If you are new to this blog, I encourage you to start with Intro [1] and then continue in order.
Ephesians 5:1-2 English Standard Version (ESV)
5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Paul encouraged us to "be imitators of God as beloved children". Now, just take a minute and let that sink in... if you are in Christ, the God of the universe, the LORD and Creator of all, the rightful Judge and Ruler of the universe loves you as his child! Wow! Paul could have exhorted us to imitate God as his bondslaves, or his royal subjects, or as his creatures. Any of those would have been true and appropriate. But Paul encourages us to imitate God AS BELOVED CHILDREN.
And we are to walk in love, as Christ loved us, by giving himself up for us and making himself, a sacrifice to God. This makes me think of John.
1 John 4:19 English Standard Version (ESV)
19 We love because he first loved us.
I gotta be honest with you. There's a reason why I have taken so long to write my thoughts on this passage and it is because I did not want to be a hypocrite. You see, I had been watching a TV show with questionable content. This show was not unique or especially bad in how it portrayed sex. It just did not show it in the light God would want us to see it. So I could not, in good conscience, continue to watch this show and then write honestly about this:
Ephesians 5:3-4 English Standard Version (ESV)
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
When I read the sermon from my pastor, he said that the Greek words for "filthiness", "foolish talk", and "crude joking" only appear here in Ephesians, no where else in the entire New Testament! And they very specifically refer to sexual talk or sexual joking. He pointed out that there are a lot of things we watch that are not in line with how God created sex or how he wants us to see it. At the time I was watching a different show that I felt like I had to stop watching. It wasn't so much that I could see tangible, negative affects of watching it, it was just that I knew the way they refer to sex was often crude, and not in the context of marriage that God has designed it to be. Sex is a wonderful gift from God that is intended to be enjoyed in a marriage relationship between one man and one woman. Outside of that, it is wrong, sinful. And not only wrong and sinful, but not good for us, even damaging, whether we recognize that in the moment or not.
So back to the passage... The fact that it says that, "sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you" means that we need to be careful, obviously about what we do, but also how we talk about it, and what we read or watch. Is this in line with how God has created sex? Paul then tells us what we should do instead: give thanks! If you want to look more into this topic or how giving thanks is related to not talking foolishly or crudely about sex, see my Pastor's notes on this section. He goes by verses, so it is easy to find the section you would like to focus on. Just click here and then select the notes on Ephesians 5:3-7.
Ephesians 5:18-20 English Standard Version (ESV)
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
How often do I pray and pray and pray about a specific thing, and then once God grants it, forget to thank him? Should I thank him as many times as I asked him? Sometimes I wonder about that. Or at least that my heart of gratitude would reflect the kind of attitude that would thank him that many times!
And when am I supposed to thank him? Always! And for what? For EVERYTHING! Wow! That's convicting!
Ephesians 5:1-2 English Standard Version (ESV)
5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Paul encouraged us to "be imitators of God as beloved children". Now, just take a minute and let that sink in... if you are in Christ, the God of the universe, the LORD and Creator of all, the rightful Judge and Ruler of the universe loves you as his child! Wow! Paul could have exhorted us to imitate God as his bondslaves, or his royal subjects, or as his creatures. Any of those would have been true and appropriate. But Paul encourages us to imitate God AS BELOVED CHILDREN.
And we are to walk in love, as Christ loved us, by giving himself up for us and making himself, a sacrifice to God. This makes me think of John.
1 John 4:19 English Standard Version (ESV)
19 We love because he first loved us.
I gotta be honest with you. There's a reason why I have taken so long to write my thoughts on this passage and it is because I did not want to be a hypocrite. You see, I had been watching a TV show with questionable content. This show was not unique or especially bad in how it portrayed sex. It just did not show it in the light God would want us to see it. So I could not, in good conscience, continue to watch this show and then write honestly about this:
Ephesians 5:3-4 English Standard Version (ESV)
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
When I read the sermon from my pastor, he said that the Greek words for "filthiness", "foolish talk", and "crude joking" only appear here in Ephesians, no where else in the entire New Testament! And they very specifically refer to sexual talk or sexual joking. He pointed out that there are a lot of things we watch that are not in line with how God created sex or how he wants us to see it. At the time I was watching a different show that I felt like I had to stop watching. It wasn't so much that I could see tangible, negative affects of watching it, it was just that I knew the way they refer to sex was often crude, and not in the context of marriage that God has designed it to be. Sex is a wonderful gift from God that is intended to be enjoyed in a marriage relationship between one man and one woman. Outside of that, it is wrong, sinful. And not only wrong and sinful, but not good for us, even damaging, whether we recognize that in the moment or not.
So back to the passage... The fact that it says that, "sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you" means that we need to be careful, obviously about what we do, but also how we talk about it, and what we read or watch. Is this in line with how God has created sex? Paul then tells us what we should do instead: give thanks! If you want to look more into this topic or how giving thanks is related to not talking foolishly or crudely about sex, see my Pastor's notes on this section. He goes by verses, so it is easy to find the section you would like to focus on. Just click here and then select the notes on Ephesians 5:3-7.
Ephesians 5:18-20 English Standard Version (ESV)
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
How often do I pray and pray and pray about a specific thing, and then once God grants it, forget to thank him? Should I thank him as many times as I asked him? Sometimes I wonder about that. Or at least that my heart of gratitude would reflect the kind of attitude that would thank him that many times!
And when am I supposed to thank him? Always! And for what? For EVERYTHING! Wow! That's convicting!
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