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 men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.…1 COR 6:8-10
The Corinthians are warned against many great evils, of which they had
formerly been guilty. There is much force in these inquiries, when we
consider that they were addressed to a people puffed up with a fancy of
their being above others in wisdom and knowledge.
All unrighteousness is
sin; all reigning sin, nay, every actual sin, committed with design,
and not repented of, shuts out of the kingdom of heaven. Be not
deceived. Men are very much inclined to flatter themselves that they may
live in sin, yet die in Christ, and go to heaven. But we cannot hope to
sow to the flesh, and reap everlasting life.
They are reminded what a
change the gospel and grace of God had made in them. The blood of
Christ, and the washing of regeneration, can take away all guilt. Our
justification is owing to the suffering and merit of Christ; our
sanctification to the working of the Holy Spirit; but both go together.
All who are made righteous in the sight of God, are made holy by the
grace of God. MH
We
realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless
and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane,
for killers of father or mother, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.…1 Timothy 1:9-11.
Whatever tends to weaken love to God, or love to the brethren, tends to
defeat the end of the commandment. The design of the gospel is answered,
when sinners, through repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ,
are brought to exercise Christian love. And as believers were righteous
persons in God's appointed way, the law was not against them.
But
unless we are made righteous by faith in Christ, really repenting and
forsaking sin, we are yet under the curse of the law, even according to
the gospel of the blessed God, and are unfit to share the holy happiness
of heaven. MH
The Truth will Set You Free
ReplyDeleteA slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham’s descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My Word has no place within you.…~ John 8:35-37.
Christ spoke of spiritual liberty; but carnal hearts feel no other grievances than those that molest the body, and distress their worldly affairs. Talk to them of their liberty and property, tell them of waste committed upon their lands, or damage done to their houses, and they understand you very well; but speak of the bondage of sin, captivity to Satan, and liberty by Christ; tell of wrong done to their precious souls, and the hazard of their eternal welfare, then you bring strange things to their ears. Jesus plainly reminded them, that the man who practiced any sin, was, in fact, a slave to that sin, which was the case with most of them. Christ in the gospel offers us freedom, he has power to do this, and those whom Christ makes free are really so. But often we see persons disputing about liberty of every kind, while they are slaves to some sinful lust.
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