Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth — a bustling port city in ancient Greece known for its diverse and permissive culture. Some members of that church had come to believe that since they were saved by God's grace, their behavior no longer mattered — that what they did with their bodies was spiritually irrelevant. Paul pushes back directly and urgently. This verse begins a list of ways of living that Paul says are incompatible with inheriting God's kingdom, and the verse as it appears here is part of a longer sentence that continues into verse 10. Crucially, it's immediately followed by one of the most hopeful lines in all of Paul's writing: 'And that is what some of you were' — past tense — signaling that genuine transformation is not only possible, but had already happened for people in that very room.
God, I don't want to hide behind grace or be hardened by a list. Search me honestly — show me what I've been excusing and give me the courage to bring it into the light. Thank you that 'what I was' doesn't have to be the end of the story. Amen.
This verse has done real damage in the hands of people who used it as a weapon, and it has been quietly filed away by others who'd rather not think too hard about what it says. Paul doesn't give us either option. He's writing to a church in a city not unlike many of ours — where the body was seen as separate from the soul, where what you did privately was considered spiritually neutral. His answer is blunt: it isn't neutral. The body isn't disposable packaging for the soul. It's the place where your actual life with God is lived, every ordinary day. But this verse cannot be read honestly without what comes right after it. Verse 11 says, 'And that is what some of you were.' Past tense. Paul is writing to a room full of people who had lived every item on this list — and had genuinely been changed. This passage is not a door being slammed shut. It's a refusal to let anyone hide behind cheap grace. The harder question it puts to you isn't 'Does this apply to someone else?' It's: is there something in your own life you've been excusing rather than honestly examining?
Paul says 'Do not be deceived' before this list. What kind of self-deception do you think he's warning against, and how might that show up in a modern church community?
Is there an area of your life you've been treating as spiritually neutral — something you've told yourself doesn't really affect your relationship with God?
This verse has been used to cause real harm, particularly toward LGBTQ+ people. How do you hold the weight of that history while still taking the text seriously and honestly?
How does a community hold one another accountable without becoming a stone-throwing crowd? What does loving accountability actually look like in practice?
The verse that follows says 'that is what some of you were.' Who in your life might need to hear that transformation is genuinely possible — and how could you offer that hope without attaching judgment to it?
For this ye know , that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Ephesians 5:5
Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Ephesians 5:4
Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1 Timothy 1:9
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Matthew 9:13
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
1 Timothy 1:10
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Revelation 21:8
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Galatians 5:19
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:21
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [by perversion], nor those who participate in homosexuality,
AMP
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,
ESV
Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals,
NASB
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
NIV
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,
NKJV
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,
NLT
Don't you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don't care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex,
MSG