live like this, participating in these sins habitually.
The Word of God tells us plainly that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. How is “unrighteous” defined?
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. – 1 Cor 6:9-11
If we are saved we are different than this. We do not live bound in these sins. We have freedom from sin. While we are free we know that there is a battle raging. If we are following Christ then our flesh will protest. There will be a war between our flesh and spirit. The idolater has no such war, he simply does what he wants without conflict. But if we are saved our spirit resists sin. Our flesh wants its way. It wants to bear bad fruit. It wants us to live in the “works of the flesh”. And these are evident – and what they make evident is that a person who lives in these works is an idolater:
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. – Gal 5:17-21
The issue becomes even more clear when we read 1 John 3:4-10. Here we see the line in the sand. Who is an idolater?
Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
Now don’t be confused. This does not mean that a saint never sins. It means that a person who has truly and savingly trusted Christ will not live the life of an idolater. Saints are not controlled, driven, and ruled by their sin. They do not habitually live a life of rebellion to the Word and Ways of God. If we practice righteousness, that is, live it day in and day out, then we prove that we belong to Christ. If on the other hand if we practice sin, being bound in it and unable to overcome it then we prove that we are mere pretenders and are at heart idolaters, having no inheritance in the kingdom of God.
And here we see that the opposite of idolatry is love. While the world and the flesh and the devil offers lust, self-fulfillment, and the ability to get our own way we see that the true opposite of that is the Fruit of the Spirit produced in us, namely love. Love is the opposite of lust. Love gives, lust wants to get. Love forgives, lust is vengeful. Love sacrifices, lust is greedy. Love is the mark of one who is imitating God, lust is the mark of one whose father is the devil.
So are we idolaters or inheritors? What does our way of living, speaking, and thinking say about our allegiance? Are we whole heartedly devoted to loving God, or to loving self?
What is it that we inherit if we forsake idolatry? We prove that we are kingdom citizens, members of the family of God, adopted into the realm of the redeemed. In Christ we inherit life, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Bible says that there are no laws against such things.
The idolater on the other hand is always living, speaking, and thinking in violation of the Law of God. And who we serve reveals our allegiance. Our “god” is proved by whether we obey or disobey the Word of God! Does our life evidence that we are redeemed or that we serve self in every situation? Is our life all about us – pleasing ourselves, being happy and content? Or is it about God – serving and pleasing Him by being obedient to His Word?
The Bible is clear. There are things that if we do them, think about them, and are driven by them prove that we are idolaters. And no one who worships a false god, no matter his name, will be saved. For salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. He is the only Way. And to be an idolater is to fail to worship or love Him as we ought. If our lives, our mouths, and our hearts prove that we do not love Jesus, then what right do we have to expect any reward from God?
Today, what does our life say about our allegiance? Are we living, speaking, thinking, and loving like an idolater or an inheritor? Give this some thought. Eternity depends upon it!
Links for Further Study
(links to study each daily topic in more detail if you have the desire and the time)
Impatience and Idolatry by J. Ligon Duncan
Lordship Salvation by John Stevenson
Bible Reading For Further Study
Psalm 16:5-6; 28:9; 37:9, 18, 22, 29, 34
1 Cor 10:7; Rev 21:8; 22:15
Recommended Songs for Worship
O Praise Ye the Name of Jehovah
O God, Our Strength
Daily Scripture Reading – Romans 16
Verse of the Day – Ephesians 5:3-4
But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
Devotional Thoughts
Yesterday we saw that there were things that we as Christians are supposed to avoid, to shun, and to flee. We must not participate in or think about fornication, uncleanness, or greed. Immorality leads to impurity and lust is motivated by greed. As our flesh craves sin, and to be gratified, we are led into temptation (James 1:14), and when temptation is fulfilled we find ourselves mired in the works of the flesh. We forget sometimes that the wages of sin is still death – in other words, sin will kill us if we do not kill it.
Even as these things are not to be named or tolerated among us within the Body of Christ we learn in today’s verse that there are more things we need to avoid. These things we are told are not fitting for saints. This means that the things we are studying this week that we are to avoid, those things that are not even to be named among us, they are literally “not proper for holy ones.”
The word fitting refers to that which is proper. It is right. Think of it in terms of clothing. When you try on a shirt it either fits or it doesn’t. It is either proper attire, or it isn’t. Even so, certain behavior is fitting for believers and other behavior just does not fit. It is improper.
Can you imagine the Queen of England or the President of the United States in frumpy, wrinkled, torn, dirty clothes at a State Dinner? It would not be fitting. Paul is saying for “saints” some behavior does not fit.
The term “saints” by the way means “holy ones.” These are not a special class of beatified dead Roman Catholics. These are not famous dead religious people. These are not even referring exclusively to Christians who have died and gone to heaven. The term is used for every believer! We are all saints. Because of the saving work of Christ we are holy before God – we are His saints. And there are some things listed here that clearly are not fitting or proper for followers of Jesus Christ.
Today we learn that there are three things not fitting for saints. They serve to illustrate what a life of immorality, uncleanness, and greed looks and sounds like.
Filthiness
We learn that filthiness is not fitting for saints. This is a general term for obscenity, or disgraceful speech. This is saying things that are profane, vulgar, unnecessarily shocking, or inappropriate. A clear violation of Eph 4:29 and an offense that reveals that the sins of the heart flow out of the mouth in what we say and how we say it. Dirty talk is not proper for Christians. We should not talk like the world.
I remember seeing a movie during my college years – one that I should not have seen – and throughout this action flick there was profanity and cursing all throughout every scene. I rather naively reacted and said that surely people do not really talk like this. A few years later I remember thinking about my reaction to that movie while at work one day. I was in a job where I was surrounded by people who made the movie seem tame! Boy had I been wrong about how some people talk. Even today I remember that and am amazed at how foul speech has become. Every other word vulgar, every thought profane, every figure of speech offensive. This kind of talk is common place. But as common as it is in the world, it is not fitting for Christians.
If what comes out the mouth originates in the heart, and we sound just like the world when we talk, then what does that say about our hearts?
Foolish Talking
Next we see that foolish talking is not proper or fitting for believers. This is silly talk, moronic speech, stupidity, or low (as in the gutter) speech. This does not refer to humor. It refers to foolishness. And there is a difference. One can have a great sense of humor and tell funny jokes and stories without resorting to foolish talking.
What motivates a fool? Remember that the fool has said in his heart that there is no God. This is talking about things as if there were no God and no consequence to the choice of words we use. We will give an account for every word to God. So let us be careful not to speak foolishly.
Words, some say, are a-moral. That is words are neither right nor wrong, it just depends on how you use them. I would say that this is not correct. There are words that can be good. There are words that can be bad. There are words that can be good or bad depending on usage and context. But to be sure, there are words that are never appropriate.
So not only are we to avoid filthiness and foolish talking, but these are not ever proper for “holy ones.” Let us not forget that we should live like what we are – followers of Jesus Christ!
Coarse Jesting
Lastly today there is coarse jesting. This refers to innuendo, turning something said or done into the obscene where even the innocent is perverted and misused. This is not telling a joke, it is laughing at sin.
People who engage in coarse jesting can take any story or any event and make it dirty, perverse, evil, or sexual in nature. They twist words and use innuendo to try and get a laugh. Don’t laugh when you hear these things. I was going to say don’t laugh even if it is funny, but then we must never forget that sin is never truly funny!
Some of the best of what we think of as humor is just pure sin and depravity. We need to guard our minds. We have been misinformed. And if we laugh at sin, we need to repent and realize what an affront to our Heavenly Father sin truly is.
Imagine if the weapon used to kill your child was thought of as a laughing matter by your friends and family! It is not that sin was used to kill God’s Son – but it was the reason He had to die. And an all Holy God cannot be mocked. Sin is no laughing matter, it is deadly serious.
Here in these things that are not fitting we find three things that involve our speech. Let us remember that the things we studied yesterday (immorality, uncleanness, and greed) are progressive. Greed when fulfilled produces immoral behavior thus making us unclean. Today we see that these things that are not fitting for saints are things that reveal the true nature of our heart. They are not proper because if we engage in them we prove or reveal that our hearts are sinful. Obscene speech, moronic talk, and innuendo expose the presence of sin. These things prove the condition of the heart. They reveal self-centeredness. They expose the corruption of the inward man. They prove that we are sinners.
Is that anything to laugh at?
Links for Further Study
(links to study each daily topic in more detail if you have the desire and the time)
Treasury of David – Psalm 14 by Charles Spurgeon
Are You Holy? (Tract) by J.C. Ryle
Bible Reading For Further Study
Ps. 14:1; 53:1; 74:18, 22; 92:6
Prov. 1:7, 32; 10:14, 21, 23; 14:3, 9; 15:2; 18:6
Recommended Songs for Worship
Ye Children, Come, Give Ear to Me
Onward, Men of Heaven
Daily Scripture Reading – Hebrews 2
Verse of the Day – Ephesians 5:3
But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
Devotional Thoughts
We are commanded to imitate God, to follow Christ, and to walk in the Spirit. This is a tall order but one that God empowers us to obey. By His grace He enables us to live as we should. Simply put, we are expected to live like what we are – redeemed and holy.
