Lessons #173 and 174
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Settlement of disputes among believers (1 Cor 6:1-11)
... 9Do 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 male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And 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.
In our last study, we started to consider the question of what it means to inherit the kingdom of God. We considered the key words used in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 6:9 inherit the kingdom of God. We also stated that there are two facts we need to consider before we answer the question. We have given fact one, which is that the kingdom of God is a rule in which there is a great blessing. So, we proceed with the second.
Fact two, the kingdom or rule of God has certain identifiable characteristics. We will mention two of these. First, the kingdom of God is characterized by power. It is because the kingdom of God involves demonstration of power that Jesus during His earthly ministry granted His disciples the power to heal and to drive out demons to indicate that the kingdom that they preached is characterized by power, as we read in Matthew 10:5-8:
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
The power granted the disciples to heal and to drive out demons is so that those who hear them preach that the kingdom of God was near would accept it because it is a kingdom that involved power as evident by the miraculous things they did. Second, the kingdom of God is characterized by righteousness. There is a sense in which the kingdom of God is to be equated with righteousness if we understand that righteousness means “the act of doing what God requires.” If we understand righteousness this way, then it is easier to see that the rule of God is the same as doing what He requires. This connection between the kingdom of God and righteousness is evident from the teaching of our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount, as we read in Matthew 6:33:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
It might appear that the Lord commands the believer to seek two things “kingdom” and “righteousness,” but that is not really the case. You see, the conjunction “and” should best be understood as providing an explanation because the Greek conjunction (kai) that is translated “and” could also be translated “that is,” when it is used for explanation. Here the word “and” is used to explain what the kingdom of God in view means. In effect, the expression seek first his kingdom and his righteousness could be translated as seek first his kingdom, that is, his righteousness. In this way, it becomes clearer that God’s righteousness is synonymous with His kingdom. It is not difficult to see this connection if we remember that God’s kingdom is His rule. The way we can demonstrate that we are under God’s rule is if we do the things He requires, which we have already indicated is the meaning of “righteousness.” The point is that God’s kingdom is a rule that is characterized by righteousness in the sense of doing what He demands. Think about it and you would agree with me that there is no way to claim to be under the rule of someone and ignore what that ruler demands. Therefore, the kingdom of God should be understood in terms of His righteousness as we have explained. In any event, the kingdom of God, although presented in the Scripture in complex manner that involves the present and future with certain characteristics such as power and righteousness but here it simply means God’s rule in people’s lives.
We have considered what the kingdom of God means so we can now interpret what the apostle meant in his rhetorical question of 1 Corinthians 6:9 that should be understood as a statement that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God. The apostle meant that unbelievers do not obtain or cannot experience the rule of God and so will not enjoy the blessings of the rule of God. Put in another way, the apostle means that unbelievers will not receive eternal salvation. This should further be understood that unbelievers do not now have eternal life, nor do they have the present blessings associated with eternal salvation and so will eternally be separated from God. It should not surprise you that we indicated that inheriting the kingdom of God is another way of describing eternal salvation that unbelievers will not have since the word “inherit” is also used to describe salvation of the elect in Hebrews 1:14:
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
To inherit salvation is to receive salvation that God gives freely to those who believe in Christ. Thus, Apostle Paul indicates that the unbelievers will not receive eternal salvation since they have not come under God’s rule that is possible only through faith in Christ.
