For know you this and understand, that no fornicator, or unclean, or covetous person (which is a serving of idols), hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

“"But you have not so learned Christ, if you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Christ Jesus; put off with the ways of your former life your old man which is corrupted by the deceitful lusts. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness," so as to be made like unto God. "Be therefore imitators of God, as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. But fornication and all impurity and covetousness and shamefulness and foolish talk, let them not be mentioned among you as is fitting for saints." Moreover, the apostle teaches us to be chaste in speech when he writes, "Know this well that no fornicator..." and so on as far as the words "but rather expose them."”

“Neither let the new heretics flatter themselves in this, that they say that they do not communicate with idolaters; although among them there are both adulterers and fraudulent persons, who are held guilty of the crime of idolatry, according to the saying of the apostle: "For know this with understanding, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, whose guilt is that of idolatry, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."”

“There were, it is likely, in the time of our forefathers also, some who "weakened the hands of the people" (Jer. xxxviii. 4), and brought into practice that which is mentioned by Ezekiel,-or rather who did the works of the false prophets, who "profaned God among His people for handfuls of barley" (Ezek. xiii. 19); a thing, by the way, done methinks by some even at this day. When, for example, we say that he who calleth his brother a fool shall depart into hell-fire, others say, "What? Is he that calls his brother a fool to depart into hell-fire? Impossible," say they. And again, when we say that "the covetous man is an idolater," in this too again they make abatements, and say the expression is hyperbolical. And in this manner they underrate and explain away all the commandments. It was in allusion then to these that the blessed Paul, at this time when he wrote to the Ephesians, spoke thus, "For this ye know, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, which is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God"; adding, "let no man deceive you with empty words." Now "empty words" are those which for a while are gratifying, but are in nowise borne out in facts; because the whole case is a deception. Because of "fornication," he means, because of "covetousness," because of "uncleanness," or both because of these things, and because of the "deceit," inasmuch as there are deceivers. "Sons of disobedience"; he thus calls those who are utterly disobedient, those who disobey Him. Now there are some who say that the words, "the covetous man is an idolater," are hyperbolical. However, the statement is not hyperbolical, it is true. How, and in what way? Because the covetous man apostatizes from God, just as the idolater does. And lest you should imagine this is a bare assertion, there is a declaration of Christ which saith, "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." (Matt. vi. 24.) If then it is not possible to serve God and Mammon, they who serve Mammon have thrown themselves out of the service of God; and they who have denied His sovereignty, and serve lifeless gold, it is plain enough that they are idolaters. "But I never made an idol," a man will say, "nor set up an altar, nor sacrificed sheep, nor poured libations of wine; no, I came into the church, and lifted up my hands to the Only-begotten Son of God; I partake of the mysteries, I communicate in prayer, and in everything else which is a Christian's duty. How then," he will say, "am I a worshiper of idols?" Yes, and this is the very thing which is the most astonishing of all, that when thou hast had experience, and hast "tasted" the lovingkindness of God, and "hast seen that the Lord is gracious" (Ps. xxxiv.: 8), thou shouldest abandon Him who is gracious, and take to thyself a cruel tyrant, and shouldest pretend to be serving Him, whilst in reality thou hast submitted thyself to the hard and galling yoke of covetousness. Thou hast not yet told me of thy own duty done, but only of thy Master's gifts. For tell me, I beseech thee, whence do we judge of a soldier? Is it when he is on duty guarding the king, and is fed by him, and called the king's own, or is it when he is minding his own affairs and interests? To pretend to be with him, and to be attentive to his interests, whilst he is advancing the cause of the enemy, we declare to be worse than if he breaks away from the king's service, and joins the enemy. Now then thou art doing despite to God, just as an idolater does, not with thine own mouth singly, but with the ten thousands of those whom thou hast wronged. Yet you will say, "an idolater he is not." But surely, whenever they say, "Oh! that Christian, that covetous fellow," then not only is he himself committing outrage by his own act, but he frequently forces those also whom he has wronged to use these words; and if they use them not, this is to be set to the account of their reverence. Do we