New Testament Reading Plan: Hebrews 3-4
SCRIPTURE READING
1 Cor 6:9-10 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. (ESV)
There is something important to notice from this scripture passage, something that is shocking
to our Western sensibilities – Paul does not say, here, that UNBELIEVERS will not inherit the
kingdom of God, he says that the UNRIGHTEOUS will not inherit the kingdom of God – there’s
a big difference there, isn’t there? We Christians in the West tend to think of the issue of who
goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell as being an issue that is solely determined by whether
a person believes rightly or wrongly in their head about Jesus. So if a person believes wrongly
about Jesus he goes to Hell; but if a person believes rightly about Jesus he goes to Heaven, no
matter how he behaves on the earth. There’s a lot of truth in that! It is true that the only way to be
saved is through believing in Jesus Christ. No question about it! And, it is only through believing
in Jesus Christ that a person can even begin to bear good fruit. But there has to be more to the
equation than just a mental belief in Jesus because in this passage Paul clearly teaches that it
is not just wrong beliefs about Jesus that can cause a person to miss out on heaven, but wrong
actions. And he specifically names a bunch of actions which, people who persist in these things
unrepentantly cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Go through the scripture passage, using it as a self-examination: am I greedy? Am I a
reviler? (In other words, am I critical of authority? Am I a mocker and a disrespectful person
who cuts others down?) Am I a swindler? (Do I take advantage of people in business?) Am I
an idolater or and adulterer? Etc. Confess as necessary.
2. Pray that seriousness of living a life of righteousness would infiltrate the Canadian church.
That many Pastors would see that they must preach these truths from Scripture!
