Be Not Deceived

By Dan Bailey

Be Not Deceived — (I Corinthians 6:9-11 —Article #8)

"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 mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

The Bible clearly teaches that revilers "...shall not inherit the kingdom of God."That is, they shall not enter into the heavenly kingdom. They are doomed to an eternal hell! They are lost! To revile is to "criticize in an abusive or angrily insulting manner" according to the New Oxford American Dictionary. The Greek word for reviler is defined as a "railer, reviler" (Thayer, p. 382). It has reference to one who speaks reproachfully, who reviles, or heaps verbal abuse upon another. We read in Ecclesiastes 5:2, "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." Reviling words are rash words. Many times they are spoken in haste and without any thought of the consequences they might bring. "Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him"(Proverbs 29:20).

In the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, the word revile is translated "railing" in Proverbs 25:24. "It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a railing woman and in a wide house" The translation from the Hebrew as we have it in the King James Version is: "It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house" (Proverbs 25:24). There are no doubt millions of men and women who fall under the name of a "reviler." There are no doubt parents who revile their children, and children who revile their parents. There are husbands who revile their wives, and wives who revile their husbands. Whoever does the reviling is sinning and is lost. One who does such is only deceiving himself. God has spoken on the subject. A reviler "...shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Let us remember that how we speak to one another matters to God. "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matthew 12:34-37). My friend, if you are guilty of such speech, please repent before it is too late! "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:31-32).