by Jimmy Jividen

The city of Corinth was filled with immorality. Paul preached there about Jesus. He told them that their sins would damn their souls.

"Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9b,10).

The listeners did not try to excuse or justify their sins. Instead, they repented. Paul described their change, "such were some of you." This reflected two things:

First, the demands of repentance. They gave up those sins which would have damned their soul. The fornicators did not blame the culture. The homosexuals did not blame their genes. The thieves did not blame their environment, and the drunkards did not say they had a disease. They simply repented — quit practicing sin.

Second, the magnitude of grace. This catalog of sin describes a pretty raunchy bunch of people. The good news is that these sinners were washed, sanctified, and justified in and by the blood of Christ.

God's grace is sufficient to save the most de-spicable sinner, if that sinner is willing to repent. In this case, their change of heart in repentance brought about a total change in their life-style. This brought a change in their relationship with God.

Hearing God's message and being moved by it to obedience will do the same for us today as then — it will save our souls.