Ephesians: More Sins the Saints Must Purge
Ephesians 5:3-4; Deuteronomy 5:21 - Be kingdom-minded and give thanks and keep these sins from your mind.
“But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.”
Ephesians 5:3-4 NASB1995
The AI image at the top, as requested by Steve from ChatGPT, had this description:
A first-century Ephesian street scene at dusk. In the foreground, a small group of believers quietly walks away from a loud tavern-like gathering filled with drunken laughter, gambling, and crude behavior. The sinful gathering is intentionally somewhat blurred and shadowed — not grotesque, just spiritually empty.
The believers are moving toward warm lamplight coming from a humble home where other Christians are gathered in fellowship and prayer. One woman at the doorway is smiling warmly in welcome. The emotional focus is peace, dignity, and gratitude rather than condemnation.
This would visually reflect:
“Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking…”
“…but rather thanksgiving.”
Paul identifies more sinful behaviors that the saints at Ephesus must put away (they should not even be named). Let’s do some word studies from the Blue Letter Bible lexicon:
Immorality comes from the Greek feminine noun πορνεία or porneía (Strong’s G4202), with the following Biblical usages:
illicit sexual intercourse
adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11-12
metaph. the worship of idols
of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols
We have studied this word before, as the topic of immorality crops up quite often in Paul’s epistles and other scripture. It has two meanings: Illicit sexual intercourse and the worship of idols. Porneia is the root for the term pornography. The Bible is VERY CLEAR that adultery, fornication (sex outside of marriage), homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, and incest are sins. These are not just prohibitions in some ancient bible book that nobody wants to read like Leviticus but are repeated in the NT in the Gospel and epistles. Modern-day churches that deny the sinfulness of these acts, soften them or even promote them (looking at you, ELCA) are committing apostasy and are leading their flocks to destruction. Boy, am I a buzzkill or am I a buzzkill? Well, the path is narrow and these types of sins are not ones that Christians should even think about.
Back in Paul’s time, the idea of pornography was probably not very developed. There were no printing presses or dissemination tools like the internet, so the sexual sins of the time were more personal (face-to-face). The insidious and degrading scourge of pornography is everywhere; the enemy tries to lure us in with enticing images and scenes and it is known to be as addicting as some of the worst narcotics. Here are some startling statistics about pornography from Worldmetrics.org (these are dated to 2023):
In Western Europe, 62% of men and 12% of women report having consumed pornography in the past year.
The majority of pornography consumers (72%) are between the ages of 18-44.
15% of women globally have consumed pornography in their lifetime, with 5% reporting regular use.
30% of individuals in committed relationships report that pornography use has negatively affected their romantic intimacy.
Adolescents who consume pornography are 2.5 times more likely to report erectile dysfunction in early adulthood.
The global pornography industry generated $97 billion in revenue in 2023.
User-generated content makes up 70% of pornography website traffic, with platforms like OnlyFans leading this trend.
The top 10 pornography platforms generate 80% of global revenue, with Pornhub, Xvideos, and TikTok being the leaders.
43 countries have implemented mandatory age verification measures for accessing pornography.
60% of countries do not have explicit laws criminalizing the possession or distribution of pornography.
15 countries have banned pornography entirely, including Afghanistan, Iran, and Somalia.
As of 2023, there are an estimated 2.14 billion internet pornography users worldwide.
Average daily time spent by pornography users is approximately 38 minutes.
40% of 18-24 year old individuals report visiting pornography websites daily.
A few years ago, the Marriott chain eliminated adult movies from its pay-per-view selections. This is good, but the facts are that anyone with a laptop or iPad or even a smart phone can access free hardcore pornography almost anywhere there is a cell or WiFi signal. Heck, just turn on HBO or most other streaming services and you can get movies and TV series that are soaked in immorality. It must be so challenging to be a parent these days; it’s challenging enough for adults. John Piper has great resources at this link to help fight sexual sin.
Ok, let’s move on to the next word:
Impurity comes from the Greek feminine noun ἀκαθαρσία or akatharsía (Strong’s G167), with the following Biblical usages:
uncleanness
physical
in a moral sense: the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living
of impure motives
Steven Cole is quoted in Precept Austin describing moral purity and what it means:
As Steven Cole rightly reminds us that "God’s standards for moral purity are not up for popular vote! He designed the sexual relationship for a man and a woman in a lifelong committed marriage. When practiced within these boundaries, it is a good gift from God, not something dirty. He gave us His commandments for our good. When we violate His standards, it results in short term pleasure (that’s why we’re tempted to do it), but long term pain and problems. Keeping God’s commandments is often difficult in the short term, but deeply fulfilling in the long term. (Ephesians 5:3-6 Clean Up Your Act!)
