9-11 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, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 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.
I love the part that says, "and such WERE some of you." I was once sexually immoral, and idolater, a thief, greedy, a drunk. But when I accepted Jesus He washed me clean. He sanctified me. He justified me. How awesome is His grace?! That grace never ends. When He died for me, He forgave ALL my sins- past, present and future. Have you accepted His forgiveness? I also like the last few words of these verses... 'and by the Spirit of our God.' When we accept Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Regularly He shines His light in our darkness to reveal to us areas that do reflect Jesus. He prunes out the bad so that we are able to produce more fruit. With this I don't mean becoming an expert gardener. As christians, we are compared to a tree. Matthew 7:17 says," So, every healthy tree produces good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit." Galatians 5:22-23 says," The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." As the Holy Spirit reveals to us things that are not of God, He also teaches us to be more like Jesus. It is vital to live a repentant life every day- surrendering every day to the Lord. If we choose to ignore sin it will become like a disease in us. We will start producing bad fruit. Matthew 7:19 says, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." I don't know whether I believe in once saved always saved, as I do understand points in both opinions. But either way, I don't want to be cut down. I want to be healthy and produce good fruit.
Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank you that because of your love and grace for me that I am washed, sanctified and justified! Thank you that I no longer have to identify myself with my past sins- but can rejoice that I WILL inherit the kingdom of God!
If you don't know Jesus as your Savior and reading this verse convicted you, please visit my page on Receiving Christ.
12 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything."
This verse was especially real to me when I struggled and eventually quit drinking alchohol. I had come out of a lifestyle of drunkenness and drug addiction. When I started living for Jesus, the drugs stopped, but I would occasionally still fall into drunkenness. I tried to quit numerous of times, but the problem was I didn't hate my sin, I just hated the consequences of my intoxication- the hangover and the guilt of messing up again. Not only was the drunkenness a sin, but the things I chose to do while I was inebriated was strengthening the stronghold Satan had on my life. The worst of it was revisiting my pornography addiction I had before I was saved. After choosing not to get drunk again, and after some months of sobriety, I resorted to having a glass of wine or beer a couple times a week. This is where the hardest part was for me because in the Bible it does not say, 'Do not drink'- just not to get drunk. It was easier to justify having one, because it wasn't against what the Bible said. However, I had a conviction stirring in me from the Spirit that I chose not to listen to. Looking back I realize why it was wrong for me to drink. I was not helpful for me to drink because I preferred my character when I had a drink in me- I was more laid back, I wanted to be more adventurous with my husband in the bedroom, I felt people liked me better, felt more confidence, felt relaxed... it all led to insecurity in who I really was- the sober Leanne, and I would fix it with a drink. This was not helping my godly character, in fact, it was deadening it. I had turned my back on my convictions and continued down the path of social drinking. Well, Satan knew it was my weakness, and prowled around like a lion ready to devour me again. He gained ground in my life- except this time it was less noticeable to me- it crept up on me, but I had allowed it because I was ignorant of the Spirit. After making a few bad mistakes, repenting and surrendering my life once again to Jesus, i quit drinking once and for all. I can say with great thankfulness to Jesus that I have been sober for just over two years. It was pretty awesome how God blessed the areas in my life that I had been so insecure in before. My exhortation to you is to always be on guard and be always in the Word. I was not on guard and thats what led me to destructable sin. ONLY by the grace of God did my life turn around. 1 Peter 5:8 - Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Don't let yourself be the captured prey.
I have history of being enslaved to many things. Again, you can say that sometime you don't really know you are enslaved until you are already there. What you are enslaved to might not be a sin, but the fact you let it consume you (or enslave) you is the sin. The definition of enslaved is to make someone a servant. Here are some synonyms: bind, capture, chain, confine, deprive, dominate, hold, incarcerate, jail, restrain, restrict, secure, shackle, yoke... Those are some pretty strong words. A recent example of how I was enslaved is told about in my blog Skincare Struggle. Again, be always on guard and be always in the Word.
18-20 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
I think my ESV Study Bible footnotes do a good job breaking this down. Here they are:
1 Cor. 6:16–18 Unity with Christ is incompatible with all sin (Rom. 6:6) but particularly with sexual sin. Because sexual union has a spiritual component, sexual activity outside marriage is a unique sin both against Christ (1 Cor. 6:15) and one’s own body (v. 18; see Prov. 6:26, 32). Within marriage, sexual union is not only allowed but has positive spiritual significance (Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:22–33). Flee. Paul also tells the Corinthians to “flee from idolatry” in 1 Cor. 10:14. Idolatry and sexual immorality were closely connected in Israel’s history (Ex. 32:6; Num. 25:1–2) as well as in Paul’s thinking about the problems in Corinth (1 Cor. 10:7–8).
1 Cor. 6:19 temple of the Holy Spirit within you. The Spirit of the Lord lives within individual Christians (v. 17), making each Christian’s body a temple just as the church, corporately conceived, is also a temple where God’s Spirit dwells (3:16). You are not your own. As with other gifts from God (4:2, 7), Christians are to exercise responsible stewardship over their bodies.
I especially like the verse, "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price." What a sobering and humbling truth of who we are- God's.
