Chapter 6: Adulterers, Thieves, Liars, Whoremongers, Blasphemers and Murderers WILL NOT BE in the Kingdom of God

Adulterers, Thieves, Liars, Whoremongers,
Blasphemers and Murderers,
WILL NOT BE in the Kingdom of God

Audio read by Tom Parks - MP3

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Though all mankind are destined to be finally saved and become members of the Family of God, the vast number of people who have ever lived will not achieve this glorious state until what Paul calls the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times (Ephesians 1:10). Recall that Paul said that salvation was to be given to mankind at particular seasons of time. (See Chapter 4 of this book for details.) Those periods are described by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. Those periods are important in knowing the times of salvation. Paul gives us the excellent teaching on this.

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man [one] in his own order: Christ the firstfruits [Greek has singular]; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming [his Second Advent]. Then cometh the end [Greek: the telos], when he [Christ] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father."

1 Corinthians 15:22–23

Paul mentions three time periods in which there will be resurrections to spiritual life. The first was at the time of Christ’s own resurrection, the second is when all the righteous who have lived during this age (up to the Second Advent) will be resurrected to experience the thousand year reign of Christ in his Kingdom on earth called the Millennium (or the Jews called it "the Age to Come"). Then, after the Millennium (or the Age to Come) is over, Christ will hand all the government and power over to the Father. The Kingdom phase of Christ’s rule will have ended (verses 25–28). Then will come what Paul called in Greek the telos (the end). This third (and last) period for resurrection is the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times which occurs after the Kingdom phase is over. This is when the third and final resurrection to spiritual life occurs. This is when the vast majority of people who have lived on earth will obtain their predestined salvation, which has been guaranteed to them in Christ.

But note this. Only those whom God considers worthy during this age will have the blessing (and reward) of being resurrected at the Second Advent of Christ. They will inherit the Kingdom phase of salvation which occurs a little over a thousand years before the vast majority of mankind receive their salvations. If we want to inherit our salvation and to experience the Age to Come (or the Millennium) then Paul warns all people they ought to be refraining from evil.

"For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

Ephesians 5:5

All of the warnings given by Christ and the apostles about punishment, perishing, not making it, undergoing judgments, and not inheriting the promises, have to do with this matter of not inheriting the Age to Come or the Millennium. It simply means that unless people express civility and good in their demeanor in this time of existence (or if they know nothing about the Kingdom phase with Christ ruling on earth for a thousand years in glory), then such persons will not be resurrected at the Second Advent of Christ to experience the Kingdom phase of salvation. They will have to wait until the telos (which is the time of the very end at the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times) before gaining their resurrections and their salvations, which all mankind are promised by God the Father and Christ. God expects his people to show good conduct here and now or they may not gain the reward of experiencing the Kingdom, which begins with Christ’s Second Advent and lasts for the Millennium.

Look at an example of this particular warning recorded in Paul’s writings. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:10–15 that all who know the truth at this time should be building our spiritual houses with good works and by practicing proper doctrines of Christ. If we do not (deliberately so), then even the good works that we do may be in danger of being burnt up in judgment. Paul said,

"If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself will be saved; yet so as by fire."

1 Corinthians 3:15

Paul meant that the wicked persons would not be brought up at Christ’s Second Advent to inherit the Kingdom phase of salvation (which the Jews called "the Age to Come"). This means the wicked persons would suffer loss, but they would still be saved. Their salvation will only come to them after the Kingdom phase is over and they would miss out on living and ruling with Christ and the other resurrected saints (as a reward) during that period of a thousand years.

Paul gave another illustration of this principle of judgment on the evildoers. He chastised a Christian man who was living with his father’s wife in an incestuous union. Paul said (unless the man would repent of his ways),

"To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh [in this life], that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."

1 Corinthians 5:5

So, if people know the truths of God and still in a deliberate manner continue as always in their adulteries, whoremongerings, thievery, murdering, blaspheming, etc. during this life, these people can be judged by God now for their wicked ways (1 Timothy 5:24), and they certainly will not be resurrected at Christ’s Second Advent to experience with the rest of the saints of God the Kingdom phase of salvation (the Age to Come) called the Millennium. They will have to wait until a time period called the telos, which occurs after the Kingdom phase is over to receive the full knowledge of the truth of God and the salvation, which all people are promised in Christ from before the foundation of the world. This lack of reward is a punishment for their sins. They will not experience the Kingdom phase of salvation, which is to rule with Christ during the Millennium (the Age to Come).

In no case, however, will people burn in a hell fire forever as a punishment for sins. After all, mankind has been created mortal. We do not have an immortality associated with us yet. The doctrine of the so-called Immortality of the Soul (or Spirit of man) is an alien teaching to those found in the Bible. The only one possessing immortality, who has ever lived on earth, is Christ Jesus. Paul said, "Who only hath immortality" (1 Timothy 6:16). All other people who have died from the time of Adam and Eve and down to our own day are NOT living in heaven, purgatory, limbo or some kind of hell devised by the pagans of the ancient world. They are all dead in their graves and awaiting their resurrections from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:35–56). Of all those since Adam who have died, only one person has attained a spiritual life to immortality. That person is our Elder Brother, Christ Jesus. "Who only hath immortality" (1 Timothy 6:16).

It can easily be proved that the punishment for sins is not everlasting life in a hell fire burning forever. The English words "forever, everlasting or eternity" are principally from the Hebrew word olam or from the Greek words aeon or aeonian. These words of themselves never mean "forever." The words signify an undefined time period that has a beginning and an end to it. The shortest time period for olam (which some foolishly translate "forever") in the Old Testament lasted only three days when Jonah was in the belly of the fish (Jonah 1:17, 2:6). Really, the words olam, aeon and aeonian refer to indefinite time periods either long or short. Good translators of the Bible usually denote them as "age" or the adjective could be "age-lasting." The words themselves do not mean "forever." They certainly do not signify that the punishments mentioned in the Bible for sins last forever.

There is a prime example to show that the punishment for sins is not "forever." Indeed, it is the standard example that we should all pay attention to. That example is the one given by Christ Jesus himself when he performed his mission for mankind on earth. Note this. When Christ died on the tree of crucifixion for all mankind, he took upon himself all the sins of the world (even the most heinous) and suffered the punishment for those sins — for all the sins of the world. But Christ did not go to a hell fire and burn forever to pay the punishment for those sins. Had the wages of sin been to endure a hell fire forever as so many preachers, evangelists and priests state, then for Christ to have paid that penalty for the world’s sins, he would have to be in that hell fire right now and burning for the rest of eternity.

The truth is, Christ was out of his grave three days later and went to heaven and is now in a glorious relationship with the Father (reigning there in our place until our resurrections from the dead). The Bible shows in no uncertain terms that the wages of sin happens to be death, not eternal life in hell fire or anywhere else (Romans 6:23). And that is what Christ did for us, and for all the human race. He died for them and paid for all their sins perfectly and completely. For more information on this vital subject concerning the punishments for sins, see my book 101 Bible Secrets that Christians Do Not Know.

It is time that people today abandon the absurd teachings of many of the preachers, evangelists and priests who claim to be teaching the Gospel of Christ to the world. The vast majority of them are as far off from teaching the truth of the Gospel as they can get. What they need to do, is to change their ways. They need to begin to teach the real truths of the Bible. Those truths start out with the fact that the Gospel of Christ is a teaching which shows all mankind how they GOT saved in Christ before the foundation of the world, not what they have to do to GET saved. It was Christ Jesus who did the works that GOT mankind saved.

Mankind also ought to be told that if they wish to experience their resurrections from the dead at the Second Advent of Christ in order to inherit the Kingdom phase of salvation, then they ought to be living like the members of the Family of God that they are and not in a barbaric and uncivilized manner that is unbecoming to the children of God. This is what Christ, Paul, Peter, John and the other apostles taught.

And though it is clear that all mankind will not inherit the Kingdom of God at the Second Advent of Christ, all mankind will without fail be saved in Christ. This truth is as certain as the rising of tomorrow’s sun. This promise is backed up by the express commands of God the Father and Christ Jesus made to mankind before the foundation of the world. There is not the slightest doubt that all mankind will be saved and come to a full knowledge of the truth of the Gospel of Christ Jesus. The apostle Paul made it clear when salvation was granted to us.

"Who [God] hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."

2 Timothy 1:9

Remember, the true message of the Gospel is not what man has to do to be saved, but it is the teaching of what Christ Jesus did for all mankind that GOT them saved! Preachers, evangelists and priests need to start teaching the truth and telling the world how all mankind GOT saved in Christ Jesus.