The Blessed Effects of God’s Saving Grace (4:1–6:20)
Examples of pure living
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For 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. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
When Paul directed his readers to what God has done for them and asked that they become imitators of God, he was clearly advocating what is proper activity for God’s holy people. In this section the apostle returns once more to prohibitions and warnings against what is improper. A significant segment of his concern has to do with infractions of the Sixth Commandment.
Paul states that there should not be a hint of sexual immorality or impurity among God’s people. They are not only to avoid doing evil, but they are to avoid even the appearance of doing evil. Paul even goes a step further. Not only are the Ephesians to avoid immoral activity, they are not to debase God’s gift of sexuality by making it the subject of humor and coarse jokes. Note how Paul returns again to the subject of controlling the tongue. The tongue is not to be used for spoiling God’s gifts but, rather, to thank and praise him for his goodness.
We usually think of greed as being an inordinate desire for money or material things. Paul, however, makes an interesting observation here when he indicates that, in a manner of speaking, the inordinate desire for sexual gratification could be called “greed” as well. In that case, what should be God’s good gift to man has in fact become his god. It’s what he lives for and what controls his life. Such a person, in the final analysis, is an idolater and sins against the First Commandment as well as the Sixth. The idolater who seeks his highest joy and greatest satisfaction from a false god cannot expect anything from the true God. He has no “inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
That assessment of the situation holds true, no matter how much the old Adam in sinful men and women may argue against it. All kinds of defenses are made for promiscuous sex, for living together outside marriage, and for alternate lifestyles. Paul says, “Let no one deceive you with empty words.” Those arguments will not hold up before God’s final bar of justice. Rather, for such things “God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.” For the Ephesians and for us, Paul’s message is clear: “Do not be partners with them.