Study the Bible

with Pastor Gregory

1. The Peril of Mimicking the Unrighteousness in Practical Living
   
   
1. Paul has been addressing the issue of allowing the church to deal with immorality in the lives of the members of the church of Jesus Christ.
2. He addressed the issue of greedily attempting to get vengeance on other brothers through taking them to court and indicated that this was not consistent with the new life in Christ, but with what we were prior to coming to Christ.
3. Now that we are in Christ, we must beware lest we allow our lives to slip back into patterns that once characterized us prior to the impact of Christ Jesus and His blood.
4. Some professing Christians believe that their religious knowledge and Christian talk is all that is necessary for them to concern themselves with, that how they conduct their lives is less an issue since "we are under grace"
5. However, Paul states here "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?"
6. There is a great need to understand that those who are genuinely born again are not characterized by conduct that is devoted to "unrighteousness" - cp. 1 John 2:3-4; 3:9
   
   
2. The Prohibition of the Unrighteous from the Kingdom
   
   
1. Notice the statement "the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God"
2. Those whose lives are able to be classified as practicing "unrighteous" have no hope of gaining entrance into heaven -- cp. Revelation 21:25-27
3. Again it bears repeating, that whatever profession a person makes, it is the impact that Christ has had in one’s life that tells the real tale of the genuineness of salvation - cp. 1 John 2:3
4. When a person "practices lawlessness" as a consistent lifestyle or unrighteousness characterizes their life, they will not "inherit the kingdom of God" - cp. Matthew 7:22-23
   
   

1. The Unrighteous Morally Defile Themselves - v. 9b
   
   
1. The catalog of sin in verses 9-10 is not exhaustive, but are representative of the major types of moral sins.
2. "Do not be deceived ..." - indicates that there will be some who attempt to claim that they have a stake in the "kingdom of God" but deceive themselves in so thinking.
3. The sins listed first are those that deal in the defilement of oneself - the corruption that occurs in any consensual activity between persons that defile them. The fact that people may consensually participate does not make it any more acceptable.
4. "Neither fornicators ..." - the sin of sexual immorality in general, and to sexual activity of unmarried persons in general.
5. "... nor idolaters ..." - the sin of giving honor to any false god or false religious systems;
6. "... nor adulterers ..." - the sin of married persons who indulge in sexual acts outside the marriage partnership;
7. "... nor effeminate ..." - the word literally means "soft" and is a reference to those that allow themselves to be abused homosexually - possibly male prostitutes;
8. "... nor homosexuals ..." - the sin of exchanging and corrupting normal male-female sexual roles and relations. It is described as the ultimate defiance against the creator - cp. Romans 1:21-27
   
   
2. The Unrighteous Morally Abuse Others - v. 10
   
   
1. In addition to those sins which are typically committed with the compliance of others, there are some that are committed in abuse of unwilling victims.
2. "... nor thieves ..." - the sin that results from greed whereby one takes for oneself what belongs to others;
3. "... nor covetous ..." - the sin of attaching great importance to things and longing to have it in satisfaction to your lust;
4. "... nor drunkards ..." - the sin of yielding control of oneself to an intoxicant -- including the sin of drug addiction;
5. "... nor revilers ..." - the sin of destroying with one’s tongue or wounding with words;
6. "... nor swindlers ..." - the sin of those who steal indirectly by taking unfair advantage of others to promote their own financial gain.
7. All of these "will not inherit the kingdom of God."
   
   

1. The Dependency of Our Souls
   
   
1. "Such were some of you ..." - illustrates the hope that exists in the midst of enslavery to the above-mentioned sins.
2. All of us were at one time in bondage to sin prior to coming to Christ for salvation - cp. Romans 6:6
3. Regardless of how serious one’s sinful bondage is, regardless of how enslaved one is to their particular vice, there is power available through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
   
   
2. The Deliverance by Our Savior
   
   
1. Something had happened to the Corinthian believers that made living like they used to live a thing of the past.
2. Paul explains by stating: "but you were washed, ..." - a reference to the work of God’s Spirit whereby we are regenerated - cp. Titus 3:5
1. This indicates that new life has been given to us as we are born again - cp. 2 Corinthians 5:17
2. This is a work of God of creating a new creature who is not the same person they were before coming to Christ.
3. "... but you were sanctified, ..." - a reference to the work of God in making us holy and empowering us to live a genuinely righteous life in our practical daily living.
4. "... but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." - a reference to the new standing that we enjoy in the sight of God; clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ which is applied through the Holy Spirit.
5. This cleansing from what we were to making us pure in the righteousness of Jesus Christ comes through the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on Calvary’s Cross - cp. Ephesians 1:7
   
   

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