not see that such is the fact? What else is an idolater? Or does not he too worship passions, oftentimes not mastering his passions? I mean, for example, when we say that the pagan idolater worships idols, he will say, "No, but it is Venus, or it is Mars." And if we say, Who is this Venus? the more modest amongst them will say, It is pleasure. Or what is this Mars? It is wrath. And in the same way dost thou worship Mammon. If we say, Who is this Mammon? It is covetousness, and this thou art worshiping. "I worship it not," thou wilt say. Why not? Because thou dost not bow thyself down? Nay, but as it is, thou art far more a worshiper in thy deeds and practices; for this is the higher kind of worship. And that you may understand this, look in the case of God; who more truly worship Him, they who merely stand up at the prayers, or they who do His will? Clearly enough, these latter. The same also is it with the worshipers of Mammon; they who do his will, they truly are his worshipers. However, they who worship the passions are oftentimes free from the passions. One may see a worshiper of Mars oftentimes governing his wrath. But this is not true of thee; thou makest thyself a slave to thy passion. Yes, but thou slayest no sheep? No, thou slayest men, reasonable souls, some by famine, others by blasphemies. Nothing can be more frenzied than a sacrifice like this. Who ever beheld souls sacrificed? How accursed is the altar of covetousness! When thou passest by this idol's altar here, thou shalt see it reeking with the blood of bullocks and goats; but when thou shalt pass by the altar of covetousness, thou shalt see it breathing the shocking odor of human blood. Stand here before it in this world, and thou shalt see, not the wings of birds burning, no vapor, no smoke exhaled, but the bodies of men perishing. For some throw themselves among precipices, others tie the halter, others thrust the dagger through their throat. Hast thou seen the cruel and inhuman sacrifices? Wouldest thou see yet more shocking ones than these? Then I will show thee no longer the bodies of men, but the souls of men slaughtered in the other world. Yes, for it is possible for a soul to be slain with the slaughter peculiar to the soul; for as there is a death of the body, so is there also of the soul. "The soul that sinneth," saith the Prophet, "it shall die." (Ezek. xviii. 4.) The death of the soul, however, is not like the death of the body; it is far more shocking. For this bodily death, separating the soul and the body the one from the other, releases the one from many anxieties and toils, and transmits the other into a manifest abode: then when the body has been in time dissolved and crumbled away, it is again gathered together in incorruption, and receives back its own proper soul. Such we see is this bodily death. But that of the soul is awful and terrific. For this death, when dissolution takes place, does not let it pass, as the body does, but binds it down again to an imperishable body, and consigns it to the unquenchable fire. This then is the death of the soul. And as therefore there is a death of the soul, so is there also a slaughter of the soul. What is the slaughter of the body? It is the being turned into a corpse, the being stripped of the energy derived from the soul. What is the slaughter of the soul? It is its being made a corpse also. And how is the soul made a corpse? Because as the body then becomes a corpse when the soul leaves it destitute of its own vital energy, so also does the soul then become a corpse, when the Holy Spirit leaves it destitute of His spiritual energy. Such for the most part are the slaughters made at the altar of covetousness. They are not satisfied, they do not stop at men's blood; no, the altar of covetousness is not glutted, unless it sacrifice the very soul itself also, unless it receive the souls of both, the sacrificer and the sacrificed. For he who sacrifices must first be sacrificed, and then he sacrifices; and the dead sacrifices him who is yet living. For when he utters blasphemies, when he reviles, when he is irritated, are not these so many incurable wounds of the soul? Thou hast seen that the expression is no hyperbole. Wouldest thou hear again another argument, to teach you how covetousness is idolatry, and more shocking than idolatry? Idolaters worship the creatures of God ("for they worshiped," it is said, "and served the creature rather than the Creator") (Rom. i. 25); but thou art worshiping a creature of thine own. For God made not covetousness but thine own insatiable appetite invented it. And look at the madness and folly. They that worship idols, honor also the idols they worship; and if any one speak of them with disrespect or ridicule, they stand up in their defense; whereas thou, as if in a sort of intoxication, art worshiping an object, which is so far from being free from accusation, that it is even full of impiety. So that thou, even more than they, excellest in wickedness. Thou canst never have it to say as an excuse, that it is no evil. If even they are in the highest degree without excuse, yet art thou in a far higher, who art forever censuring covetousness, and reviling those who devote themselves to it, and who yet doth serve and obey it.”

“Those who had possessions He freed from the bondage of senseless stuff, lest while they served it they should become servers of idols, concerning which it is written, "They have no breath in their mouth, and although they have eyes, and ears, and hands, they see not, and hear not, and work not." And for this reason the Apostle Paul called the love of mammon "idolatry," for as the heathen worship things which have no feeling, and in which there is neither life nor perception, even so do those who love riches worship the gold which is silent, and the silver which is dumb, together with all their possessions which have neither feeling nor knowledge.”

“Above, the Apostle forbade carnal sins; here he threatens the penalty of damnation, which is inflicted on sinners. Concerning this he does two things. For first he assures them of this; second he recounts the sins one by one, there: "that no fornicator," etc. He says therefore, "Know this, understanding" — that is, actually, not only habitually — hold it for certain. 1 John 3: "These things I have written to you, that you may know," etc. And what? That every fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous person, which is the service of idols, does not have inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Note that here he calls avarice idolatry, since idolatry is when the honor owed to God alone is rendered to a creature. Now honor is owed to God in two ways: namely, that we establish our end in him, and that we place our trust in him finally. Therefore whoever places this in creatures is guilty of idolatry. But the covetous man does this, who places his end in a created thing, and also his whole trust. Hosea 8:4: "They made for themselves their silver and their gold into idols, that they might perish." And this, because, as it is said in Proverbs 11:28: "He who trusts in his riches shall fall." But since in other sins man also places his end in a creature, to which he clings by love, why is the sinner not also called an idolater in those cases? I respond: to commit idolatry is to worship something external undeservedly. Now in other sins the end is placed in interior things, as it were in one's own exaltation. But he who places his end in riches places his end in them as in an external thing, like the idolater. But are the covetous, who show to a creature the honor owed to God, really idolaters, and per se? I say no, because in moral matters acts or works are judged from their end. He therefore is per se an idolater who intends per se to show worship to a creature. But the covetous man does not intend this per se; rather he does this per accidens, insofar as he loves excessively and inordinately. And what of such a man? "He will not have inheritance" — since indeed it is children who are also heirs, as is said in Romans 8:17. But now such men, who are thus carnal, are not children; therefore they do not have inheritance, because, as is said in 1 Corinthians 15:50: "Flesh and blood shall not possess the kingdom of God" — that is, God, who says in Ezekiel 44:28: "I am their inheritance." But it could be asked: if this inheritance is God himself, since he is indivisible and unpartitionable, why does he say "in the kingdom of Christ and God" divisively, as if this inheritance were divisible? I respond: our inheritance consists in the enjoyment of God; but now God enjoys himself in one way, and we enjoy him in another; for God perfectly enjoys himself, because he perfectly knows himself and totally loves himself as much as he is knowable and lovable. But it is not so with us, because although we perfectly know him in our homeland, and consequently love him — since he who attains something simple knows the whole of it, even if not totally, just as, if the light of the sun were a single point, the human eye would apprehend it wholly, though not totally, whereas the eye of the eagle would totally comprehend it — so too, if we perfectly know God in our homeland and perfectly love him, yet we do not totally comprehend him, therefore there seems to be there a certain imperfection and particularity. And therefore he says "of Christ and of God" conjointly, as though setting part with part, that is, because the inheritance is had through Christ and not through another. Then, when he says "let no man deceive you," here he excludes the deceit of seducers. And concerning this he does two things. For first he sets down the admonition; second he adds its reason, there: "for you were once darkness," etc. The first again is divided into two, because first he warns them not to be seduced by words, by believing them; second, that they not share with them by doing evil, there: "be not therefore made," etc. The first is still divided into two, because first he removes the seductions; second he shows the sign of the seduction, there: "for because of this the wrath comes," etc. It should be noted, therefore, that in carnal vices he taught only to beware of seduction, because from the beginning, so that men might freely enjoy their desires, they thought to find reasons that fornications and such venereal acts were not sins. And therefore he says "with vain words," because such words are without reason, which say that such things are not sins, nor exclude one from the kingdom of God and of Christ. Colossians 2:8: "See that no one deceive you through prophecy and vain deceit." And that such men are seducers and such words are seducing, he shows, because unless carnal sins were sins, they would not be punished by God, since, as God is just, he does not inflict punishment without fault. But now such things are punished by God, therefore they are sins. He proves the minor premise, when he says "for because of these things the wrath of God comes" — namely on account of carnal sins — "upon the sons of unbelief," as was evident in the flood; likewise in the case of the Sodomites; likewise the tribe of Benjamin was almost entirely consumed on account of these things. But he says "sons of unbelief," because those sinning in this way distrust regarding eternal life; for if one acting thus were to hope for eternal life, it would be presumption rather than hope, which is the certain expectation of future beatitude from merits, etc. Hence above, 4:19: "who, despairing, have given themselves up to shamelessness, unto the working of all uncleanness, unto covetousness." Wisdom 7: "Let there be no meadow that our luxury does not pass through," etc. And it follows at the end of the chapter: "because such men did not hope for the reward of righteousness," etc. He says therefore that upon "the sons of unbelief" — that is, those who do not trust in eternal joys — comes "the wrath of God," namely on account of sins. Or "of unbelief," that is, those concerning whom trust should not be placed, as far as it depends on their merits. And therefore he concludes, "do not therefore become partakers with them," namely by sharing with them in such works. 2 Corinthians 6:14f.: "For what participation has righteousness with iniquity, or what fellowship has light with darkness, or what communion has Christ with Belial, or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?"”

