Ephesians

Reason Number 3: Continuance in sexual immorality reveals an unregenerate heart.

Paul gives us the third of his five great statements about the Christian and improper sex:

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephesians 5:5)

Notice that Paul revisits the same three categories he referred to in verse 3—immorality, impurity, and greed. Anyone who practices immorality, impurity or greed, Paul says bluntly, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God!

In other words, sexual immorality is incompatible with Christian faith because continuance in it reveals an unregenerate heart. Notice that Paul reinforces this idea, making sure there is no room for misunderstanding or rationalization, as he adds, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient” (Ephesians 5:6). So you cannot be a Christian and knowingly, deliberately practice sex outside of marriage, for the one cancels out the other.

Yes, a Christian can commit sexual sins. The record is all too clear in this regard. Even in the Scriptures we have the account of David who, after years as a faithful believer, as a man after God’s own heart, fell into the sin of adultery and took another man’s wife. But the point the apostle makes is that no professed Christian can do this repeatedly, defiantly, or shamelessly, and really be a Christian. The true Christian, if he does fall into this kind of folly, will abhor himself and loathe his sin. He will repent and forsake it. The person who defends, justifies, and excuses this kind of activity, or even glories in it as a mark of personal liberty, gives evidence that his professed Christianity is a sham.

That does not mean that such a person is beyond the reach of God’s grace. In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul lists a number of sins, including homosexuality and other sexual sins, then adds, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). God’s grace reaches out even to those who practice these sins, if they repent and turn to Christ. But no one who professes Christ can continue in these sins, for his deeds deny his claim to being a Christian.