In this message from the In Christ series, Scott Wiens opens Ephesians 5:3–10 to draw a clear line between darkness and light. He addresses the way darkness often disguises itself as “it’s not that big a deal,” “everyone does it,” or “that verse doesn’t apply anymore,” and he invites you to see how the gospel reshapes what we desire, how we speak, and how we live. Scott grounds the text in its original setting—Ephesus, a city saturated with pagan worship and sexual permissiveness—and shows why Paul’s words were aimed at the church. The call isn’t to outrage at the culture, but to personal holiness, integrity, and a community life that is above reproach.

Scott defines the four sins Paul names—sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, and corrupt speech—and explains why they’re more than behavior problems. Sexual immorality is any sexual activity outside God’s design of one man and one woman in a marriage covenant. Impurity points to a mind that celebrates what God forbids, proving you can’t separate body and heart. Covetousness is greed turned into worship, which is why Paul calls it idolatry. Then Paul moves to our words—filthiness, foolish talk, crude joking—and gives a surprising replacement: thanksgiving. When we stay close to the gospel and remember the gift of redemption, gratitude becomes our new default, and over time it reorients our vocabulary and our choices.

Scott also names the “empty words” that try to excuse sin—cultural permission, selective theology, the claim that biblical ethics are outdated—and contrasts them with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, who will not be silenced in a true believer. He makes a crucial distinction between stumbling and making sin your identity, and he offers the pastoral help we need for real change: do not participate, learn to discern what pleases the Lord, and expose the works of darkness—beginning with our own hearts—through confession and accountability. Along the way, he cautions against “living on the edge,” reminds us that what we focus on is what we reflect, and shows why a life of gratitude leads to freedom and joy.

If you’re ready to stop partnering with darkness and to walk as a child of light, this message will help you take honest, practical steps. Watch or listen, share it with a friend who needs encouragement, and ask yourself: where do you need clearer discernment this week?

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