1 Corinthians 6:9

My Notes

What Does 1 Corinthians 6:9 Mean?

Paul warns the Corinthians with a catalog of behaviors that exclude people from God's kingdom: fornication, idolatry, adultery, effeminacy, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. The list is broad — sexual sin, economic sin, relational sin, addiction.

The opening — "be not deceived" — implies that some in the church were being deceived about this. Perhaps they believed that grace eliminated all moral consequences, or that certain behaviors were acceptable within Christian freedom.

The list includes behaviors that the Corinthian culture normalized. Paul is drawing a line that the culture had erased — not to condemn, but to warn. The kingdom of God has boundaries.

The very next verse (6:11) is the redemptive counterpoint: "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." The list is not the final word. Transformation is.

Reflection Questions

• 1.How do you hold together the seriousness of this list with the grace described in verse 11?
• 2.Why does Paul say 'be not deceived' — what deception was happening in Corinth that happens today?
• 3.How does 'such were some of you' change how you read the list?
• 4.Where is the line between acknowledging sin's seriousness and using Scripture as a weapon?

Devotional

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Paul states it plainly. Then he lists behaviors that exclude — and the list is uncomfortable because it touches nearly every human weakness.

Be not deceived. Paul adds this because deception was happening. Some in the church had convinced themselves that behavior did not matter — that grace covered everything without requiring change. Paul says: that is a lie.

But the verse that follows changes everything: and such were some of you. Were. Past tense. The Corinthian church included former practitioners of everything on the list. They were not excluded because of their past. They were transformed out of it.

Washed. Sanctified. Justified. Three words that describe what happened to people who were once defined by this list. The list is real. The transformation is more real.

This verse is not a weapon to use against others. It is a mirror and a promise: the behaviors are serious, and the grace that transforms them is more serious still.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture