The Church Christ Built--Marks of Identification

The church Christ built is worthless to man if it is impossible to find it, if it only existed in ancient history, and cannot be known today. Fortunately, like all things that exist, there are marks of identification that allow us to know his church from those made by man. What are the marks of identification of the Lord’s church versus man-made churches?

(1) The time of its founding. The Lord’s church began in the first century on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Any church that was built or came into existence later cannot be the church Jesus built. Many of today’s churches were founded during the years of the Reformation and in the years since then, thus eliminating them from consideration as being the church Jesus built.

(2) The builder--Christ himself built his church. If a church can trace its beginnings back to a particular man or movement that can be named for its founding, it is clearly not the church Christ built.

(3) Its name. If a church is the church Jesus built, then one would expect it would not have a name given by men attached to it. Actually, no formal name was ever given to the church Jesus built. It was often referred to by appellations such as: the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23, 4:12), the Lamb’s bride (Rev. 21:9-10, Rom. 7:4), the church of God (Acts 20:28), the church of Christ (Rom. 16:16), the church of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15), the church of the firstborn (Heb. 12:23), the household of God (Eph. 2:19), the flock of God (1 Peter 5:2), God’s field (1 Cor. 2:9), God’s building (1 Cor. 2:9), the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17), and, of course, the most common designation for the church in the Bible is the singular term, “the church.”

When a church has a name or designation not found in the Bible, that ought to immediately raise a red flag. That alone tells you it differs from what you find in scripture and makes it suspect. If a church is named after a man, a method of governance, or a peculiar doctrinal stance, it detracts from God’s honor and glory. God is to be given glory in the church (Eph. 3:20-21)—not a man or a movement.

(4) Its members--their names. In the church built by Jesus no member was called anything other than a disciple, a brother or a sister as the case might be, or just brethren when taken collectively, a child of God, a saint, or just by the name Christian (Acts 11:26). This listing is not necessarily exhaustive but is sufficient to make a needed point. In the New Testament church there were no such beings as Christians who also had an additional appellation or name to distinguish them from others. This was the very thing Paul condemned in 1 Cor. 2:4 when he said, “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?” (NKJV)

No church whose members are called by a denominational name in addition to the name Christian is the church Jesus built. Not only is it carnal, as Paul said, but it is also dishonoring to God, as if it is not good enough to just be called a Christian or child of God. The name “Christian” is a Christ-honoring name. Denominational names dishonor Christ as his name is replaced with that which the Bible knows nothing about.

(5) Membership--how do people become members of Christ’s church? This is an easily answered question. The church was established on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. When Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, in Matt. 16:16, Jesus’ responded by saying, “on this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18 NKJV) but then in the very next verse he tells Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 16:19 NKJV) Jesus thus uses the terms the church and the kingdom interchangeably making them one and the same.

The kingdom of God is not something that in our own time is down the road in the future. Jesus said to those with whom he was speaking, in Mark 9:1, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” (NKJV) Paul says some years later in Col. 1:13, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love.” (NKJV)

Peter used the keys of the kingdom (the keys being the gospel message with its requirements) on the day of Pentecost. When the 3,000 that day heard the message, believed it, repented of their sins (as instructed to do--Acts 2:38), and were baptized for the forgiveness of sins (as instructed to do--Acts 2:38), they were then translated into the kingdom of God by God himself. It is in that kingdom, not out of it, where salvation is found. If saved that day, no one doubts that they were, they were at that very time translated into the “kingdom of the Son of his love.” (Col. 1:13 NKJV)

Men do not join the church (the kingdom of God), but rather God adds them upon conditions. “The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47 NKJV) The conditions are those set forth by Peter on the day of Pentecost. Jesus said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5 NKJV) There are only two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. One must be in the kingdom of God for salvation, but Jesus is the Savior of the body (Eph. 5:23) which is the church (Col. 1:24). The kingdom and the body, the church, are one and the same, the difference being only in the way it is being portrayed. The kingdom has a king, the body has a head, but the same one who is king is also the head--the head of the body and of the church, which are one and the same (Col. 1:24).