Anyway, the language of the apostle in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 6:9 the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God because of the negative word “not” he used in the Greek indicates that what he states is an absolute truth. Unbelievers are those that absolutely have no relationship with God as indicated by the fact that they are not under His rule, implying that they are cut off from all the benefits of being under God’s rule that include forgiveness of sins, peace, and joy. Forgiveness of sins, peace, and joy are present realities or possessions of those who are under the rule of God but are absent in those not under the rule of God at the present time. This truth the apostle must have conveyed to the Corinthians to warrant asking them the question that requires them to answer “yes, they understand what the apostle states.” This should not be surprising since it is similar to the teaching of the apostle to the Ephesians, as stated in Ephesians 5:5:
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
The apostle not only states that unbelievers would not share the blessings of the rule of God in the future that includes eternal life, he went a step further to exhort believers not to imitate the conduct of those that would not enjoy the blessings of the rule of God, that is, unbelievers. The exhortation is given in the prohibition of 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do not be deceived. The word “deceived” is translated from a Greek verb (planaō) with three possible meanings. It means to move about, without proper direction or definite destination or particular purpose and so means “to wander about, to go astray.” It is in this sense that it is used to describe the life of some of the heroes of faith in Heb 11: 38:
the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
Another meaning of the Greek verb is to cause someone to hold a wrong view and thus be mistaken, hence “to mislead, to deceive.” It is in this sense that the word is used to describe the conduct of people in the last days in 2 Tim 3:13:
while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Still another meaning of this word is to go astray from the truth, that is, to no longer believe what is true, but to start believing what is false, thus means, “to stray from the truth, to wander from the truth, to go astray from.” It is in this sense that the word is used in James 5:19:
My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:9, it is used in the sense of “to be misled,” that is, to be deceived by another. The standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG) gives the meaning “to be mistaken in one’s judgment,” that is, “to deceive oneself.” Thus, the apostle exhorts about deceiving oneself regarding the rule of God and its associated blessings.
We contend that what the apostle was doing in the expression of 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do not be deceived is exhorting believers not to conduct themselves as those who would not inherit the kingdom of God, that is, those who will not come under the rule of God as to enjoy the blessings of His rule that includes receiving of eternal life. Why is the apostle’s instruction an exhortation? First, the Greek form used in the instruction is one that is used to prohibit continuing an action and so has the sense of exhortation. The Greek form translated Do not be deceived is one the apostle used two other times in his epistles where the context suggests what the deception is about. He used it after he had indicated that some of Corinthians were having faulty understanding of bodily resurrection so that some of them were thinking that it does not matter what they do with their bodies such as eating and drinking and so the apostle issued a prohibition that implies an exhortation to avoid company of those who have wrong view of resurrection since they would affect their conduct, as implied in 1 Corinthians 15:33:
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
The other time the apostle used the same form of instruction is with the Galatians who apparently were being deceived about what it means to be spiritual and about the support of those who teach them the word of God. As the apostle mentioned the fact that those who are taught the word should share what they have with their teachers, the apostle applies a spiritual law of sowing and reaping that should help the Galatians to correct their misunderstanding of both matters and so we read in Galatians 6:7:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:9, the apostle used it to exhort those who have a distorted view of sexual immorality. We say this because the apostle had already rebuked some of the Corinthians for their attitude towards the sexually immoral believer among them in 1 Corinthians 5:2:
And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
Hence, the apostle’s exhortation is for the Corinthians to stop deceiving themselves by having a distorted view of sexual immorality. Second, we believe the apostle was exhorting the Corinthians to be careful not to behave as those who would not inherit the kingdom of God because he makes a contrast between them and unbelievers who are guilty of the sins he mentioned as he clearly stated in 1 Corinthians 6:11 in the clause that is what some of you were. Third, the sins the apostle listed in verses 9 and 10 are those he indicated characterized unbelievers in 1 Corinthians 5:10 hence his instruction for believers not to fellowship with a believer whose lifestyle reflects that of unbelievers, as we read in 1 Corinthians 5:11:
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
Fourth, the use of the verbal phrase will not inherit the kingdom of God both in verses 9 and 10 of 1 Corinthians 6 indicates the apostle was thinking of unbelievers as those believers should not imitate their conduct. We will elaborate on this reason in verse 10. Fifth, it makes sense that because the apostle exhorts the Corinthians not to conduct themselves like unbelievers that he would continue to describe further some of the conduct of unbelievers. Therefore, he went on to describe those who would not come under the rule of God and so receive the blessing of eternal life or as in the words of our English versions, inherit the kingdom of God, because they are unbelievers, using the word Neither in 1 Corinthians 6:9 to introduce related sinful individuals that are unbelievers.
