“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?”
The full verse · 1 Corinthians 6:9 · KJV
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Asked by
Paul: the apostle writing to the church at Corinth after hearing that there were contentions among them (1 Corinthians 1:11)
Asked to
Corinthians: the believers at Corinth, whom Paul calls "sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints" (1 Corinthians 1:2)
The Scene
Paul has just told the Corinthians that some of them were wronging and defrauding their own brethren (1 Corinthians 6:8), after rebuking them for suing one another before unbelievers (1 Corinthians 6:1-7).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionPaul wants the Corinthians to face how serious their conduct was. Barnes says Paul brings in this truth to show "the evil of their course, and especially of the injustice which they did one to another." Barnes explains "the unrighteous" as the unjust, "such as he had just mentioned," people who did injustice to others. The question assumes they already knew this. Paul's follow-up, "Be not deceived," suggests some were in danger of thinking they could live as they pleased. Gill describes that error as imagining "that through your knowledge and profession you shall be saved, live as you will."
The Response
What Scripture recordsPaul answers his own question with a warning and a list. "Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Then he turns to grace: "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe word for "the unrighteous" is adikoi, the unjust or wrongdoers. Barnes connects it to the injustice Paul has just described, believers wronging and defrauding one another (1 Corinthians 6:8). To "inherit the kingdom of God" means to receive a share in God's kingdom as His heirs. Gill notes that Jewish teachers used a similar way of speaking in the Talmud, the collection of ancient rabbinic teaching. Paul uses the same warning in Galatians 5:21: "they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis question holds together two truths about God. He is holy, and the kingdom He gives is not for those who go on in unrighteousness. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary warns that "Men are very much inclined to flatter themselves that they may live in sin, yet die in Christ, and go to heaven."
But Paul does not leave the Corinthians under the warning. "Such were some of you" (1 Corinthians 6:11). The same people who once fit the list were now washed, sanctified, and justified. The question is not meant to drive believers to despair but to call them to live as who God has made them.
Look Closer
What had the Corinthians just been doing that led to this question?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, You have washed and justified Your people; where am I deceiving myself about how I live, and how do You want to make me new there?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Why do you think it is easy to believe how we live does not really matter as long as we believe the right things?
- "Such were some of you" (1 Corinthians 6:11). How have you seen God change someone's life, perhaps your own?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Paul's question is a loving warning. What you believe about God and how you live cannot be separated. "Be not deceived" (1 Corinthians 6:9). It is possible to know a great deal and still fool yourself about where your life is headed.
But do not read this verse alone. Paul's next words are "such were some of you: but ye are washed" (1 Corinthians 6:11). No one on Paul's list is beyond God's reach. If you see yourself in the list, the answer is not despair but the cleansing God gives "in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." This verse is also not a tool for looking down on others. Paul wrote it to the church about the church's own conduct.
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?”
“Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot?”
“Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?”
“What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body?”