Membership in this body, this church of Christ, this church Jesus built, is granted only on the basis of the new birth (John 3:5). It begins with the Spirit in that through the Spirit’s word, the gospel message, man is led to faith and repentance and a willingness and desire to confess Christ for who he is--the Son of God--and it culminates in baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16) but more succinctly to put to death the old man of sin and to arise a new spiritual creation (Rom. 6:4-6). The old man dies in baptism (Rom. 6:4), “we were buried with him through baptism into death.” (NKJV) We come up from the water clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27 NAS). Paul is thus able to say, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:13 NKJV)

These then are the terms of membership if one desires to be in the church Jesus built. One can get into churches built by men on other terms, into man-made churches, but there is only one way into the Lord’s church. We must go back to the New Testament and enter the Lord’s church on the same terms of membership that they did back then. The same process that makes one a Christian also makes him a member of the church Jesus built, also adds him to the church, the Lord doing the adding when the requirements are met.

(6) Another mark of the Lord’s church is its organization. Each congregation was on its own, running its own affairs, with no guidance from any kind of national church organization. Each congregation was to have elders appointed who met certain requirements as set out in 1 Tim. 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. This group of men was sometimes referred to under various terms in the same way Christians were as discussed earlier. The terms used were elders, overseers, shepherds, bishops, pastors, and rulers.

One of the requirements for a bishop or elder was that he be “the husband of one wife” (1 Tim. 3:2, Titus 1:6), and thus the church Jesus built was led by men. There were no women in leadership positions in the church. Perhaps the reason is given by Paul in 1 Tim. 2 when he says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man…for Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” (1 Tim. 2:12-14 NKJV) This is a historical reason that time will never be able to erase and thus it was not a matter of culture as some teach today.

If you find a congregation that is in violation of God’s plan for church leadership, you can be certain that it is not the church Jesus built or it has apostasized, one or the other. The eldership was always made up of a number of men and not just a single individual (Titus 1:5, Heb. 13:17). Thus, in the church Christ built, there were no women in leadership positions or teaching over men (preachers), nor was there any such thing as the modern pastor system. Those things are from men, not God.

There was also a group of men known as deacons who worked or served in the church under the direction of the eldership. Qualifications for these men are found in 1 Tim. 3:8-13. Some feel the 7 men chosen to supervise the daily distribution in the church at Jerusalem, as found in Acts 6:1-6, were the first deacons. They certainly filled the role deacons might well fill.

(7) Worship of the church. What are the acts of worship as found in the New Testament that, when done in the right manner, please God? Partaking of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week is one (Acts 20:7), prayer is another, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19-20, Col. 3:16) is included, teaching of God’s word in which exhortation would be a part, and giving. Very few, if any, would object to any of these things for all are pretty much in agreement that these things can be found on the pages of the New Testament as things authorized in worship. We can do all of these things in the name of the Lord Jesus. “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Col. 3:17 NKJV)

But when we talk about the worship of the church, there is more to it than just the correct object of worship--God in heaven. Jesus said we must worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). He then says in reference to God that, “Your word is truth.” (John 17:17 NKJV) This means, obviously, that man is not free to worship God just any way he chooses and call it worship, worship that is pleasing to God. God gets to decide what pleases, not man. If you recall, the church at Corinth in 1 Cor. 11 had a worship problem as it pertained to the Lord’s Supper. We are not free, in the Lord’s church, to do things our way.

The problem today, when one is searching for the church built by Christ as far as it pertains to the worship, is finding a church that has not added to the worship. All kinds of entertainment have been made a part of the worship--plays, instrumental music, musical entertainment (generally called in my part of the country “special music”), special events, and around election time even political rallies passed off as worship service. No, if we want the church the saints had in the first century, the one that belonged to Christ, we will have to content ourselves with doing what they did under divine approval and say that is good enough for it is good indeed as it came to us from “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17 NKJV)

(8) The works of the church. The church Jesus built taught the gospel, they attempted to build each other up in the faith, and lend a hand to one another as needed; they were encouraged in every good work, and helped the poor and needy. The mission of the church was spiritual, but that did not mean it was divorced from the cares of this world completely. “Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17 NKJV)

Much of what you see being done in churches today was never a part of the New Testament church. There were no ball teams, no seminars on how to do your taxes or lose weight, no business enterprises to raise money versus giving it out of your own pocket, and the list could go on and on. We need to learn what work the New Testament churches were involved in and get back to it, and forget about everything else.

