Paul’s list is not exhaustive but illustrative. “Fornication,” in plain words is prostitution, the junction of two human bodies outside the mar riage vow (I Cor. 6:15-18). It in cludes, as well, moral uncleanness, adultery (Matt. 5:32), and incest (I Cor. 5 :1 ). “Uncleanness” is moral impurity. It can refer to mixed mo tives (I Thess. 2 :3). “Passion” de notes violent emotion. Here it is used of abnormal affections (Rom. 1:26) or any affection that comes between us and God. “Evil lust.” Lust indicates basically a strong de sire, good or bad (Luke 22:15), though generally used in a bad sense in the New Testament (Rom. 1:24). Here its essential moral wickedness is seen by its adjective. Lastly, Paul comes to “covetousness,” which is the inordinate desire for anything that belongs to another (Exod. 20: 17; Luke 12:15). In fact, it goes be yond the desire and includes the schemes, the grasping after, the ex tortion of anything from another (Micah 2:1, 2: cf. Amos 8:5, 6). Such all-consuming passion and lust for that which belongs to others is truly named idolatry. In fact, any thing that fills our hearts and minds in His place must be called the same. All of these things must be put to death, removed from our lives, and left fa r behind like trash as we march onward and upward with Him. Verse 6. “Because of which things come.” “Which things” is neuter and refers back to “members” in verse 5. It is on account of all such sins that judgment comes (Rom. 6:23). The verb come is in the present (con tinuing action) tense and indicates a continual judgment. God is con stantly overseeing the world—noth ing escapes His eye or His justice. To our finite and less than half-in formed minds it often appears as if the godless get away without paying the price for their sins. The Psalm ist thought the same until he under stood God’s methods (73:16-19).
Students and faculty assist in a program of Campusbeautification on a volunteer basis. Picturedabove from left to right are Shirl Mansfield, Professor DietrichBuss, Simeon Ngugi (Kenya,EastAfrica), Mark Haber, and Bob Bolland.
“The wrath of God” does not pro duce a pleasant picture in our minds. The wrath of man ean be very de structive; how much more is the en lightened and all-powerful indigna tion of God Almighty! The word in dicates God’s attitude toward those who continue to rebel, those who re fuse His dearest gift. In addition to attitude, the word also includes ven geance and punishment on the evil doers (Mark 3:5; Matt. 3 :7). The combination of God’s complete knowl edge of everything and His patient, loving dealing with the sinner make Him the only One fit to take ven geance (Rom. 12:19). As in Romans 5:8, the phrase probably refers to the Great White Throne judgment of the unbelievers (Rev. 20:11-15). Verse 7. The “in which” of this verse differs from “which things” of verse 6 only in that here the word refers to the individual members named in verse 5. It is also broader than the list and includes all the sins and attitudes that characterize the unbeliever before coming to Christ. The “also” implies that the unbeliever still walks in them and that the Christian must not judge him harshly, for he himself was just as guilty. You “walked” refers to the whole pre-Christian experience 31
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