Ephesians 4:19
They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The phrase "given themselves up to sensuality" is a powerful, deliberate act. It's not something that just happens to people; they actively surrender their will, becoming so hardened they lose their ability to feel guilt or shame, essentially turning sin into an occupation.
Paul is describing the hardened state of those who have rejected God, showing how their minds are darkened and their hearts are estranged from spiritual life. He explains that this alienation leads to a profound lack of moral sensitivity and a willing surrender to depravity, making sin a deliberate pursuit rather than an occasional failing. This passage builds on the previous verses that contrast the renewed life in Christ with the futile existence of unbelievers.
Ever feel like some people just don't react to things they should? This verse describes a deep-seated moral indifference that can settle in.
Paul uses a striking image here: 'past feeling.' Think of it like a nerve that's been so repeatedly injured or exposed that it no longer registers pain.
The Numbness Described:
When the heart grows numb, what fills the void? This verse reveals a dangerous hunger that drives destructive behavior.
The verse doesn't stop at indifference. It describes a consequence: a relentless pursuit of 'uncleanness' driven by an insatiable desire.
The Nature of the Greed:
Understand the original words
aselgeia · Greek Noun
Unrestrained indulgence of bodily passions, often involving sexual immorality or a total lack of moral self-control. It is the lifestyle of those who follow their own sinful desires rather than God's law.
akatharsia · Greek Noun
A state of moral uncleanness or ethical filthiness, particularly associated with immorality and that which is offensive to God's holiness. It represents the corrupted character of the fallen world.
This passage describes God giving people over to impurity because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, mirroring the voluntary surrender to sensuality described in Ephesians 4:19.
Colossians 3:5This verse directly parallels Ephesians 4:19 by listing 'sexual immorality, impurity, and greed' as sins that Christians must put to death, highlighting the pervasive nature of these vices.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5Paul here defines God's will as the sanctification of believers, specifically warning against sexual immorality and greed, which are the very sins described as being practiced with callousness in Ephesians 4:19.
Jeremiah 6:15The prophet laments that the people 'have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush,' which captures the 'past feeling' or callousness that Paul describes in Ephesians 4:19.
barnesEphesians 4:19: "Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness."
Who being past feeling - Wholly hardened in sin. There is a total want of all emotion on moral subjects. This is an accurate description of the state of a sinner. He has no "feeling," no emotion. He often gives an intellectual assent to the truth, But it is without emotion of any kind. The heart is insensible as the hard rock. Have given themselves over - They have d…
pulpitEphesians 4:19: "Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness."
Verse 19. - Who being past feeling. Without sense of shame, without conscience, without fear of God or regard for man, without any perception of the dignity of human nature, the glory of the Divine image, or the degradation of sin. Have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness (fourth point of difference). This is the climax - heathenism in its…
The phrase "given themselves up to sensuality" is a powerful, deliberate act. It's not something that just happens to people; they actively surrender their will, becoming so hardened they lose their ability to feel guilt or shame, essentially turning sin into an occupation.
Paul is describing the hardened state of those who have rejected God, showing how their minds are darkened and their hearts are estranged from spiritual life. He explains that this alienation leads to a profound lack of moral sensitivity and a willing surrender to depravity, making sin a deliberate pursuit rather than an occasional failing. This passage builds on the previous verses that contrast the renewed life in Christ with the futile existence of unbelievers.
Paul is describing the hardened state of those who have rejected God, showing how their minds are darkened and their hearts are estranged from spiritual life. He explains that this alienation leads to a profound lack of moral sensitivity and a willing surrender to depravity, making sin a deliberate pursuit rather than an occasional failing. This passage builds on the previous verses that contrast the renewed life in Christ with the futile existence of unbelievers.
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"They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity." — The phrase "given themselves up to sensuality" is a powerful, deliberate act. It's not something that just happens to people; they actively surrender their will, becoming so hardened they lose thei…
