By Dennis Pollock
In the New Testament, there are several lists of which most Christians are completely ignorant. These lists have to do with who you will not find in Heaven, and the behaviors and habits of those people who will be excluded from the kingdom of God.
The first list that we will consider was compiled by the apostle Paul. In the Book of Galatians, Paul describes the “works of the flesh.” When Paul speaks of the flesh, he is referring to our sin nature and the actions, behaviors, and habits that spring from this cesspool of corruption. He writes:
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. (Galatians 5:19-21).
“Those Who Practice…”
When Paul says that people who do these things will not inherit the kingdom of God, he is saying that they will not go to Heaven. Note that he says “those who practice” these things. He is not talking about someone who was tempted, slipped up, and then later repented. To practice these sins is to do them regularly and never repent. Throughout the various seasons of their lives, “practicers of sin” fornicate, murder, or show hatred toward people, or engage in witchcraft or other abominable practices. They consistently engage in blatant, flagrant, regular sins which God condemns.
According to Paul, if you do these things regularly, you will not go to Heaven. There is no mention of whether these people believed in Jesus or did not believe, and this would come as a shock to many Christians. They might suppose that since Paul is the apostle of grace, and emphasized salvation by grace, it would hardly matter how a person lived, or whether they practiced sin occasionally, frequently, or continually. In their minds, it would not matter whether you hated people if you were a “Christian hater.” Or it would make no difference whether you committed adultery every week, if you were a “believing adulterer.” Drinking yourself into a drunken stupor every night is OK, if you have prayed the sinner’s prayer, which made you an official believer. At least you are a Christian drunkard, and you have your ticket for Heaven.
But the apostle Paul did not see things this way. He tells us that “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” They will not live with God and Christ throughout eternity. Some Christians would be shocked to find that this list is even in the Bible, let alone that it was penned by the apostle Paul, the apostle of grace. It would seem he is saying that although your good deeds cannot save you, your wicked behavior and lifestyle can guarantee that you will be lost and will not enter through the narrow gates that lead to everlasting life.
Not a Contradiction
Does this contradict Paul’s other assertions that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus? Clearly not, but we must conclude that Paul is telling us that if we have truly been saved by grace through faith in Jesus, we cannot and will not go on sinning the way we did before our faith experience with Jesus. In this same Book of Galatians, he writes: “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” It is in our spiritual DNA to deny our selfish, lustful sin nature and pursue holiness according to the will of our Heavenly Father.
In the Book of 1 Corinthians, Paul again gives a list of people who will not go to Heaven. He writes:
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. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Oddly, once again, Paul says nothing about whether we believe or don’t believe in Jesus. He simply tells us who we will not find in heaven, and the list is long. From everything else he has written, he is not telling us that to get into heaven, we must struggle really, really hard not to sin, not to fornicate or commit adultery or steal or get drunk. The word of the gospel is and always has been: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” Or as John puts it: “But as many as received Him (JESUS), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name…” (John 1:12).
You Cannot Live in the Mud
The only way to reconcile Paul’s lists of those who will not make it to Heaven, with the gospel directive to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved, is to understand that when we do believe in Jesus, our lives will change, and our flagrant, blatant, consistent practice of sinning and offending God will come to a screeching halt. Or, as Paul says in the Book of Romans: “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:2). A pursuit of holiness is evidence that real faith in our hearts has brought about genuine salvation.
After his 1 Corinthians list of exclusions from Heaven, Paul tells the Corinthians: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Notice the past tense: “Such WERE some of you.” He is saying to the Corinthians, “You used to fornicate, steal, and get drunk,” but you believed in Jesus and repented of your wicked lifestyle. “Such WERE some of you” – not “such ARE some of you.”
If you were allowed to question Heaven’s millions of inhabitants about their lifestyles while they were on earth, you would find no murderers, fornicators, adulterers, thieves, or occult people who practiced these things throughout their lives. You would surely find all kinds of people who once did these things, but at some point, they repented, put their faith in Jesus, and stopped their wicked practices.
Once forgiven, they were no longer on the list of people forbidden entrance into the kingdom of Heaven. And perhaps some of you listening to me today are in the same category. Such WERE some of you, but now – no longer. To use Paul’s words: “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
