"THE
UNRIGHTEOUS
SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD"
1 Corinthians 6:9
Most people think that
Christianity is no more than an outward service to God, the belief of a certain
creed, the performance of certain rituals, ceremonies and duties. They look upon
God as a great Being who is (perhaps) to be feared, and One whose wrath, by
some means, must be propitiated, but not One who is to be loved and obeyed.
This was a major problem in
the Church at Corinth. One member of the church was openly living in an
incestuous relationship with his father's wife. Some were going before the
courts, before pagan, unbelieving civil magistrates, to settle petty disputes over
money and property.
The men and women at Corinth
who professed to be believers in Christ, children of God and heirs of eternal
life, were commonly found in association with ungodly, unbelieving people, who
hated God and the gospel of his grace in Christ. Some of them even made the
observance of the Lord's Supper an occasion for drunkenness and frivolity!
Charles Hodge wrote, "It is evident that among the members of the Corinthian
church, there were some who retained their pagan notion of religion, and who
professed Christianity as a system of doctrine and form of worship, but not as
a rule of life."
Paul plainly warns all such
religious professors of their fatal mistake. He assures us that no immoral man
or woman, none who willingly follow a life of sin, can be saved. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the kingdom of God?" Those who say, (by the way they
live), "Let us sin that grace may
abound", are lost.
This is the essence of
Paul's doctrine in 1 Corinthians 6: That person, that man or woman, whose
religion, whose profession of faith in Christ, does not involve real
conversion, a real turning of heart and life to the living God, is lost. It
does not matter how sound, how thoroughly orthodox, your creed is, if you are
without repentance you are not regenerate, if you are not converted you do not
know Christ. "If any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are past away; behold, all things are
become new.”
You cannot earn salvation by
doing that which is righteous. But you are not saved unless you are taught of
God to "live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world.” God’s people are godly people. Saints are
sanctified men and women. There are no exceptions. The grace of God that brings
salvation makes a difference in the hearts, minds, and lives of those who
experience it. Salvation is not walking an aisle, kneeing at a mourner’s bench,
or saying a prayer. To be saved is to be born again, born of God, translated
into the kingdom of God, and transformed into the image of God’s dear Son.
Grace Baptist Church of Danville - Grace For
Today Radio Message #780
2734 Old Stanford Road -
Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438
Donald S.
Fortner, Pastor -Telephone 606-236-8235 - Email grace@mis.net