Inheritance Lost Through Sin

Matthew 5:18-19 “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  (19) Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Even though unforgiven sin in this age will be forgiven us through our Lord’s mercy on that day there will still be a price to pay, for in the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus said there would be. So what is the price that will be paid by the saints on that day? The price paid by believers, who continually break even the least of the Lord’s commandments and teach others to do the same, is that those believers will be placed among those who are called least in the kingdom of heaven. I want you to notice in this passage that our Lord Jesus refers to the breaking of the least of His commandments as cause to be called least in the kingdom of heaven. The Lord is not then saying that those who break the greatest of His commandments will incur a greater penalty. Not at all, because all of the commandments are His and the one who transgresses even the least of His commandments has become a transgressor of His law. The apostle James confirms this truth to us when He taught us that when we commit just one sin then we become guilty of transgressing the whole (not just one) law (James 2:10-11).

2 Timothy 2:20-21 “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honour and some for dishonour.  (21) Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”

Our Lord spoke about those called least in the kingdom of heaven while the apostle Paul spoke about those classified as vessels of dishonour. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul teaches us that in a great house there are some vessels that are used for honour and some for dishonour. The context of His teaching in this passage is that certain individuals in the church had been practising the sin of teaching false doctrine, and Paul was commenting on their status in the kingdom of God as a result of their sin. And so we see that even though these individuals were practicing sin they still remained in the house. The great house in this passage of scripture refers to the kingdom of God and so clearly these individuals still remained in the kingdom of God. Nevertheless because these individuals had not cleansed themselves from dishonour they had become vessels for dishonour in the kingdom of God. And so as vessels of dishonour, they would incur the same penalty as the saints who are classified as least in the kingdom.

1 Corinthians 6:8-10 “No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!  (9)  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, (10) nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

On numerous occasions in the New Testament the Holy Spirit warns believers that certain saints will have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. The first time we are warned about this truth is in the above quoted passage from Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth. Sadly most in the church misunderstand this passage of scripture, because of which the Holy Spirit’s warning goes unheeded in the church. Some think that Paul was referring to unbelievers in this passage, while others think that Paul was warning Christians that practicing the sins he listed would cost them their salvation. Neither interpretation is correct however. And so we will examine both interpretations to show what Paul was really saying to the church in this passage. The first of the erroneous interpretations is that the apostle Paul is referring to unbelievers when he refers to the unrighteous, and on the surface that interpretation seems to be correct. However if we look a little more closely at what Paul is saying then we very quickly realise that Paul is not speaking about unbelievers at all, for if he was then his question posed to the church would be an insult to the intelligence of the Lord’s saints. For if the subject of Paul’s statement refers to unbelievers then we could substitute the word “unrighteous” with the word “unbeliever”, and Paul’s statement would then read, “do you not know that the unbelievers will not inherit the kingdom of God?” All believers know full well that unbelievers will not inherit the kingdom of God and that it is only believers that qualify, so what is the point of asking such a foolish question? And why would Paul tell the saints that they should not be deceived into thinking that unbelievers practicing fornication, etc, can inherit the kingdom of God? There are no saints that are deceived in thinking that unbelievers practicing idolatry, adultery, etc, will inherit the kingdom of God, so why warn the saints not to be deceived in this area? The answer is that Paul is not warning the saints about being deceived into thinking that unbelievers practising sin can inherit the kingdom of God, but rather he is warning the saints about being deceived into thinking that those practicing unrighteousness can inherit the kingdom of God. You say but what’s the difference? The difference is that the unrighteous that Paul is referring to in this passage are not unbelievers at all, but rather he is referring to saints that are walking in unrighteousness. And so we see that if we understand that Paul is referring to believers that are walking in unrighteousness, then it makes complete sense for him to ask us if we realise that saints that practice unrighteousness will not inherit the kingdom of God. And it also then makes sense for him to warn believers that the saints that practice lifestyles of sin such us sodomy, stealing, being covetous, etc, will not inherit the kingdom of God. Another reason that we know that the Holy Spirit is referring to believers in this passage is because in the previous chapter He counsels believers not to fellowship with brothers in Christ who are practicing the same sins listed in this passage (1 Corinthians 5:11). And so we see that in this passage of scripture the apostle Paul is writing to believers when he warns them about the loss of their eternal inheritance because of a lifestyle of practising sin. This brings us to the second erroneous interpretation of this passage, which is that believers that commit the sins listed will lose their salvation because of which they will not inherit the kingdom of God. It is very important to note the terminology that the Holy Spirit uses in this passage however, for He does not say that these believers will lose their salvation but rather He says they will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul would never make the statement that those who commit these sins will lose their salvation because he knows that such a statement would be untrue, because no matter how grievous these sins are they are not the sin to death (1 John 5:16). And so because these saints have not committed the sin to death they remain in the kingdom of God even while practicing these sins. The reason the Holy Spirit specifically uses the term that they will not inherit the kingdom of God, is because it is their eternal inheritance and not their salvation that they will forfeit as a result of their sinful lifestyles. And so we see that when we correctly interpret this passage of scripture then the Holy Spirit’s warning becomes very clear to us i.e. believers who choose to practice a lifestyle of sin will forfeit their eternal inheritance on that day.

Michael E.B. Maher

Eternal Judgement

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