In this article, I have tried to set forth the marks of identification for the church Christ built. That is the church we need to be in and get back to. If we did all denominations would cease to exist. Men will fight that tooth and nail for it is one thing to say we want Christ’s church and it is another thing to want it enough to give up “our church,” our denomination. In other words, the old saying “talk is cheap” is more than just a saying. A lot of things will have to be given up to get back to Jesus’ church, but it can be done once the will to do it is found. 

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No Inheritance in The Kingdom of God – Part IV

This article will conclude a series on the nature of the sins listed by the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 6:9-10, Gal. 5:19-21, and Eph. 5:5-7 which Paul says will deprive a person of any inheritance in the kingdom of God if practiced and not repented of.  In Part 1 the sins of adultery and fornication were covered; Part II covered the sins of homosexuality, sodomy, uncleanness, and lewdness; Part III dealt with the sins of idolatry, covetousness, thievery, extortion, sorcery, hatred, and drunkenness.

In this article, the last article in the series, we will cover every sin listed that remains from the three text passages.  The sins to be covered are revilers, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, and revelries.  Here are texts we have been working from using the New King James Version:

1 Cor. 6:9-10	Gal. 5:19-21	Eph. 5:5-7
“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, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Cor.  6:9-10 NKJV)	“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21 NKJV)	“For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.” (Eph. 5:5-7 NKJV)

Who is a “reviler”?  A reviler is one who is “verbally abusive.”  The Christian Standard Bible and the NET Bible translate the Greek term with that very phrase.  It is abusive language directed at another.  It is one who scolds, who angrily finds fault and reproves another with loud and angry or abusive speech.  This is a way of life with the reviler, who he or she is.  We are commanded to rebuke at times (Luke 17:3, 2 Tim. 4:2 for example) but it is how we do it that makes the difference.

What does “outbursts of wrath” refer to?  There are people who become so angry they cannot contain themselves and have what we might call a meltdown.  They become so overwhelmed with anger they cannot contain themselves, seemingly lose all control, and explode with a vitriol of abusive language directed at their target.   One writer had this to say about it, “There are persons in which these tempests of wrath take a demoniac form. ‘The face grows livid, the limbs move convulsively, the nervous organ­ism is seized by a storm of frenzy, and until it is passed, the individual is completely beside himself.’” It is a frightful thing to observe.  Such a one must repent and learn to control himself if he or she is to have any inheritance in the kingdom of God.

“Dissensions” is a reference to a lack of concord or harmony between persons.  Dictonary.com defines dissension as, “strong disagreement; a contention or quarrel; discord.”  Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says “an insurrection, uproar” and gives Mark 15:7, Luke 23:19, 25, and Acts 19:40,  24:5 as references.  Most of the references listed refer to insurrection but not always.  You can have dissension without outright insurrection.  Under this idea Vine lists Acts 15:2 and Acts 23:7, 10.  To summarize the idea seems to be of a person who sows discord, a person hard to please or satisfy, one who wants to argue and fight.

“Contentions,” another of our sins that keeps one out of an inheritance, as found in the New King James Version is in other versions called strife (CSB, ESV, NAS, NET, NRSV, RV, and YLT).  The NLT uses the word quarreling which according to Strong’s Dictionary is correct.  It says, “a quarrel, that is, (by implication) wrangling.”  It seems to refer to a person who wants to quarrel or fight rather than live with others in peace.  Paul says, in speaking to Christians, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Cor. 1:10 NKJV)  Again, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” (Rom. 12:18 NKJV)  This the contentious person is not doing.  A person has a choice about whether or not to start or engage in a quarrel, to be contentious or not.

“Selfish ambitions” is a work of the flesh Paul lists that he says will deny one an inheritance in the kingdom of God.  What the NKJV calls “selfish ambitions” other translations call rivalries (ESV, YLT), selfish rivalries (NET), strife (KJV), disputes (NAS), and factions (RV).  The Greek word is “eris” and Vine says it “is the expression of enmity.”  It would seem to be then one who is opposed to another to the extent he is determined to get the best of his opponent lacking any charity for him or her, a person who must have his way.

Admittedly, the sins of dissensions, contentions, and selfish ambitions are closely related and a little difficult, on occasion, to distinguish one from the other.  Add to that there may be overlap in that one can be guilty of more than just one of these sins.  There is also the fact that what one translation calls this another translation may call that based on the similarity of the words.  Regardless, I think we all get the general idea of what these terms in the aggregate are teaching.

This brings us to two more terms closely related, sins that keep one out of heaven – “jealousies” and “envy.”  With regards to jealousy here is a case where nearly every translation uses that singular word other than the very oldest translations like the KJV which uses the outdated word emulations.  A jealous person is not happy with the position, success, influence, or wealth of another.  It seems to make him miserable.  Perhaps he feels the other person’s success makes him smaller but whatever the case he cannot be happy.  He is unable to “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Rom. 12:15 NKJV) nor does he find it easy to be content even though “godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Tim. 6:6 NKJV)

In talking about envy versus jealousy Vine makes this distinction, “Envy desires to deprive another of what he has; jealousy desires to have the same or the same sort of thing for itself.” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, page 367, under Envy)  The Daily Study Bible says, “The essence of it is that it does not describe the spirit which desires, nobly or ignobly, to have what someone else has: it describes the spirit which grudges the fact that the other person has these things at all.  It does not so much want the things for itself; it merely wants to take them from the other.  The Stoics defined it as ‘grief at someone else’s good.’  Basil called it ‘grief at your neighbours good fortune.’  It is the quality, not so much of the jealous, but rather of the embittered mind.”

This brings us to “heresies.”  Here we have a word that can mislead one.  The first thought to mind may be that heresy is some kind of unscriptural false doctrine.  While that may be involved that is not really the meaning of the word.  Here is how it is translated in other versions: factions (CSB, NAS, NET, NIV, NRSV), the NLT and ESV have division and divisions respectively, and the Good News Bible simply says, using its dynamic equivalent form of translation where meaning is preferred over literalness, “they separate into parties and groups.”

Paul condemned this in the church at Corinth when he said, “It has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:11-13a NKJV)

Factions may be over doctrine as is the case in 2 Peter 2:1 but may just as well be over personal preferences.  We are not to be forming parties among God’s people but rather to be united in one mind (1 Cor. 1:10).  “Be of one mind, live in peace.” (2 Cor. 13:11 NKJV)  All of this is not to say one should not take a stand for the truth.  Paul was not creating another factious party in 1 Corinthians 1 and throughout that book when he set about rebuking that church’s sins.  One must not, however, be raising a fuss over peripheral matters.

“Murderers” shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  This sin is easily enough understood.   We know, however, this sin goes beyond the physical act for John says, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15 NKJV)  Jesus taught that “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders ….” (Matt. 15:19 NKJV)  “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” (Prov. 4:23 NLT)

“Revelries” is the last sin to be discussed in this four-part series on Paul’s statements that there would no inheritance in the kingdom of God for those continuing on in these sins.  Many translations use the word “carousing” here instead of the word revelries (see CSB, NAS, NET, and the NRSV).  The ESV, the GNB, and the NIV use the word “orgies.”  The ALT translation says “drunken orgies” and the ERV says “having wild parties.”  We get the idea.  Unfortunately, this is a relatively common sin among many of the younger college-age set.  Once one reaches the age of accountability he can die and go to perdition without living into old age.  We are all accountable for how we live and there is no sowing of your wild oats with God.

Paul adds to his long list of sins in Gal. 5:19-21 this closing, “and such like.”  It is left up to you and me to have enough common sense about us to figure out what else there is.  The list is not finished.  We have in the scriptures enough information about God’s will to take it from here.  We are taught how to live and the nature of things to flee from.  After our initial conversion (the new birth) given a little time on the milk of the word we are to move on to the meat of the word (Heb. 5:12-14).  We are to learn and grow and come to “understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph. 5:17 NKJV)

There are other lists of sins in the New Testament.  Any sin engaged in and never repented of will keep one out of heaven.  It was obviously not Paul’s intent to say here is the all-inclusive list that will do that.  May we all continue to read and study and grow in the scriptures and flee from sin.

