The Unrighteous Shall Not Inherit
By David Servant

Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? 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. I Corinthians 6:9-10

Jesus foretold it:

“Many will say to Me on that day, LORD, LORD, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Matthew 7:22-23
Jesus obviously revealed only the climax of a much longer story, but from this short segment, we can deduce other tragic details.

First, we can safely assume that the arguing we just read of the many who stand before Jesus is their final defense. They obviously had already been denied entrance into the heavenly kingdom. Now, with hearts beating wildly and minds spinning, they make their last desperate attempt to convince the LORD of His error.

To debate with God! How outrageous! What could drive a person to be so insane as to hope he might win such a dispute? Only pure desperation. Like a drowning man who grasps at anything, these panicked people pathetically hope to change the decree of the unchanging One.
What was going through their minds when they heard His decree for the first time? He was their Savior, or so they thought. They loved Him, or so they thought. They had been looking forward to this day for a long time, expecting to hear Him say, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave...enter into the joy of your master’. Matthew 25:21

They had served Him in ministry, experiencing the flow of His power, or so they thought. They had been on the cutting edge of Christianity, prophesying, casting out demons, and performing acts that they considered to be miraculous. It would be safe to assume they had studied parts of the Bible, attended church, and perhaps even attended special seminars on spiritual warfare?

Now, marveling at His glory and filled with joyful anticipation, they listen intently as He is about to speak. Every word will be more precious than gold. Time stands still. Eternity has begun.

His voice breaks the silence: “You are denied entrance into My kingdom.”

Did He really say what I think I just heard Him say? Surely not, this could not be. This is my LORD and Savior. “LORD, I must be so excited that my hearing has gone bad. Could You repeat what You just said?”

Again, He speaks. “You are denied entrance into My kingdom.”

"What? No! No! No! This cannot be happening. LORD, I am a Christian! I am Your own! I belong to the family of God! I accepted You as my Savior! I have gone to church for years. LORD, You must be mistaken! Somehow, there has been a misunderstanding! I believed in You! You are supposed to let me in!"

“You were deceived because you ignored much of what I said through the writings of Paul and Peter, James, John and Jude. I repeatedly forewarned you of this. I said,

Not everyone who says to Me, LORD, LORD, will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” Matthew 7:21

“You did not do the will of My Father while you were on the earth, proving that you did not truly believe in Me. Sin was your practice.”

LORD, LORD, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?

“Your prophecy was not inspired by My Holy Spirit, but from your own mind. Much of what you prophesied contradicted My Word. The demons you thought you cast out of your fellow false Christians did not exist. You were trying to deal with their sin by blaming it on a demon, when what they needed was repentance, faith and the new birth. The miracles you thought you performed were a sham. You accumulated teachers who told you what you wanted to hear. They proclaimed a false grace, misleading you into thinking you could get into heaven without holiness. You thought you were saved, but you were not. I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

Will such a scene as I have just described actually occur?

There is no doubt that it will. Although I have obviously added some details to what has been foretold in Matthew 7:21-23, nevertheless, those standing before Jesus one day will be many people who have called Him LORD, who have been involved in ministry, and who expect to enter heaven. Yet, shockingly, they will be denied entrance.

Now, rather than later is the time for self-examination.

Now, rather than later is the time to change! Later it will be too late.

You may be saying: “But, I am certain I am not deceived!” Do you realize that is what every deceived person would claim? Deceived people do not realize they are deceived otherwise; they would no longer be deceived.

Better to say, “LORD, am I being deceived, I want to know. NOW!”

Consider what Scripture says, and as we do, examine ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith. II Corinthians 13:5