But sexual immorality and all impurity or 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.
Ephesians 5:3-4 [ESV]
To those of you who get my ‘Post Email Notifications’, I posted my last two Quiet Times without ‘sending the email’. I didn’t want you to wake up to 3 back-to-back emails. That being said, if you are interested in reading them, they are on the website.
The ‘put off’ and ‘put on’ alternating messages have been pretty prevalent in this letter. Paul now turns to things we should not do. There is a range of vices here, from sexual issues, to morality in general, to greed. The selfishness and self-indulgence of these activities and their destructiveness make them inappropriate for us as saints, those who have been set apart and sanctified to God. These vices are so serious that they should not even be mentioned among them…this is a big deal. Such activity undercuts the credibility of the church. We have in this verse and the next, core vices that have no place among God’s people. This is befitting to the earlier call not to walk as the Gentiles do.
It is not only what we do that hurts us and others, but also what we say. So, certain kinds of language are also not to be named or used among believers. The verb ‘to not let these things be named among them’ is shared with those things spoken against in verse 3. Certain things we do and certain kinds of speech are not to be a part of our Christian Walk. The term for vulgarity (aischrotēs) appears only here in the New Testament. It can describe something that is shameful or foul language since it refers to ‘that which shames’. It is probably a broad term here that covers more than speech, since a specific term for vulgar speech existed and we see it in Colossians 3:8. Foolish talk (mōrologia) describes speech which is worthless, or which makes no sense. It is ‘the language of fools’. The third kind of speech to be avoided also uses a word that appears only here in the New Testament, eutrapelia. It means coarse jesting, humor that is in bad taste, smutty talk. This kind of speech is not fitting for believers and is not to be named among them as it degrades others. Rather, they are to be characterized by thanksgiving, reflecting an appreciation for what God has done for them by grace.
Application:
I was convicted today by this passage. Most specifically the crude humor/joking. I think I ride the razors edge of death on this sometimes. Not totally brazen but too close to the line for me to be convicted about it tonight. I have removed the other 2 from my speech but my joking needs to be cleaned up. Lord God in Heaven, help me see the crudeness of joke I am about to tell and allow Your Holy Spirit to touch my heart so I can decide differently moving forward. Our minds are sick (Jeremias 17:9), and we can’t always keep something from popping in…but we can keep it from popping out.
Today’s Psalm:
I said, “I will guard my ways,
Psalms 39:1 [ESV]
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”