(I add this closing note.  There are a number of good free web sites online that will allow you to compare translations.  When doubtful on what a word you come across means it is good to take advantage of those sites as they will be a great help to you in discerning and understanding your Bible.  The same goes for difficult passages as well as individual words.)

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Link to Part I

Link to Part II

Link to Part III

No Inheritance in The Kingdom of God – Part II

This is a continuation of an article I started awhile back on Paul’s statements that those practicing certain sins would not inherit the kingdom of God.  As a text I used three  passages as follows:

1 Cor. 6:9-10	Gal. 5:19-21	Eph. 5:5-7
“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, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Cor.  6:9-10 NKJV)	“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21 NKJV)	“For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.” (Eph. 5:5-7 NKJV)

As is evident I used the New King James Version of the Bible (underlining by me - DS).  The first two sins mentioned by Paul in Galatians – adultery and fornication – were covered in my first article.

Some of the sins listed can be grouped together due to the features they share.  Uncleanness, lewdness, homosexuals, and sodomites all relate to sexual sin in part or altogether.  All involve sexual immorality.  Why list them at all then since Paul has already given us the umbrella term “fornication” (translated “sexual immorality” in modern versions) under which term they could all be sheltered? 

We can only speculate on that as we are not told.  I think it likely that when we use terms that can be broadly interpreted there can be some danger that we will miss the mark in our understanding.  For example, in my last article I talked about sexual immorality.  There is a bit of a problem.  Sexual immorality has to be defined.  Where do you draw the line; what is sexually immoral and what is not?  I thought about listing a large number of such sins, not just from my own thinking but from reading others (commentaries, etc.).  I hesitated and did not do it.  Why not?

Paul said in Ephesians 5:12, “It is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.”(NKJV)  So, did I want to dare to be so specific and graphic in light of what Paul told the Ephesians?  No, I felt it best to just be general and leave it at “sexual immorality.”  But, again, the danger is a person may not be aware of their specific sin when one is so general in such broad declarations.  Things may be excluded that ought to be included.

My speculation, that is all it is, says that perhaps Paul did at times get specific in naming sins that could have been closeted under a more general term not wanting to take the chance that some sins would be overlooked if not explicitly mentioned.  Sometimes we need to be told straight up that what we are engaged in is sin, no guessing or wondering about it.

I begin today’s discussion with the sins of homosexuality and sodomy.  Paul says neither homosexuals nor sodomites will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10 NKJV).  Instead of using those two terms the Christian Standard Bible says, “males who have sex with males” and both the English Standard Bible and the New International Version have footnotes that are similar.  The NIV footnote says, “The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts.”

The Bible knows nothing about homosexual marriage which is solely an invention of sinful mankind and a very, very recent invention at that.  Man cannot invent a right in order to circumvent God’s condemnation and think that if God exists they will get by with it eternally.  Kick sand in God’s face and see what happens when his patience is exhausted and you face him in judgment.  God never gave man the authority to overrule his decrees.

The next term is uncleanness.  What is uncleanness?  It is hard to find any commentator on this term who will actually define it with any specificity.  It is another broad inclusive term.  We can only do our best.  We know uncleanness is a work of the flesh from our Galatian passage and that an unclean person has no inheritance in the kingdom of God from the Ephesian passage.

By comparing other Bible translations we learn that the Greek word behind the English word “unclean” can be translated as “impure.” The Christian Standard Bible translates in Gal. 5:19 using the phrase “moral impurity” and in Eph. 5:5 with just the word “impure.”  The English Standard Bible in Eph. 5:5 uses the word “impure” and in Gal. 5:19 the word “impurity.”  The New International Version, the New American Standard Bible 2020, and the New Living Translation all do the same thing.  So, the question arises as to what makes one impure (unclean).

