1 Corinthians 6:9-13

9: 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,
10: nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
11: 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.
12: All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.
13: Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

*** 

Paul addressed the spiritual consequence of sinful behavior. He started by asking, “Do you not know…” He wanted to be sure they knew that there was a consequence. When a person continues in sin, he becomes unrighteous, and an unrighteous person will not inherit the kingdom. Jesus said we are known by our fruits (Matthew 7:16, 20). What you do is evidence of who you are—whether you are righteous or not.

The forgiveness and salvation of God is not given so a person can continue in sin, but to rescue him from it. The flow of grace and mercy from God does not condone the practice of sin. It’s meant for those who long for righteousness and consistently choose to walk in it. Yes, we all slip up occasionally, and God knows the hearts. His mercy and grace are available in those cases. A righteous person recognizes, admits to, and repents of his sin, thus maintaining his righteous standing in Christ.

Paul listed specific types of people who will not inherit the kingdom. Fornicators, idolaters etc. He acknowledged that some of the Corinthians had formerly been those types of people, but they had been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and in the Spirit of God. God can and will change our hearts and cleanse us from these things when we turn to Him, but how can we inherit His kingdom if we choose to remain unrighteous?

Paul clarified that his position of freedom from the dietary restrictions that some followed, (for example not eating meat sacrificed to idols or restrictions in the Jewish Law), was not to be taken as an allowance for a person to do whatever he wanted with his body. Using the body for immoral behavior corrupts a person’s spirit which is eternal. Food and stomach will both be done away with one day, as this body is temporary, yet if we give our body over to perversion to be used for unrighteous and immoral purposes, we are yielding our spirit to corruption, which affects our eternal being and inheritance. Our body was not made for that. It belongs to the Lord.

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