Ephesians 4:19

“who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness”.

“Past feeling”: To grieve out, become apathetic. “Lost to all sense of shame” (TCNT). “They have stifled their consciences” (Phi). “Dead to all feeling” (NEB). “Lit., the verb means to cease from feeling pain. Hence to be apathetic” (Vincent p. 393). “ Lost all moral sensitivity --a classical term which means primarily that one's skin has become callous and no longer feels pain” (Bruce pp. 355-356). Carefully observe that apathy is far more serious than being depressed but rather than be the result of. hardened heart. “When one is past feeling he ceases to care. He becomes insensitive and callous. He is insensible to honor, shame, guilt, and other similar emotions. They often even rationalize their sin as acceptable behaviour” (Caldwell p. 197). In the Old Testament God spoke of those who could no longer blush (Jeremiah 2:3; Jeremiah 2:15; Jeremiah 2:12). But some people naively think, “I wouldn't mind. seared conscience in fact,. would think that such might come in very handy.” “I could like to engage in all sorts of selfish pursuits and not be bothered by my conscience, in fact, life would probably be. lot more fun, if. simply didn't care what others thought.” Unfortunately,. "seared conscience" is. double-edged sword, because part of the "package" of being past feeling can easily involve not caring about anything, including your own salvation. Many commentators point out that the same word rendered "past feeling", also means to "be despondent" in classical Greek (Bruce p. 356). The hardened sinner can very easily stop caring about everything, even life itself.

“Gave themselves up to”: “Abandoned themselves” (Gspd). “Then surrendered themselves” (Phi). “Having lost all sensitivity, people lose all self-control” (Stott p. 177).

A seared conscience has. high price tag. When one ceases to care, one also ceases to care about their own physical and spiritual welfare. “Why would. man deliver himself up to something so destructive? Why would he hand himself over, abandoning his own welfare?” (Caldwell p. 197). When conscience is disconnected, and when the heart is insensitive to God's truth, one has just taken all the brakes off the car. What is left to hold you back from complete self-destruction? Unfortunately,. good number of people claim that they can "remain in control" without God and without. tender conscience. God will not stop us if we are determined to give ourselves over to evil (Romans 1:24). God will not stand in the way if we are bent on self-destruction.

“Lasciviousness”: Barclay provides us with some good comments concerning this word: “But the man who has aselgeia in his soul does not care how much he shocks public opinion so long as he can gratify his desires. Sin can get such. grip on. man that he is lost to decency and shame,. man can become such. slave of liquor that he does not care who sees him drunk” (p. 153). Basil defined this word as "a disposition of the soul incapable of bearing the pain of discipline." '”Vice that throws off all restraint and flaunts itself, unawed by shame or fear, without regard for self-respect, for the rights and feelings of others, or for public decency” (Bruce p. 356). Sin always gets the best of the sinner (John 8:34; Romans 6:21). For the person who rejects God, it's simply. matter of time for eventually sin makes. fool out of all sinners. Notice the downward spiral that obstinate defiance to God leads. Lasciviousness includes the idea of "absence of restraint", one can reach. point that you absolutely refuses to be bound by any rules, that one becomes so selfish and self-centered that one must have instant gratification. Again, the logical consequence of rejecting God includes. very high personal price. Without self-respect, how is happiness maintained? It is only maintained by participating in some sinful behaviour, which by its very nature is merely temporary. Hence, this person is now very miserable, depressed and unhappy whenever they are away from whatever sin they like to practice, and the ruthless cycle has started. The "high". certain sin once gave them, no longer is enough. “To work”: This lifestyle is self-chosen, and sin becomes the occupation of such people. It becomes their goal, master, aim, purpose, and reason for living. They make sin to be their business. Pleasure has become their god (2 Timothy 3:4; 2 Peter 2:14). “All uncleanness”: “Not content merely to abandon God and sink into sin, the Gentiles wanted to practice every kind of impurity” (Boles p. 286). “Uncleanness marked their religion and their worship, their pleasures and diversions, their business and their social relations, their politics, their public shows, and what not?” (Lenski p. 559). “Practicing any form of impurity which lust can suggest”(Phi). “With greediness”: “Arrogant greediness, as the accursed love of possessing. It has been defined as the spirit in which. man is always ready to sacrifice his neighbor to his own desires. In the heathen world. Paul saw terrible things. He saw men's hearts so petrified that they were not even aware that they were sinning; he saw men so dominated by sin that shame was lost and decency forgotten; he saw so much at the mercy of their desires that they did not care whose life they injured and whose innocence they destroyed so long as these desires were satisfied” (Barclay pp. 153-154).

The new life in Christ

“Over against heathen hardness, darkness and recklessness Paul sets. whole process of Christian moral education” (Stott p. 178).