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by Katie Erickson

Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

This passage is often cited to condemn many kinds of sexual sins, but it’s important to remember its context, which goes all the way back to the beginning of chapter 5. There, Paul begins to warn the people about the sin of sexual immorality, specifically incest, that was happening in their congregation. Then, Paul gives them stern warnings not to associate with people who willfully sin like that – they should not be a part of the church until they repent. Paul takes a slight diversion into lawsuits among believers, and then he ties it all together with the concluding thoughts that we’re looking at today.

Many people just want to jump right into this passage to bring about condemnation on people who commit these sins, but that’s not the model that Paul gives us. He provides warnings and instruction not to the person who is sinning but to the church! Paul’s responsibility as God’s messenger is to the believers who have faith in Jesus, not to pronounce judgment on those who do not have faith in Jesus.

So, now that we’re aware of the broader context, what does this particular passage say?

In verses 9-10, Paul gives a very stern warning that those who practice these acts of wickedness will not inherit the kingdom of God. If they are willfully doing these things, then they’re not following the ways of Jesus at all. While Christians are human and we do sin, there is a difference between repeated, intentional sinning and other times we fall into temptation.

So, what’s on Paul’s list of sins here? Sexual sin, idolatry, adultery, male prostitutes, homosexuality, stealing, greed, being drunk, abuse, and cheating. This passage is usually used for its inclusion of specific sexual sins, but it’s important to note the other sins listed in there too. Idolatry is really the root of all sin; we sin because we are worshiping someone or something other than the one true God. (For more on that, check out the blog post series beginning with this post by Charlie Wolcott.) Along with idolatry, two specific sins that made God’s top ten list (i.e. the Ten Commandments) are also included in this list: adultery and stealing.

But, the sexual sins are often what gets focused on in this passage. There are generally two angles that people take: using this passage to condemn others, or using this passage to try and justify whatever sexual sin they’re committing because it’s not specifically named in this list. So, what is on this list?

“Those who indulge in sexual sins” is from the Greek word pornos, which is where we get our English word pornography from. Various Greek dictionaries have given further definitions of this word as a fornicator, whoremonger, a man who practices sexual immorality, a male whore/prostitute, or a political entity hostile to God. This word is different from the word for an adulterer.

The word translated as male prostitutes (malakos) has also been defined as soft, fancy, or luxurious when referring to cloth. But when referring to a person, it can mean a homosexual, a homosexual pervert, mild, fair, being in a same-sex romantic relationship, effeminate, men and boys who are sodomized by other males in a sexual way, or a general sexual pervert.

Then how should we translate the word we see as “practicing homosexuality” (arsenokoites)? Various dictionaries give it the definitions of a male sexual pervert, a man who has intercourse with a man, or a male who engages in sexual activity with a person of his own sex. One prominent Greek dictionary gives the difference between this term and the previous one as the malakos (“male prostitute” being the more passive one in a homosexual relationship, while the arsenokoites (“practicing homosexuality”) is the more dominant one.

Now, note that while all these terms are specifically listed with the male gender, the male gender grammatically can also refer to both men and women. The text is not specifically clear on that. But again, remember that this list is not just about sexual sins; there are many other sinful lifestyles included as well!

The same phrase “not inherit the Kingdom of God” is used at the beginning of verse 9 and the end of verse 10. This serves to emphasize the point – Paul didn’t just say it once but twice, showing it is of great importance.

But, it is very important that we don’t get stuck on the list of sins and that we move on to verse 11: “But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” While some of those in the Corinthian church may have been living those sinful lifestyles he mentioned, they are not living that way anymore! There is a strong “but” conjunction there to indicate the transformation they had experienced.

Paul lists 3 actions that occurred during this transformation: they were cleansed (as in baptism; Matthew 28:19, Titus 3:5-6), they were made holy (set apart as God’s people; 1 Peter 2:9), and they were made right with God (God declared them righteous; Romans 3:23-26). All of these were not done by their own power but through the power of the triune God – they were made right with the Father through the name of the Son Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The point of this passage is not to provide a list of sins to avoid but for Paul to show the Corinthians how they are all guilty of such things and need to change their ways. They were being influenced too heavily by the pagan society around them. As believers in Christ, they needed to live their lives in a different and more God-honoring way than the people around them. Their lives have been transformed by the sacrifice of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, and they should live in a manner that reflects that radical transformation.

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