Good News

August 13, 2012

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters not adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Interpretation: I myself am guilty of a lot of these things; Sexual immorality, idolatry, thievery, greediness, drunkenness, swindling. And along with these, a whole other list of things I have done or failed to do sits written in the annals of the books of heaven, waiting for judgment. Or at least, they were until Jesus washed them all away, and replaced my mistakes and failures with his perfect life’s righteous atonement. So here’s the punch line- If the “wicked,” along with all others on this list, will not inherit the kingdom of God…we must realize that no one is going to be inheriting the kingdom of God!! 1 John 1:8-9 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Now who do we go off confessing to? Our friends whom we have wronged? Someone we trust? A priest in a confessional? Hebrews 2:17- “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” Matthew 27:51- “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.” Jesus’ death on the cross tore the veil to the Holy of Holies that only a priest could enter once a year. We now no longer live under religion and the constraints of the law but through relationship and the submission to the Spirit. The word “confess” in the Bible does not mean simply to come clean, but “to agree with.” God knows that we are each sinners! That is why, in his great love and mercy, he sent himself as Jesus to pay the debt we could never fulfill, and to bring us back into peace and right standing with him by the blood of his Son. In v. 11 of this chapter Paul goes on to write, “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.” It is so important in the times we live in to see that “homosexuality” is written included on this list of other sins! It is so important to understand that God does not single it out! That may not be a sin that I personally struggle with but I have already named the ones that have affected me in my life! It is ALL the same to the Lord, and he loves everyone equally and his death is sufficient for everybody. We will never be able to stand before our Holy God based on our own merit for (Romans 3:23-24), “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came through Christ Jesus.” An unloving God wouldn’t allow for redemption. An unloving God wouldn’t give second chances, third, forth, and fifth. An unloving God is not who I serve. I serve the God of all love, and of all grace and power. We are justified through our faith in Jesus Christ, and when that faith is sprung alive and goes to work in our hearts, that is when our lives begin.

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