But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints. Ephesians 5:3
An atheist bus campaign that began by placing anti-God advertisements on London buses had a subtle message behind their slogan. The ads read ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ What did they mean by the words ‘enjoy your life’? It’s pretty obvious. What they are saying is for people to cast aside all their inhibitions against evil behaviour because there is ‘probably’ no God to have to answer to. That kind of thinking releases people to stoop to the very worst of motives to perform the very worst of actions. It leads to unbridled immorality, violence, and lawlessness of all kinds. If atheism has its way, society descends into corruption, chaos and mayhem. That sounds just like devil would have it. But it’s not how God would have it, not for society as a whole, and definitely not for His saints.
Our text identifies three things that should never mark the people of God. Fornication refers to all forms of sexual sins. We are seeing a world today that is casting aside all inhibitions against these sins, which are displayed and paraded openly as though they were something to be proud of. God says they are shameful. All uncleanness certainly includes those sexual sins, but also takes in behaviour that degrades language and actions into sinfulness. It includes everything from filthy talk to prejudice and hate, and the actions that arise from those. Don’t be misled by the inclusion of covetousness in this list by considering it any less evil than the other two. Covetousness is condemned in one of the Ten Commandments, just as killing, stealing, and blasphemy are. Covetousness is the root of most violent crimes. And it is at the heart of the spirit of entitlement that pervades much of the young people of today. Our text tells us that these things are not only wrong, but are also to be shunned at every level.
When Paul tells us that these things are not to be named among us, he is not overstating his case. If they are wrong, we should not only not be involved in them, but we should not even mention them. Talking about sinful things pollutes the mind and leads to sinful thoughts, allowing lust to rear its ugly head within us. Instead of talking and thinking about such filth, God desires our minds be occupied with better things: ‘whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things’ (Philippians 4:8).
Things that are wrong for us to do are also wrong for us to talk about, because we are the saints of God. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: