Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. 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. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
There is an old hymn that says, “Just as I am and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot.” A towel with one spot of mud is not clean any more than is a towel dripping with muddy water. We may not be able to identify with the various kinds of wickedness Paul describes here – although most of us probably can to some degree – but it matters not because we have all sinned and experienced the blotting of our souls.
We who were ineligible for an inheritance have become the heirs. How? By being washed clean of the wickedness in our souls and by the sanctifying and justifying work of the Holy Spirit. Should we run through a puddle and find ourselves dirty again, we can return to the “fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins and there beneath the cleansing flood lose all our guilty stains.”
Be of good cheer, you who are wicked! The kingdom of God is waiting just on the other side of the waterfall of grace.
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