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The people in Ephesus had
converted to Christ from the worship of Diana and an immoral
lifestyle of soliciting temple prostitutes. Unlike many of today's
churches, Paul did not believe in a "seeker friendly" approach and
flat out told the new believers that they could no longer live like
heathens. He spoke of renewing their minds and boldly gave them a
new set of rules to live by based upon the Ten Commandments. Paul
told them to stop their lying, control their anger, to cease from
stealing and to clean up their language. If they continued any of
these practices, it would only grieve the Holy Spirit. Furthermore,
they needed to take control over their negative emotions, to be kind
to one another and not run with the Devil anymore. This is in stark
contrast to the "seeker friendly" churches that go to any length to
avoid offending anyone; how many churches today still preach a
message like that? If the apostle Paul were alive today, he would be
rejected by most denominations for being too radical, dogmatic and
not being politically astute. Remember, it's not so important how
you begin your life after salvation, but how you finish it! |
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