EXTERNAL TRUTH-TELLERS AND THE FOCUS OF A BELIEVER
by Tim Thomas
October 25, 2006
Ephesians 5:3-7
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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. (NIV)
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This passage develops the idea first given in verse 1 of chapter 5, telling us how to be imitators of God. This point is affirmed at the end of verse 3, where the Apostle Paul reminds us that his main reason for emphasizing the importance of avoiding sexual impurity and greed is that these are not characteristics of holy people, which is what God's people are to be. In verse 4, Paul adds believers should also avoid saying obscene or lewdly suggestive things, as well. These are not things that Jesus would have said. They have a tendency to tear down and destroy, and they debase us as people. Instead, words of thanksgiving are to come from us, because they build up all who hear.
It is interesting that in verse 5 a greedy person is said to be an idolater; that is, an idol worshiper. An idol worshiper is someone who worships a false god. Greed is a desire for money. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that you could only serve God or Mammon, not both. Focusing on wealth and material needs makes us rely, more and more, on our own abilities to take care of ourselves, rather than on God, who takes care of us. By relying on ourselves excessively, we create false gods, and our hearts turn from the True God.
If you just read the verses in this passage and knew nothing else about the New Testament, you might conclude that believers are in very grave danger of losing salvation if they have trouble with greed or sexual immorality or impurity. In fact, we already encountered Paul talking about the same things in Ephesians 4:19. While in my teachings I tend to de-emphasize the importance of behavior in salvation, these strong words from the Apostle Paul challenge us to examine our Christian beliefs very carefully.
These verses bring to mind Romans 8:1-17. Some pertinent verses follow:
Rom 8:2 (NIV) through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3b-4 (NIV) he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Rom 8:5-6 (NASB) those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
Rom 8:7a (NASB) the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God
In the passages above, the Apostle Paul compares life in the Spirit to life in the flesh. We see that life in the flesh leads to death, but life in the Spirit is true life. One of the main implications of the passage is that you cannot simply tack on "Christianity" to your life like you would a club membership. Christ is either the driving force of your life or not. I decided recently that the term "born again" is probably doing Christians more harm than good. I think the term was coined to distinguish those who are cultural Christians but do not truly believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior from those who do. But "born again" has come to be used for someone who made a conscious -- and usually public -- decision to ask Jesus for forgiveness of sin. It focuses on a one-time event. I'm thinking that I probably should start identifying myself as a "follower of Jesus", because that indicates an ongoing choice and an attitude that more accurately reflects what I consider true Christianity.
Referring back to Ephesians 4:17-19, Paul is telling the believers in Ephesus that some of them have started to think again like they did before they put their trust in Jesus. And that if they continued to think that way, then their actions were going to end up like the actions Paul warns against in verses 3 to 5 in this passage. Even though these believers were confused on how to think and live, Paul did not address them as if they had lost their salvation or as if they never had salvation. He addressed them as people who needed to be pointed in the right direction. That means that when we sin, fall short, or think wrong, we haven't lost our salvation.
Over the course of my years as a Christian, I have done things that were immoral, impure, and greedy -- but that clearly was not my identity. My identity was and is in Christ. Usually at the same time I was doing these sinful things, I was during the same days reading my Bible, praying, witnessing, and trying to be the best Christian I knew how to be. While I have sometimes satisfied the sinful desires of the flesh, I have also endeavored to live a life pleasing to the Spirit of God. Which is the real me? People tend to look on outward things, but remember that God looks on the heart. While there were clearly some heart issues that led me to sinful actions, in my heart of hearts, I am a lover of God and a follower of Christ. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
In Romans 8, Paul says that if you are trying to be led by the Spirit, then you are living the "in Christ" life, but the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God. Here is an important point to grasp: those who try to not sin are probably living after the flesh and not after the Spirit. We are in a new system as followers of Christ. We are to be led by the Spirit, and walk in fellowship with God. Our motivation is to be the love of God, not the incentives of rewards and penalties. Giving up works is very hard for people. Who could believe that it's not what we do but who we know that counts?!
How good is the Good News if it only tells us that Jesus died so that we can try harder to obey the Law that was meant to point us to our need to live a life of faith? No, the Good News is good news because Jesus did everything, and we just have to believe and follow Him. In our hyped language of marketting, we should probably start calling the Gospel the "Unbelievably Amazing, Fantastic News".
Why, then, should the Apostle Paul write about outward behaviors if not to spell out things we are forbidden to do? I think it has to do with the fact that one of the real truth-tellers of our faith -- of living a life of love and being led by the Spirit -- is whether we are becoming more Christlike, in terms of character and holiness. Perhaps the Gnostics and other pseudo-Christian groups of Paul's day claimed that you didn't have to obey the Law anymore (as I believe is true of the claim of Jesus), but because their focus was not on walking in an intimate relationship with God, their Christlikeness and holiness were not (and could not) develop. We have New Age people and "invent-a-God" people today who are not following the Law but also are not walking in loving intimacy with Jesus. These externals help us see that their paths are not something for us to emulate.
Many things in life are accomplished by not focusing on the actual external objective. In driving school years ago, I learned that if I was driving near a jersey wall, say, and I focused on the jersey wall, I had a decent chance of running into it, because that was my focus, and I couldn't but help drive closer and closer to it. To drive near a jersey wall successfully, you keep your focus ahead, and that keeps you going in the right path so that you don't veer into the wall. If you want to be holy or not sin, however you want to phrase it, don't focus on the Law -- you'll crash into it! Instead, keep your eyes on your First Love, Jesus, and you will stay on the right path.
Where are you in your faith? Are you still trying to "not sin", or has sin become irrelevant to you, in some sense, and the only thing that matters is pleasing your Beloved God, who loves you with a love deeper than any known?
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