Curt Harlow [00:00:00]:
Hello, my friends, Pastor Curt here. And I'm joined today by the ever smart Dena Davidson.
Curt Harlow [00:00:06]:
Smart.
Curt Harlow [00:00:06]:
I like that.
Curt Harlow [00:00:08]:
What do you have for me? Ever here, Ever Mark.
Curt Harlow [00:00:15]:
Ever Mark. When it says coarse language in our passage, it doesn't mean gravelly voice. Yes, the ever gravelly.
Curt Harlow [00:00:21]:
I thought you were about to make a Tourette's joke. Of course, language. It doesn't count if it.
Curt Harlow [00:00:26]:
I did have a dread stroke in my last sermon in Indiana.
Curt Harlow [00:00:29]:
Okay, wait.
Curt Harlow [00:00:29]:
I've been gone for a couple weeks, so I hope you've been watching the podcast, enjoying it. I'm sure the quality went really way up. I'm going to address something in current topics, current news, current events. We almost never do this because we'd like these podcasts to be kind of timeless. You can watch them and share them with anyone whenever you're studying a certain book. But it just occurs to me, two quick thoughts about the Charlie Kirk assassination. We are Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We are recording this three days after the memorial.
Curt Harlow [00:01:09]:
That's when this is happening. And the first thing I'd like to say is pastoral. If you could take a minute. There's one thing for that whole team, Charlie Kirk's whole team, to put on that memorial and to have that activity to honor him. It's another thing after that's all over and especially for Erica and the kids and that whole team. I know what that team's made of. I have friends that are very close with that team. And it's a lot, a lot of barely out of college people and some people that are still college age.
Curt Harlow [00:01:44]:
It's a young, young team. And yeah, I just would say. I'd like you guys that listen to us. Then finally I'd say, why do we do the Bible study? I'll tell you why we do it. We think that this is the only thing that's actually gonna heal this sort of. That the truth really does set us free, that the scripture really is good for challenging, rebuking, correcting, healing. It is the inspired word of God. My kind of response to all of this simply is, I'm doubling down on this thing.
Curt Harlow [00:02:12]:
I'm doubling down on learning it, and I'm doubling down on applying it. I hope you'll join us in that journey. And let's get to it.
Dina Davidson [00:02:20]:
Let's do it.
Curt Harlow [00:02:21]:
We're in an interesting passage today. Thanks, Mark. Paul is still in the mode. He's been in all of chapter four where he's saying, put off the old self and take on the new self. And he's got these various lists, and it's interesting here. I'm just gonna read the verse where he actually says that context, and I'm gonna tell you what he's listed in chapter four. So we have that in our mind. Then Dean is gonna read the passage.
Curt Harlow [00:02:48]:
And while that's happening, what I wanna ask you two, and everyone listening, of course, to do is, is there any repetition in this list between chapter four's list and the list we're gonna study in Ephesians 5, 1, 7? Cause I think that's the interesting part of this. All right, here we go. Here's the context. Ephesians 4, 22 and 23. You were taught, with regard to the former way of life, your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God, in true righteousness and holiness. Then he goes on to list what that old self that we've got to decidedly reject as. And so it's uncontrolled sensuality, sexual immorality, greed, falsehood, uncontrolled anger, rage, stealing, lack of working, unwholesome talk, bitterness, brawling, slander, and the last one, malice, which is evil plotting. It's when you kind of make plans to be mean to people.
Curt Harlow [00:03:48]:
That's what malice is. So he goes back to this same sort of encouragement in our passage. Dena, why don't you go ahead and read it for us?
Dina Davidson [00:03:56]:
Perfect. Chapter 5, starting in verse 1. Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetous 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. Let no one deceive you with empty words.
Dina Davidson [00:04:38]:
For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not become partners with them. For at one time you are darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Curt Harlow [00:04:50]:
There we go, Paul again, telling us a bunch of stuff to put off. Mark. 50,000 foot modeling. Some great Bible study for everyone. What are your thoughts on this passage.
Curt Harlow [00:05:01]:
Well, obviously he's trying to say there's a way of walking, verse one or two, meaning kind of similar to what we talked about a couple of weeks ago. The idea that Christianity isn't just about thinking, it's about a way of being in the world. And that comes even from ancient Judaism. It'd be like, I mean, most religions have a sense of like, we, we behave, there's belief, belong behavior, and there's like, there's a way of behaving in the world that isn't the way you're saved. It's like the difference between. I think one of the distinctions is like, we can't. People will go at this and go, look, there's a list of things you should do. And so just do all those things and God will love you.
