Dear
Friend, grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord
and Savior, Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
St. Paul
gives us the greatest challenge of all, in this section of Scripture –
to follow the Person of God. You are to walk through life with
God.
First,
by becoming a follower of God (5:1)
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children…”
St. Paul
puts forth a bold concept. The believer is to become a follower of
God – an imitator of God. The idea is that of commitment,
attachment, devotion, and allegiance.
Just as
when you were a child you imitated your parents, so now you are to
imitate God. You are to become like God. Jesus said, “Be
therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
(Matthew 5:48)
Second,
follow God by loving as Jesus loved (5:2) “…and
live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us
as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Paul
emphasized the love of God, which is always an active love. That
love was shown to us in Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus was
sacrificed in your place on the cross. Your sins were placed upon
Him. He died in your place.
Do you have
that kind of sacrificial love for others? Are you active in that
kind of love? The point is that the believer in Jesus is to love
just as He loved – to give just as He gave. It is your love of
others that is an offering well pleasing to God. It is a fragrance
pure and fresh.
Third,
follow God by being morally pure (5:3) “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.”
There is no
wavering here. If you are to follow God you must be morally pure.
There is not to be the slightest suspicion of immorality among us.
This is a big order in our society of today.
Immorality,
impurity, and greed are not proper characteristics of the person seeking
to follow God.
Fourth,
follow God by being clean-mouthed (5:4) “Nor
should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out
of place, but rather thanksgiving.”
I’m
trying to remember if I ever had to suck on a bar of soap when I was a
kid. Maybe you had the experience. Your parents were trying
to wash out some bad language. We could stick a bar of soap in the
mouth of the media today and do a lot of good.
All of us
loose it once in a while. We say something foul or maybe obscene
and we are sorry. But if such becomes the habit of our life we
greatly displease God.
I knew a
man once who had a very foul mouth. He was known for speaking with
obscenities about every other word. As his pastor I never observed
it, however. Whenever I was around, for some reason, he spoke
quite well. He could clean up his language when he wanted too.
-
You
are never, not once, to be engaged in obscene talk or be around it.
-
You
are never once to engage in foolish talking that is empty,
unthoughtful, senseless, wasted, purposeless. Talk without a
good purpose is a waste of time says Paul.
-
You
are never once to engage in coarse joking – poking fun, suggestive
conversation, wisecracks. This type of behavior, to attract
attention is not a characteristic of the Christian.
You are not
to speak with such an uncontrolled mouth. You are to engage in
conversations that build people up and offer thanks and praise to God.
Fifth,
follow God by knowing God’s solemn warning (5:5-6) “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. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of
such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.”
St. Paul
warns us all in making three points.
-
Immorality
has no part with God. A person practicing immorality will not
enter the kingdom of God. The doom pronounced is not future,
it is present. Paul says, “has any” which refers to the
present. The believer, by his behavior has cut himself off
from God. You may have land, houses, possessions but if you
are living immorally you don’t have the kingdom of God in your
present.
-
There
are deceivers walking all about us. There are people who will
tell you…
Paul says, “…because
of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.”
Interpret that however you wish but it is not a good thing. Sin is
everything contrary to God, therefore He hates sin. He hates to see us
sin because He knows that that nature is destructive. Sin in itself is
self-punishing. But God also deals with the ungodly harshly. He
exercises deliberate anger that arises out of His very righteousness.
His anger is right, just and good.
Sixth,
follow God by separating oneself from the unclean (5:7)
“Therefore do not be partners with them.”
Paul is
saying to us, do not take part in the sins I have described to you in
these verses. You are to be holy, set apart, living for God.
You are a new creation in Jesus. Live like it!
By the grace of God you have
the power of the Holy Spirit within you to live a life pleasing to God
as described by St. Paul. And when you stumble, you have God’s
merciful and forgiving hand to lift you up and start you over again.
Heavenly Father, we are
tempted too much sin and fall into its traps. Release us by Your
Spirit.
In
Jesus name, Amen.
