Grow With Pastor Joe

I can’t think of anything more positive or practical in our life than walking in the likeness and love of God. However, the positive gives way to the negative. Eph. 5:1-2 describes those in Christ and encourages us and exhorts us to live accordingly to our position of being in Him. Eph. 5:3-7 will be a sharp contrast. These verses describe not the perfect love of God and those in Christ, but rather, it describes those without Christ who live and walk in a perverted love. If you are lost, these verses will describe the darkness that is in your heart and the destruction that it causes in your life. Disobedience always brings destruction. These verses are the identifiers of those who are “children of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6 and used two other times to describe the unregenerate in Eph. 2:2 and Col. 3:6). If you are saved, these sins of perverted love do not describe who you are in Christ, but they do describe what you used to be and serve as a warning to not fall prey to these dangerous sins. There are two ways that those without Christ walk in perverted love. They walk with a perverted love which is nothing more than fleshly lust and they walk with perverted language. Let’s now deal with both of these issues to either identify who we really are or to draw our hearts in repentance back to the Lord so that we may walk in His likeness and love, not in the perverted love of the flesh.

            Those without Christ walk with a perverted love. Eph. 5:3-7 says, “³ But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

⁴ Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.⁵ For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.⁶ Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.⁷ Be not ye therefore partakers with them.” The world, the flesh, and the Devil are always seeking to go contrary to God’s design and create a counterfeit kingdom and rule. The world is obsessed by the idea of love, but they never can grasp it while they are still in darkness (Eph. 4:17-19). The counterfeit love of the world, the flesh, and the Devil is lust. C.S. Lewis says, “Love is the great conqueror of lust.” Those without Christ are not conquerors of lust but are actually conquered and controlled by it.

As we look at the following sins of a perverted love, we will define each of these perversions in Eph. 5:3 specifically. The first sin of a perverted love is “fornication.”  The word used is “porneia” which originally meant a lack of self-control before it became a general word for sexual perversion. Fornication is the indulgence of all types of sexual immorality. This is the broadest term used for sexual perversion because it covers every single one. It leaves nothing out. The word pornography comes from this word “porneia” and the Greek word “graphe” (meaning writing). Pornography is one of the biggest businesses in the world. The perverted sexual industry is one of the most monetary profitable in the world. Within it is all sorts of other devilish and destructive sins that we could hardly speak of them. God takes sin seriously. God takes sexual sin very seriously. Fornication (porneia) is the complete opposite of the perfect love of God and walk of the Christian. It is self-serving, self-pleasing, self-gratifying. Perverted love is nothing more than the worship of the flesh. Immorality is just the symptom of the disease of idolatry. God says that this should not be associated with the Christian and it is the opposite of our new man (See 1 Cor. 6:12-20). Our body is not to be used for such perverted love, but it should be for the expression of the perfect love of God. Perverted love is also associated with “uncleanness” which is another word that sums up all impurity. Unclean attitudes and actions are not becoming of the saints of God. The child of God is to be holy before God walking in His likeness and love (1 Pet. 1:15-16). The perverted love that the world knows is impure because it is motivated by impure motives. Notice that perverted love also includes “covetousness” which is consuming greed and lust for possessions, comforts, or power in this life. Greed is never satisfied just as lust is never satisfied. It is a lustful heart that becomes covetous. Sin is never content. It always wants more. Perverted love is never content in another or oneself. Perverted love is the way that the world loves one another in fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness. This is not real love. It is counterfeit and contrary to God. These perversions of love are conditional, selfish, and never for the good of others. Those of us in Christ may be guilty of falling into these wicked sins at times but they are not the norm, pattern, lifestyle, or habit of our life. These are destructive to all. Living in a perverted love, a Christian will not grow in maturity and unity. Though a Christian is capable of these sins, the one who is truly in Christ will experience conviction and respond in repentance. As J. Vernon McGee put it, “God doesn’t spank the Devil’s children.” If you are saved and have fallen into these perverted sins, repent, turn to Christ who saved you and walk in His perfect likeness and love. These are not your identity so don’t let them be your identity or walk. 

Those who are outside of Christ not only have perverted love but also perverted language. Look at Eph. 5:4. Perverted love will show up with perverted language or the acceptance of such. Once again, several sins are listed here as identifiers of those outside of Christ. “Filthiness” is language that is indecent, ugly, and shameful. Do you remember when filthy language wasn’t everywhere? Do you remember those tv shows that didn’t have all that cussing and filth? When garbage comes in garbage will come out. The way that we talk, and walk should be pure, not filthy. We dirty up our testimony when our language is vile. Paul addressed this issue in Eph. 4:25-32 and is a serious issue amongst Christians. Filthy language is any obscenity, curse word, swearing, taking the Lord’s name in vain, and a host of other impure ways of speaking. Then there is “foolish talking.” The word for foolish is the same word that we use today, moron. It is moronic, foolish, fruitless talk. It is empty and vain. It has not eternal value. It is not edifying. It is slanderous. It is speculation and gossip. It is assumptions. It is plain dumb, stupid, foolish, moronic, and sinful. When we speak it ought to have weight. It should mean something or accomplish something. The Christian is called to speak the truth in love. There is nothing weightier than that. If our minds would be fixed on Christ and eternity, then we wouldn’t have time for foolish talking. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Mean business when you speak. Consider your words. Be slow to speak and you won’t have to worry about talking like a moron. Perverted language also deals with jesting. Jesting here is not humor. The Lord never forbids laughter or humor, as a matter of fact, laughter is a medicine (Pr. 17:22). The Bible is full of humor if you look for it. However, the issue of jesting is that it is vulgar wit, inuendo, or smart aleck talk. This also means that such things shouldn’t be funny to us. Godly humor is a medicine and tool. Language is a tool that God has given to us, but we corrupt with filthy, foolish, and vulgar speech. Don’t let cleverness, wit, or being a jokester hinder your testimony for Christ.

Perverted love and language shouldn’t be even “named among you, as becometh saints.” These perversions belong to those without Christ. We’ve been freed from their penalty and power. Praise God, one day, we will be delivered from their presence, never to fall prey to them again. Every Christian I know has been guilty of walking with perverted love in our life and perverted language on our lips. This is not who you are. Become who you became. You are a dear child of God, therefore, walk in His likeness and love. 1 Cor. 6:1-11 covers this issue well but I want to give you a few of those verses in particular. 1 Cor. 6:9-11 says, “⁹ Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,¹⁰ Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.¹¹ And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Every Christian I know, and myself included, will inherit the kingdom of God, not because we earned it but because we’ve been born again, adopted, and accepted in Christ. Every Christian I know, and myself included has been guilty of perverted love and language. Every Christian I know, and myself included has been forgiven, made new, and is no longer identified by our past sins. Every Christian I know, and myself included has to fight the flesh (old man) that desires to live in this old way. Remember what 1 Cor. 6:11 says, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” You are not who you were. Now become who you became. You have been given the infinite riches of wealth in the love of God to walk in the likeness and love of God. As you read this, you are either outside of Christ only knowing and living in a perverted counterfeit love. Repent and trust Christ alone. He will forgive you, make you new, and empower you to walk in His likeness and love. If you are saved, have you dealt with the perversions that seek to destroy you from the inside out? Does your walk correspond to your wealth in Christ? You are His dear child, and He wants you to live for His glory for your own good and the good of others. Is your life a “offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour?” Let’s walk worthy of our wealth in Christ by walking in His likeness and love.

Grow with me as we study the believer’s wealth and walk in Christ.

Grow deeper.

Grow higher.

Grow wider.