Curt Harlow [00:05:38]:
That's not the point of it. He's already done one to three, which is the gospel. So Tim Keller makes a distinction between the means of salvation and the trajectory of salvation. So the means, right, the means is like Christ. The trajectory of where it goes is all this good behavior and don't be a jerk and don't be sleeping around and having sex with everybody. But that's not the way you get saved. It's not like if you do that list, God will go, okay, cool, you did the list in 1 to 8. Awesome.
Curt Harlow [00:06:06]:
You can get into heaven. It's like, we already dealt with how you get into heaven. Now we're talking about how this plays out in your life. And I want my people to look vastly different than the world around you. The way it talks, the way it does sex, the way it does money, the way it works. And we, we stand out in our behavior, which is a beautiful thing. It's not just while I believe some different stuff about the deity of Christ than my neighbor, it's like, no, this goes down to your life and how you live. So it's actually quite beautiful.
Curt Harlow [00:06:33]:
Paul is so committed to this idea of the saving grace of God, then the behavior, even in here, when he's solidly into the behavior part, to your point, Mark, he still has to remind us we're dearly loved children and this is on the foundation of Christ's love.
Dina Davidson [00:06:47]:
Exactly.
Curt Harlow [00:06:48]:
He can't help himself. He's got to go, don't, don't, don't get these lists as willpower. Start with the dearly loved children. You're inherited into the family. And he's got a lot of love for you. Dena, coach up some young thrive college students with us here if you're. You're getting at this, I love this. Let there not be a hint of sexual immorality.
Curt Harlow [00:07:09]:
One of the questions get asked students all the time is how far is too far. Where should a student draw the line between that sort of, you know, overbearing, repressive sexual culture where no sex is horrible and don't even think about it? And this very clear exhortation like. Like let there not be a hint is a pretty clear line, right?
Dina Davidson [00:07:34]:
Exactly. I think when we misread this, we say, okay, let there not be a hint of sexual immorality. So let's, you know, make sex the enemy. Let's make it as bad and dirty and in every way, let's just distance ourselves from sexual pleasure. Because clearly, you know, we can't do. We're not capable of doing this faithfully, so let's just run away from it. I think that's a misreading of it. And this is what happens when we pull this scripture out of its context and divorce it from what the rest of the Bible has to say about sex.
Dina Davidson [00:08:06]:
That sex is a good thing given by a good God for our pleasure and for our benefit. So I think that'd be my first thing is there. There's two mistakes we can make about this passage. One is to not take it seriously, and then the other is to rip it out of its context and overemphasize it. So I just. I would caution anyone reading this and say, hey, read this with all of scripture and read it in the context of knowing that this. This gift of sex was something that was meant always to be divorced from shame. And that's what God's heart is.
Dina Davidson [00:08:38]:
Ultimately. He doesn't want you to use your body in a way that causes pain in another person and distances you from God and. And harms yourself. That's what he's after right here.
Curt Harlow [00:08:50]:
Absolutely. So the sexual immorality features both in chapter four and in chapter five. He goes over it several times. So they've given themselves over to sensuality and all sorts of sexual immorality. Then he says, don't let there be a hint of sexual immorality here. And if that doesn't work, he adds in or any kind of impurity, which is more internal. And then the other thing that gets repeated is greed. In both chapters, greed gets repeated.
Curt Harlow [00:09:18]:
Stealing doesn't get repeated, but greed does get repeated. And then what really gets repeated it is foolish talk, obscenity, coarse joking. They're in both chapters. Every once in a while, I'll have some hip college age Christian that I love go. You know, Curt, taking the Lord's name in vain, that's not in the bio. That doesn't mean cussing. That means using the authority of God in a wrong way. I'm like, you're absolutely right.
Dina Davidson [00:09:43]:
Right.
Curt Harlow [00:09:44]:
But don't let that make you think that coarse language, uncontrolled language, is not forbidden. The Bible, because it's a massive theme. The tongue is lit on by the hellfires of hell. The tongue is fueled by the hellfires of hell. I was just looking at this and I was thinking about the repetition of sexual immorality warnings. The repetition. Agreed. And the repetition of foolish, coarse talking.
