“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.”
(1 Corinthians 6:9-10 KJV)
There are some who use this verse and say it is talking about believers in Christ and those that are redeemed by the atonement of our sin through Christ on the cross. That if you became saved through faith in Jesus and still commit sin that you are not saved and will not end up in heaven. But is this really the truth?
It is interesting that the people professing this leave out the very next verse is,
“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.” (1 Corinthians 6:11 KJV)
So you see the focus of this Scripture is talking about the unredeemed of Christ. Unbelievers. Those who basically not only sin but those that enjoy it and profess it openly. It is speaking about those who willingly refuse to accept Jesus as their justification and salvation through faith.
“And such were some of you”
Isn’t that a key pivotal point to this Scripture? Yes indeed! WE ALL HAVE SINNED! We all have such evil thoughts and intentions. Just a quick read of the Ten Commandments should be a mirror into your sinfulness. Jesus said that even looking at a woman in lust, we have broken a commandment. Not the act of having sex with her.. just lust looking at her. That goes for basically ever type of sin then. It is our sinful nature that is the object and why we need salvation through Christ.
Yes, we all have varying degrees of sin, some greater than others. But it is the sin nature within and even one sin is enough to disqualify a person from heaven. That is, outside of accepting the pardon for our sin through Jesus Christ’s act of atonement, whereby He became our sinful selves and took upon Himself the punishment for the sins of the world, we are lost and pat of the group the Bible calls the UNREDEEMED.
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Psalm 53-1-3 KJV)
This is the state of every human being born from the age of accountability UNTIL a person accepts the atonement of Jesus Christ, the ONLY way back to a right relationship with God.
John tells us like this,
“He that BELIEVETH ON HIM is not condemned: but he that BELIEVETH NOT is condemned already, because he hath NOT BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18 KJV)
Jesus said it as clearly as possible when He said,
“…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, BUT BY ME.” (John 14:6 KJV)
Do we sin after accepting Christ? Is it possible to never sin again from that point on? If you sin after salvation, are you no longer saved?
John tells us very clearly and simply,
” If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10 KJV)
So do not listen to anyone that tells you, you have to be perfectly sinless after salvation to keep your salvation. No, that is totally incorrect.
Should we avoid sinning? Yes! However, know that Salvation is the work of God. It is not something we can EARN by good works. Look at these Scriptures on this topic and that is VERY evident!
“For by grace you have been saved THROUGH FAITH, and that NOT of yourselves; it is the GIFT of God, NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8 KJV)
“Now to the one who works, his wage is NOT reckoned on the basis of grace, but as WHAT IS DUE. But to the one who DOES NOT WORK, BUT BELIEVES IN HIM (Jesus) WHO JUSTIFIES the ungodly, his faith is reckoned AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Romans 4:4-5 KJV)
“So they asked Him, `What can we do in order to do what God wants us to do ? Jesus answered, `What God wants you to do is to BELIEVE in the one He sent.” (John 6:28-29 KJV)
Even Paul, the writer of 2/3 of the New Testament, the once Christian persecutor, who accepted Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul, the person that gave us the road map of salvation through faith and not works. Paul, who rebuked even Peter for allowing works into the salvation equation. Paul, Known as one of the greatest of the Apostles. What does the Apostle Paul have to say about this?
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:15 KJV)
Notice Paul did not say “of whom I ONCE was chief”. NO! “of whom I AM CHIEF”.
We are not to boast about how good we are as believers. We are not to look down upon the unredeemed as if you did something to be saved and you are better than they are as a person. NO! NO! NO!
The redeemed are SINNERS with a savior, Jesus the Christ. We were REDEEMED at a great cost to God! Jesus died for us, as us. He became our sins and took upon Himself the sins of the world and paid the price for our sins. Just as in court a debtor must pay his debts, we as sinners must pay our debt of sin which is eternal death in hell. But thanks be to our God that He sent His only Son, Jesus The Christ to pay our debt HIMSELF to redeem us. The sinless God-man, the perfect Sacrafice, Jesus, paid that debt on the cross. And whosoever believes this, receives a full pardon and now that the debt has been fully paid, we cannot be convicted of that debt ever again!
That is why Jesus cried out with a loud voice on the cross, “It is finished!” which in the Greek literally means PAID IN FULL.
Remember context when reading Scriptures. We are here discussing 1 Corinthians 6. But go to 2 Corinthians 5 and see that is reads,
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, NOT IMPUTING THEIR TRESPASSES UNTO THEM; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
Am I Saying To Keep On Sinning? God forbid!
Absolutely not! As the Holy Spirit guides you into the truth, after your salvation, and as the Holy Spirit sanctifies you and renews your mind through the word of God, your world view will start changing. Your belief will change. Your very heart will change.
Good works will follow (but they are not what saves you… keep a humble attitude). Yes, try not to sin. But when you do fall into a sin or a sinful practice, the Holy Spirit will, not in conviction, show you your sinful way and help you correct it. Turn to God and ask for help and forgiveness. Boast to God about your weaknesses and boast in Christ instead.
“If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:10 KJV)
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:1-3 KJV)
“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU; GO AND SIN NO MORE.” (John 8:1-11 KJV)
Our attitude as believers is to “Go and sin no more.” KNOWING that Christ no longer condemns you – you have been purchased and redeemed. Not that we will not still sin. It is an ongoing struggle to do what is right out of an attitude of gratitude for what Christ went through to redeem us with His blood.
Now, “go and sin no more” knowing that when we fail and sin, Christ is right there ready to catch us and help us overcome our failures. Look to Jesus for everything. He is EVERYTHING!
