Heaven is the ultimate goal of Christians. Paul stated, “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). He understood all of our actions would be judged and some would keep many out of God’s eternal home (Galatians 6:7-8).
The apostle gave a short list of such sins in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. A fornicator is one involved in intimate relationships outside of marriage. Jesus listed this as the one reason a God-fearing individual could divorce his or her mate and be remarried without sinning (Matthew 19:9). Adultery involves a married person having intimate relations with someone not his or her spouse. It may be specified because it breaks up families and hurts a third party. The word translated “homosexuals” literally means “soft to touch.” Vine says, “metaphorically, in a bad sense… persons in general, who are guilty of addiction to sins of the flesh.” The sin of sodomy is described in Romans 1:26-27.
A thief takes what belongs to someone else, while those who are covetous desire “to have more… i.e., to have what belongs to others; hence, greedy of gain,” according to Vine. Those who become intoxicated are drunkards. Revilers are abusive and profane. Those who are excessively grasping or covetous could be described as extortioners.
Paul next said the Christians at Corinth had previously participated in some of the sins listed. Lipscomb wrote, “The threefold ‘but’ in the clause which follows emphasizes strongly the contrast between their present state and their past, and the consequent demand which their changed position makes upon them.” The apostle said they had been washed or baptized (Acts 22:16; Titus 3:5). They had also been sanctified or set apart to do God’s will. Further, Paul said they had been justified or considered righteous because their sins had been remitted. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NKJV).
