“So I’m telling you not to worry about your life, what you’ll eat or drink, and not to worry about your body, what you’ll wear. Isn’t there more to life than eating? And isn’t there more to the body than clothes?
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” John replied, “Don’t force people to give you money, don’t bring false charges against anybody, and be content with your pay.”
They stare at women who are not their wives and want to sleep with them. They never stop sinning. They trap people who aren’t firm in their faith. They’re experts in being greedy. But they’re under a curse.
You can be sure that no one who’s immoral, impure, or greedy will receive a share in the kingdom of Christ and of God, because they’re really serving a false god.
These teachers will be so greedy that they’ll make up stories to take advantage of you. But they’ve been under a sentence of death for a long time. Their destruction has not been sleeping.
There shouldn’t be even a hint of any sexual sin among you, or of anything impure or greedy, because those are not the kinds of things that God’s holy people should do.
So let me clarify in this letter what I meant: You should stay away from anyone who claims to be a believer but who commits sexual sins, or is greedy, or worships idols, or tells lies about others, or gets drunk, or cheats. Don’t even eat with people like that.
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear the message, but then, as they go on their way, are choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures, so they don’t reach full growth.
Woe to them! They’ve followed the way of Cain. Because they love money, they’ve rushed into the same mistake Balaam made. They’ve rebelled just like Korah, and they’re going to be destroyed just as he was.
They did things that shouldn’t be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, fighting, deception, and bad motives.