A List of Who Won't Be There

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.  Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NASB)

This passage or these verses are Paul's answer to why he thinks the church is seeking civil cases outside of the church.  He says they defraud each other, and his charge to this is for them to become aware, again, that this sort of thinking comes from the world, not from God.  But he puts it in very strong terms, terms that most churches in our country today would find uncomfortable.

I don't hear much today that the 'unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God.'  I attend a church where our 'slogan' is 'No perfect people allowed.'  Which is well and good, no one is perfect, I get it.  But we can't then become complacent and simply accept sin.  Here's the problem:  We're not supposed to remain as we were before we were 'saved' by God.

So, while we still make mistakes, 'mistake' isn't supposed to be our 'default setting'.  These mistakes are supposed to lead us into repentance and renewal.  The idea is that we are constantly in a state of repentance from one thing or another.  Our need for the Spirit of our Savior is constant, and His work with us is also constant.  Our minds are constantly being adjusted more and more to reflect His thought, His nature, and therefore His attitudes.

In other words, we are to display the fruit of the Spirit of God more and more as we spend time with Jesus.  So sins with which we struggle are supposed to go away.  I say this as an addict, one who has struggled with his addiction for years.  I'm never supposed to just resign myself to it, play it down, accept it, become comfortable with it, etc.  It's never 'just the way I am.'  It is always contrary to my identity before my Master.  But it seems to be a part of my 'nature'; a part that is dying (or it sure better be).

What Paul is pointing out here is that people who live such lives haven't 'confessed Jesus as Lord,' nor have they 'believed in their heart that God has raised Him from the dead.'  If they had, then they would submit to Jesus as Lord, and the power of the resurrection would be at work in them to revive them from their body of sin and death.  If that's not happening, then they are not going to inherit the Kingdom of God.  We're either in a state of submissive repentance, or we're headed for a very fiery end.

It's at this point that I have had discussions with people who then have simply given up.  "I guess I'm headed for a fiery end," they'll say.  I've said that, or at least wondered if it were true of me.  But there is something about my addiction that has been true all along, I've never been 'comfortable' with it.  What I mean by that is that my mind and heart have never seen it as acceptable.  Now, that's not 'repentance' as such, but it does mean that my mind has always had some part of it more or less with my Master.  He's always had a 'handle'.  And it's been this handle of which He has never let go.  I am free and different now, not because of my own work, but because of His.

So, the point is verse 11.  We were this way, but we were 'washed', 'sanctified', 'justified', and this in the name of Jesus and the power of His Spirit.  It's not the word 'baptism' in the Greek, but I believe it's an allusion to the practice or event.  We were washed.  We didn't 'wash ourselves' but were washed.  We didn't sanctify ourselves, we were sanctified.  We didn't justify ourselves, we were justified.  What else could be wrong?  Our condition is different, but does our behavior match that new condition?

I have been 'saved' but my struggles as an addict came after that event.  Did I lose my salvation in the midst of that struggle?  I'm not sure, but I don't think so.  I still considered Jesus as my Lord, but I found it so difficult to let go of this other 'master'.  It may be a 'mental condition' of some sort, but it's not really unassailable.  It's difficult, but not indomitable.  It can be defeated, must be defeated, and it can't form an excuse to have something which I don't submit to my Master.  I can't.  It doesn't work that way.

So, Paul's charge to the ancient church is also the charge of the Spirit of God today:  Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.  Having said that, this is also true:  Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.  The question is, will I live in the victory I've been given, or will I live in the defeat of the life I lived before?  I choose victory.