Curt Harlow [00:10:12]:
And then I just occurred to me. Corinth is, is a, is a. In part, he's writing this to that Mediterranean thing. And Corinth is a seaport, two very expensive seaports. And there's a lot, a lot of business going on in the, in that part of Greece. And there's a lot of reputation of sailors having loose morals. This might be the one passage in the Bible that answers the question, what should I do with a drunken sailor? Now I know. Please don't leave me.
Curt Harlow [00:10:46]:
But here's my little take. I think what Paul's saying is you have bounced back. You've slightly bounced back to the Greek influence of your pagan past, which was greed. There's a lot of commerce going on, which was idol worship. Later on he says, you have become idolatrous. And he's saying to him, man, do now that you've experienced the love of Christ, don't go back to cultural norms. Don't go back to old habits and old patterns in there. Where do I got that wrong, Mark?
Curt Harlow [00:11:19]:
No, not at all. I think it's tied in with the, you know, the context of Ephesus and the Artemis cult. And yes, you know, to your point where sex is, sex is bad. There's also a culture that we have where sex is God, you know, and so that's where they're at, right? Sex is like, it's intertwined with their religion. And so he's going, hey, we gotta. To your point, we need to separate all this. I think the list is interesting. The power of words.
Curt Harlow [00:11:47]:
Yes.
Curt Harlow [00:11:48]:
Foolish talk, coarse joking. This is the Bible going, words matter. Words have power to, to, to uplift into. And, and people, you know, they go, wow, it doesn't matter what I say. And it's like, no. The book of James is like, yeah, your words can set set forests on fire. They, they, it can move ships how you affirm people, how you criticize people, how you share all these things are like, we as Christians, we sometimes, oh, it doesn't matter. Just words.
Curt Harlow [00:12:20]:
And it's like the way you build up your wife, the way you tear it, you know, all of these things, the power of. Because it seems like a weird thing to list. Like, all of a sudden he's like, hey, how you joke with each other? It's like, yeah, what? How is that? How did that make the list? There's so many other. Or the greed piece is interesting too, because, you know, sexual immorality, you know, coupled with greed's kind of like, I forget he used to say this, but they used to say sexual morality is kind of obvious. Like, if you, if you wake up beside a woman who's not your wife, you're like, oh, that's adultery. That's. But when do you become greedy? Yeah, that's a harder thing to gauge.
Curt Harlow [00:12:55]:
Yes.
Curt Harlow [00:12:55]:
One of them is black and white, and the other one is very subjective and gray. And it's like, oh, when you, if I want that watch, am I greedy? And how much is too much? You know, all of this kind of stuff where he's like, he's going, the gospel's gonna change all of this about you, and you're gonna constantly be needing to evaluate your life. It's interesting, too. I just noticed this phrase in verse two. Because of course, before he tells us all the stuff he doesn't want us to do, he frames it as Christ giving something up. That's the way he frames that.
Curt Harlow [00:13:27]:
Yes.
Curt Harlow [00:13:27]:
Christ loved us and gave himself up. Up for us. And I think this, he does that on purpose because he's saying, these are the things you're going to have to give up.
Curt Harlow [00:13:37]:
Yes.
Curt Harlow [00:13:37]:
So good, right? Very interesting.
Curt Harlow [00:13:39]:
I just noticed that I, I, I told this, I had this illustration when we were in chapter four, and hopefully I didn't share it on the podcast before, but I was boogie boarding with a bunch of students in Hawaii in Honolulu. We were starting a campus ministry there at, uh, and I got taken out by the riptide way too far. I tried to get back in. Took me forever to get back in. I had to go down like a mile or two, you know, parallel to the shore. By the time I get back in, I look at my watch, I'm supposed to be speaking at a church's 6pm Sunday night service in 15 minutes, and we're 20 minutes from there. So we jump into this van, and in the van I open my suitcase and I Put my black suit and white shirt on over my sandy crusty body and I walked into the service late and I got up there and I preached the worst sermon I've ever preached in my life because I couldn't think of anything else about what I had not taken off. And so what Paul is saying here and always prefaced in the light of the love of Christ and the gospel and the example of Christ, you gotta reject some stuff to live a life worthy of the calling received.
