Sexually Immoral Christians Are Deceived | 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

If you claim to be a Christian but engage in habitual sexual immorality, you are deceived. If you profess Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, but continue to masturbate to pornography, you are deceived. This might be the primary reason that you are failing to get victory over your sexual immorality. You are deluded about how you can be both a Christian and a habitual fornicator at the same time.

So, what are you deceived about? The Bible tells you. In The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, in the sixth chapter, Paul asks the church at Corinth a simple but searching question:

“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. 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 6:9-11

A People and a Place

Paul is writing to Christians about another group of people, a group that he calls the unrighteous. And Paul is writing about a place called the kingdom of God. To appreciate what Paul is saying, you must understand these terms.

When Paul talks about the unrighteous, he is meaning the wicked and the unjust, particularly the heathen. He is using a word that means without justice, that is, a breach of divine justice, or a violation of God’s standards. This word describes being found guilty in God’s court of law. It has in view someone who has committed a legal infraction against God’s moral law, an act that calls for divine retribution.

When Paul talks about the kingdom of God in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, he is referring to the messianic kingdom, the kingdom that is be ruled over by God’s appointed Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Then notice what Paul says about this group and about this place: “The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Unrighteousness and Sexual Immorality

Paul makes his meaning clear by describing who the unrighteous are. He does not supply an exhaustive list, but he does mention 10 classes of people: fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous people, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners.

Notice that these are not sins, but sinners. These are people. And 40% of these people are sexual sinners. An adulterer is a married person who has sex with someone who is not their spouse. A homosexual, in the way that Paul is using the word here, is a man who submits his body to sex by another man. A sodomite is a man who engages in sex with another man. A fornicator is a sexually immoral person, someone who commits sex acts that are outside of God’s standard for sexual relations. Sexual immorality includes incest, sex with animals, sex outside of marriage, viewing porn, reading porn, listening to porn, creating porn, and masturbating to porn.

The Impossibility

Then Paul repeats himself. He says that this group, this collection of unrighteous people, 40% of whom commit sexual sins, will not inherit the kingdom of God. In other words, they are not heirs to the kingdom. They are not God’s children. God is not their father. So, they will receive nothing from God by way of inheritance when they die.

The kingdom of God is a place of beauty, truth, love and justice. Jesus Christ rules and reigns there. There is no sin there. It is the place where all of the blessings and advantages of being a child of God flow down from the throne of God to His children. And the kingdom of God is somewhere where the impossible cannot happen. An unrighteous person cannot inherit the kingdom of God. A sexually immoral person cannot inherit the kingdom of God. That’s impossible.

The Opposite Group

So, who, exactly, does inherit the kingdom of God? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: those people who have been washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. In other words, the born-again believers, the Christians, that Paul is writing to in Corinth and elsewhere, right up to today.

But notice what Paul says of this other group. He says some of them used to be sexually immoral, and adulterers, and homosexuals, and sodomites. Paul says, “Such were some of you, but.” And this “but” is the key to understanding what Paul is saying. Paul says that some of the believers in Corinth used to be sexually immoral, and adulterers, but they are now washed, sanctified and justified.

In other words, Paul has two groups of people in view here. They are the filthy, and the washed. The sinful, and the sanctified. The guilty, and the justified. Two groups of people, diametrically opposed to each other in lifestyle, standing before God, and eternal destiny.

The Deception in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

But to this group of washed, sanctified and justified Christians, Paul issues his warning: “Do not be deceived.” He warns the believers, not the sinners. To the believers, Paul says, “Do not be deceived into thinking that you can be a sexually immoral person and enter the kingdom of God. Don’t be deceived into believing that you can practice adultery and inherit the kingdom of God.” And, if I may use a contemporary form of sexual immorality, “Don’t think that you can masturbate to pornography and inherit the kingdom of God.” Because you can’t.

These two things are mutually exclusive. You can’t be counted among the unrighteous and also be an heir of the kingdom. You can’t be someone who practices the sexual sins that God hates and also be on your way to glory. You can’t be a fornicator and also be washed. You can’t be an adulterer and also be sanctified. You can’t be a sodomite and also be justified. You are either one or the other. You can’t be both. This is the deception that Paul warns you of.

The Cause of the Deception

Behind every deception there is a deceiver. And that deceiver is the devil. Jesus describes him this way:

“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

John 8:44

This belief that you can be a sexually immoral person and also be an heir of the kingdom of God is a lie, and the author of this lie is the devil. The devil is the father of lies, and through his lies and deceit he intends to keep as many people out of the kingdom of God as possible.

And his lie is working. In a survey conducted by Barna Group for the Josh McDowell Ministry in 2019, Barna discovered the following:

• nearly 40% of “practicing Christians” who “actively seek out porn” feel comfortable with how much porn they use
• only one-third of practicing Christian porn users say they “feel a sense of guilt when they use porn”
• 25% of practicing Christians say pornography has positively affected their sex life
• only 19% of practicing Christians say they are currently working to kick their porn habit

Are You Deceived?

Now, you are likely wondering why Paul has to tell Christians in a church in Corinth that they should not be deceived. The answer is simple. Because some of them were deceived, while others were open to this deception. They thought they could profess Christ, practice sexual sin, and still inherit the kingdom of God. If you fall into this camp, you are deceived as well. Here are some possible causes for your current predicament:

• Satan has blinded your eyes: You are under spiritual attack, and you cannot discern right from wrong. Not likely.
• You misunderstand salvation: You think that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection from the dead for you are your get-out-of-jail-free card that you can use in the game of life to enjoy sexual immorality and still reach heaven by and by. Your misunderstanding of eternal security gives you license to sin. Possible.
• You have seared your conscience: You have been watching pornography for so long and engaging in sexual immorality for so many years that you no longer feel shame and guilt. You are comfortable with your sin. Likely.
• You haven’t been caught: Your spouse doesn’t know. Your boss is unaware. Your church is clueless. Because you haven’t been caught (yet). And so you continue in your compulsive sexual sin. Most likely.

What Will You Do Now?

Now you must make a decision. Now that you know that you cannot both practice sexual immorality and inherit the kingdom of God, you must decide where you stand. Will you remain among the unrighteous, the wicked and the unjust? Or will you realize your deception, believe what God says about your sin, and forsake your sexual immorality?

Will you remain among the unrighteous? Or will you take your place among the redeemed? Will you remain on the path that leads to destruction, or will you repent, confess your sin, seek God’s forgiveness, and join the path that leads to life, and life everlasting? The choice is yours to make, today. You can answer Paul’s question in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 right now in the affirmative. You can say, “Yes, Paul, I know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. I am no longer deceived. Thanks for asking.”