Ephesians 5:12: Shameful Things

Ephesians 5:12
[12] For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. (ESV)

Paul is speaking to us of the behaviors of the ungodly. They are actions that are shameful to even speak of. They are sins. And the fact is, they are ways that all of us used to walk in. I want us to consider for a moment why they are so shameful. When you think of different sins are you repulsed by them? Do you find them to be shameful? Or have you become numb to just how vile sin is? I am convinced that one of the reasons we fall back into sin is that we do not view sins as the shameful actions of treachery against God that they are!

"I would rather die than do something which I know to be a sin, or to be against God's will."
- Joan of Arc

"Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth."
- John Wesley

"If I had a brother who had been murdered, what would you think of me if I...daily consorted with the assassin who drove the dagger into my brother's heart; surely I too must be an accomplice in the crime. Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the Incarnate God; can you love it?"
- Charles Spurgeon

These quotes help us to come closer to a proper understanding of sin, and how we need to eliminate our association with it. Sin was a dagger of death to our Savior. We cannot live in it. We are even told that to speak of sins in any positive manner is shameful.

How do you view sin? Draw close to the Savior and you will see sin for what it is. You will be renewed in your zeal for righteousness. "Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory an grace."

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