Ephesians 4:17-24

Ephesians 4:17-24

Having called the disciples at Ephesus to maturity in Christ, Paul recalls and, by so doing, warns them of the true nature of their former pre-Christian life. It is more than a little worrisome if a Christian talks about the sinful, Christ-less life with a sort of longing nostalgia. They recalled the “good times” without considering that those were expressions of great evil and were harmful to themselves and others and were hurtful toward God. Paul, for his part, has nothing good to say about the pre-Christian pagan life.

Paul describes graphically the downwards spiral of pagan morals in very non-flattering terms: decayed understanding, exclusion from the life of God, and because of ignorance, they became hard-hearted. This downward spiral settles into three characteristics that Paul describes in verses 18-19. First Paul says in verse 19 they are “callous” (NASB) or “having lost sensitivity” (NIV). This condition comes from the hardness of the heart (v18). The word “hardness” has as a root word “stone.” This actually became a medical term for what we might call a bone spur that results in the joint stiffening. At the beginning of the bone spur or stone, the joint hurts. But as the joint hardens and becomes useless, the pain diminishes. So the conscience at first is bothered, but as the heart hardens, it gets rid of feelings of guilt, shame, or the need for repentance. I once heard a young Christian say that he wasn’t bothered if he saw pornography. He was attempting to claim he was so mature in his faith that looking at porn didn’t bother him. Rather than maturity, it was likely evidence of a hard heart.

Paul says that as a result of this callous heart, they have given themselves over to “sensuality.” This ‘giving up’ or ‘giving over’ literally means betrayal; they have betrayed themselves into slavery. The word “sensuality” has too often been portrayed as warm, soft, exciting, and/or desirable. The word used here actually carries a connotation of violence. Sensuality is to God‘s intent for sex what rape is to gentle marital intercourse. But don’t miss this point: the person giving him or herself into slavery is the one who is being abused. In sensuality we betray ourselves, become the slave, and are abused as a result.

Caught in this addictive cycle Paul says that they work at impurity with an aggressive greed v-19. They work at sensuality like a miser, trying to gain wealth. Working hard to satisfy the evil, there is almost no depth to which an evil person will not go. Parents have pimped out their children. Pedophiles have molested toddlers. Addicts have stolen from helpless and aged parents. Perverts abused and then cannibalized their victims. How deep is man’s evil when he works at it? It can spiral down to depths that we don’t want to consider. May we never make light of or speak with nostalgia for the old days before we came to Christ.

“Lord, help me to hate sin the way You hate sin. AMEN”