In the continuation of our Sunday morning series on biblical repentance, the question that I want to provide an answer for this morning is, does repentance change anything? If so, what? Asking the same question in a different way, the question I am setting before us is, what, if anything, does repenting of sin and believing the gospel bring about in the lives of those who know Jesus Christ in a saving way? The question that I am essentially asking is, what does it mean to be a Christian? What specifically does God do for those who actually become Christian? And how do we know if we are counted among those who are the children of God? In our examination of Paul's words to the church in Corinth in verses 9 through 11 of 1 Corinthians 6, we find the answers to such questions. By way of clarifying what the biblical gospel is and does in the life of a true believer, the Apostle Paul seeks to confirm three irrefutable realities about the nature of biblical repentance. And the first irrefutable reality Paul wants those in the church to comprehend is the gospel certainty that those who have not been saved from the dominating influence of sin in their lives are not true Christians. Those who have not been saved from the dominating influence of sin in their lives are not true Christians. Notice what Paul says beginning in verse number nine. 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. In this first statement of Paul's, we find him expounding upon a common fallacy that was being mistakenly believed by those who professed to know Christ among the Corinthian church. The fact that Paul has to say, be not deceived, indicates that there were some among the congregation who were deceived about what is biblically true. There were some among the church who were being deceived by their own hearts. They were being deceived by their own feelings, deceived by their own opinions, deceived by their own experiences. There were some among the church who were being deceived by the false teachings of others. And still there were others among the church who were being deceived by what they saw in the lives of those who professed to be Christian who were not Christian at all. So Paul, through the influence of the Holy Spirit, is determined to speak to the misunderstandings of men so that others among the congregation might understand what is true. Paul says, do you not know that the unrighteous, those among you who claim to be Christian who act like pagans, will not go to heaven when they die? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Now it is important to recognize that the Apostle Paul is candidly and sternly speaking into the sinful situation of the church in Corinth. In this letter that Paul writes to the church in Corinth, we find him boldly confronting sinful problem after sinful problem among those who gathered together week by week, who earnestly believed themselves to be Christian. In this letter you will find Paul rebuking those who were idolizing God's servants more than Jesus Christ. Those who were involved in incestuous sin. Those who were tolerating public perversities. Those who wanted to argue that they had the liberty as Christians to enjoy various forms of sexual immorality. In short, many among the church were persuaded that they had the freedom to live their lives and to worship God however they wanted to. It is to these particular sinful practices that Paul is moved by God to take up his pen and write. And the first truth Paul affirms about such sinful practices is the truth that such activities are not Christian. To live however you want while verbally claiming to know the Lord Jesus Christ in a saving way is nothing more than a devilish delusion. To think that you can be one of Christ's sheep while you habitually live like a goat is to be absolutely ignorant of what true repentance is all about. What is repentance? But the turning to God from idols to serve the true and living God. What is repentance? But God rescuing sinners from the bondage of their sin, from the influence of Satan and the prevailing fascination of this godless world. What is salvation but God in Christ making unrighteous men righteous? What is conversion but God making all things new so that old sinful habits and practices might pass away and all things might become new? You see, Paul, in this instance, is alarmed that those in the church who think themselves to be Christian continue to live a life that is completely opposite to the fundamental teachings of what it means to be a Christian. So what does he do? Paul comes at them with a piercing question and a pointed statement. He says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? And then he says, don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God, because, as Paul is asserting, such people have never been born again. Those such people in the church claim to be saved. Those such people attend the services and sing songs about Jesus. Those such people sit nicely during the sermons and act friendly to those around them when they are present. The habitual conduct of their sinful lives only demonstrates that they do not know the Lord in a personal, relational, saving way. Look, church, the Apostle Paul does not soft-pedal the situation taking place in Corinth. The Apostle Paul does not automatically assume that everyone who comes to church is unquestionably Christian. The Apostle Paul does not categorize those who habitually live living in sin among the church as, quote, carnal Christians. Catch this, the apostle Paul does not view those who live like lost people as saved people. Paul does not accept a life characterized by fornication, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, robbery, greed, drunkenness, verbal and physical abuse, and extortion as customary Christian living. No. In fact, Paul is teaching us here that a life that is characterized by such sin is a life that is completely void of the Holy Spirit. I know some of you want to protest, and you want to protest towards the pastor, and you want to say, but what if and how about? And you want to protest to such things to justify yourself and to justify others. But the biblical text that has been inspired and preserved for us by God says what it says. So believe it. This is not my word. This is not my opinion. This is God's word. We must let the text speak for itself. Know what ifs. Know how abouts. Look at it. God says. The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. God says those who are fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners shall not inherit the kingdom of God. He repeats himself twice. God says, Galatians 6, 8, he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, death everlasting. Jesus says everyone who knowingly and habitually practices sin is still a slave to sin. God through the apostle John says, he that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. John says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. John says, whosoever abideth in him, abideth in Christ, sinneth not. This is not talking about sinless perfection. This is talking about the habit of one's life. Those who abide in Jesus Christ do not live as if they do not know Jesus Christ. First John 3.8, he that committeth sin is of the devil. For the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Again, this is not talking about sinlessness. This is not talking about perfection. This is talking about the careless continuation in known rebellion. 