Now, here is a really big note on which to end our readings this week!
God has drawn lines that have eternal significance; continue living willingly and openly on the wrong side of them and Heaven itself excludes you. Paul portrays the wrong side of the line from verse 19 onwards, beginning with ‘sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ‘ – all referencing sexuality, a major area of temptation.
Exclusion from Heaven and the eternal presence of God is not a topic that occurs frequently in either preaching or our personal conversation. Most people of this generation are happy to be thought of as liberal-minded, imagining that God might put everything right and because of His love welcome us all into His eternal presence. I cannot even begin to imagine the vastness of the love of God, and how He welcomes sinners into His family; and yet He has clearly set boundaries to human behaviour – go on living outside the boundary and Heaven itself is closed to you. Perhaps it is more a case of shutting ourselves out of God’s presence. Exclusion from Heaven is something that humans choose for themselves!
Today, choose God, and choose to live within the boundaries He has set.
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