“For this ye know,.... Or, "know ye this", as the Alexandrian copy, and some others, and the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read: that no whoremonger, nor unclean person; anyone that is guilty of fornication, adultery, incest, &c. Nor covetous man, who is an idolater: as every man is, that indulges his lusts, the idols of his own heart; and who serves divers lusts and pleasures, and gives up himself to work all uncleanness with greediness; never having his fill of sin, but is ever craving and coveting it; as well as he who is immoderately desirous of worldly things: the covetous man may be called an idolater, because the idolater and he worship the same in substance, gold and silver, and brass, or what is made of them; the covetous man admires his gold, lays it up, and will not make use of it, as if it was something sacred; and through his over love to mammon, whom he serves, he neglects the worship of God, and the good of his own soul, and puts his trust and confidence in his riches: now no such person hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, and of God; meaning either a Gospel church state, in which persons of such characters, and living in such sins, ought not to be; or else the kingdom of heaven and of glory, which may be called the kingdom of Christ, because it is in his hands, for his people; and it is his righteousness that gives a title to it, and his Spirit and grace which make meet for it; and it is by his power saints are preserved unto it; and he will put them into the possession of it; and which will greatly consist in the enjoyment of him: and this is also the kingdom of God, either of Christ who is God, or of God the Father; it being of his preparing and giving, and which he calls unto, and makes meet for; and this may be said to be an inheritance, because it is peculiar to children, the bequest of their heavenly Father, and is not purchased or acquired by them, but comes to them from the free donation of God, through the death of Christ; and to have an inheritance in it, is to have a right unto it, a meetness for it, and to be possessed of it: now the meaning of these words is, not that all who have been guilty of these sins shall be excluded the kingdom of God, but all such who live and die in them, without the grace of God, and righteousness of Christ.”

“this ye know--The oldest manuscripts read, "Of this ye are sure knowing"; or as ALFORD, "This ye know being aware." covetous . . . idolater-- (Col 3:5). The best reading may be translated, That is to say, literally, which is (in other words) an idolater. Paul himself had forsaken all for Christ (Co2 6:10; Co2 11:27). Covetousness is worship of the creature instead of the Creator, the highest treason against the King of kings (Sa1 15:3; Mat 6:24; Phi 3:19; Jo1 2:15). hath--The present implies the fixedness of the exclusion, grounded on the eternal verities of that kingdom [ALFORD]. of Christ and of God--rather, as one Greek article is applied to both, "of Christ and God," implying their perfect oneness, which is consistent only with the doctrine that Christ is God (compare Th2 1:12; Ti1 5:21; Ti1 6:13).”