John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 6:9

"Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men," — 1 Corinthians 6:9 (ASV)

Know ye not, etc. By unrighteousness here you may understand what is opposed to strict integrity. The unrighteous, then—that is, those who inflict injury on their brothers, who defraud or circumvent others, who, in short, are intent upon their own advantage at the expense of injuring others—will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That by the unrighteous here, such as adulterers, thieves, covetous, and revilers, he means those who do not repent of their sins but obstinately persist in them, is too clear to require stating. The Apostle himself also later expresses this in the words he used when he says that the Corinthians formerly were such.

The wicked, then, do inherit the kingdom of God, but only if they have first been converted to the Lord in true repentance and have in this way ceased to be wicked. For although conversion is not the ground of pardon, we know that none are reconciled to God but those who repent.

The interrogation, however, is emphatic, for it indicates that he states nothing but what they themselves know and is a matter of common remark among all pious persons.

Be not deceived. He takes occasion from one vice to speak of many. I am of the opinion, however, that he has pointed out chiefly those vices which prevailed among the Corinthians.

He makes use of three terms for reproving those lascivious passions which, as all historical accounts testify, reigned, indeed raged, to an extraordinary height in that city. For it was a city that abounded in wealth (as has been stated elsewhere). It was a celebrated trading center, frequented by merchants from many nations. Wealth has luxury as its attendant—the mother of unchastity and all kinds of lasciviousness. In addition to this, a nation which was itself prone to wantonness was prompted to it by many other corruptions.

The difference between fornicators and adulterers is sufficiently well known. By effeminate persons I understand those who, although they do not openly abandon themselves to impurity, nevertheless reveal their unchastity by enticing words, by lightness of gesture and clothing, and other allurements. The fourth type of crime is the most abominable of all—that monstrous pollution which was all too prevalent in Greece.

He employs three terms in reproving injustice and injuries. He gives the name of thieves to those who take advantage of their brothers by any kind of fraud or secret trickery. By extortioners, he means those who violently seize another’s wealth, or like harpies draw to themselves from every quarter and devour.

To give his discourse a wider range, he later adds all covetous persons too. Under the term drunkards, you are to understand him as including those who go to excess in eating. He more particularly reproves revilers because, in all probability, that city was full of gossip and slanders. In short, he mentions chiefly those vices to which he saw that city was addicted.

Furthermore, so that his threatening may have more weight, he says, be not deceived. By this expression, he admonishes them not to flatter themselves with a vain hope, as people are accustomed, by downplaying their offenses, to accustom themselves to contempt of God. No poison, therefore, is more dangerous than those allurements which encourage us in our sins. Let us, therefore, shun—not as the songs of the Sirens, but as the deadly bites of Satan—the talk of profane persons when they turn the judgment of God and reproofs of sins into a matter of jest.

Lastly, we must also notice here the appropriateness of the word κληρονομειν—to inherit, which shows that the kingdom of heaven is the inheritance of sons and therefore comes to us through the privilege of adoption.