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 person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Eph. 5:3-5
I've been watching a medieval show on TV which I don't want to mention the name because Christians probably shouldn't watch it, but it has great truths to glean from it. Recently, the queen doesn't want to be forced into an arranged marriage and doesn't want her son to marry a certain woman so in the fashion of the "Dark ages" when the crown and church were the joint powers to be reckoned with, she empowers the "church" to meet out judgement on sinners and her prospective husband and daughter-in-law are imprisoned for their sins. The problem is that the church then imprisons her because the queen is the worst of sinners.
The point is, if we were to be judged for our sins, we would all be found guilty. I've never done a Catholic confessional, but I've seen the dramatized versions. They always start out, "Father forgive me for I have sinned. I've had impure thoughts." That's an easy one to confess because we all do. That's sort of like when you call on someone to pray, they always start out, "Dear God, thank you for this day." It's like getting warmed up. Yet Paul says that sexual immorality and impurity which in the sermon on the mount both violate the 7th commandment, is not to be found among God's people. Fortunately, we don't have to be imprisoned for our sins, Jesus took the punishment and "there is therefore now no condemnation", however, shouldn't we be living differently now? The answer is yes. People have described our new state as not being sinless but sinning less. Our lusts, conversations, desires for more and more wealth should continually be tamed. Just like we said with anger, we shouldn't be known as angry people. Likewise, we should never be described as impure, immoral, crude, greedy people, but rather God-fearing and thankful people.
Two guys at work are best friends so much so that they joke about being in love. The Olympics were on and I sent them this picture about their relationship
They laughed and thought it was funny and shows them that even though I'm a Christian, I can relate and have a good time with them. However, this is what Paul is warning against. This is impurity and sexual immorality and coarse joking. I'm laughing at something God hates. I don't want to be known for this. Hey, I'm not sinless but I want to sin less. Lord help me. What about you?
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