1 Corinthians 6.9-11
In discussing how the Corinthians
One can argue the apostles bring up and condemn these behaviors lest the Corinthian Christians think they can get away with practicing them… but for the most part the Christians knew better. I would instead argue they’re listing them because Roman officials did them. We have the ancient biographies; we have the writings of Roman officials of the day. Most were admittedly guilty of at least one of them, and many were guilty of far more than one—if not all.
Here’s the list. And same as the Galatians list of
1 Corinthians 6.9-11 KWL 9 Didn’t you know the unjust won’t inherit God’s kingdom?- Don’t be fooled:
- Neither the unchaste, idolaters, adulterers,
- catamites, sodomites,
10 thieves, the greedy, drunks,- trolls, nor predators, will inherit God’s kingdom.
11 Who among you is still like this?- Instead you’re washed. Instead you’re made holy.
- Instead you’re declared righteous
- in the name of our master, Christ Jesus,
- and by the Spirit of our God.
Because it’s a list of words, it means it’s time to bust out the Greek dictionary again, talk about what these words generally meant to ancient Greek speakers, then talk about what the apostles (probably) specifically meant by them. And yeah, I realize “catamites” and “sodomites” come up in verse 9; I’m gonna talk about that too. May as well get neck-deep into that controversy since we’re here.
Bad fruits.
Jesus says
UNCHASTE (
πόρνοι /pórni,KJV “fornicators”). Unchastity topsJesus’s list too. It refers to inappropriate sexual activity: People who can’t keep it within the bounds of monogamy, fidelity, andthe considerations of their partner. And the considerations of one’s partner are paramount in a marital relationship. If a man obligates his wife to do what she doesn’t wanna, he’s unchaste.
Self-control is still a fruit of the Spirit, and sexual self-control is definitely part of that. Those who lack sexual self-control, and try to excuse it by saying, “But it’s all marital!”—yeah, that’shypocrisy. Minister to your spouse’s needs (and I don’t just mean sexually), and stop indulging your selfish desires.IDOLATERS (
εἰδωλολάτραι /eidololátre, “idol-servants”). Yes, an idol is technicallyanything we prioritize above God, but Corinth had hundreds of literal idols in it, so you know the apostles meant that.Because whenever you have a Christian church in a predominantly polytheistic culture, there are always gonna be a few newbie Christians who are gonna try to worship Jesus… and the pagan gods they left behind. Oh they’ll mostly worship Jesus, but they have
pagan family members who don’t see why we Christians have to be so exclusive; why can’t we worship Jesus and all their favorite gods? Especially in cultures where the pagan gods are good gods—what’s our objection to good gods? Greco-Roman gods were nasty, though; if you’ve read the myths, you know there’s nothing good about ’em.And since Greco-Roman gods were nasty and ignoble, stands to reason their worshipers were usually much the same. Present-day idolaters are likewise corrupted by all the bad traits of the things they revere.
Partisans take on the worst characteristics of their party. Sports fans turn into hooligans.Mammonists love money more than people, and it shows. You get the idea.ADULTERERS (
μοιχοὶ /mihí). Also in Jesus’s list. In Corinthian culture, adultery was common… because pagan worship incorporated it. If you went to Aphrodite’s temple to worship, it included sex with a temple prostitute. It was a hard to be a Greco-Roman pagan and not regularly violate your marital obligations!And therefore—arguably—all the sexual stuff in this passage likely has to do with
the historical context of ancient pagan worship. Yep, that’d include the next two fleshly works. And if sex stuff offends you… well, why have you been reading this far? But yeah, either brace yourself or stop reading right now, ’cause we’re about to talk about gay stuff.CATAMITES (
μαλακοὶ /malakí, “soft [to the touch],”KJV “effeminate.”) It’s an unfamiliar English word nowadays, but a catamite is a boy or young man used for homosexual practices. Basically a catamite permits (although in the Roman Empire, permission was often not any part of this) a man to peg him.If malakí weren’t paired with the next word, arsenokíte, we could arguably interpret “soft [to the touch]” as “cowardly”—as someone who’s too soft to stand up for themselves, or stand up for what’s right. But together with arsenokíte, we’re obviously talking about sex. Hence the
ESV bunched both words together and translated them “men who practice homosexuality”. TheNIV did likewise and went with “men who have sex with men”. TheNASB just does “homosexuals.”Now remember, this passage is presented to Corinthians who were familiar—and warned against practicing in—ancient pagan worship. Temple prostitutes consisted of women and men. Because Greeks and Romans didn’t have any hangups about homosexuality: If a man wanted sex, and a woman wasn’t available, he was usually just fine with a catamite. Our culture takes issue with it—and after 20 centuries of Christians condemning homosexuality, of course our culture takes issue with it! But ancient Greco-Romans didn’t think like that. To them, if you were horny, you had sex with whoever was available. It’s like a dog you haven’t neutered, who just won’t stop humping everything. Ancient pagans didn’t bother with self-control either.
(But—inconsistently—Romans did have hangups about catamites. They felt it was fine, even manly, to be the arsenokíte… but humiliating to be the malakí. You never wanna be the malakí. And they typically looked down on those who voluntarily did it.)