If we were living under the Law of Moses (the Old Testament) it would be easy to name many things that made one unclean, things that separated from God until cleansing took place, but we now live under the new covenant sanctified by the blood of Christ.  So how about for us living today? 

We can get an idea from Ezra 9:11 where we read, “The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity.” (Ezra  9:11 NKJV)  Ezra is going back in time here referencing the days long gone by when the children of Israel were told to enter the promised land and drive out the inhabitants (destroy them).  What kind of uncleanness had those inhabitants practiced?

Idolatry was perhaps the most egregious sin but there was far more to their idolatry than just a spiritual devotion to an idol.  It often involved what one commentary said was “little else than sexual orgies with a religious scenario,” there were male and female temple prostitutes, and there was offering as burnt sacrifices their own sons and daughters.  They were involved in witchcraft, soothsaying, interpreting omens, sorcery, mediums, etc.  You can find a listing of these things in Deuteronomy 18:9-14 and another listing with regards to the general immorality as related to sexual sin in Leviticus 18.  Leviticus 18:27 reads, “For all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled” thus unclean. (Lev. 18:27 NKJV)  When one reads the word “defile” in his/her Bible we immediately understand we are talking about uncleanness.

One can conclude that anything related to idolatry would make one unclean in God’s eyes, the only eyes that matter.  Would the same apply to false worship or false doctrine?  I am not the judge of where such things begin and end, where the exact line is to be drawn, but it seems the wise man or woman would want to stay as far away from any kind of false religion as possible including within Christendom when one finds it. 

One can also say any kind of sexual immorality being practiced would make one unclean.  In fact, uncleanness is such a general term that one could say almost any and every sin one would practice would make one impure or unclean.  If not, why not?

Jesus said, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.  These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." (Matt. 15:18-20 NKJV)  This would seem to me to be a listing of things that would make one unclean or impure.  If you are defiled you are unclean.  Again, one is led to the conclusion that uncleanness is a broad all-encompassing term for any and all sin that is practiced.

I would suggest that a person find any listing of sins in his/her New Testament, go down the list, and ask themselves with each sin listed “if I did this thing would it keep me pure (clean) or would it make me impure and unclean?  That is probably as good a way as any of deciding what is clean versus what is not.  Is the thing I am contemplating doing leading me to holiness?

I will close the comments on uncleanness with this from 2 Cor. 6:17 where Paul quotes from the Old Testament and applies it to the present.  “Therefore ‘come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.  Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’" (2Cor. 6:17 NKJV)  God wants us to be holy and undefiled by the world, separate from the world, and certainly separate from idolatry in whatever form it might take.  We need to live pure and holy lives.

The last sin to be dealt with in this essay is that of “lewdness.”  Lewdness is the word used in the New King James Version of the Bible from e-sword but I have an evidently older version of the New King James Version New Testament that uses the word licentiousness.  The old King James Version uses the word lasciviousness.  Other modern-day versions translate using words like promiscuity (CSB), sensuality (ESV, NASB), indecent behavior (NAS20), depravity (NET), debauchery (NIV), and lustful pleasures (NLT).  The online dictionary at dictionary.com says for lewdness, “indecency or obscenity; vulgar sexual character or behavior.”

We generally think of lewdness as being sexual and obscene in a public way by one’s behavior and/or dress or lack thereof.  However, one can be lewd in non-sexual ways.  You cannot use the public streets and walkways as your toilet as is reported about some in San Francisco without being lewd.  You cannot be loud and vulgar in your speech and behavior in public.  You cannot live without respect for others round about you in your conduct.

Jesus, in Mark 7:20-23, says lewdness defiles a man (V. 22 NKJV).  Paul says we are to walk properly, not in lewdness and lust (Rom. 13:13).  He says there were some in Corinth that had not repented of their lewdness (2 Cor. 12:21).  In Ephesians speaking of the Gentiles he says they “have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” (Eph. 4:19 NKJV)  Lewdness here is associated with uncleanness as it was with lust in the Roman passage.  The point is that the scriptures clearly condemn such a way of life.  There is no inheritance for those who fail to repent of this sin.

