Bible Readings for the day: Psalm 94:1-11, 1 Corinthians 6:1-20, 2 Chronicles 1:1-17
Meditational Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
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. 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.
Paul lays it on the line in this reading! Bad people aren't going to heaven! My first impulse, when reading the meditational reading, is to puff up in pride. I'm not like these people! Like many people in our society, my first thought is, "But I'm a good person!" And Paul lays it on the line: the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God! Then he goes into the list of sins of the unrighteous people and I'm glad that I am a good person! Wow! Am I glad that I'm good!
And the kicker is there: "And such were some of you"! And, honestly looking at myself, I have to change Paul's sentence: "And such am I". No matter how hard I want to change the facts, I am still a sinner! I can look down my nose at the sinners around me, but that nose keeps ending up on my face, leading me back to the sinner that I am. It isn't a matter that I was a sinner (I was); it's a matter that I am a sinner (I am). So, why do I enter the kingdom of God and those other sinners around me don't? It's not that I'm better than them, for I'm not. It's because I embrace the fact that I am a sinner; that I'm not "a good person"; I am a sinner in need of forgiveness (lots of forgiveness) and that's what God did (does) for me. Paul writes, "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."
Paul's writing about what God did for me in my baptism. He tells that I am
- washed. In my baptism, God washed away my sins.
- sanctified. In my baptism God has made me holy. He took me out of my sin and placed me in holiness. This has been called positional sanctification.
- justified. God has declared me innocent of all the sins I've committed.
Why did God do all of this to me (for me)? It was all done "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." It was done by God, for me, because of Jesus and what he did for me on the cross.
When I honestly look at myself, I know that I'm not a good person because I still sin. I also cannot look down my nose at the sinners around me because, left to my own ability and power, I would not enter the kingdom of God. I am in a right relationship with God only because of Jesus and what he did for me in the suffering, death, and resurrection. I pray that you enter the kingdom with me by believing in Jesus and what he did for you (as well as me).
A prayer: Lord, I'm not as good as I pretend to be. Thank you for dying and rising for me so that I can enter your kingdom. Thank you for for your great love. Amen!
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078