~Leanne~
I love the part that says, "and such WERE some of you." I was once sexually immoral, and idolater, a thief, greedy, a drunk. But when I accepted Jesus He washed me clean. He sanctified me. He justified me. How awesome is His grace?! That grace never ends. When He died for me, He forgave ALL my sins- past, present and future. Have you accepted His forgiveness? I also like the last few words of these verses... 'and by the Spirit of our God.' When we accept Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Regularly He shines His light in our darkness to reveal to us areas that do reflect Jesus. He prunes out the bad so that we are able to produce more fruit. With this I don't mean becoming an expert gardener. As christians, we are compared to a tree. Matthew 7:17 says," So, every healthy tree produces good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit." Galatians 5:22-23 says," The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." As the Holy Spirit reveals to us things that are not of God, He also teaches us to be more like Jesus. It is vital to live a repentant life every day- surrendering every day to the Lord. If we choose to ignore sin it will become like a disease in us. We will start producing bad fruit. Matthew 7:19 says, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." I don't know whether I believe in once saved always saved, as I do understand points in both opinions. But either way, I don't want to be cut down. I want to be healthy and produce good fruit.
Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank you that because of your love and grace for me that I am washed, sanctified and justified! Thank you that I no longer have to identify myself with my past sins- but can rejoice that I WILL inherit the kingdom of God!
If you don't know Jesus as your Savior and reading this verse convicted you, please visit my page on Receiving Christ.
12 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything."
This verse was especially real to me when I struggled and eventually quit drinking alchohol. I had come out of a lifestyle of drunkenness and drug addiction. When I started living for Jesus, the drugs stopped, but I would occasionally still fall into drunkenness. I tried to quit numerous of times, but the problem was I didn't hate my sin, I just hated the consequences of my intoxication- the hangover and the guilt of messing up again. Not only was the drunkenness a sin, but the things I chose to do while I was inebriated was strengthening the stronghold Satan had on my life. The worst of it was revisiting my pornography addiction I had before I was saved. After choosing not to get drunk again, and after some months of sobriety, I resorted to having a glass of wine or beer a couple times a week. This is where the hardest part was for me because in the Bible it does not say, 'Do not drink'- just not to get drunk. It was easier to justify having one, because it wasn't against what the Bible said. However, I had a conviction stirring in me from the Spirit that I chose not to listen to. Looking back I realize why it was wrong for me to drink. I was not helpful for me to drink because I preferred my character when I had a drink in me- I was more laid back, I wanted to be more adventurous with my husband in the bedroom, I felt people liked me better, felt more confidence, felt relaxed... it all led to insecurity in who I really was- the sober Leanne, and I would fix it with a drink. This was not helping my godly character, in fact, it was deadening it. I had turned my back on my convictions and continued down the path of social drinking. Well, Satan knew it was my weakness, and prowled around like a lion ready to devour me again. He gained ground in my life- except this time it was less noticeable to me- it crept up on me, but I had allowed it because I was ignorant of the Spirit. After making a few bad mistakes, repenting and surrendering my life once again to Jesus, i quit drinking once and for all. I can say with great thankfulness to Jesus that I have been sober for just over two years. It was pretty awesome how God blessed the areas in my life that I had been so insecure in before. My exhortation to you is to always be on guard and be always in the Word. I was not on guard and thats what led me to destructable sin. ONLY by the grace of God did my life turn around. 1 Peter 5:8 - Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Don't let yourself be the captured prey.
I have history of being enslaved to many things. Again, you can say that sometime you don't really know you are enslaved until you are already there. What you are enslaved to might not be a sin, but the fact you let it consume you (or enslave) you is the sin. The definition of enslaved is to make someone a servant. Here are some synonyms: bind, capture, chain, confine, deprive, dominate, hold, incarcerate, jail, restrain, restrict, secure, shackle, yoke... Those are some pretty strong words. A recent example of how I was enslaved is told about in my blog Skincare Struggle. Again, be always on guard and be always in the Word.
18-20 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
I think my ESV Study Bible footnotes do a good job breaking this down. Here they are:
1 Cor. 6:16–18 Unity with Christ is incompatible with all sin (Rom. 6:6) but particularly with sexual sin. Because sexual union has a spiritual component, sexual activity outside marriage is a unique sin both against Christ (1 Cor. 6:15) and one’s own body (v. 18; see Prov. 6:26, 32). Within marriage, sexual union is not only allowed but has positive spiritual significance (Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:22–33). Flee. Paul also tells the Corinthians to “flee from idolatry” in 1 Cor. 10:14. Idolatry and sexual immorality were closely connected in Israel’s history (Ex. 32:6; Num. 25:1–2) as well as in Paul’s thinking about the problems in Corinth (1 Cor. 10:7–8).
1 Cor. 6:19 temple of the Holy Spirit within you. The Spirit of the Lord lives within individual Christians (v. 17), making each Christian’s body a temple just as the church, corporately conceived, is also a temple where God’s Spirit dwells (3:16). You are not your own. As with other gifts from God (4:2, 7), Christians are to exercise responsible stewardship over their bodies.
I especially like the verse, "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price." What a sobering and humbling truth of who we are- God's.
~Leanne~
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