|
|
Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
June 25
Click on verses for Full Scripture
|
previous - - - - - - - - - -
next
|
Today's Pathway:
|
I Corinthians 6:9-11
- 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.
- And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
|
|
|
Yesterday we began looking at this section. Paul is explaining to the Corinthians that a habitual lifestyle of sinful behavior might indicate that the person doing such things has never been born again. In addition, since these are the sins that unsaved people commit, a Christian certainly should abstain from them. We have already mentioned the sexual sins listed in verse 9. Paul puts idolatry in the middle of those sins. Idolatry could be defined as the worship of something created which is in direct opposition to the worship of the Creator Himself. Ultimately it is putting something else in the place of God. William Barclay made this observation about idolatry:
"Idolatry is a grim example of what happens when we try to make religion easier. An idol did not begin by being a god; it began by being a symbol of a god; its function was to make the worship of the god easier by providing some object in which his presence was localized. But very soon men began to worship not the god behind the idol, but the idol itself."
Verse 10 lists five more sins that are indicative of a man's unregenerate condition. I think we all understand what these terms mean. Thieves, drunks, those who were greedy of the things that belonged to others, people who abused others with their speech, and swindlers fall into this category. Once again, we need to emphasize that Paul is NOT saying that anybody who has ever committed one of these sins will be denied entrance to Heaven. However, a true Christian will be convicted about his sin, and will respond to that conviction, though he may fall and need to repent again in the future. Proverbs 24:16 puts it this way:
"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again."
But the Bible gives no support for the idea that a person who perpetually and unrepentantly engages in sin is truly born again.
I believe that verse 11 gives great encouragement both to the unsaved and the believer. Paul writes,
"And such were some of you".
There is no sin that is so great that it can not be forgiven. For example, there are some evangelical preachers today who are teaching that homosexuals can not be saved. They base this on a complete misinterpretation of Romans 1. However, Paul indicates in verse 11 that there were people in the Corinthian church who had been involved in every type of sin listed in verses 9-10 who were now saved. We should never give up on trying to evangelize someone because of the immensity of their sin. It took the shed blood of Christ to save us, and it takes exactly the same sacrifice to save them, so if we were able to be saved, they are able to be saved. The Corinthians believers also had their lives changed. They were thieves, but not any more. They were immoral, but that had changed. Praise God that when He saves us we don't have to be the same people that we were before! As believers we can rejoice in the fact that our sins have been washed away, we have been set apart unto Christ, and we have been declared not guilty before God. What a blessing this is! No matter what we did in the past, God has forgiven us and made us His children. And, because God has done all these things for us, we CAN have victory over sin. We are not slaves to our past lives, for we are new creatures in Christ. We do not have to be distressed over our past sins, for they have been forgiven and cleansed. We do not need to fear that we will be declared "guilty" when we stand before the Lord. And God has placed us in a position where we can serve Him and accomplish His will.
It certainly is a great blessing to be saved, isn't it?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|
You Are Here: 
