Temptations

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

TEMPTATIONS

Eph 5:3-7

3 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.

NIV

Having considered that we are to be imitators of God, living a life of love, in the same manner, or as much as Christ loved us, giving himself for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, we now come to this list of everything that is completely opposite of living the life of love and what the consequence of this improper life is. We know in the time of the Ephesians there was a great temple to the goddess Artemis that dominated the city and its culture, as we know from the Acts of the Apostles. However, this would not keep the people from living as many Gentiles did, and must have been engaged in this list of improper attitudes and behaviors. This brings us to our time and our culture which for the most part is dominated by Christianity of some form or another. Of course, there is great debate over the Ten Commandments on the Senate building in Washington, but the courts, have struck down any attempts to post them in schools. Yet, here we are in this immoral society, that thinks nothing about God. Still, we would not think that in the New Testament church, there would not be any sexual immorality, and yet we know there has been, even within those in ministry. The Greek word translated as sexual immorality is porneia, which is where we get the word pornography, but this word is used beyond the porn situation that exists in this culture, and even in the church, and includes adultery, or illicit sexual intercourse. Although this might be more common among the Gentiles of this world, that is the non-believers or the unsaved, it has, at times, crept into the church. This goes hand in glove with impurity, which is the different Greek word, akatharsia, which can be seen in a couple of ways. First, this uncleanness of the body, that is acts of uncleanness, degrading of the body, but can also be seen as impure motives. Neither of these should have any place in the body of Christ, as Paul makes that point to the believers in Ephesus. We also think that because of our humanity, and the pressure the old self places on the new man within us, we must be watchful against this type of thinking or behavior. Perhaps those who have been raised in the church since birth would never encounter these types of temptations, such as those of us who came to Christ later in life, and lived among the world, engaging in these activities of immoral behavior, and now must live in the new person, with the memories of the past life, and the battle to keep that life behind, even within our thought life which could take us down a wrong path. This is why it is so important to fill our minds and hearts with what is pure, noble, admirable, lovely, excellent, right, and praiseworthy. Let us always look to Jesus, and keep in step with the Spirit, so that temptations, simply remain temptations without any teeth.