"The Skeleton In The Closet"

“The Skeleton in the Closet”

September 30, 2007

“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 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 6:9-11

We live in a society run by lawyers. Everything we do is affected by lawyers. Go to the hospital and the prices are so high because of the malpractice insurance. Get in the car to drive home and your car insurance is so high because of the litigation problem with the insurance companies. Our country, according to some, is in such a mess because it is run by lawyers who have gotten into politicks. It isn’t that I am against lawyers – but my attitude toward most of them is like the guy who asked what the difference was between a bucket of pond scum and a lawyer. The answer: The bucket. Someone asked me if I knew how to save a drowning lawyer. I said “no”. He said “good”. But I found out anyway. You just take your boot off his head.

I’m really not against lawyers. I’ve know some excellent ones. We need good lawyers to protect us from the not so good ones. But I mentioned lawyers because we can read a Scripture that says very clearly that “the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God” and then lists some things that are wicked and again says they will not inherit the kingdom of God – and our tendency is to rationalize – especially if we are on the list.

On the list is the sexually immoral. What does that mean? Well, the Scripture gives us some direction. Adultery is immoral. Prostitution is immoral. Homosexuality is immoral. Stealing is immoral. Greed is immoral. Lying is immoral. Drunkenness is immoral. Gossiping is immoral. Cheating is immoral. The Scripture says, two times, that these people will not inherit the kingdom of God. That’s pretty clear to me. But you will hear people rationalize and excuse and make these Scriptures say something else – or not say what they clearly say. People do that at the peril of their soul. Another Scripture says,

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. People reap what they sow.” Galatians 6:7

Let me be as clear as I can be: Those who are doing these things are wicked and will not inherit eternal life. On the other hand, we have all fallen into one of these categories at some time or another. Paul writes:

“And that is what some of you were.” (verse 11)

Have you ever stolen something? Have you ever lied? Have you ever slandered someone? Ever had a drinking problem?

You say, “Well, yeah! But I wasn’t a prostitute or a homosexual. I never committed adultery. I was never sexually immoral!”

Well, some of us here may have done some of those “BIG” sins. But, guess what? No sin is acceptable. Even a little white lie will keep you out of heaven – if it is not repented of. Even a little white lie caused Jesus to be nailed to the cross. The bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

It also says:

“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” James 2:1

So – if you broke one of the nice “acceptable” sins – you are as guilty as the sexual pervert, the child molester and the rapist in God’s eyes. The root in all is rebellion.

So the point here is that we have all been in the camp of the wicked. We have all fallen short of God’s requirements. We have all been listed with the transgressors. Like that lawyer – we have all been lower than pond scum. We deserved the sentence of death. We were guilty. After listing some of these wicked things, Paul says, “And that is what some of you WERE.” (1 Cor. 6:11)

There are two things you need to notice about this Scripture. First, we all have sinned and fallen short of the will of God. There are no perfect people here. It may seem like it. But every single one of us has a skeleton or two in the closet.

Secondly, we need it to be in the past tense. He said, “That’s what some of you WERE.” Not now. Not any longer. We all have skeletons in the closet. Or have had skeletons in the closet. But they need to be taken care of by our Savior. We may have been liars – but no more. We may have been drunks – but no more. We may have been sexually immoral – but no more. If we want to come into the kingdom of God – we need to stop doing those things and become new creatures in Christ. The Bible says,