Who's your partner - Ephesians 5:1-7

Who's Your Partner?
Ephesians 5:1-6

Children of Immortality vs.
Children of Immorality
• Children of God mimic their Father
– God’s love is their focus
– The Son of God is their model
• Children of God do not imitate the Children of
Disobedience:
– Immorality
– Impurity
– Covetousness
– Inappropriate talk
• The behavior of The Children of Disobedience is
inconsistent with Christ’s kingdom and invites God’s wrath.
• Don’t partner with those that behave as children of
disobedience.

Ephesians 5:1–7 (ESV)
5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And
walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a
fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But sexual immorality
and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named
among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no
filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of
place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 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. 6 Let no one deceive you with
empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God
comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not
become partners with them;

Children Imitate their parents

As Children, Imitate Your Parent
5 Therefore be imitators (mimetes) of God, as
beloved children.
You can’t imitate what you don’t know. Get
close to the Father so you can imitate Him.
– Read His Love Letter to you.
• To learn what pleases him/displeases him.
– Spend time talking to Him.
– Be sensitive to the Spirit
– And …..

Mimic the Son – Mimic the Father
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave
himself up for us, a fragrant offering and
sacrifice to God.
Follow Jesus’ Example.
Rom. 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to
God, which is your spiritual worship

Don’t Imitate the Neighbors false love
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or
covetousness must not even be named among
you, as is proper among saints.
God’s Children always had misbehaving
neighbors:
Sodom and Gomorrah
Egypt
Canaanites/Philistines
Greeks/Romans

Don’t even entertain thoughts of
sexual immorality
Πορνεία (pornea) - extra-marital and unnatural
intercourse.

Numbers 25:1–9
25 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to
whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited
the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the
people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So
Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger
of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4 And the
LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the
people and hang them in the sun before the LORD,
that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away
from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of
Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have
yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and
brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of
Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the
people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance
of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas the son of
Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left
the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went
after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both
of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her
belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was
stopped. 9 Nevertheless, those who died by the plague
were twenty-four thousand.

1 Corinthians 10:8,11
8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as
some of them did, and twenty-three thousand
fell in a single day…… 11 Now these things
happened to them as an example, but they were
written down for our instruction, on whom the
end of the ages has come.

impurity
Impurity (akatharsia, a-katharsis) – Unclean,
impure. Includes sexual immorality, but here
may refer to all acts of the flesh including
idolatry, greed, etc.

Greed
Covetousness – Have more, receive more, or
want more (Greek lit. includes property, power,
pleasure). Selfish gratification.
Way of the world, not God’s Children

Discontent expresses itself in
inappropriate speech.
4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor
crude joking, which are out of place, but instead
let there be thanksgiving.
Don’t use obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse
joking. What comes from your mouth indicates
what is in your heart.
Replace it with thanksgiving.

Warning!!!!
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.
Such behavior is evidence that one is not really
in Christ.

Similar Warning to Corinthians
1 Corinthians 6:9–10
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice
homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will
inherit the kingdom of God.

Same Warning to Galatians.
Galatians 5:19–21
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual
immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger,
rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,
drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I
warn you, as I warned you before, that those
who do such things will not inherit the kingdom
of God.

Warning to the Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians 4:3–6
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that
you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one
of you know how to control his own body in
holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like
the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one
transgress and wrong his brother in this matter,
because the Lord is an avenger in all these things,
as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned
you.

This Behavior brings wrath on the
Unbeliever!
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for
because of these things the wrath of God comes
upon the sons of disobedience.7 Therefore do
not become partners with them;
Do not partner with Sons of Disobedience.
What about believers that behave like “Son’s of
Disobedience”?

The World vs. those that behave like
the world
1 Corinthians 5:9–11
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with
sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the
sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and
swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need
to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to
you not to associate with anyone who bears the
name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality
or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or
swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

Son’s of Disobedience:
Have no inheritance
Bring wrath upon themselves,
Pity them for what they don’t have,
Why would you want what they want, when their
passions will always exceed what they will never have?
The Flesh will never be satisfied!
Video from Fireproof.

Why would a Child of Immortality partner
with Children of Immorality?

Why Would you partner with them by
behaving like them?

Who's your partner - Ephesians 5:1-7

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