No Place for Sin

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Ephesians 5:6

We live in a day in which our nation has cast aside the commands of God against sexual immorality. Fornication, adultery, and homosexuality God calls sin, our nation now says that it is nobody’s business what goes on between consenting adults. We have legalized homosexual marriage and call it normal. We think nothing of two people living together. We have created laws to cover up our sin.  As a nation, we have legalized and promoted the killing of a child in the womb and declare murder of the unborn a constitutional right for every woman. Yet, according to a Gallup poll conducted in 2015, 75% of Americans claim to be Christians. 

When Paul wrote to the Ephesian church he told them, Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. What are “these things” that cause the wrath of God to come down upon the sons of disobedience? He tells us in verse 5, For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 

God does not tolerate sin, and perverted love leads to punishment. Sin has no place in His kingdom and no place in His children's lives. Immoral, impure, and covetous are from the same basic Greek words as immorality, impurity, and greed.

Persons who are characterized by the sins Paul has just condemned will have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. No person whose life pattern is one of habitual immorality, impurity and greed can be a part of God’s kingdom because that person does not belong to Him. The life described here testifies to an unredeemed, sinful nature. No matter what relationship to Christ a person might claim to have. God’s children have God’s nature, and the habitually sinful person proves that he does not have a godly nature (1 John 3:9–10).

The simple fact is that to be a follower of Christ we must live lives that reflect our hatred of sin and love of righteousness. In today's sermon on the Vinedresser, we will see the difference between abiding and non-abiding branches. May the Lord increase your faith in Him as you continue to grow in Him.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark