Ephesians 5:5
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For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
this ye know--The oldest manuscripts read, "Of this ye are sure knowing"; or as ALFORD, "This ye know being aware." covetous . . . idolater-- (Col 3:5). The best reading may be translated, That is to say, literally, which is (in other words) an idolater. Paul himself had forsaken all for Christ (Co2 6:10; Co2 11:27). Covetousness is worship of the creature instead of the Creator, the highest treason against the King of kings (Sa1 15:3; Mat 6:24; Phi 3:19; Jo1 2:15). hath--The present implies the fixedness of the exclusion, grounded on the eternal verities of that kingdom [ALFORD]. of Christ and of God--rather, as one Greek article is applied to both, "of Christ and God," implying their perfect oneness, which is consistent only with the doctrine that Christ is God (compare Th2 1:12; Ti1 5:21; Ti1 6:13).
Open source ↗We had several important exhortations in the close of the foregoing chapter, and they are continued in this: particularly, I. We have here an exhortation to mutual love and charity (Eph 5:1, Eph 5:2). II. Against all manner of uncleanness, with proper arguments and remedies proposed against such sins: and some further cautions are added, and other duties recommended (v. 3-20). III. The apostle directs to the conscientious discharge of relative duties, from Eph 5:21, throughout this, and in the beginning of the next chapter.
Open source ↗5:5 Many similar statements describe the kind of person who will not inherit the Kingdom of . . . God: See 1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-21; Rev 22:15; cp. Col 3:5-6. • For a greedy person is an idolater: The things greedy people desire become their gods (see Matt 6:24).
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.