The Need for Further Moral Changes
Of all the areas of life that can be ruined by sin, it is sad that the most intimate relationship, the sexual—with all its potential for beauty, joy and fulfillment—is so vulnerable, so easily ruined and so prone to bring public disrepute. It is also unfortunate that pastors and other Christian leaders are susceptible to distortion of the counseling and other close associations characteristic of religious ministry. But there are other circumstances as well to which the tenth commandment, with its prohibition of covetousness, applies. So greed appears along with sexual immorality and other impurity in the instructions of Ephesians 5:3. Whether that greed is for money or for food, or (more likely in this context) for sexual gratification from someone else’s spouse, it is contrary to God’s will and can constitute idolatry (v. Eph. 5:5).
Liefeld, Walter L. Ephesians. Vol. 10. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 1997. Print. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series.
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