Live Carefully

  

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

LIVE CAREFULLY

1 Cor 6:9-11

9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. 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.

NIV

Once again, these are some really harsh words. Is Paul intimating these various behaviors were going on within the Corinthian church? We would think he was comparing believers and the culture they lived in. However, we are bothered by the fact that he tells them not to be deceived, which could indicate they were taking on some of those behaviors of the world. It is quite a list which in which he first enumerates various forms of sexual immorality. Hence, it is clear that adultery or male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders will inherit the kingdom of God. It is interesting he includes idolaters, drunkards, and greed as well as slanders and swindlers as unrighteous acts, or behaviors. We do not have a problem understanding any of these sexual behaviors are not acceptable for a believer and if anything like that does exist, repentance is the only way to the kingdom. We also would not think that any believer would be a thief, however, idolatry might sneak into the church without us being aware. This is participating in pagan festivals which might seem innocent enough, but are they? We are not sure what the pagan festivals that occurred during the time of Paul were, although some of those sexually immoral acts were practiced in worship of their false gods, or idols. Nevertheless, we should be careful not to be deceived by pagan festivals or holidays that are not Christ-centered. It is interesting that even Christmas began with pagan roots and Roman roots, but was adopted or transformed into Christianity somewhere around 350AD. We might want to investigate many of the world’s holidays, or practices relating to holidays, to see if they are appropriate for believers We also need to be careful not to make something or someone of this world into our idols. This could be seen, innocently enough, in sports teams, sports stars, entertainers, hobbies, casual time activities, or some other attitude or behavior. We should not think we need to completely avoid such things, but merely be aware of not becoming consumed by them. Greed is another one of those gray areas within the church. Is greed related only to the love of money? The Greek word translated here as greed means being eager to have more, or greed for gain. This could affect many areas of life, but it seems it boils down to always wanting more, and that usually requires having more money. The point to all this is that if these attitudes and behaviors were present in that time, they could still be hanging around in our time and we need to be diligent, although not legalistic, about not being deceived in any way of the danger and the corruption they cause within us. Although it is true that we are in Christ and he is in us, and that it gives us our right standing before God, we still need to be careful not to be fooled into thinking any of these behaviors are correct in any way. Let us always put Jesus first and foremost in our thinking and then we will ensure we are not either deceived or ensnared. Because we do love the Lord and want to serve him and him alone, and because we were washed in his blood, sanctified, or made holy by God, and we are justified, declared righteous in the sight of God, all done by God on our behalf, we will inherit the kingdom of God, nevertheless, we need to live carefully.