Ephesians 5:3 3But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not be even named among you, as is fitting among holy people,
Paul shifts from the positive call to love to another vice list that calls the Ephesians to live out their love (5:1-2) as holiness and righteousness (4:24). The actions listed here are part of the old lifestyle and old way of thinking. They may have been common in the culture of that time but believers must rise above culture and live in imitation of Christ, the perfect representative and image of God. The behaviors Paul lists here must not be named (onomazesthō) or mentioned. To name something is to think it and point it out. These behaviors should not even be talked about or thought about. To name them is to create images in one’s mind, which can lead to fantasizing and temptation. Paul is calling the readers to a radical lifestyle change that begins in the mind.
Sexual immorality (porneia) was a major problem in the Gentile world in which Paul ministered. It was accepted and even glorified in many of the cities of the Roman Empire. Paul wrote to the Corinthians to “flee sexuality immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Get away from it. It may be significant that impurity (akatharsia) and covetousness (pleonesxia) are listed along with sexual immorality. These two words go beyond the act of immorality and get to the heart issue. Many things can be classified as impure, including thoughts and actions. This would be the opposite of the purity God desires for his holy people to have. Purity comes as a result of obedience to God commands, which the Holy Spirit writes on our hearts. Coveting is symbolic of the deep selfishness that drives much of sin. We want more and desire what other people have in order to feed our deceived desires, which become the lust leading to sexual immorality.
This is not God’s will for us. God wants his children to be holy, sanctified in their behavior (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Sanctification comes through submission to God’s will. This will be shown through faith, which requires we stop seeking our own wrong desires and way of thinking and be renewed, refreshed, and realigned by thinking as Christ thinks. The Holy Spirit will grow within us the mind of Christ and lead us to a new way of life that brings wholeness, joy, and the fulfillment of peace.
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