Curt Harlow [00:14:51]:
So I like to do this with Paul because he goes back and forth and it's very beautiful when you're reading it. But just to get it clear in my mind, reject both the act and thought life that comes with sexual sin. Reject the craving to acquire more, or I read one definition of that word, greed, unrestrained accumulation, really sounds like us. And then reject obscene and harmful language. And to your point, Mark, words have power. So for most of human history, words had power in the moment they were spoken and in the moment they were retold. Now it's in the moment they're spoken, the moment they're reshared because we post our words. And I really think that this, that might be the thing we need to say.
Curt Harlow [00:15:46]:
God, convict me at the core. If I've put something out there until the end of the Internet that is destructive or that is the end of the Internet. Yeah, well, that's when it would go away. Although try to find some of my sermons from the early Internet. They're gone. Then he says, then the positive. Embrace the example of Jesus. That's his ways.
Curt Harlow [00:16:08]:
Embrace a life of love for others. That's his relationships. Embrace sacrificing to your point, that's his mission. That was his mission, to sacrifice. And then just for you, this is the one that's not about Christ. Embrace gratitude for his salvation. So three of them are follow Jesus. Exactly.
Curt Harlow [00:16:24]:
And one of them is then be grateful that you're doing that. And it really is like, it's almost like this should be in the Bible, which it is.
Dina Davidson [00:16:33]:
I feel like there's something in verse one, therefore be imitators of God. And I think when we read a list like that, there's this image instant beginning to compare ourselves to others. Well, okay, let, you know, bring up the example of college students. Let's talk about sexual immorality. Well, they are. Well, they are. Well, they are. And we're kind of pulsing everyone around us to see if we are sexual sexually immoral.
Dina Davidson [00:16:56]:
What about course jesting. Well, he did. I have this pastor and we're. We're literally always comparing ourselves to the other Christians in our life to see whether we're attaining to this standard. But the whole thing is phrased in be imitators of God. As in, no human around you is going to look like this list. Like, no human is capable of not having a hint of sexual immorality. So don't try to look to any pastor or person next to you in the pew to see whether you're doing a good job.
Dina Davidson [00:17:26]:
You are trying to attain an unattainable standard. That is the job of a Christian. You are trying to reach heights that you are incapable of reaching. But that's why we have the spirit of God working it out in us. So I just think that's an interesting point. Like we're. We're literally pulsing other people.
Curt Harlow [00:17:43]:
There's only one person to compare yourself to, and that's your Lord. And yeah, Ray has this great phrase, and I've been repeating it a lot lately. Pastor Ray, our founding pastor, he says if you get into the game of comparing your walk to someone else's walk or comparing your life to someone else's walk, you have assigned yourself to living in permanent middle school cafeteria. Amazing, because you're walking in which table do I get to sit at? Sure.
Dina Davidson [00:18:07]:
Yes.
Curt Harlow [00:18:07]:
And all that sort of stuff. Okay, I want to. I want to get to the challenging part of this text. I love just going for the. I'm not sure what the answer to this and asking it full on. So he says, for of this you can be sure no normal, no immoral, impure or greedy person. Such a person is an idolater. They have a different savior other than the one true God has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ.
Curt Harlow [00:18:32]:
And God let no one deceive you with empty words. Because of such things, God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. Is Paul teaching here that if I have a porn problem I have not solved, that I am not going to heaven? Is Paul teaching here that if I have a hard time with generosity and am more prone to greediness, that I haven't sold, that I haven't been sanctified yet in me, I'm not going to heaven. Is. Is that what Paul's teaching? I say maybe Mark, go first on this one. Dena just talked a bit.
Curt Harlow [00:19:09]:
Wow. It's a trap.
Dina Davidson [00:19:10]:
Settle. Settle this for us.
Curt Harlow [00:19:14]:
Well, I think if you've been reading the whole letter from chapter one on, then no, I think this is people defined by this in Their life. Because, I mean, it's interesting that he says they're an idolater. Because an idolater is someone who, you know, you worship a God, that's not the true God. That's what idolatry is. So what he's saying is you've. You've taken sex and it's become your God. You've taken money and it's become your God. You've taken.
