1 Corinthians 6 (Pt 2)

1 Corinthians 6:9 (ESV)

[9] 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,

This verse seems like an odd transition. What does it have to do with the previous paragraph talking about not taking anyone to court? Verses 7 and 8 lead naturally into verse 9

[7] To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? [8] But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!

The Apostle writes that in having lawsuits with one another they are defrauding each other. The text concludes, “you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!” (1 Cor 6:8). Then he goes on in verse 9 to remind them that, “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9). They are acting in an unrighteous manner and the unrighteous to not inherit the kingdom. One would expect his conclusion to be, “If you continue acting like this you are in danger of missing the kingdom.” But that is not what he concludes.

The conclusion is, “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 Cor 6:11). Paul does not conclude that their unrighteous behavior threatens them with loss. Rather, he concludes with a reminder that they are no longer unrighteous. When they are acting in disunity, defrauding, taking advantage, and even taking one another to court, they are acting in a manner inconsistent with their identity.

The gospel is never about being good enough for God to accept us. It is about being washed clean by faith in Christ. Neither is the Christian life about being good enough to retain or maintain our relationship with God. Rather, our motivation to holiness is our identity with Christ.

When temptations come, when the flesh demands satisfaction, when we find ourselves drawn back to those old sins we need to remember who we are, not who we were. We are not defined by our passions. Neither are we identified by our past behavior. We need to learn our new identity in Christ and rest in that. We need to learn to say, “I am not longer unrighteous, I am not longer sexually immoral, I am no longer an idolater nor an adulterer, nor someone who practices homosexuality. I am not longer a thief, nor greedy, nor a drunkard, nor a reviler, nor a swindler. That is my past identity, but it is no longer who I am. Neither my past nor my passions define me. I am washed, I am sanctified, I am justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. That is who I am” (see 1 Cor 6:9-11).

Because my past no longer defines me, I no longer ought or need to live that way. Identity is the motivation to holiness in the life of the believer. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ then you are defined no longer by your past or your passions. You are defined by Christ himself. That is Good News.