Main Point: The Gospel can change anyone.
There once lived a man who was defeated. He thought he couldn’t change. There once lived a woman trapped in her guilty conscience. She thought she could never be made clean. There once was a guy who hated himself because of the sinful thoughts that ruled his mind. He thought he could never get free from. She thought he could never change. We think we will never change; things will always be like this. But praise God that we are wrong. You can change. Yes, you have sinned but in Christ by the Spirit you can be washed, made pure, and declared not guilty. You can change.
Let’s read about it, believe it, and experience it. 1 Cor 6:9-11.
I have bad news and I have good news.
I. The Bad News: Selfish people don’t go to heaven (9-10)
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Do not be deceived. Hell will not be a ghost town
Verse 9 tells us plainly who it is that will not spend eternity with the glorious Trinitarian God. Verse 10 tells us plainly who it is who will spend forever in the place where the worm constantly devours and the tormenting fire never goes out (Mark 9:48). Look at verse 9 with me, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” Seriously, is it not clear to you that we who continually engage in what is not of God do not belong to God?
Focus on the warning “do not be deceived” in verse 9. One of our greatest temptations is to allow someone or something to lead us off of the path of God’s truth. Maybe you know someone who is entangled in sin and you do not want to face the truth. Maybe you are entangled in sin and you want to believe that it is really okay and God is okay with it. Do not allow yourself to be deceived by your culture or your desires. The unrighteous, those who turn away from God and his ways, will not go to heaven. There will be people in hell forever and you might be with them. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Now, as we work through this list of ten sinful lifestyles I do not want us to look down our noses in self-righteous judgment. The worst thing to do is look at this list and say, “Thank you God that I’m not like that.” Instead, strive to understand the root of these sins so that you can have victory over your temptations and be used to give victory over sin to others.
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At the root of these sinful lifestyles is unhappy selfishness
In verses nine and ten we find ten terms that stand for individuals whose lives are characterized by the sin in question (Ciampa, 243). This list does not describe Christians who constantly battle the temptation to engage in these sins. This list does not describe Christians who stumble, fall into these sins, repent, and then turn from these sins. This list talks about the willful sin patterns of unbelievers; think lifestyle.
What I want to do is run through the list and explain the sin in relation to unhappy selfishness. We engage in sin precisely because we are not satisfied in Christ. We want to be happy so we sin.
Sexual immorality is the attempt to make yourself happy sexually in ways that are harmful. Sexual immorality includes any sexual activity before marriage, viewing pornography, reading sexually explicit novels like 50 Shades of Grey, seeking pleasure through imagining having sex, sexting, phone sex and the like. Any attempt to make yourself or someone else happy through sexual activity outside of the safety of a biblical marriage is sexual immorality.
Throughout the Bible sexual immorality and idolatry have been linked together. Any culture or person who trades the truth of God for a lie will be a culture who seeks to redefine sexuality for their own selfish benefit.
Idolaters are those people who seek to make themselves happy by worshipping something or someone other than the true God. Idolatry is the attempt to get what you want by going around God instead of walking with God. Idolaters do not want their desires to be changed. Idolaters want their desires met so they seek out any and every avenue of potential satisfaction.
Next comes adultery. Adultery happens when people who are unhappy with the marriage God has given try to find happiness through sexual relationships outside of marriage; godless selfishness.
Let’s jump down to verse 10 because I want to come back and give a more detailed explanation of the two words that refer to homosexuality in verse 9.
Verse 10 opens with the warning concerning robbery. Those people who seek to make themselves happy by stealing that which does not belong to them will not inherit the kingdom of God. The greedy, those people who are never satisfied with what God has given but constantly strive to make more, get more, and earn more will not inherit the kingdom of God. If you are only happy when you get something new, make that sale, or take a step up the ladder of success then you quite possibly are greedy and in a very dangerous place.
Verse 10 also warns us about revilers. Revilers or slanderers are those unhappy people who are constantly tearing down others. Slanderers seek their happiness by saying what hurts others. A reviler is someone who takes pleasure from rehearsing someone else’s failures and pointing out other’s faults.
Do you swim in sarcasm? Do you love a good cut-down? Your very soul might be in danger because you have rejected the creative up-building purposes of God for your life. Church, God is just as serious about adultery and homosexuality as he is about slander, gossip, and put-downs. Revilers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Neither will swindlers.
Swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Jesus used this word “swindlers” to describe false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Mt 7:15). So swindlers are those unhappy people who spend their energy trying to gain happiness by unlawfully taking other people’s stuff. A swindler can be a child who tricks her sibling into giving up her prized toy. A swindler can be a 50 year old who hides the full truth in order to gain more stuff. Swindlers, those people who serve themselves and feed their appetites instead of loving and serving others will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Let’s return now to those two categories of sin at the end of verse 9
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The issue of homosexuality
Our next category of sin is labeled by the Greek word malakoi. Here is where things get a bit more controversial due to our current culture. The word is translated as effeminate by the NASB and KJV. The NIV translates the word as male prostitutes. The NKJV translates the word as homosexuals. Basically the word is a reference to man who seeks to make himself happy by acting like a woman. In the context the word is a reference to the passive person in a homosexual act but the word is broad enough to include cross-dressing. It is the sin of seeking to be something you were never made to be. Men were made to act like men and women were made to act like women. When a man seeks happiness by acting like a woman it is sinful; against God’s created order (Rom 1:26-27).
The next category of sin is labeled by the Greek word arsenokoitai. It is a compound word quite possibly created by the Apostle Paul. Arseno refers to men and koitai refers to bed or sleeping. So arsenokoitai is a reference to the sin of men going to bed with other men. If malakoi refers to the passive partner then arsenokoitai refers to the active partner. Let us understand that the Old and New Testament are both very clear in their condemnation of homosexuality.
There are only two options for those who are pro-homosexual. The first attempt to validate homosexuality comes by denying the authority of Scripture. These people understand that the bible clearly condemns homosexuality but choose to reject what God says. Hear me clearly, a person cannot take the bible at face value and believe that homosexuality is not a sin. The bible is clear: homosexuality is a sin.
The other attempt to validate homosexuality comes by claiming the condemnation of homosexuality in Scripture is only cultural and no longer stands. These people argue that the condemnation of homosexuality in Scripture was simply an accommodation by the people of God to the cultural understandings of the day: The culture frowned on homosexuality so the church should too. So these people argue that times and morals change. Homosexuality is acceptable to God and should be acceptable in the church because our culture has changed and we understand that homosexuality is not bad. But this argument is wrong simply because the condemnation of homosexuality is not grounded in a particular culture or time but in creation itself (see Gen 2 and Rom 1).
It is a sad fact that in our day it is necessary that the people of God submit themselves to the authority of God’s Word written. Church this is not simply a first amendment issue; a matter of free speech. This is an issue of heaven and hell. Read 1 Corinthians 6:9 again, “Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor men who practice homosexuality…will inherit the kingdom of God.” We should fear for souls because we have a president and an entire party who have declared that one of their goals is to defend the homosexual lifestyle.[1] Our president is leading us to rebel against God.
Now, before we get too political and lose sight of the message of our passage let me bring us back to center. Any attempt to find your joy or happiness outside of God’s good plan for man is sinful. Those of us whose lives are characterized by the loving embrace of these sinful ways are in danger of being cast away from God and into hell forever.
Husband are you in a sexually immoral relationship with another woman in person, on the computer, or in your mind? If so, you are in danger of hell because you have rejected God’s purposes for your life. Are you looking for joy in a bottle, one more sell, one more thing, or one more fling? You are in danger of hell because you have rejected God’s good plan for the satisfaction of your soul in Him and in His ways. God is eternally serious. Selfish people do not inherit the kingdom of God. If you trade the truth of God for a lie you will go to hell. That is the terrible news. Now, the good news.
II. The Good News: Selfish people can be changed (11)
Maybe you have engaged in a sinful lifestyle for 5, 20, or 50 years. In the gospel there is power to truly change. Maybe you were born bent toward certain temptations. We should not be surprised when infants who are born corrupt grow up and express corrupt desires. Maybe you’ve been tempted by money, alcohol, or homosexuality since your childhood; with Christ there is sufficient power for cleansing. There were people in Corinth who proved it. In verse 11 Paul writes, and
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Such were some of you
Pause and let the truth of God’s Word sink in. You don’t have to be an idolater. You don’t have to live defeated. You don’t have to continue lying, stealing, and cheating. You can change. “Such were some of you” Paul wrote. Among the Corinthian church members were former alcoholics and homosexuals and thieves. And notice that he doesn’t call them alcoholics and homosexuals and thieves. Yes, these sins did define them in the past but when they were changed by Christ these sins no longer define them.
Christians need to think biblically about our new identities in Christ. If you have been bought and redeemed and cleansed and set apart for God in Christ then you are no longer an addict. You are a son or daughter of God. “Such were some of you,” Paul writes. You are no longer defined by those sins you have been freed from them. Now Christ defines you. Let’s celebrate what Christ has done and will continue to do in us.
