I got carried away yesterday on scripture chapter and verse designation and missed my original intent. In our Western culture we seem to have a much narrower concept of an evildoer. We manage to agree on the murderer, the terrorist, the pedophile, the serial rapist. But do we really catch the significance of some other types of people mentioned in 1 Co 6:9? Society is proliferated with tolerating the various sexual orientations; we are supposed to treat it as normal human behavior. The lesbian, gay, transgender are supposed to be normal. Yet according to the scripture, they have a great threat risk regarding salvation. What about the thief, someone who walks into stores and steals all the time; even petty theft is considered a disqualification for salvation. We do not even consider greed in a prosperity society; the fact that tithing as around 5% in America is a huge indicator of greed. Alcoholics are classified as not entering the kingdom of God; they say once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. The person that is freed from alcohol is a non-practicing alcoholic. The same logic would go for the others. These labels prevent a person from inheriting the kingdom of God. I see one on the list that had me bound as a Christian and now I am a non-practicing one. Continuing on the list, slander has many references in the Proverbs; do not speak falsely about anyone. No one likes a swindler, but many deceive to gain riches. These identifications are quite serious and we seem to be more tolerant in general than we should be. How do we address them without incurring the wrath of society; actually there is no easy way to present truth without repercussions. However, if a person repents and turns from these behaviors, then they should be accepted for turning from evil. Yet that person will always have the residue of the label. The evildoer continues in the behavior and has no future hope.
Do not fret because of evildoers
or be envious of the wicked,
20 for the evildoer has no future hope,
and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. Proverbs 24.
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. 1 Cor 6:9
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