"The unrighteous will not inherit heaven"

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. 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. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV

This passage is a mere statement of fact. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Only the righteous can dwell in the Kingdom of God. Recently I’ve heard this passage referred to as hate speech, because what it says makes people feel bad about who they are and what they do. It has even be said that these words should not be uttered publicly for this reason.

These words are not hate speech, quite the contrary. They are love speech. Paul loved the people at Corinth enough to remind them of something they may have forgotten. The reminder is that in Jesus their unrighteousness has been done away with. Because they had realized their unrighteousness and turned to Jesus and had their sins washed away they were now sanctified and justified and righteous in God’s sight. They now can inherit the Kingdom of God.

What Paul is saying is that you used to indulge in these behaviors, but now you don’t. He is reminding them that in order to maintain their inheritance they can no longer live as they once did. He is telling them that if they go back into these behaviors as a lifestyle, they will lose their inheritance. He’s not talking about stumbling and getting back up, he is talking about continuing in spiritually unhealthy behaviors.

God’s word, the Bible is the greatest love letter ever written. It was written by the one that created us in His own image. He wants us to have all the best. He proved it by sending Jesus to die for our sins. God hates sin, but he loves sinners.

So today, let’s help others to see that God loves them. Let’s help them to see that spiritually unhealthy behavior needs to be changed just like physically unhealthy behavior needs to changed in order for one to have the best life possible.

© 2013 leo J. Woodman

"We have no control"

Lord, I know that our lives do not belong to us.

   We have no control over what happens.

Jeremiah 10:23 ERV

I love the simple phrasing of the “easy to read version” of the Bible. It cuts right to the chase. This verse from Jeremiah really is eye opening. We in our arrogance tend to think that we are independent and self-assured, but really we aren’t our own. Our lives truly don’t belong to us, they belong to whomever we give ourselves to. Really there are only two that we give ourselves to, God or the god of this world. The only true control we exert over our lives is whom we serve. This is the one place we really do have control.

The world goes on around us and events come and go whether we are cognizant of it or not. Every day we make the choice of who will be our master. Who our lives will belong to. If we choose wisely, we serve God. But if choose foolishly, we serve satan. So either way our lives do not belong to us. We have to choose the one that we will give control of our lives over to.

Faithfully following the master we choose has its rewards. Eternal life if we follow God or eternal condemnation if we follow satan. Think about it, we only have two choices and yet we are hard pressed to choose at times. Many things color and cloud our decision making. We have a tendency to be reactive to life’s circumstances, but we need to learn to be proactive in our defense in all circumstances.

Daily we must strike preemptively against  bad choices. We must choose everyday to follow the one that offers hope and freedom, not follow the one that offers slavery and death. We must choose whom we will serve.  “But maybe you don’t want to serve the Lord. You must choose for yourselves today. Today you must decide who you will serve.  “But maybe you don’t want to serve the Lord.” “You must choose for yourselves today. Today you must decide who you will serve.” Joshua 24:15a,c ERV

Choose carefully.

© 2013 Leo J. Woodman