Don’t be Deceived Into Sin

In the Apostle’s Paul’s writing on how the Christian is to walk in love (Eph. 5:1-7), he ends with two commands in verses 6-7 in light of the consequences of the sins of verses 3-5.

First, don’t be deceived into sin (Let no man deceive you with vain words (v. 6a). Deceive is apatao, to seduce into error, to mislead. Vain, however, is the key word. The Greek is kenos, “empty.” Used literally, it refers to such things as an empty jug or empty hands. Used figuratively, as in our text, it pictures that which is without content or truth, hollow, or shallow. Whenever I see this word, philosophy always comes to mind, as Paul wrote the Colossians, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain [kenos] deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8).

No word better describes human philosophy than kenos, empty, hollow, and void of truth. The philosopher who always comes to my mind here is 19^th Century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the first to proclaim that “God is dead.” He wrote, “What could be created if there were Gods? . . . If there were Gods, how could I bear to be no God? Consequently, there are no Gods?” What empty, foolish, irrational words! And, as we noted in our study of Truth way back in 1:13, Nietzsche could not live with the implications of his philosophy and ultimately went insane. Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer well sums up Nietzsche: “I am convinced that when Nietzsche came to Switzerland and went insane, it was not because of venereal disease, though he did have that disease. Rather, it was because he understood that insanity was the only philosophic answer if the infinite-personal God does not exist” (How Shall We Then Live?, p. 180).

20^th Century philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre also comes to mind. As the “Dean of Existentialists,” he taught that existence is pointless and absurd, so that each person must authenticate himself by an act of the will. But he also taught that the will is separate from reason, so the will can authenticate itself in any direction it chooses. Therefore, as Francis Schaeffer again writes: “On the basis of his teaching, you could authenticate yourself either by helping a poor old lady along the road at night or by speeding up your auto and running her down. Reason is not involved, and nothing can show you the direction which your will should take” (p. 167).

Empty words! Ramblings from a mind devoid of Truth and a heart derailed from God. Yet innumerable people are lured into these and countless other philosophies.

Likewise, philosophy dictates behavior. With Darwin’s theory of Evolution as the foundation, the result has been everything from the gas chambers of Nazism to genetic engineering. Heinrich Himmler believed that the law of “the survival of the fittest” should rule, and genetic engineers believe that science should be used to propagate only the fittest, leaving the weak to die.

Many people are also lured into cults and religions by all kinds of empty words, such as, “belonging,” “unity,” “harmony,” “paradise,” and even “divinity.”

Tragic also is how even Christianity has been reshaped to be alluring nowadays. “Easy Believeism,” “No-Lordship Salvation,” salvation without repentance, the “God is love” philosophy, and other perversions of the Gospel make Christianity into just another feel good religion that meets your social and emotional needs.

Even more basic and practical, most people are lured into sin by the promises it makes: it will make life better, it will give pleasure, it will make you popular, and so on. But it is all empty, just hollow words that can’t deliver what they promise.

Mark it down: philosophy always looks interesting, religion always looks compelling, and sin always looks pleasing. But they all are just empty words.