In obeying the command to imitate God, we have learned that we are to be holy by emulating God’s holiness. We are to love using Christ’s love as our model. And in bearing the fruit of the Spirit we must walk in good works and bear proper fruit. Otherwise we fall for the Devil’s counterfeits. As we will learn today, we must be careful and keep a watch over our lives. We must avoid Satan’s counterfeits, those things which are the enemies of holiness and love.
Avoid These Things
These things which are listed in verse 3 are not even to be named among saints. There is to be no mention, no hint, no accusation, no speculation at all that we are bearing these works of the flesh as the fruit of sin and self indulgence. No one who names the name of Christ should live in such a way – through thoughts, speech, or actions – that would cause anyone inside or outside the church to think that we were living in this kind of sin. We must do whatever is necessary to stay as far from sin as possible.
Too many today like to use the liberty they have been given in Christ to get as close to sin as they possibly can without actually sinning. This is not the point or purpose of our liberty in Christ! When we see where sin is, we flee the other direction. We should want to be holy. Sadly, too many want to be happy! And they have believed the lie that sin and excitement equals happiness. I would submit that we can be no more happy or fulfilled or satisfied or full of lasting joy than when we are obeying God and walking in righteousness.
Back to our verse, what are these heinous acts that are not even to be named among us?
The first is fornication. The term means immorality, any sexual sin, a lack of sexual discipline, or a lack of self-control. The believer should not think, talk, dress, act, or encourage immoral behavior in any way. This is tough. Think about movies and TV. Think about books and magazines. We entertain ourselves with sin and yet these things are not even to be named among us as something that we would partake of or participate with. Why watch what we would not do?
1 Corinthians 5:1-5 and 6:13-20 deal with the issues of immorality in the church. This immorality is a lack of discipline and control in the realm of sexual desires. That lack of control proves a perversion of true love. The desire is for self-fulfillment and gratification no matter the means necessary to fulfill those desires. Counterfeits, though, do not ever produce lasting satisfaction and the evil desire continues to grow and consume. The immorality leads to the impurity mentioned next. Lack of control leads to lack of purity. Love and holiness go hand in hand just as immorality and impurity. True love is never immoral and fleshly lust is never pure.
We must at all times then be controlled by the Holy Spirit. This is our only key to effectively fight sin. To be filled with and walking in the Spirit of God means that we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). Otherwise, if we play with the things that tempt us we will quickly fall into the mire of self indulgence and we will sin against God, our family, and ourselves.
Some think this only refers to acts of sexual perversion, or sex outside of marriage, however, it is high time that we in the church stopped trying to define what sex is and is not in order to sooth guilty consciences. It is not about sex. It is about immorality. What is moral and what is immoral? That is where we must draw the line. Married or not, to participate in anything immoral is sinful.
Next we see that uncleanness must not be named among us. This is impurity, anything unclean, rotten, or decayed. It includes sexual corruption. The unhindered and selfish desires corrupt us further. The desires originate in the corruption of our heart and lead to the corruption of our mind and our body.
Having repented of our sin and trusted Christ we have been given a new nature. However, living in these fallen sinful bodies still provides our flesh with ammunition for temptation. We are to be holy, remember? And yet this is temptation to be unholy, to be unclean, and to soil our garments before God so to speak. He provides for us robes of righteousness and we run through the mud!
Some people play with uncleanness. It is a joke or a game. But these things are not innocent. These things take our minds off of Christ. They violate Philippians 4:8. They draw our flesh into desires that must not be fulfilled. They grasp at our minds and manipulate our emotions. Keep in mind, sin never delivers what it promises. Uncleanness is only deception and sin brings guilt, conviction, and chastening.
Following this we are also told that we are to avoid covetousness. This is greed, self-will, and self-gratification. It is to take instead of give. The focus of any counterfeit is to promise the love and purity but deliver the perverse and unclean. Greed is at the root of impurity. We want for ourselves. We are self-serving. We have no regard for others. We actually use others to get what we want. This is covetousness.
Covetousness destroys friendships, families, and fellowships. Greed, that insatiable desire to always have a little more, will drive us into madness and despair. Why do we covet when God has given us everything we need that pertains to life and godliness? He satisfies us, so why do we think we need to look elsewhere for fulfillment?
These things – fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness – are not to be named, not tolerated, not to be even suspected among us. They are not things to play with or ignore. They are not things that we are beyond falling into! Don’t give anyone an opportunity of any kind to suspect these things of us. And of course we must never allow these things to be accepted and tolerated among His elect.
