Monday, October 30, 2023

Understanding Paul's Mind in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

     There is a great incongruence in taking what Paul writes in his letters as commands to be followed. Paul himself is very explicit in his letters that those who are disciples are not to be trying to follow commands or "laws" but are to be submitting to and cooperating with the Spirit of Christ, and that it is the Spirit of Christ who is to be acting and speaking through you. This is the bedrock for understanding Paul's mind when he gives instruction in his letters.

     When Paul talks about "inheriting the kingdom of God," he's not talking about going to heaven when one dies, he's talking about a person manifesting Jesus Christ in their words, actions, and even demonstrations of power. That is, when one is "walking in the Spirit," they "inherit" everything that Jesus Christ is as they submit to and cooperate with His Spirit. So when Paul says that someone behaving in a certain way will not inherit the kingdom of God, he's talking about when someone's behavior clearly indicates that they are functioning from their own devices, their own fear, aggression, or bodily cravings. And this, when you understand the bedrock of Paul's thinking, makes perfect sense. 

     If one is not submitted to and in cooperation with the Spirit of Christ, it's not going to be Jesus Christ acting and speaking through that person. They're not going to be "inheriting" His person, power, or attributes as long as they are submitted to their own ego/mind/identity produced by their own malfunctioning neurology. They've unplugged, so to speak. They're not "making their home in Him." They're not "walking in the Spirit," and as such are not going to produce the fruit of the Spirit as Jesus Himself said, "without Me you can't do anything at all."

     In the light of this understanding, let's look at 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 which reads, "Or don't you know that behaving in the wrong way will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't be led astray; neither male whores nor idolaters nor adulterers nor weak, self-indulgent people nor those committing pederasty nor thieves nor avaricious, not alcoholics, not slanderers, not plunderers will inherit the kingdom of God." Virtually everything here listed can be ascribed to one of these three survival responses (malfunctioning in human beings) in some way: fear, aggression, and bodily cravings, all of which indicate disconnection from the Spirit of Christ. It is not a matter of any of these practices automatically damning someone to hell, but that the person is submitting to their own flesh rather than the Spirit of Christ. Further, it is clear from Paul's other writings that he never intended this list or any other he wrote to be additional rules or commandments for Christians to try and keep, but rather a practical instruction that one cannot be in submission to the root causes of these behaviors and manifest Christ at the same time. No one can be enslaved to two masters, and no one can be enslaved to one's malfunctioning responses of fear, aggression, or bodily cravings and be enslaved to the Spirit of Christ at the same time. It just isn't possible.

*(It should here be noted that the word "malakos" is frequently translated as either "catamite" or "homosexual" in modern translations. The word itself means "soft, gentle, delicate, self-indulgent, morally weak, faint-hearted, or cowardly." The word "arsenokoites" is frequently translated "sodomite" and this is technically the correct usage, but it is my understanding based on other early Christian writings that what was meant was the practice of pederasty, that is, older men sodomizing younger boys, which was a common cultural practice in ancient Greece and Rome. Finally, the word "pornos," frequently translated as "fornicator" actually means male whore, specifically such as might be found in pagan temple worship, but could be applied more generally as a pejorative as well.)


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