Those the apostle mentioned are primarily individuals guilty of sexual sin. This is in keeping with the fact that he was still dealing with sextual sin introduced in the previous chapter. The first description is given in the phrase the sexually immoral. This phrase is translated from a Greek word (pornos) that originally means a male prostitute, but, in the NT, means “sexually immoral person,” that is, a person that practices sexual immorality. The Greeks were quite tolerant of free sexual relationships. For example, a married man was permitted extra-marital intercourse as he pleased so long as he did not violate a civil marriage. By double standard, a wife was forbidden from all extra-marital intercourse. Sexual relationship between unmarried young men and prostitutes was permitted but in the ambivalent morality, it was considered scandalous to visit a brothel. The Greeks’ attitude towards sex certainly explains the prevalence of sexual immorality among the Corinthians similar to the one we have in this country today. That aside, the Greek word we are considering appears ten times in the Greek NT; twice, the translators of the NIV translated it with the word “immoral” and seven times they translated it “sexually immoral” as, for example, in 1 Corinthians 5:9 but once they translated it with the meaning “adulterers” in 1 Timothy 1:10:
for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.
The standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG) suggests the meaning “fornicator” since fornication refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two persons who are not married to each other. Anyway, the Greek word describes an individual that gets involved in sex outside of marriage.
A second description of those who would not experience the rule of God and its related blessing of eternal life because they are unbelievers is given with the phrase nor idolaters. The word “idolaters” is translated from a Greek word (eidōlolatrēs) that means “image-worshipper, idolater” as the word is used to describe unbelievers in Revelation 21:8:
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
In the time of this epistle, it was not difficult to recognize an idolater because such a person would be one that goes to any of the many pagan temples in Corinth. Of course, if you live in such countries as India or China or some African countries it would not be difficult to identify an idolater because such individuals are involved in idol worship in that they go to the various places where idols are worshipped. However, it is more difficult today in our society to recognize an idolater. Therefore, for practical purposes, it is better to take every unbeliever as an idolater since unbelievers are generally those who are devoted to the things of this world and so have no regard for God. Believers can become idolater when they put anything above commitment to God.
The third description of those who would not enjoy the rule of God because they are unbelievers is given in the phrase nor adulterers. The word “adulterer” is translated from a Greek word (moichos) that literally describes a person who is sexually unfaithful to a spouse, hence “adulterer” as in Hebrews 13:4:
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
But the word can be used figuratively to describe someone that is unfaithful to God, as that is the sense that it is used in James 4:4:
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
It is in the literal sense of one who is sexually unfaithful to a spouse or who commits fornication that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:9.
The fourth and fifth descriptions of those who would not enjoy the rule of God and its associated blessing of eternal life because they are unbelievers are related so we treat both together as given in the phrase nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders. The expression “male prostitutes” is translated from a Greek word (malakos) that means “soft” to the touch as used of clothes in Jesus’ question regarding the clothing of John the Baptist in Matthew 11:8:
If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.
The phrase fine clothes is literally soft clothing. The word may pertain to being passive in a same-sex relationship hence means “effeminate.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:9, it probably means “effeminate homosexual,” that is, a male who is the passive partner in a homosexual relationship and often more feminine looking. The NRSV and NIV used the meaning “male prostitute” which, according to the standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG), is too narrow rendering. The lexicon also indicates that the rendering “sexual pervert” of the REB is too broad. Hence, it seems that the more appropriate translation is using the phrase “effeminate homosexual.” The expression “homosexual offenders” is translated from a Greek word (arsenokoitēs) that means a male who engages in sexual intercourse with a person of his own sex. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:9, it refers to the male that assumes the dominant role in homosexual activity in contrast to the male that assumes the submissive role. The standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG) suggests the meaning “pederast,” that is, one who practices anal intercourse, especially with a boy. In any event, the point of the apostle is that the unbelievers involved in homosexual activities would not enjoy the blessings due to the rule of God in eternity.
The sixth description of those who would not enjoy the rule of God and its associated blessing of eternal life because they are unbelievers is given in the phrase nor thieves. The word “thieves” is translated from a Greek word (kleptēs) that refers to a criminal who typically relies on sneakiness to take property belonging to someone else hence a thief. It is this word that is used to describe Judas Iscariot as stated in John 12:6:
He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
By the way, although Judas Iscariot was one of the disciples of Jesus, he was not a believer as conveyed by the Lord Jesus not including him among those who are clean in John 13:10–11:
10 Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
Someone may argue that not being clean does not mean that Judas Iscariot was an unbeliever, but such argument should be put to rest by the fact that the Lord Jesus stated that Judas Iscariot did not believe in Him in John 6:64:
Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.
Furthermore, Judas Iscariot is described as one that is destined for destruction in John 17:12:
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
That aside the sixth description of unbelievers as those who would not enjoy God’s rule and eternal life is as thieves.
The seventh description of those who would not enjoy the rule of God and its associated blessing of eternal life because they are unbelievers is given in the phrase nor the greedy. The word “greedy” is translated from a Greek word (pleonektēs) that in Hellenic society was used to describe a person who violated the basic principle of proportion and who was not concerned with what benefits others. Thus, it means “a greedy person,” that is, one who desires to have more than is due. This is a person that is obsessed with the desire for things, especially wealth to the extent that the person is not concerned about others but consumed with the desire to have more and more wealth, for example.
The eighth description of those who would not enjoy the rule of God and its associated blessing of eternal life because they are unbelievers is given in the phrase nor drunkards. We encountered this word “drunkards” in 1 Corinthians 5:11 so we review what we said about the word there. The word “drunkards” is translated from a Greek word (methysos) that appears twice in the NT both here and in the eleventh verse of the fifth chapter; it means a drunkard, that is, a person who habitually drinks alcohol to excess, especially to the state of intoxication. A person described as a drunkard may not be difficult to recognize since there are some physical evidence that may give such a person a way. The individual may be recognized because such an individual is constantly staggering, as described in Job 12:25:
They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.
Of course, we should be careful to recognize that a person could stagger because of health condition or because of the effect of legal prescription of drugs. Nonetheless, there may be other signs that give away a drunkard such as bloodshot eyes as we may gather from the description of a drunkard that are given in form of rhetorical questions in Proverbs 23:29:
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
A drunkard may be unnecessarily argumentative and so verbally abusive to others. The point is that it may not be difficult to determine that a person is a drunkard although people could use perfume to camouflage the smell of alcohol on them.
The ninth description of those who would not enjoy the rule of God and its associated blessing of eternal life because they are unbelievers is given in the phrase nor slanderers. The word “slanderers” is translated from a Greek word (loidoros) that means “slanderer, verbal abuser,” that is, a person who attacks the reputation of another by slander or libel. A slanderer is one who is hostile or hates another, gives untrue information that is intended to destroy the reputation of another.
The tenth description of those who would not enjoy the rule of God and its associated blessing of eternal life because they are unbelievers is given in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 6:10 nor swindlers. The word “swindlers” is translated from a Greek word (harpax) that as an adjective means “rapacious (aggressively greedy), ravenous” as it is used to compare false prophets to wolves in Matthew 7:15:
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
As a noun, it means “robber, swindler” as the word is used in the Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector where the Pharisee touted his righteousness, as we read in Luke 18:11:
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:10, the word means “rapacious,” that is, aggressively greedy. This meaning could suggest that the apostle used it to explain the word “greedy.” Nonetheless, the word describes a person who robs others through cheating or deceptive means so that the person described with our word may simply be described as a “swindler.”
The ten descriptions we have considered are descriptions of unbelievers and not believers. To insure we understand this, the apostle ended his list of vices or sinful conducts with the verbal phrase will not inherit the kingdom of God. You see, the apostle began verse 9 with this verbal phrase where clearly, he was referring to unbelievers in the use of the word “wicked” of the NIV or “unrighteous” as the literal meaning of the Greek word used. The apostle indicated that unbelievers would not experience the rule of God with its associated blessing of eternal life. Then he gave ten vices of those who will not experience the rule of God with its associated blessing of eternal life. It is possible that someone may think the list is a description of believers who are carnal so the apostle ended the list by making the same assertion will not inherit the kingdom of God in verse 10 he made in verse 9. The implication is that the apostle wants us to recognize that his descriptions apply to unbelievers since he said the same thing at end of verse 10 that he said in verse 9 about the “wicked” or “unrighteous” that we have argued are unbelievers. Hence, there should be no doubt the list given consists of descriptions of unbelievers that believers are exhorted to avoid. You see, it is true that the rule of God and its associated blessing of eternal life is presented in our passage as future event but there is a present reality to this rule of God. Because the rule of God is a present reality, it follows that anyone that is not under the rule of God at this time is not enjoying the blessings associated with the rule of God. Such a person could not possibly enjoy peace and power that characterize the kingdom of God or the rule of God. In any event, a first reason believers should not wrong each other is that those who will not inherit God’s kingdom are characterized by the ten specified sins listed in verses 9 and 10 we have considered. This brings us to the second reason believers should not wrong each other but before we do, let me consider a question that many Christians often ask in the time we live.
The question often asked is; can a homosexual be a Christian? To attempt to answer this question, there are certain facts we should consider from the Scripture. First, God created sexual relationship to be between a husband and a wife who is opposite of the man in possession of sexual organs, as implied in Genesis 1:27–28:
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Same sex marriage is a direct assault on the command Be fruitful and increase in number.
Second, the passage of 1 Corinthians 6:9 we have considered, clearly indicates that homosexuality is a sin that characterizes unbelievers, those who would not inherit the kingdom of God, that is, those that would not come under God’s rule and so experience associated blessing of eternal life.
Third, homosexuality is prohibited in the OT in Leviticus 18:22:
“‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
This act of homosexuality is repugnant to God. The word “detestable” of the NIV is translated from a Hebrew word (tôʿēbâ) that in this passage has the sense of “abomination,” that is, detestable thing that causes horror and disgust in others. This word is used to describe idolatry as that which is detestable to God in Deuteronomy 7:25:
The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the LORD your God.
There are those who want to minimize the horror of homosexuality from God’s perspective with explanations that are not in keeping with Scripture. For example, there is the position that there is nothing wrong with it since it is an expression of love between two people. The problem with this is that love could never involve anything that is sinful. If the Scripture had stated that such an act is sinful then there is no way anyone can justify it is love, to be involved in homosexuality any more than anyone could justify incest. Another attempt to minimize the repulsiveness of homosexuality is to argue that it is part of the law that has come to any end. True, there are certain practices in the OT or laws that have come to an end because they are shadows of reality, as stated in Hebrews 10:1:
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.
The law that is a shadow of the good things to come involve those rituals that point to the coming sacrifice of Christ on the cross. There is no single moral requirement of the OT that has come to an end. In fact, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul indicates that homosexuality is the kind of sin for which the law was given as we may gather from 1 Timothy 1:9–10:
9 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.
The word “perverts” of the NIV is more literally “homosexuals” since it is the same Greek word (arsenokoitēs) used in 1 Corinthians 6:9 where it is translated “homosexual offenders.” Hence, to justify homosexuality because it is a part of the law that Christ ended is to grossly misapply the Scripture. Another interpretation that minimizes the sin of homosexuality is that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was inhospitality, not homosexuality or homosexual rape. To justify this interpretation that Sodom was judged for inhospitality, an appeal is made to Ezekiel 16:49:
“‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
True, there is no mention of homosexuality in this passage, but the prophet focused on the other sins that caused Sodom to be a luxurious and sensual city. It is not that the prophet did not hint at the famous sin of homosexuality of Sodom for he did with the phrase detestable things in Ezekiel 16:50:
They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
The phrase detestable things include homosexuality and idolatry as we noted earlier in Leviticus 18:22 and Deuteronomy 7:25. That the prophet did not specifically mention “homosexuality” does not mean that it was not the sin of Sodom that led to its destruction. For after all, the prevailing sin for destroying the Northern Kingdom of Israel was idolatry as typified by the worship of calves in Samaria but it was not mentioned in this passage of Ezekiel that is cited by those who minimize homosexual sin. It is assumed to be known that that was the major sin as it was assumed that the major sin of Sodom that led to its destruction was homosexuality. Furthermore, the prophet might have been more focused on the sins that were common between Sodom and Jerusalem than homosexuality that though existed in Jerusalem, among those involved in idolatry through male prostitutes in the pagan temples at that time, was not common. The point is that the passage in Ezekiel is not a support for minimizing the sin of homosexuality. The reality is that homosexually is so repulsive to God and should also be to His people that He instructed death penalty for such sin, as we read in Leviticus 20:13:
“‘If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
Fourth, contrary to the claim that homosexuality is genetic, the Scripture indicates that it or lesbianism is a sexual deviance that is one consequence of rejecting God and His truth, as penned down by Apostle Paul in Romans 1:21–27:
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Beginning in verse 24, the apostle gave the moral depravity that are consequences of rejecting God and worshipping idols. Without going into detail exegesis of the passage, please note that because of worshipping and serving creatures and creation that God handed over those involved in sexual deviances of lesbianism and homosexuality mentioned in verses 26 and 27 to such sins. Thus, it is difficult to argue that these sexual deviances are not the result of rejection of God and His truth but due to genes. Furthermore, it is interesting that the sins mentioned in this passage that are result of rejection of God’s truth are primarily sexual deviances. So, one wonders why other sins were not mentioned since we know that sins, we manifest are usually from our sinful nature including other sexual sins. It is probably because sexual deviances are result of God’s judgment that may explain why homosexuality was not mentioned as part of the manifestation of the sinful nature in Galatians 5:19–21:
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Let’s grant that a person has a strong tendency towards homosexuality, then such would be at least considered a desire of the sinful nature. This aside, we assert based on this passage of Romans 1 that homosexuality is a result of rejection of God and His truth in favor of lies or involvement in idolatry and not a matter of genes.
Fifth, Sodom and Gomorrah are reminders of God’s displeasure towards sin of homosexuality as the Holy Spirit indicates through Jude in Jude 7:
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
The phrase sexual immorality and perversion is literally sexual immorality and went after other flesh, implying homosexuality or any other sexual deviance. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and surrounding towns because of sin of homosexuality.
Based on the facts we have considered; we can now answer the question, can a homosexual be a Christian? The answer is that it is possible but unlikely. We say that it is possible because if a homosexual gets saved such a person may not necessarily immediately desist from such a sin. That will depend in part on the knowledge of that individual regarding the fact that such activity is sinful. Recall that there was an individual that was involved in incestuous relationship in the church of Corinth but because of ignorance of what the Scripture teaches, the person did not immediately stop such sin but then some of the members of the church thought it was great thing to do until the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul rebuked them in the fifth chapter of 1 Corinthians. You see, there are those who think that once a person gets saved such individual quits all sins. That is not true. Believers not controlled by the Holy Spirit are capable of sins that are associated with unbelievers. This we may deduce from the declaration of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in a passage we cited previously, that is, 1 Corinthians 5:11:
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
Furthermore, if believers are not capable of sins associated with unbelievers, the Holy Spirit would not have given the instruction we have through Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 4:15:
If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.
This passage assumes that a believer can commit murder, as was the case with David, and also of being a thief or any other kind of criminal. Thus, it would be naďve not to recognize that a believer is capable of any sin that is associated with unbelievers when such an individual is not controlled by the Holy Spirit. It is for this reason that we say that it is possible that a homosexual without knowledge of the Scripture that indicates that homosexuality is a sin could be a believer or if such a believer has reached a state of spiritual apostasy where the individual is defiant of God and fits the situation described in verses 4 through 6 of the sixth chapter of Hebrews. However, we say that it is unlikely because if a person claims to be a believer and continues to practice such sin in defiance of the word of God then that individual could not be considered a believer because that contradicts the declaration of the Holy Spirit through Apostle John in 1 John 3:9–10:
9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Without going into detail about this passage since we have done so previously when we studied John’s epistle, suffice to say that this passage indicates that in the understanding of John as the Holy Spirit directed him to write is that what one is and what one does form a unity. Thus, it is difficult to see how a person is saved and would continue to practice homosexuality especially as it is a sin that is unnatural to God’s creation regarding sex. It is inconceivable to me that any believer would want to admit or even parade that such a person is an adulterer or a thief. I am saying that a believer may be involved adultery, but such a person would have a sense of shame of having failed or sinned against God that the person would not want to broadcast such sin before everyone. Thus, for a person to say that such an individual is a believer and boasts of being a homosexual is beyond belief. Anyway, the point is that it is unlikely that a practicing homosexual is a believer although it is remotely possible. We will continue with the reasons believers should not wrong each other in our next study.
10/18/19 [End of Lessons #173 and 174]