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Change happens because of Jesus and by the Spirit
The big picture of verse 11 emphasizes the work of the Son and its application to us by the Spirit. You were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. When you see “name” in Scripture it is often right to think about authority. Because of who Jesus is, because of the authority of Jesus, because of what Jesus has done you have been washed, justified, and sanctified. This is mainly a reference to the cross. You can change today because of what Jesus did 2,000 years ago. Because Jesus died as an atoning sacrifice there is the possibility of forgiveness.
And it is the power of the Spirit that makes the possibility of forgiveness secured by Jesus a reality in you. Jesus accomplishes salvation for you and the Spirit applies salvation to you. Since Jesus really came and really died on the cross for those sins that you really committed there is the possibility of change. Since the Holy Spirit really exists and since he lives to apply the sin atoning work of Christ to you, you can change. Because the Spirit lives to empower you to live a holy life there is the possibility of change.
You can change because Jesus Christ came, died in your place, and rose again. You can be forgiven. You can stop engaging in that sinful lifestyle and lead a joyful God-glorifying life by the power of the Spirit. Because Christ forgives and the Spirit empowers you can change. Christian, change doesn’t happen because you want it to happen. Change happens because Christ has secured your forgiveness and because the Spirit empowers a new life.
That my friends in very good news. That is the news our friends, family, and neighbors need to hear from us and see lived out in our lives. Let’s take each blessing now in turn.
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You were washed
Hunting season is upon us. That means there will be a lot of trucks splashing through the mud getting filthy. Upon returning home those hunters will wash all that filth off of their trucks. Today because of Christ and by the Spirit you can be washed. Think now of that hidden stain smeared deep within you. You can be washed. You can be purified. In Christ by the Spirit you can experience a cleansing.
And this cleansing is done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not your apology that cleanses. It is Christ’s atoning death that cleanses. This washing is done by the Spirit of God. Deep within our souls there is a cleansing accomplished by the very Spirit of God. This washing is connected to our adoption (Ezek 16). The Spirit meets us in our filth and purifies us. He’s not waiting for you to get cleansed up; the Spirit is right now wanting to clean you up.
Here we must live by faith. We feel guilty. We see the effects of our sin all around us. Our eyes look for proof of our cleansing. Here is our proof: Christ’s empty tomb. The Christ who was delivered up for our trespasses, for our sexual immorality and greed and idolatry and homosexuality and slander, was raised for our justification (Rom 4:25). Do you want proof that you have been washed? Look at the empty tomb. Look at the right hand of the Father where Christ is seated because your cleansing has been completed. We must believe. We must listen for the Spirit. We must walk by faith. Praise God that we were guilty but we have been washed in Christ by the Spirit.
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You were sanctified
To be sanctified means to be made holy. To be sanctified means your life was spent for those selfish purposes but now you have been redeemed; set apart for God’s purposes. Aren’t you glad that God makes adulterers and revilers holy? Think about it, how is He able to take that which was so painful and disgusting and make it holy? Because Christ is greater still you are no longer an adulterer or a slanderer or an addict. That is not your identity. You have been picked up, cleaned up, and set apart for God’s purposes. You are a son of God. You are a daughter of God. How? In Christ and by the Spirit you were sanctified.
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You were justified
The homosexual is declared not guilty of homosexuality. The swindler is declared not guilty of exploitation. The alcoholic is declared not guilty of alcohol abuse. But not because what we did was really not a sin; only the product of some out dated culture’s way of thinking. You and I really sinned. We were guilty. We were filthy. But we are justified in Christ by the Spirit. Christ took our sin upon himself. The Spirit joins us to Christ. You were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified. You are not guilty. You have become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21).
III. There is bad news and there is good news.
The bad news is that your sins are far more disgusting and powerful and condemning than you will ever realize. The good news is that Christ is greater still. Will you choose to rest in what Christ has done on the cross? Your guilty conscience is speaking and the Spirit is speaking. Yes¸ you sinned. Yes, you have done great damage to those you love. Yes, your temptations are real and powerful. But Christ is greater still. As the Spirit tells you that the grace of Christ is sufficient for you will you believe him?
The application is simple: fly to Jesus. Throw your sinned stained self upon his mercy and you will find him sufficient. Devote yourself to feasting on Christ in the Word. Discipline yourself to be quiet so that you can listen to the Spirit speaking words of truth. Give yourself to your church family that we may equip you and strengthen you and bear your burdens. Give yourself to your church family that you may equip us and strengthen us and help bear our burdens.
If you have any questions about forgiveness and cleansing, if you simply want to pray, I’ll stand down front and at the door as you leave. Things can be different. In Christ and by the Spirit you can change.
By and For the gospel 