Inheritance
5:9–13
We should not associate with people who claim to be a Christian but who live in open and unrepentant sin. Why is this?
One reason is because of the damage to the reputation of the church. Not only that but there is spiritual damage to people in the church who tolerate someone who claims to be a Christian but lives like this.
Paul expanded the list of sins to watch out for to include not only fornication but also covetousness, idolatry, railing, alcoholism, and extortion. Some of these are hard to pin down for people today who do not know what the Bible teaches.
The rule of thumb is to avoid people who claim to be Christians but do not live according to their profess of faith.
Jesus said we can know false prophets by their bad fruit. Paul encouraged Christians to use discernment and judge people by their actions. This was not hypocritical judgment like what Jesus rebuked people for. Christians are called to exercise righteous judgment especially when it comes to protecting the church.
I like how Paul pointed out the obvious that he did not mean to exclude unbelievers because then you would have to leave the world. Unbelievers are not as much danger to the church. It is people who claim to be Christians but live like unbelievers who are the real danger. Jesus called these people “hypocrites”. He rebuked the religious leaders. They claimed to know God but by their works they denied him.
Another reason this is serious is because it stops people from getting saved. The church is the instrument God uses to preach the gospel. People are smart enough to know that if people who claim to be Christians live like them or worse then what they preach has no value. This is why I suspect Paul rebuked the fortune teller woman who followed them. He did not want people to confuse the gospel with fortune tellers and give Christians that kind of reputation.
Just because a person claims to be a Christian does not make him one. Paul said we should put out of the church any wicked person especially if they claim to be a Christian.
6:1–8
The Corinthian Christians fought with one another to the point of going to secular courts. They allowed unbelieving judges to make decisions for them.
Paul’s last point seems like the strongest point he made on this issue. “Why do ye not rather take wrong?”
This question points back to the words of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek. Jesus taught us that if someone took our coat then give them our shirt as well. For the sake of the gospel we are willing to lose whatever material goods we have. If someone takes advantage of us then the correct response is what Jesus taught.
As Christians we want to have a biblical attitude, right? Sadly, many don’t care about responding biblically to situations like this. Like the Corinthians they want their stuff. They want revenge. They want justice even if it means getting unbelievers involved to settle a dispute between “brothers”.
Paul went through a series of logical suggestions to them which would be more preferable than secular courts. We have some holy sarcasm from Paul when he asked them if there was not someone “wise” enough in their church to settle disputes.
While Paul was dealing with the issue at hand he also mentioned other extraordinary information which surprised me. I don’t know if this little bit of information is anywhere else in the Bible. Christians will judge angels? Christians will judge the world?
We have little idea of what will happen in the future for Christians. I wonder how many Christians even know this information about the future? I’ve read the Bible many times and this information barely registered in my mind until right now.
It is incredible what God has planned for us in the future. We really cannot comprehend the good plan which the Lord has in store for us. Let’s be glad for all that God has planned for us.
6:9–11
How are the righteous and unrighteous separated? How can you tell the righteous from the wicked? Paul gave us a short list of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. The point was simple. People who live like the devil will not inherit God’s kingdom.
This list included fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners. I get the feeling this list is not exhaustive but is only a sample to help us understand that there are clear indications which can be easily identified that mark someone as not inheriting God’s kingdom.
Live like one of those in this list and you can forget about God’s kingdom.
Why did Paul tell them not to be deceived? Because they were on the road to deception by accepting a man’s sin in their church. They patted themselves on the back at being merciful. They did not understand that this man’s sin was a cancer in the church. It was a disease.
People who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. By allowing them to continue in sin we don’t do them any favors. By not confronting sin we hurt people.
The most selfish and unloving thing we can do is avoid rebuking brothers in Christ who are in open sin. It is our duty to reprove, rebuke, and exhort our brothers with all long suffering and doctrine.
Don’t be deceived into thinking one is spiritual when tolerating the sins of others. If they call themselves a Christian there is only one standard for living. Read 1 Peter 1:15–16.
Don’t be deceived by people who tolerate compromise in the lives of other people. If they tolerate sin it is because they also are living in compromise and unconfessed sin. Don’t be deceived by wolves in sheep’s clothing.
6:12
If we look at this verse in context with the previous verses and what follows I see this verse pertaining to man’s knowledge of good and evil. Men exercise rights to take others to court and exact justice against people. This is the wisdom of the world. It is how people in the world operate. Paul said that a Christian does not live according to the knowledge of good and evil. Everything is lawful for the Christian but not everything is good for us.
He said to the Corinthians that they were free to exercise legal rights in a court of law. They were free to live in any way they pleased. Christ set us free. However, are we then to use this freedom in Christ to live like people in the world system?
All things are lawful for me, he says. But not everything is good for me. If I start living according to this attitude in the world of good and evil then I will be ensnared by this thinking. It is much better to live according to the Holy Spirit and suffer injustice against one’s own self. It is much better for the Christian to fly over the tree of the knowledge of good and evil upon the wings of the Spirit of God.
If we deny self and surrender our righteousness then God will enable us to live a completely different life than those who are trapped in the world system.
Those who demand their rights and justify themselves live according to the principles of the world system which originate in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Many people are deceived into thinking the world is divided into good and evil but it is not. Satan is not an equal with God. He is a created being. There is no contest between good and evil. The Lord is good and he will destroy what is evil when he completes his plan in allowing it.
There is no real contest of good versus evil. There is only the Lord. He is a real person. A Christian is not a man who tries to do good. He is not trying to quit sin. He does not sin because he is living in the power of the Spirit. He does what is right because he is living in the power of the Spirit. It is not a moral question between right and wrong. He is living by the life of God.
This far exceeds and surpasses men’s ideas of what is lawful. All things are lawful. But I will live according to the Spirit.
We will not be brought under the power of this world system and its ideas of right and wrong. We live under the Lord Jesus Christ which far surpasses any law this world can come up with.