There is a word of caution here in defining lewdness.  We get so used to things the way they are we become immune to them, take them for granted, and think no more about them.  I have in mind the way so many young women especially, but sometimes older women as well, dress.  Have you ever wondered about what God thinks about short shorts worn out in public?  It may not be lewdness for us for we have become so used to such things but how does God see it?  I wonder how such dress would have gone over among Christians living in the first century.  I think I know.  For that matter how would our great grandparents have felt about it?  We must consider God in every aspect of our lives first and foremost.  We cannot let modern-day life scar us over to the point we become like the world and think and behave as they do.  We need to see things the way God does.

This brings this article to a close.  When I started out on this project I had no idea it would take this much time, effort, and space but like the tortoise we will keep at it as long as we can and as long as the Lord wills and hopefully get it done.  The goal is to define every term that Paul says will deny us an inheritance from the passages chosen.

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Link to Part I

Link to Part III

 

No Inheritance in The Kingdom of God – Part I

The apostle Paul when he was not writing to a specific individual in his epistles was writing to a church or a group of churches, Galatians for example.  He was writing to Christians in all cases.  In the course of his writing, he warns against a multitude of sins, sins of all kinds.  One finds long listings in Rom. 1:28-32 and 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

While we know sin of any kind unrepented of can keep one out of heaven I have found it noteworthy that in three places Paul gives the reader specific warning that the sins he lists, if practiced, will keep one from inheriting the kingdom of God.  Those passages are found in 1 Cor. 6:9-10, Gal. 5:19-21, and Eph. 5:5-7.  I quote them below using the New King James version.  All underlining is mine.

1 Cor. 6:9-10   “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, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Co 6:9-10 NKJV)

Gal. 5:19-21   “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal 5:19-21 NKJV)

Eph. 5:5-7   “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. (Eph 5:5-7 NKJV)

I thought it might be good to be sure we understand the nature of the sins that will keep us out of heaven if practiced. 

Adultery is the first sin listed in Gal. 5.  I suspect most people think they know what adultery is but Jesus’ gives one definition of it in Matt. 19:9, “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." (Matt. 19:9 NKJV)  Of course, if the woman was to do this rather than the man the principle is the same.

There are people who claim that adultery is a one-time act.  No so!  Col. 3:5-7 clearly teaches one can live in a sin.  “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication (‘sexual immorality’ in modern versions – DS), uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.” (Col. 3:5-7 NKJV)  So, one can live in a sin or sins versus just a one-time act.

Besides that it is said by those who know the Greek that the word “committeth” as in committeth adultery in Matt. 19:9 in the King James version of the Bible denotes linear or continuous action thus means it is ongoing, not a single act.  I am not a Greek scholar but I don’t think they are lying about it.  There is no reason to do so. 

One must also remember why John the Baptist got in trouble with Herod.  He was imprisoned for Herod did not like what he had to say, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” (Mark 6:18 NKJV)  Herod had married her but John said she is “your brother’s wife.”  Herod was living in adultery with Herodias.

Of course, all extra-marital affairs are adulterous.  A fitting definition that more or less covers the whole ground of what adultery is would go something like this:  voluntary sexual intercourse between two persons, one at least who is married to another (both might be).  Yes, this is an act but when engaged in habitually it is a manner of life, a way of life which one lives or practices.

Is this the only way to commit adultery?  Good question.  How about what Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky were involved in?  What about those who are sexually intimate but have not yet gone all the way?  God will judge whether or not it is adultery but it is certain such things are sexually immoral and will keep the unrepentant out of the kingdom of God no matter what descriptive name you would give to the specific sin.  Those things would at the very least fall under the category of “fornication,” our next topic.  As a matter of fact, all adultery falls under the more inclusive classification of fornication (sexual immorality).

Before moving on to the topic of fornication one other comment ought to be added to this discussion.  Jesus did say, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:28 NKJV)  “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8 NKJV)  Is this equivalent to the adultery spoken of in Paul’s listings?  It would be tough to take the position that one could face God on the Day of Judgment with an impure heart and have hope of heaven.  I suppose technically, which is to say physically, it would not be adultery but it is definitely a soul destroyer.  That is about all one can say about the matter.