Too often we take a light view of sin. We joke about it. We excuse it. We entertain it until it turns on us and kills us! According to Colossians 3:1-17, we are to put these things to death if they pop up in our thoughts before they can ever gain a stronghold in our words or actions. We must never excuse selfish desires. We must instead crucify them. Execute them!
Let us determine that these things will not be named among us. Let us decide that we will deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus. Let us today deliberately set out to imitate God.
Links for Further Study
(links to study each daily topic in more detail if you have the desire and the time)
The New Nature by Charles Spurgeon
Beware of Covetousness AUDIO – A message from Luke 12:13-21 by Pastor Way
Bible Reading For Further Study
Proverbs 6
Proverbs 7
Recommended Songs for Worship
The Voice of God is Calling
The Voice Says Cry!
Daily Scripture Reading – 1 John 3
Verse of the Day – Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Devotional Thoughts
1 John 3 begins by reminding us what a great love God has given us! He has loved us enough to adopt us as His children. This is no small love, for to fulfill this love in this way cost Him the life of His Son! Jesus was the price that God paid for us in demonstrating His love for us (Rom 5:8).
There are a few themes that John develops throughout this chapter and I want to quickly focus on two of them. Today we will see The Imperative of Love and The Outworking of Love.
The Imperative of Love
As we are commanded in the Scriptures to love (a decision of the will) and to walk in love (a way of life) we learn that Jesus told us that the greatest commandments God has given, the commands upon which the whole of the Bible rest, are both commands to love. The first and greatest is the command to love God with all that we are. The second is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
We see in fact that there is a way to distinguish between those who are lost and those who are saved. The children of God and the children of the devil are made manifest, that is, exposed out in the open for what they are, by two things. The lost man does not “practice righteousness” and he does not “love his brother.”
To practice righteousness is to walk rightly before God. It is more than actions, it is a way of life from the heart attitude to the way we make decisions and live our lives. The child of God does not habitually and constantly walk in unrighteousness. And loving our brother is plain forward enough. If we claim to love God but hate our brother we are liars and do no know the love of God! This is a basic and fundamental command that we are to love our brother.
Cain is given as an example of one who hated his brother and we are told that to hate our brother is the same as to have murdered him. Abiding hatred is not a fruit of the Spirit to be sure.
We know that we have passed from death to life if we love the brethren. This is more than just loving our family members. This is love for the church, for the Body of Christ. We are after all brothers and sisters, adopted by our Father through the greatest act of love ever witnessed in heaven or earth.
The Outworking of Love
We see God’s love proved and demonstrated in the death of Christ. And as a result we are to lay down our lives for others. Often we think that this means that we are willing to die for another. But that is not all that is included here. Surely it is noble to be ready and willing to die for Christ or to die for a fellow believer or family member. This is to be expected of every believer.
The difficulty is found in seeing that the true outworking of love is not dying for someone, it is dying to self! It is to deny self, talking up our cross and following Jesus. It is esteeming all others as better than our self.
The true test of whether or not we love is found in 1 John 3:17. This is a frightening verse. It proves just how much we really do or do not love the body of Christ, our brethren, and that is frightening because an evidence of salvation is found in whether or not we love this way. The verse reads:
But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
We understand that we in the body are responsible to take care of each other. If a fellow member of the Body of Christ has a need we are expected, commanded, and empowered to deny ourselves and do or give whatever it takes to meet needs. Let this sink in. The Bible asks us how we can be saved and how we can be a Christian if we see a fellow believer in need and refuse to help in any and every way that we are able.
As we have studied, the love of God was evident in the lives of the believers in the church at Philippi because when they heard that the Apostle Paul had a need, they sent him a generous gift. The most amazing fact here is not that they sent a gift. It is that they had great needs themselves and yet still collected and sent a considerable gift to Paul. They gave even out of their lack. They went without so that he would have his needs met.
We live in the lap of luxury and often forget how to really give. Giving is not an afterthought. It is not easy. True Biblical giving is an outworking of love. We give ourselves first (2 Cor 8:5) and then we give willingly, generously, sacrificially, and cheerfully (2 Cor 8:1-7; 9:6-7).
Giving is not only financial by the way. It is giving love, attention, counsel, encouragement. It is giving of our time and our energy. It is giving ourselves to others.
Remember, so often we think we have done our duty in giving, but how we give reveals how we love and how we love reveals whether or not we know God. It is not just about duty or habit. It is about how we demonstrate our love for Christ and His Bride.
Links for Further Study
(links to study each daily topic in more detail if you have the desire and the time)
The Essential Second and Words to the Wealthy
by John MacArthur
Bible Reading For Further Study
2 Cor 8:1-7; 9:6-7
1 Corinthians 13
Recommended Songs for Worship
Hail, Sovereign Love
Through Midnight Gloom
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