Curt Harlow [00:19:47]:
It's interesting, this course joking stuff because he says rather do Thanksgiving. So yes, it's probably swearing, but it's very interesting that it could be the way we use our words in a non thanksgiving way.
Curt Harlow [00:20:00]:
Yeah.
Curt Harlow [00:20:01]:
Like a, like we're always a downer. You know, it's just like, you know, in the world of the empires that they lived in, what does it look like to use words in certain ways in court? And so idolatry is his root problem is he's saying you aren't someone who worships Christ or God. He makes a decision, the kingdom of Christ and of God. Because at the root of your heart, you know, Calvin, all these guys used to say, these writers used to say that the human heart is like an idol factory. It just pumps out new idols all the time. Because at the end of the day, it's a worship question. Do you worship Christ, the one true God, or do you worship these things? And if by definition you worship these things, then of course you're not in the kingdom. If you be greedy once in a while or you do sexuality, it's not like, okay, got you.
Curt Harlow [00:20:52]:
I added up there was 418 and you just tipped over.
Curt Harlow [00:20:56]:
That's 419. That's the number you're out, right?
Curt Harlow [00:20:59]:
That's not really how it works. He's talking about ways of life. He talks about, you know, you were once in darkness, but now you are light. It doesn't mean you'll never do these things again. It's the definition of these things as a person. So I think that's probably the better read.
Dina Davidson [00:21:16]:
Yeah.
Curt Harlow [00:21:17]:
What do you think?
Dina Davidson [00:21:17]:
I just also think we're meant to be a little haunted by the question. Like, I think powerful language like this God intentionally put in the Bible to make us quake in our boots, like to make us really ask the question. You said, if I have a porn problem and I persist in that porn problem, do I really worship and love Jesus and do I have a place in the kingdom? Maybe, like, maybe if you've come to know the one true God and he has saved you from your sin, then yes, you have an Inheritance. Because your inheritance is not based on what you've done or what you are doing. It's based on what he did. But it really should give us pause. If we have a sin in our life that is never being uprooted and we're content with that sin, and it doesn't grieve us that we are caught in a sin, then I think the right thing to say is, God, am I really saved? Because the Lord said, there will be many in the last day who think that they know Jesus, but they don't. So I don't think it's meant to keep us up in the middle of the night worrying about whether we are saved.
Dina Davidson [00:22:21]:
I think it's meant to keep us worrying about how we can get rid of that problem, how we can uproot that sin in our life, because we want to be those that have the inheritance, because we love and cherish Jesus above all else. So that's my take.
Curt Harlow [00:22:35]:
I like both those answers. I think the center of it might just be idolatry. Have we slowly but surely put our confidence in something that is completely artificial, ineffectual? You know, idolatry in the Old Testament is not demons disguising as God. It's rocks being rocks, and we're worshiping them, and so they're completely ineffectual. I also really like that, Dena, that there is 10. I think there's tension here. He calls them brothers. He calls them dearly loved children.
Curt Harlow [00:23:06]:
He says, examine yourself to see if you're in the faith. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. There's a tension in there with Paul, where I don't necessarily think he's trying to make a creed here. He's trying to wake someone up. So the do not be deceived to me could also be the key to understanding this. Idolatry is a very strong explanation. But do not be deceived soberly. Think so.
Curt Harlow [00:23:28]:
This is kind of like that person that comes to me as a pastor and we sit down and we talk about their life and what they're. Why they're not coming to church, or whether they're struggling in this way and that way. And they say, you know, I had an affair on my wife, but it wasn't a big deal. Okay, I know that's the way we want to think about our sin or, you know, I've had a struggle with porn every once in a while. And when you really start talking about it. No, it's a regular thing, like five, six times a week or, you know, I'M not a greedy person. And then you get into the amount of hours they're working, neglecting their family, neglecting church. And so I think Paul here is saying, wake up.
Curt Harlow [00:24:14]:
We have a tendency to lie to ourselves about these very serious problems.
Curt Harlow [00:24:19]:
And he literally says that in the next few verses. Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead. Wake up, O sleeper.
Curt Harlow [00:24:24]:
Yes. Yeah.
Dina Davidson [00:24:25]:
And the previous passage, losing all sensitivity. Like, Paul is still camping on this idea that those who are caught up in sin don't know they're caught. And so I think he's using this forceful language again to shake them out of that complacency and take their sin seriously.
