Immoral is in the Dark

“⁵For 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.” – Ephesians 5:5 (ESV)

The above verse is where I was led this morning in my study of the word “immoral”. I see again the use of immoral in the sexual context, but I also see more of the same definition as noted before that immoral is wicked / bad. I have taken on that as my substitute for the word to define for myself what immorality is.

“⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷Therefore do not become partners with them; ⁸for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴for anything that becomes visible is light.” – Ephesians 5:6-14a (ESV)

Now to the passage and my learning from it. The passage in my ESV Bible is titled, “Walk in Love”. I would add “Light” to that as well after reading and seeing more. We are to be the and in the light. Evil parades around in darkness. It is shrouded in secret. It is hidden behind closed doors. It is where things are not known to everyone, that is in the beginning. Immorality is in the dark.

As we review the passage above and the full passage of Ephesians 5:1-21 we see that walking in love as Christ is also walking in the light for all to see. It is here that people see your actions on display. We should be on display for the world to see as followers and imitators of Christ. We want the world to be exposed to His glory and the salvation that comes with knowing and submitting to Him.

Yes, we do have a right to privacy and intimacy within our home. I for one enjoy and look forward to spending that quality time with Lori that is devoted to just the two of us. Yet, when it is not just the two of us in our private time, we are to expose ourselves to the world to see. We are to show the world Christ, who is in us. We are give ourselves to the spreading of the Gospel and ensuring that the LORD is on full display in our lives.

See in verse 8 above that we are now “light in the Lord” and we are to “Walk as children of light”. This means to me that I have to stay out of the darkness for that is where wicked/bad or immoral resides. I have to be the light and stay out of the darkness. Yes, there is something to say about bringing light to the darkness, but that is a topic for another time. It is better for me to keep my light there for all to see and stay out of the darkness to have the best chance and keeping away from the immoral or wicked/bad that resides there.

What is your take on darkness? Are you comfortable there where the wicked/bad or immoral reside? What if you were to stay out of the darkness and be in the light what/where you are called to be as a follower of Christ?

Immoral, Sin Against Self

Again, as usual, the LORD has learned me something. I ask for God’s guidance in my daily Bible Study and He is always there. Today is no different in my study of the word “immoral”.

“¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:18 (ESV)

As stated, my approach to Bible Study is choosing a word in the concordance of my Bible and going verse be verse as identified and allowing God to teach me. I do not go in with a specific agenda, other than the word itself and I allow God to lead me to what He would have me learn. This morning The LORD led me to learn about being immoral and sinning against my self.

When you see the title of the passage from this morning, “Flee Sexual Immorality”, you would think that it is indeed subject of learning. Where to some extent that is true, this morning, God would have me learn of being immoral and sinning against my self. You see, the verse above does speak of sexually immorality, yet it speaks of it in such a way that we are sinning against our own selves even as we sin against God.

Think of sinning in general. Steal something and you harm someone else. Kill someone and you harm someone else. Serve another god and you harm God. All of these sins are harmful to others and have perceived upside to you. Except for sexual sin and immorality. With this one, it is us who are harmed. Yes, maybe there is some pleasure and gratification in the moment, but what about after that moment. There are so many other things that happen, possible pregnancy, disease, lying, hiding and a whole host of other things that come with it. We may be sinning and may be immoral in our actions, but it is deeper in that we are acting against ourselves.

“¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)

And just what is our self. Our self is “a temple of the Holy Spirit”. We are the place where God dwells and lives. We belong to God and in that we are to keep our bodies clean and pure. With sexual immorality, we are sinning against our self and therefore desecrating the temple of the LORD.

I personally do not want to desecrate the temple of the LORD. Where I will sin, because I am a sinner and will always be. I ask the LORD daily to guard me against conscious sin. Where, as noted above, sin is harmful to others and certainly disappointing to the LORD, it is the sexual immorality where it really stings. It stings because it is against my self and the temple of the LORD. I have to work at avoiding sin, and especially sexual immorality to not desecrate my self and more importantly the dwelling place of the LORD.

What is your view of sexual immorality? Are you seeing it just as any other sin? What if you saw it as noted here as desecration of your self and more importantly, the temple of the LORD?

Immoral

Immoral: not moral: wicked, bad – Merriam-Webster Online (Kids Definition)

I went I normally go for definitions when learning, Merriam-Webster. This morning as I was looking up the word “immoral” that I have begun to study, I found that the definition is using the a form of the word to define the word. The definition that is presented to begin with is the same as with the above in the “Kids Definition”, “not moral”. Yet, that does not really speak to what immorality is. So, I worked my way down to the “Kids Definition” to find the definition that spoke to me as someone who does not know, and the “wicked, bad” really summed it up.

“⁹Or 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, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (ESV)

I have looked at immorality from a more, as is noted in the above verses, sexual context. We look to sexual perversion as the driver of immoral behavior, whether it is homosexuality, or some other act outside of what the LORD meant for intimacy between a husband and wife. These are what are considered immoral acts in the Christian community. But look further into the verses above and then into the definition of immoral and find a broader context. Immoral is “wicked, bad” and in the verses, we see “idolaters, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, swindlers”. All of these, where not tied directly to immoral, are still “wicked, bad”.

I look to sin as the identifier of immoral. And in ALL sin we are conducting immoral or wicked, bad things outside what the LORD intended for us. God intended us to be perfect as He is, after all, we were created in the image of God. It was not until we sinned for the first time were we considered outside of God’s plan for us. And think about that sin, it was not of a sexual context, it was covetousness and greed and theft and deception that led to “The Fall”. We fell from grace for what the world would consider a meaningless act of eating a piece of fruit. Yet, it was that act outside of the will of God that led to our sin fall from the grace of God.

It is not always the grand things that lead to destruction. It is any thing that is outside the will of God. Even the eating of a piece of fruit can be “wicked, bad” when it was strictly forbidden by the Father. We are sinners thanks to the acts of Adam and Eve, and we will not escape immorality until we are are resurrected to be with God. Immoral is “wicked, bad” that are displayed for the world, or more accurately witnessed in us by the Father.

What is your view of immoral? Do you see it from the lens related to sexual acts and perversions? What if you were to see immoral as defined by Merriam-Webster Online for kids as simply “wicked, bad”?