Don’t be deceived. Do you not know?

The title is so important for many who are already followers of Jesus. It isn’t those who have rejected Christ who will be deceived but those who follow. Why lie to the world? No the lie is to those within the Church. The lie is to blind us to what we already know or for us to change what we know to believe and follow an alternative way.

It was a rainy Saturday morning of my 2nd year in College and it was yet another football match against a local team. I was surprised I was in the team. I always thought I was making up the numbers. Others were far better. I’d run around a lot. If the ball came to me I would immediately pass it on with the attitude of ‘let me get rid of this thing’. Half-time came and as we walked off the pitch the captain of our team came alongside me and said he was going to make some changes and substitute one of the players. Immediately I offered to be substituted. It was the obvious thing to do. His response shocked me, “No. You’re one of our best players.”

In the second half I went on to that pitch a different man. I got that ball. I called for it. I ran with the ball. I tackled for the ball. I played a different game. Was the difference in my performance? Maybe, but it was definitely in my mind. All because my captain said you are more than what you think you are.

Many people are going through life not understanding who they are in Christ and as a result they can be fooled into wrong behaviour.

Paul will ask the question ‘do you not know?’ Why are you deceived?

“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 ¹⁰ nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ 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 v 9-11)

Are your sins in the list? It’s a list of 9. Which is the worst sin on the list? Can you grade them? Surely greed isn’t the same as men having sex with men? But Paul puts them together.
Some Christians get so angry with the sins of other Christians.
We don’t like seeing ourselves on the sin list.

Allegedly, Charles Spurgeon invited D.L. Moody to speak at an event he hosted. Moody accepted and preached the entire time about the evils of tobacco, and why the Lord doesn’t want Christians to smoke. Spurgeon, a cigar smoker, was surprised at what seemed to be a cheap shot levelled by Moody, using the pulpit to condemn a fellow minister. When Moody finished preaching, Spurgeon walked up to the podium and said, “Mr. Moody, I’ll put down my cigars when you put down your fork.” Moody was overweight.

We are all on someone’s sin list.
But not God’s.
Because we were washed, sanctified and justified!
It’s those 3 declarations which mean we are in the kingdom of God, within the rule of Christ.
So what is Paul saying?

Do you not know? Do not be deceived.

If we have fallen into the sin list then we know how to get out of it.

We want to be who we have been made to be in Christ.

We want to inherit the kingdom.

We want to stay in alignment to God and so we rely on the powerful name of Jesus who continually cleanses, makes us holy and declares us righteous by the work of the Holy Spirit within us.