Curt Harlow [00:24:41]:
What we love in the American church in our current culture is all the verses on wrath. We love those verses. We put them on coffee mugs. We've got them on the back of our bumper stairs. And.
Curt Harlow [00:24:52]:
But, but to that point about, you know, hope in the Gospel, for those of you watching this going, oh, man, I, you know, I struggle with greed, now I'm going to hell. According to Curt, verse 6. I love this for such, For Augustus, God's wrath. So there's a big topic comes on those who are disobedient. And so here's a great one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible is something that we rarely talk about in church. John 3, the last verse of John 3. Obviously, we talk about 3, 16 all the time, but the last verse is, whoever rejects the Son. So that's actually the issue.
Curt Harlow [00:25:28]:
Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them. That the ultimate problem in life is that the wrath of God, it's gonna fall on one of two people. It's gonna fall on Jesus for you, or it's going to fall on you. And so when you were born, it was on you, John saying, but then Jesus stood in front of it, like. And so you get to go behind the rock and the ocean wave hits him rather than you. Or you can reject Jesus and the ocean wave is going to hit you. So notice, yes, in this text, it's about these actions and the stuff, but behind it all is, did you ever trust and believe in Christ ultimately? Because he'll take that wrath for you.
Dina Davidson [00:26:16]:
That's right.
Curt Harlow [00:26:17]:
You know, that's the beautiful hope of it.
Curt Harlow [00:26:19]:
Yeah. And that's why we shouldn't be afraid of wrath. I was kind of being satirical is here. I literally wrote those words on my notes here. Either Jesus or me. It's either Jesus or me. And so the scary news of it is, if I am Trusting in an idol that is just a stone or wood. It's nothing.
Curt Harlow [00:26:37]:
And that's where I've put my trust. Or if you flip that, no, I am trusting in Jesus. Then wrath becomes a wonderful good news. I have escaped. It's like, I always put it, like when you were terminal with cancer and you went back for the final test and it's gone. Someone took this cancer. We don't know who. And you talk to people that survive that sort of stuff.
Curt Harlow [00:27:02]:
They're like, oh, my life started over that day. I stopped being as grumpy with everyone. I stopped being impatient. I stopped worrying about all the little stuff. I survived death. So why, why should I let this little things bother me? That's where. If you're not afraid to look at wrath and that exact definition, there can be. There can be great thanksgiving in it and great liberty in it.
Curt Harlow [00:27:26]:
Okay, I got one last question for the two of you here. Because it's so interesting how sometimes Paul will go on one of these seven verse riffs, and there's so much in here. Yeah, there is so much in here. He's got imitate dearly loved child, two lists intermixed together. Then he goes into the whole, wake up and don't be deceived. And then he ends it by this little piece of advice. So if you find these people that are idolatrous, don't partner with them. What does that mean? Hmm.
Curt Harlow [00:27:56]:
Dena, we'll go.
Curt Harlow [00:27:57]:
Dena first. Yeah, it's only fair.
Dina Davidson [00:27:59]:
That's less controversial.
Curt Harlow [00:28:00]:
I got the other one.
Dina Davidson [00:28:01]:
I just think there is. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, there is meant to be separation between the people of God and those that the people of God are trying to bring into the people of God. Right. And so if our actions are always uniting us to people that don't have the same values and heart posture that we do as believers, then our life is going to be pulled in the direction of those human beings. And that's just a natural thing. Like, you will walk in the direction of those you walk with. And so Paul is saying, make sure you're partnered with people who serve Jesus as Lord and who agree to this list and are also imitating the one true God, because otherwise you're gonna get pulled along in this direction that God doesn't intend you to be pulled.
Curt Harlow [00:28:46]:
Love it.
Curt Harlow [00:28:46]:
Yeah.
Curt Harlow [00:28:47]:
Yeah. This is the don't be unequally yoked warning. Paul's saying, you have some folks that are asleep in your midst. Those of you who are not. For their sake, don't Partner with them. And we always like to put that in dating. Don't date the non Christian. There's a whole lot of partnerships now.
Curt Harlow [00:29:06]:
It doesn't mean we're not friends. It doesn't mean we don't care deeply about them. Doesn't mean we don't engage them. It means we're not putting one half of the yolk on us and one half of the yoke on them. And let's pull life together. Yeah, here. All right, let's get to application, because I was going to ask both of you that question, but. But Bri is off camera giving me stern looks just like.