Greed comes from the Greek feminine noun πλεονεξία or pleonexía (Strong’s G4124), with the following Biblical usages:
greedy desire to have more, covetousness, avarice
Greed (covetousness) is, of course, the subject of the tenth Commandment:
“‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’”
Deuteronomy 5:21 NASB1995
Paul equates greed with idolatry. What you covet becomes what you worship. According to Torrey’s Topic, quoted in Precept Austin, covetousness leads to the following:
Adultery (coveting another’s wife Ex 20:17, 14) - 2Sa 12:1,2, 3, 4, 5
Injustice and oppression -Proverbs 28:20; Micah 2:2
Foolish and hurtful lusts -1 Timothy 6:9
Departure from the faith -1 Timothy 6:10
Lying -2 Kings 5:22, 23, 24, 25
Murder -Proverbs 1:18,19; Ezekiel 22:12
Theft -Joshua 7:21
Poverty -Proverbs 28:22
Misery -1 Timothy 6:10
Domestic affliction -Proverbs 15:27
Abhorred by God -Psalms 10:3
Forbidden -Exodus 20:17
A characteristic of the wicked -Romans 1:29
A characteristic of the slothful -Proverbs 21:26
Commended by the wicked alone -Psalms 10:3
Hated by saints -Exodus 18:21; Acts 20:33
To be mortified by saints -Colossians 3:5
Woe denounced against -Isaiah 5:8; Habakkuk 2:9
Punishment of -Job 20:15; Isaiah 57:17; Jeremiah 22:17-19; Micah 2:2,3
Excludes from heaven -1 Corinthians 6:10; Ephesians 5:5
Beware of -Luke 12:15
Avoid those guilty of -1 Corinthians 5:11
Pray against -Psalms 119:36
Reward of those who hate -Proverbs 28:16
Shall abound in the last days -2 Timothy 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1, 2, 3
And what is the opposite of greed/covetousness: Contentment!! What is proper among the saints is that we shouldn’t even name these sins, much less engage in them.
This passage continues, with Paul admonishing the saints to abstain from filthiness (obscenities), silly talk, and coarse jesting. Coarse jesting comes from the Greek feminine noun εὐτραπελία or eutrapelía (Strong’s G2160), with the following Biblical usages:
pleasantry, humour, facetiousness
in a bad sense
scurrility, ribaldry, low jesting
Ribaldry can be found almost everywhere, including most of Shakespeare’s plays and in almost every modern sit-com (especially after “The Andy Griffith Show” era). So are Christians prohibited from having a sense of humor? Of course not. But our humor should be based on grace and agape love, not on “low jesting”, immorality or making fun of others. Our language should be reflective of our thanksgiving to God for His blessings and not full of curse words. Albert Barnes is quoted in Precept Austin saying this about our words:
Barnes has some good advice writing that "Christians should be grave and serious, though cheerful and pleasant. They should feel that they have great interests at stake, and that the world has too. They are redeemed--not to make sport; purchased with precious blood--for other purposes than to make men laugh. They are soon to be in heaven--and a man who has any impressive sense of that will habitually feel that he has much else to do than to make men laugh. The true course of life is midway between moroseness and levity; sourness and lightness; harshness and jesting. Be benevolent, kind, cheerful, bland, courteous, but serious. Be solemn, thoughtful, deeply impressed with the presence of God and with eternal things, but pleasant, affable, and benignant. Think not a smile sinful; but think not levity and jesting harmless. (Albert Barnes. Barnes NT Commentary).
The saints should spend their time giving thanks and being content rather than engage in or even think about these sins and behaviors.
My next devotional examines Ephesians 5:5 - Immoral, impure, covetous isolators will not inherit the kingdom.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Thank You so much for Your gifts of marriage and Your commandments against immoral behavior. Please help me to continue my journey on the narrow path. Amen.
Citations and Credits:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
“G4202 - porneia - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NASB95).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 28 May, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4202/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/>.
“G167 - akatharsia - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NASB95).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 28 May, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g167/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/>.
“G4124 - pleonexia - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NASB95).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 28 May, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4124/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/>.
“G2160 - eutrapelia - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NASB95).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 28 May, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2160/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/>.
Precept Austin was accessed on 05/28/2026 to commentary for Ephesians 5:3-4. Links to the source documents are provided where appropriate.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. Commentary from Enduring Word was not used for this devotional.