Seeznak

Pwned by God

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, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. -I Corinthians 6:9-11a

And such was I. So what is the difference now- am I no longer immoral, or idolatrous? No way. But what is the difference? Here the Word informs me in the next sentence:

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. - I Corinthians 6:11b

The only difference between myself and the ‘unrighteous’ is not the good or religiousy things I do; it is the grace of God in Christ.

This grace is the basis for all subsequent good works, though we (I, at least) are oft tempted to think of our goodness as a sort of booster shot for us to continue in God’s grace. That is clearly not the case in this passage, where Paul argues for our unquenchable pursuit of righteousness because we’ve already been irrevocably owned by our Lord.

You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. -I Corinthians 6:19b-20