Paul
the apostle asked the Corinthian church members, “Know
you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?”
He also told them, “Be not deceived:
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,
nor abusers of themselves with mankind”
would “inherit the kingdom of God”.
In chapter six and verse ten of First
Corinthians, Paul added to his list of those who “shall
not inherit the kingdom of God” including,
“thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers and
extortioners”
where we read:
Nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor
extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
The
verse begins, “Nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,...”
Paul began
with the words, “nor thieves” which
means “not embezzlers, pilferers or false teachers who do not care
to instruct men but abuse their confidence for their own gain” “nor
covetous”,
which refers to “not ones eager to have more, especially what
belongs to others who are greedy of gain” “nor
drunkards”
which is the Greek word “methysos”
and
means “not intoxicated people” “nor
revilers”
or “not abusive railers”. Paul included “embezzlers” and
“greedy, intoxicated and railing” people in his list.
The
verse goes on to say, “... nor
extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
Paul
continued with the words, “nor
extortioners” which
means “not rapacious, ravenous or robbers”, “shall
inherit” or
“will not receive a lot, be an heir, become partaker of and
obtain”“the kingdom”
or “the royal power, kingship, dominion, rule and authority” “of
God” which
refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God
the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”. Paul concluded
that “robbers” along with those in who are “ embezzlers” and
“greedy, intoxicated and railing” will not gain “be partakers
and obtain” God's kingdom.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we note the warning he gives to
“wicked” acting people. Though his list of “sins” is
horrible, they are not unredeemable because Jesus Christ came to die
for all “sin” against God. Those who continue in “theft,
greed, intoxication, railing and robbing” may be assured, they
shall never “inherit” God's kingdom, and the wisest choice
is to turn to Jesus Christ, repent of those evil ways, and yield
themselves to His Lordship. Those who do shall be saved, and those
who do not, shall never know the “inheritance of the kingdom of
God”.
Next
time Paul tells the church members, “such
were some of you: but you are washed” and
“sanctified”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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