“To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:7-11 ESV
There is a popular teaching today which is telling people who profess faith in Jesus Christ that heaven is now guaranteed them, and that it can’t be taken away from them, but regardless of how they live. Many are even teaching that we don’t have to repent of our sin, and that we don’t have to obey the commandments of the Lord under the New Covenant, and that no works are required of us at all. But then they tell them that they can claim all of God’s promises without even looking to see if those promises apply to them.
But all of God’s promises have requirements and stipulations. Just because someone professes faith in Jesus Christ it does not mean that he or she can claim all the promises of God which are to his followers, to those who are listening to him, and to those who are walking in obedience to his commands, in practice. So, it is not true that you can continue in deliberate and habitual sin and that when you begin to feel guilty you can just “claim who you are in Christ” to alleviate the guilt. For you may not be in Christ.
And so all throughout the New Testament, especially in Romans to Revelation, we are being taught what it means to be “in Christ” and to be a follower of Christ, and to have the hope of salvation and eternal life with God. For it is not through lip service only. We must be those who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness (Romans 6:1-23).
And we are to no longer allow sin to reign (rule) in our mortal bodies to where we obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, and not obedience to our Lord, and not righteousness, we will die in our sins. We will not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. But hardly anyone is teaching that. Most appear to be giving people false promises of eternal life based in lies. And often those who do teach repentance and obedience often teach them as something we should do, but not as required for salvation.
But the Scriptures are very clear on this subject, and these warnings are not written to the ungodly of this world, but they are written to the church so that we are not deceived into thinking that how we live doesn’t matter for eternity. It does! And this is not “works salvation.” This is living out the salvation already provided for us by God, by God-given faith, in the power of God, and by the grace of God which trains us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives (Titus 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:10).
So, when Paul listed for us all these sinful practices which can land us in hell and not in heaven if we do not change course, and if we do not obey our Lord and his commands, he was letting those who profess the name of Jesus know that lip service is not enough to gain us salvation from sin and eternal life with God. We must “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).
And that is what Paul talked about here, too. For after he listed off all those sinful practices (lifestyles) he followed that with, “And such were some of you. But you were washed…” So, what did he just say about what our lives should look like if we are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ? This kind of living is to be in our past, not in our present. And if we really were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Christ, then this kind of living should now be all behind us. Now we should be living holy lives, pleasing to God in walks of obedience to his commands.
But please pay attention to what he said about those who are still living in sin, making sin their practice, and for whom obedience to God is not their practice. They will not inherit the kingdom of God. And Jesus said the same when he said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven. For many will stand before him, claiming him as Lord, professing what they did in his name, and he will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.” For they would not obey him (Matthew 7:21-23).
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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