“But sexual immorality and all impurity, covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead, let there be thanksgiving, 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.”
-Ephesians 5:3–5
Ephesians 5:3–5 is strong language. Just the very end there, “has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” All these things that were listed before that, so that just shouts to us, run from all these things before this. They all lead to destruction and death. They’re all harmful and hurtful. Sexual immorality, what the Bible describes as any and all sexual activity outside of the covenant relationship between a husband and a wife in marriage, an impurity, and covetousness that’s described later is idolatry, wanting and desiring things in a way that is not glorifying to God. Wanting things you don’t have and wanting things you don’t have in a way that leads to lack of contentment in God, as if those things could satisfy our soul, if we had that, that’s idolatry, the Bible says.
The Importance of Your Words
And then filthiness and foolish talk and crude joking, let there be none of them. Ephesians 5:4 says: “Guard your words, your talk, your jokes,” and you keep reading on, not just the things you say, but the things you’d listen to, the things you take in, those are out of place. Verse four says, instead… this is so interesting. “Let there be thanksgiving”. Let there be words of gratitude to God. Words that replace filthiness and foolish talk and crude joking with thanksgiving and praise to God. So, it’s pretty direct. Let’s pray based on Ephesians 5:3-5.
Today, God, we pray that you would guard us, keep us, help us to flee sexual immorality and all impurity, impure thoughts, impure motives, impure deeds. Help us to flee all impurity and covetousness. Help us to be content in You to be satisfied in You, in Your provision in our lives. God, we pray that there would be no filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking from our mouths today or tomorrow. Make us sensitive to anything we’re saying that goes anywhere close to this, as well as anything we’re hearing.
Help us to avoid this kind of talk. Help us to replace it with talk of thanksgiving and gratitude that brings glory to You. God, help us to see the seriousness of all these things. Not to play around or toy around with them. Please help us to hate sin, to run from sin. Specifically all of these sins: sexual morality, impurity, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking. And oh, God, make us holy, we pray. Make us more like Jesus by running from these things and living in the righteousness You’ve made possible for us in Him. In Jesus’ name, we pray, according to Ephesians 5:3-55. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