Considering that a lot of prostitutes, including temple prostitutes, were forced into that vocation—the temple bought ’em
as slaves, and made ’em do it—it seems mighty unfair of the apostles to condemn the victims of sex trafficking! Which is why I’m entirely sure the apostles only mean temple prostitutes who chose to be temple prostitutes. If you choose sex work—whether it’s for the money, the sex, or the lifestyle—you’re certainly not following the Spirit. If you never chose any such thing—there’s grace. SODOMITES (
ἀρσενοκοῖται /arsenokíte, literally “arse coitus,”KJV “abusers of themselves with mankind,”NET “practicing homosexuals”). Again, in the context of ancient pagan worship, this isn’t at all about men who fell in love with other men, and wanted to marry them. We’re talking about men who paid for sex with male temple prostitutes.No, I’m not justifying men who fall in love with other men, and wanna marry them. Just saying this isn’t that. This is dealing with sex trafficking, rape, and pedophilia. Ain’t no love involved. But certainly antigay Christians are gonna accuse me of trying to justify homosexuality… and as usual, incorrectly use this verse to condemn it. “See, it says ‘homosexuals,’ and that ‘homosexuals’ will not inherit the kingdom of God, and therefore there can’t be such a thing as a ‘gay Christian.’ Bible says so.”
And of course, never investigate whether the bible actually does say so. You think such people care about historical context? Betcha they don’t even know what it is.
Properly, what the apostles are condemning are sex workers and the johns who frequent them. It’s tied to the unchastity, the adultery, and the idolatry in Corinthian and Greco-Roman culture. It’s tied to the unjust Greco-Roman judges who ruled over Christian disputes: These guys went to these temples, and worshiped nasty sex gods, and cheated on their spouses, and fornicated with young boys. You expect these people to rule righteously?
On to verse 10, and the other sins you’re usually gonna find among corrupt leaders.
THIEVES (
κλέπται /klépte, “stealer”). Related to Jesus’s wordκλοπαί /klopé, “thefts.” Pagan rulers expected bribes, and if you wanted a good ruling, you’d grease your judge’s palm. Is that theft? Well yeah; you’re taking advantage of the people who seek what’s supposed to be a righteous, lawful judgment. It’s not far different from hospitals overcharging an emergency patient, or price-gougers exploiting the needs of people who wanna buy their stuff. It’s all thievery.THE GREEDY (
πλεονέκται /pleonékte, “avaricious,”KJV “covetous”). Also in Jesus’s list. Coveting isn’t itself a sin; the 10 commandments only forbid coveting what we ought not have. But a lifestyle of always wanting more wealth and power: Yep, that’s unhealthy. And corrosive.DRUNKS (
μέθυσοι /méthysi, “tipsy,”KJV “drunkards”). You know the sort: They’ve always gotta have a few beers or glasses of wine in the evening; they’ve always gotta smoke a few joints or pop a few gummies. They can’t remain sober. Life needs a chemical cushion.I know
certain Christians absolutely disagree, but I’m entirely sure the scriptures permit moderate alcohol… and I suppose marijuana too, where it’s legal. But the apostles are clearly talking about the sort of pagans who are constantly drunk or stoned, and if they’re pursuing the bottle or blunt instead of the Spirit, you know they’re not going in the right direction.TROLLS (
λοίδοροι /lídori, “mischief-[maker],”KJV “revilers”). Yeah, the word troll has only recently been redefined to mean someone who’s trying to anger others; maybe pick a fight. But that’s exactly what a lídoros was doing: Verbally abusing someone, in the hopes they’d snap and do something Roman soldiers could stab them for.If you’re the type of person who loves to sow chaos for the evil fun of it all, who loves to watch their opponents or political foes get enraged, got some bad news for you: That’s a work of the flesh. Obviously.
PREDATORS (
ἅρπαγες /árpaghes, “robbing [like a wolf],”KJV “extortioners,”NIV “swindlers”). Jesus compares false prophets to this kind of predator—“ravening wolves,” as theKJV puts it.Mt 7.15 Incidentally that old-timey word “ravening”—you know, like a raven—is a good way to understand it too. Wolves and ravens both look for opportunities to pick their victims clean.So those people who are that kind of predator—who look for every opportunity to exploit others, and take from them—are obviously unfit for God’s kingdom.
Traits you never wanna see in leadership!
As I’ve been saying, Paul and Sosthenes bring up this list of fleshly fruit to describe the sort of fleshly governors to whom the Corinthians might go to for “justice”—and of course they’re not gonna find any justice, because these are the traits you’re gonna find in these people. They’re sex perverts, idolaters, predatory greedy thieves, drunks, and trolls. You’re lucky they don’t crucify you for fun.
Sad to say, Christians haven’t always taken the apostles’ advice, and are perfectly happy with fleshly people like this as their candidates for public office. (One in particular comes to mind, but his fans are getting mighty tired of me mentioning him, and I’m not gonna troll them.) But we know we should never appoint people of low character to positions of authority,
Such people are not gonna inherit God’s kingdom. Such people are not gonna turn our land into anything resembling God’s kingdom. Not that this was the point of the apostles’ teaching; it’s simply to warn the Corinthians—and us—we want nothing to do with such leaders. We don’t want them deciding things on our behalf. We need to settle such things on our own, without their “help.”
And we certainly ought not mimic these traits, nor promote them, nor encourage our kids to be anything like it. We certainly ought not overlook them. They’re warnings. These people are wrong. They will drag us down into destruction along with them. Touch not the unclean thing.
