![]() ![]() The Jews took “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28) very seriously, so much so that they considered it sinful not to marry, with rare exceptions made for dedication to Torah study. This was, of course, the exact opposite of the Jewish perspective on sexuality, which focused heavily on having children. Some of their philosophers considered gay sex preferable to heterosexual sex, because the love was considered purer, as there was no expectation of creating a family. Just so, homosexuality was an entirely acceptable practice among the Greeks. Sexual fidelity to one’s wife was not really expected. In the Grecian culture, it was expected that married men would enjoy the company of prostitutes and otherwise sleep around. And most Corinthian men would have been adulterers and otherwise sexually immoral. Obviously, just about any Gentile convert would have been an idolater. Therefore, he wasn’t speaking abstractly - these are sins the church members had in fact had to leave behind to become Christians. Paul had been the first missionary to Corinth and knew these people personally - and he knew their stories. ![]() If so, why does Paul pick on these sins? Well, as he says in verse 11, these are sins that the Corinthian converts had left behind when they were converted. Therefore, we need to avoid the interpretation that these are somehow “mortal sins” that are inherently more damning than other “venial sins.” Were we to compile a list of all sins that make a list like this one, it would be quite a long list.Īnd yet we’ve all been taught that sin is sin, and any sin can damn. Paul (as well as Jesus and other New Testament authors) often give lists of sins that damn, and the lists are never the same. Some of these are obvious, whereas others are a tad more controversial, such as “men who practice homosexuality.”īefore considering homosexuality in particular, we need to reflect on where this list comes from. 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.Īfter addressing lawsuits between believers, Paul dramatically changes the subject to moral sin, declaring that certain sins will keep the sinner from inheriting the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9–11 ESV) 9 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, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ![]()
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