Inherit the kingdom of God verses

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1Cor.6

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The apostle Paul taught the gospel in the city of Corinth. Many heard the word of God, and obeyed it becoming the Lord’s church in Corinth. We do not have the first epistle that Paul wrote to the church at Corinth (I Cor. 5:9), but we have the second and third which are known as First and Second Corinthians. There were a number of errors and sins within the church at Corinth which Paul addressed in those two letters. In the second letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, he made a clear statement of fact about certain ones that would not ultimately have eternal life in heaven. Paul wrote, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (I Cor. 6:9-10). There are probably few that would call themselves Christians that would argue with what the apostle said is fact. Those vile, corrupt, wicked unrighteous people will not be going to heaven! But, do we really believe that? Let’s consider it briefly.

The question that will bring about some hesitation in standing firmly on that statement of Paul’s on the part of some is the question, Just who are the unrighteous? It may be a bit like the preacher who heard various members who were guilty of the very thing the preacher had just preached on, saying “preacher, you sure laid it on those sinners”, never realizing they were part of the very group he was addressing. So who are the unrighteous?

Since Paul specified some of the unrighteous, we might as well start with some of those from that list. Paul said fornicators would not inherit the kingdom. Fornication is any illicit sexual act. Adultery is also listed. The difference between fornication and adultery is that one is specific and the other more generic, fornication being the generic one of the two. Adultery is fornication, but not all fornication is adultery. Men and women living together “as” husband and wife without actually being married are guilty of fornication. The list of specific forms of fornication would be too long to enumerate here. As just mentioned, adultery is also in Paul’s list. Since according to what Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 19:9; “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery”, all who have divorced for reasons other than fornication on the part of their spouse, and remarried are living in adultery and thus will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do take note that this applies to the woman as well as the man (Mark 10:11-12). A couple of the terms used by Paul in his list apply to homosexuality. Fornication, effeminate and abusers of themselves with mankind, all apply to homosexuality, thus homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. Needless to say, there are many who wear the name “Christian” that are guilty of these acts which Paul calls “unrighteousness”, as well as the others that Paul listed as well. Indeed, the “few there be that find it” of Matthew 7:14 may be much fewer than many think.

However, there are many, many more acts that could be called unrighteous. The apostle John stated, “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous” (I John 3:7). The psalmist tells us, “My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness” (Psalm 119:172). Keeping the commands of the Lord is righteousness, thus any disobedience to the commands of the Lord is unrighteousness. Often, the unrighteousness is not something that one has done, but something he has failed to do. In the case of the one talent man, who did absolutely nothing with that one talent, “His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed” (Matt. 25:26). This being the case, our list of unrighteousness can be an extremely long one indeed.

There is no doubt whatsoever that those unrighteousness acts that Paul listed as well as the many, many more not specified in the letter that Paul wrote, will keep one from inheriting the kingdom of God. Shocking as it may sound to some who read this, God said what He meant and He meant what He said! However, shocking as it may seem to some, many who call themselves Christians need to realize that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God! Let us not close though without pointing out Paul’s words following that list. He said, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but he are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (I Cor. 6:11). Just because we have been unrighteous, does not mean we must stay unrighteous. (Send any questions or comments to: [email protected])

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