Curt Harlow [00:29:30]:
But. Okay, application lots in here. Very simple, very practical. What would you do about this passage? Just you and your own normal Bible study life. How would you apply this thing, Mark? Why don't you take a shot at it?
Curt Harlow [00:29:42]:
Okay, so I think the key is verse two, walk in the way of love. Underline, double click, circle love. Because I think I. I know how to solve your sin problem. I know how to make it so that you stop sinning about all the sins that are listed here in this. In this list. I know what it is. So here's what it is.
Curt Harlow [00:30:01]:
Thomas Chalmers, years and years ago, wrote a sermon, this is like in the 1600s, called the expulsive Power of a New Affection. Go and Google it, look it up, read it. It's genius. So basically what he says is this. You can't stop sinning. What you need to do is you need to replace the sin with something that you love more. You can't just look at someone. And this is.
Curt Harlow [00:30:19]:
This is addiction theory too, right? You can't just. You can't just get rid of an addiction. You have to replace it with something that you love more. So if you're. You got this issue or whatever, go get addicted to working out. Yeah, that's a better addiction than that addiction. But the human heart can't just dispossess itself of an idol. He says it will always find another idol to attach.
Curt Harlow [00:30:39]:
What you need to do is replace that idol with something that you love more. So why does Jesus, when. When he's pressed and they say, what's the most important command? And he says, love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength. The reason he says that is because that's the only way that you're ever gonna stop loving the other things of the world. Whether that's sexual, promiscuity, immorality, greed, money, all the stuff. You can't just go, oh, I gotta be a better Person. And I gotta stop looking at this. And I gotta stop looking at this.
Curt Harlow [00:31:05]:
It won't work. You have to love Jesus more than you love the sin. And that's why he starts the whole thing, the way of love. Just as Christ loved us, I think that's the solution to all of the stuff that he follows. So, so good. A piece of advice.
Dina Davidson [00:31:16]:
Love it. I just can't walk away from the idea that Paul really thinks that we're listening to the wrong people. We're imitating the people around us and we're listening to their empty words. And so I just want to invite the person listening to spend some time with God and ask God to identify the voices in their life that are louder than his voice.
Curt Harlow [00:31:36]:
Yeah, that's good.
Dina Davidson [00:31:37]:
Just ask God that question.
Curt Harlow [00:31:39]:
That'd be way too.
Dina Davidson [00:31:40]:
See, then you're listening to Dena's voice to do that. It's just, it's all iffy. But honestly, just say to God, what voices are louder in my life right now than your voice and help me to change that. Make your voice louder.
Curt Harlow [00:31:53]:
So lists, when we make them and we try to attack them with willpower, will make it worse. But list based on honest moral inventory. I'm going to be honest with myself, can be very powerful. So here's what I've recommended people do for years and years when they're doing this moral inventory at the top of the page, right? Because of grace. Because of grace. Because my undeserved favor of God. Because God chose me before I chose him, before all the goodness of grace, because of grace. Here's my get rid of list, and here's my embrace list.
Curt Harlow [00:32:28]:
And you have to do both lists to Mark's point. But. But your embrace list might not be a Mediterranean sailor, which is this list kind of to my point earlier. It may be something different. It may be frustration with your family, it may be critic being hypercritical of someone. And before you put on all the good positive, let's go after good in the name of Jesus, what do you need to take off so it's not itching and scratching underneath your. Your life for Christ. So just that list by grace and then honestly look at it and say, God, I can't do this without you.
Curt Harlow [00:33:07]:
So here's my list. Now, the strength, the life in the spirit, the strength of Christ Paul prays for us to have in Ephesians. Use that and see if that does good. Always so good with you, too. This is my favorite part of my job here at base. I don't know if you could tell. Or maybe being with the Thrive students. I hope it becomes a favorite part of your life.
Curt Harlow [00:33:27]:
And would you please spread the word? You know, we don't need a giant podcast to be fine in Christ. I just need people to study the Bible and learn how to study the Bible. If we can help someone, you know, share this with them, or if you got a question about any of this, leave those in the comments, especially on the YouTube version of it. And again, thanks for giving us a little bit of time to study the Bible at the Bible Study Podcast.