• Dene's Blog
  • About Dene
  • Contact Dene
  • Dene's Recipes
  • Dene's Books
  • Dene's Classbooks
  • Gallery
  • Recommended Sites
  • FAQ & Tutorial
  Flight Paths

From Bad to Worse

4/14/2015

0 Comments

 
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. Eph 4:17-19
    
`    In our study of the first century church on Tuesday mornings, the ladies and I have noticed how important purity was to those people.  I am not sure we place the same importance on it, and worse, we excuse impurity of all sorts.  One of my dear sisters said she had even heard another Christian say it was expecting too much to demand purity from people today, not in a society saturated with hedonism and materialism.  Let me tell you, if a Christian could stay pure in a pagan world where fornication was even part of the religious ritual, anyone can stay pure concerning any sin there is.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me, Phil 4:13.
    We were reading together the list in the above passage, a list I had studied several times, when it suddenly struck me that this was not a list at all, it was a progression.  
    The people Paul refers to had vanity of mind.  Most of us who have been in the church for years understand the concept of “vanity.”—emptiness.  These people had no purpose in life.  They moseyed through the day letting life simply “happen.”  That will not last long.  If you have no purpose, you will eventually find one of your own making.  It’s the only way you can rationalize your existence.
    They became darkened in their understanding.  They did not even realize their need.  Because they had come up with their own “meaning of life,” they were satisfied.
    At that point they became alienated from the life of God.  Just across the page from this passage, in 2:5, we are told that God made us alive when we were dead in our sins.  Our life now is a life of service to Him and others.  Our righteous lives look strange to people of the world.  Doing things for others?  Putting the needs of others ahead of your own?  Haven’t you heard someone say, “What about yourself?”  or, “How can you have any fun?”  They can no longer comprehend real fulfillment.
    And so because of the hardening of their heart they refuse to see when others try to tell them what is wrong.  They wear a shield so their consciences will not be pricked into realizing what they are doing to themselves.
    Eventually they become past feeling—they no longer even need the shield over their consciences.  They just plain don’t care.  When you start to talk, they shrug their shoulders.  “You have your way, I have mine—now leave me alone.”
    And so they come to the end—they give themselves up.  At this point, as Peter says, they cannot cease from sin (2 Pet 2:14),  It will take something akin to a miracle to reach them, if they can be reached at all—probably something terrible.
    Truly this is a motivation for keeping oneself pure.  How far can I go before I reach the point of no return?  Will the next sin be the one that makes it nearly impossible to repent?  Do I really want to go through the necessary horror that may be my only chance to wake up?
    Don’t kid yourself—you are as vulnerable as anyone else.  Check this little progression and see where you fall in line.  Then get out of line as fast as you can.  Nothing says you have to be there at all.

But you did not so learn Christ; if so be that you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus:  that you put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxes corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth, Eph 4:20-24.

Dene Ward

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Author
    Dene Ward has taught the Bible for more than  forty years, spoken at women’s retreats and lectureships, and has written both devotional books and class materials. She lives in Lake Butler, Florida, with her husband Keith.


    Categories

    All
    A Wives Series
    Bible People
    Bible Study
    Birds & Animals
    Book Reviews
    Camping
    Children
    Cooking Kitchen
    Country Life
    Discipleship
    Everyday Living
    Faith
    Family
    Gardening
    Grace
    Guest Writer
    History
    Holiness
    Humility Unity
    Materialism
    Medical
    Music
    Prayer
    Psalms
    Salvation
    Trials

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly