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NASB | 1 Corinthians 6:9 ¶ Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 6:9 ¶ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [by perversion], nor those who participate in homosexuality, |
Subject: Does sin prove one is not a believer? |
Bible Note: Hi David, Consider the following as an example: 1 Cor 8:10 "For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; 11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. 13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." This is just one of many scriptures that people use to make the claim that you can lose salvation. They say that this is talking about a brother, and that they can perish - lose salvation. We can perish physically or spiritually. John 15 tells us that the branch that does not bear fruit the Father takes away (this is not the branch that is burned – those are cast out, then gathered to be burned. This branch the Father takes away.) If I embolden my weaker brother to sin against his conscience, and he does not return to a fruitful walk, the Father may take him home, and so his earthly life is over, he perishes. The word translated “perish” is apoleitai from apollumi, which is variously translated as lost (as the sheep Jesus searches for - Matt 10:16), lose (to lose a reward – Mark 9:41), perish (John 3:16), die (expedient that one man should die – John 18:14), destroy (cast down but not destroyed – II Cor 4:9). If this passage refers to spiritual death, then my poor witness and stumbling my brother has greater power than God’s power that keeps him (I Peter 1:3). Depending on how you translate apollumi, the weaker brother may become misguided, missing a reward, may die, may be destroyed. This verse does not require as its only meaning that the weaker brother has lost his salvation. Compare to I Peter 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth (stays) for ever.” If I have stumbled a brother into sin, and he ‘die-again’, I will have corrupted the incorruptible, and caused to leave what the Bible says stays forever. I use this example to make this point. You cannot use verses that have a broader range of meaning to interpret those that have a narrow range of meaning. You must begin with those that have a very narrow range of meaning, and use them to understand the others. I hope this helps. Love in Christ, Mark |