The next sin Paul lists that committed habitually and unrepented of that will keep one out of heaven is fornication.  When I was growing up in the mid-20^th century when one used the word fornication we all thought we knew what was meant.  It was a single person having sexual relations, sexual intercourse, outside of marriage.  Such a person was a fornicator.  That was the limit of the sin.

Nowadays one will not even find the word “fornication” or “fornicators” in the major modern-day translations.  Those terms have been exchanged for a much broader more inclusive term, “sexual immorality.”  This includes versions like the New American Standard 2020, the English Standard Version, the Christian Standard Version, and the New International Version.  The New Living Translation uses the term “sexual sin” in 1 Cor. 6:9.

Think of the many Greek scholars who worked on these translations deciding how to most accurately translate the Greek into understandable English.  Were all these scholars wrong in making the decision to change the wording from fornication to sexual immorality?  Perhaps the very reason they did it was to clarify the meaning of the text to those of us who were likely to misunderstand the meaning of the word “fornication” in our modern-day society.

The Greek word behind the King James, the New King James, and the older New American Standard versions that was translated as “fornication” was the word “porneia” in its noun form with a slightly different spelling in its verb form.  It was long thought among the average person, so to speak, that this word had the restricted meaning I have already spoken of, but modern scholarship has debunked that idea and thus changed the translation to “sexual immorality.”

One can easily be misled by reading some of the older commentaries and word study books on the word fornication that seem to restrict the meaning to one specific act.  Whether they actually did that or not is open to question.  They may have meant more than we commonly give them credit for when they used phrases like “sexual intercourse.”  That phrase likely had a more broad based meaning many decades ago than it does today in society in general, more specifically the word intercourse.  We have today confined it to one act.  That does not mean they did or that they intended to.

Be that as it may, scholarship does advance with time in nearly every field of endeavor.  Not every change in our bibles is the devil trying to destroy us as some King James only advocates seem to imply.  “Sexual immorality” is a much better way to translate the Greek word porneia to give the modern-day reader an accurate understanding of what the text is meant to convey.

So, what does this phrase mean, this thing, this sin that will keep one from inheriting the kingdom of God?  Fornication (NKJV) or sexual immorality (modern versions) includes all sexual sin thus not just sexual intercourse outside marriage but nearly everything that you can imagine.  Probably no one could list every specific sin under this general category of “sexual immorality.”  I think most people have an innate sense about them, if they have any Christian background or training at all, to know when an action has crossed the line into sexual immorality whether it is specifically stated as such in the text or not.    

I know some object to “sexual immorality” as a translation of the Greek here.  They think it is too broad a phrase, encompasses too much.  Yet, they generally admit that the word “fornication” as most understand it to not be inclusive enough of what the actual Greek word “porneia” means.  So, they stand between a rock and a hard place.  What word or phrase would they use?  You get no answer.  As I said before, “sexual immorality” is a better translation for our day and age.  Trying to figure out every single sexual sin that this would include is not the job of the translator.

Certainly, this sin, sexual immorality in all its many varied aspects, is difficult for people living in bodies of flesh to conquer.  I once heard many, many years ago a faithful man in the church as far as I could tell comment that everyone was likely guilty.  I suspect he was correct if one was to talk of a one-time or an occasional occurrence over the course of a lifetime, especially in youth.  However, Paul speaks of those “who practice such things” (Gal. 5:21), who make it a way of life, who are unrepentant.

It is no news to any of us that we sin.  “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10 NKJV)  The key is to not practice sin as a way of life and to be penitent, to repent when we do sin --  that is if one is a Christian.  For those who are not the key is to obey the gospel from the heart with all that involves (another lesson for another time).

I had hoped to go through this entire listing of sins from the passages chosen in one article.  Obviously, that is not going to happen.  I will, Lord willing, continue on in later articles.  For now, I close by simply saying that the Holy Spirit says we cannot go to heaven practicing these two categories of sins. 

“For out of the heart, proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.  These are the thing which defile a man.” (Jesus, Matt. 15:19-20 NKJV) [my underlining -- DS]

[To download this article or print it out click here.]

Link to Part II