1 John 3, 10, in this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil, we have a split between the two. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth his brother. You see, all these biblical truths given by God emphasize the point that Paul is making in 1 Corinthians 6. If your life is characterized by careless disobedience to the commands of God, if your life is characterized by a life of godliness and worldliness, then you must not flatter yourself to be a Christian, because you are completely ignorant as to what it means to be a Christian. For a true Christian will be characterized by their love for God. A true Christian will be characterized by their burning desire to do God's will. A true Christian will be characterized by the fruits of righteousness that are being increasingly produced by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's high time that we take the hammer of God's word and smash the popular theological idol of carnal Christianity into a thousand pieces. The idea that someone can be regarded as a Christian while habitually living like a non-Christian is not Bible. The idea that you can be a child of God and not live like a disciple of Jesus Christ for decades is not in harmony with the biblical gospel. This idea that you can receive Jesus as Savior but not as Lord is heresy. Jesus is Lord. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. Call upon the Lord Jesus Christ if you would be saved. You cannot divide the divine person in half and say, I'll only take half of him. And yet that's what most people do. Jesus is my Savior, but he's not my Lord. What? Jesus is Savior and Lord. If you come to him, if you receive him, you receive him as he is. He is Savior and Lord. Saul on Damascus Road said, Lord, what do you want me to do? He understood. He is the king, he is supreme, he is the master, the one who he should fear, who has power to cast him into hell. This idea that you can be delivered from the bondage of sin only to be ruled by sin is contrary to everything we read about in the Christian life. So be not deceived. Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Be not deceived, Galatians, the works of the flesh are manifest. which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, immolations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revilings, and such like, Paul says, of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, you see, he was preaching the same truths over and over and over, that's where I get my philosophy, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. So the first irrefutable reality about repentance that Paul is emphasizing in our text is the reality that those who still love and practice sin are not to be regarded as those who've been saved from the power of sin, for Jesus has come to save his people from their sin. Jesus has come to save us not only from sin's penalty, but sin's power over our life. Those who are still in love with this world and the things of this world are still in the world, though they may frequent the church. Those who go to church and verbally say, I am a Christian, but lack a consuming desire to love Christ, obey Christ, worship Christ, serve Christ, and glorify Christ, are not Christian. For to be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ. So practically speaking, this means if somebody claims to be Christian, but Jesus Christ is not the prevailing God and master of their life, Jesus Christ is not their hope, their joy, and their soul's satisfaction, we can only assume that they are lost, deceived, and blind, and on their way to hell. Again, that's not my opinion, that's Bible. Let's go back to our opening question. Does repentance change anything? If so, what? What, if anything, does repentance bring about in the lives of those who know Jesus Christ in a saving way? Paul says it actually brings about a separation. from sin's power. It actually brings about a departure from the influences of the world. It actually brings about a lifestyle that is marked by spiritual growth and godliness. Repentance actually makes unholy people holy, impure people pure. The gospel of Jesus Christ actually transforms perverse people into pious people, gay people into straight people, idolaters into worshipers of the true and living God. Repentance actually brings about a change in the one who claims to be transgender. It actually brings about a change, a transformation, and those who used to be bullies and blasphemers, the gospel makes them into Bible believers. You see, this is the first irrefutable reality about repentance that Paul wants us to understand. The first truth he wants us to understand about biblical repentance is the truth that anyone who claims to know the Lord, who has not been saved, from the dominating influence of sin is not a Christian and will not inherit the kingdom of God. Then connected with this is the second irrefutable reality. The second irrefutable reality Paul wants those in the church to comprehend about biblical repentance is the truth that Jesus Christ actually transforms the lives of those whom he saves. He actually transforms the lives of those whom he saves. Notice what is said in verse 11. Following verses nine and 10, I'll read it as one statement so you can perceive the encouraging truth that Paul makes after the corrective truth that Paul makes. Paul says, know you 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. Verse 11. And such were past tense. Such were some of you. but you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. What, if anything, does repenting of sin and believing the gospel bring about in the lives of those who know Jesus Christ in a saving way? What specifically does God do for those who actually become Christian? God, through Paul, is teaching us here that true repentance always leads to a transformed life. True repentance always leads to a new relationship with Jesus Christ. True repentance always leads to a new relationship with the world and with sin. Paul says, and such were some of you. You used to live a life of fornication and adultery. You used to be idolaters. You used to be homosexual. You used to be drunkards. You used to be slaves to sin. You used to be infatuated with this world. You used to be separated from God and on your way to hell, but now in Jesus Christ, you have an entirely new life. through the person and work of Jesus Christ, through the regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit. Notice that you've been purified from the pollution of sin, you've been set apart from the ways of this world, and you've been pardoned of the wages of your sin and declared righteous by God himself. Notice carefully the repetitive focus. regarding who accomplishes the work of salvation for who. This is absolutely vital. Notice it in the text. Paul does not say, and such were some of you, but you decided that such a lifestyle was not constructive to your life, so you gave up your bad habits. Paul does not say, and such were some of you, but you started going to church and realized that you needed to reform yourself in order to fit in with the church and become a Christian. Paul does not say, and such were some of you, but you tried harder to be a better Christian. No, Paul says, You used to live a life of sin, but now you don't because of what the saving power of the gospel did in you and for you. In your believing Christ for salvation, in your repenting of sin, in your crying out for God's pardoning mercy, God in Christ made you into a new creation. Through the merits of the gospel, God in Christ has cleansed you from your spiritual leprosy. God in Christ has separated you from your idolatrous ways. God in Christ has clothed you in the righteousness of Christ so that you might be accepted by the Father. Paul says it's not you that brought about such a radical transformation in your life, it's God. It's Christ and Christ alone that sought you and saved you and redeemed you and washed you and gave you a heart to live entirely for Him. I mentioned this last week, I'll mention it again. Do you want to know what biblical realities I look for in my pastoral assessment of people's salvation testimonies? I look for God in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, accomplishing this threefold work that Paul mentions in verse 11. I look for instances of Jesus Christ saving people from the evil influence of sin. I look for occasions of Jesus Christ turning people from the sinful temptations of this world to the teachings of the word. I listen for a statement of sinners knowing something of their spiritual leprosy, their spiritual uncleanness, and Jesus cleansing them from their uncleanness. I'm looking for and expecting change. I'm looking for and expecting spiritual growth. I'm looking for and expecting a humble and grateful gospel declaration that they are confident that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and they are the chief of sinners. But sadly, most personal statements of faith I hear are nothing more than this. I used to go to church, then I got out of church, Now I'm back in church. I asked Jesus into my heart when I was little, I strayed away in my young adult years, and now I'm trying harder. I have always believed. I was never very, really serious about Christian things, but now I'm serious. I used to do bad things, but now with Jesus, I do good things. I've always been a good person, Now with God, I'm striving to be a better person. Now with God, I read my Bible more. Now with God, I pray more. Now with God, I give up my bad habits. Now listen to me for a moment. If your testimony is all about you and what you have done and what you currently do, you don't have a testimony of conversion. If your testimony is focused on the church more than Jesus Christ, you don't know Christ. If your testimony is all about you cleaning up your life rather than God transforming your life, you still need to be saved. For salvation is not about what sinners do for God, salvation is about what God does for sinners. Salvation is not about adding a little Jesus to your life here and there. Salvation is about Jesus becoming the heartbeat of your life. Look at it. Paul says, in such were some of you. You used to live as if God didn't exist. You used to live as if you were your own God. You used to love the world and the things of this world. You used to run to sin and delight in sinful practices. You used to be careless about obeying the truths of God's word. But when Christ called you to himself, when the Holy Spirit birthed you into the kingdom, at that point, the sins you once loved are the sins you have come to hate. Now, in Christ, The Christ you ran from is the Christ you run to. The God you ignored is the God you hunger after. Paul says, and such were some of you, but you're washed, you're sanctified, you're set apart, you're justified. Let me ask you this morning, can you say this? Can you say this in sincerity and in truth? Can you look back to a time where God turned you to himself? Can you recognize a before you and an after you? Has there ever been a time that God convicted you of your lost condition? Has there ever been a time God convinced you that you needed a Savior? Has there ever been a time God converted you from darkness to light? Has there ever been a time where you came to the end of yourself like the prodigal son and you turned to the Father and were actually received by Him? I'm not asking about your beliefs. I'm not asking about your affiliation with some religious community. I'm not asking if you like going to church. I'm asking if Jesus Christ has given you life. I'm asking if Jesus Christ has given you hope, peace, and pardon. I'm asking if Jesus Christ is your closest friend and your ruling Lord. I'm asking if Jesus Christ has made you into a new person, and with that new person, he's given you new holy habits, a new righteous desire, and entirely new outlook on life. If not, I have some good news for you this morning. Jesus Christ can and will save you if you will humbly turn to him in repentance and faith. In my third and final point, I want us to recognize in Paul's words, the contained invitation to the unsaved and unrepentant among the church. Having declared the gospel reality that one cannot be a Christian and remain unchanged and unbothered by their sinful lifestyle, having affirmed the gospel reality that Jesus Christ actually transforms the lives of those whom he saves, I'm of the opinion that Paul, in the writing of this statement, is hopeful that some among the congregation will recognize their lost condition and their personal need for salvation and turn to the Lord so that they might be saved. You say, how can you conclude such a thought? I can conclude such a thought because Paul says, catch it, and such were some of you, but not all. Meaning then that others in the church still need to be saved. Here's my analysis of the text. If only some among the church have repented and believed, if only some have been transformed by the saving grace of God, I can only assume then that the rest are hypocrites. The rest are holding onto a false hope of salvation. The rest have never been born again. Ask yourself this question. Why does Paul come at the church with strong assertions? Why does Paul come at the church with direct truths? Why does Paul give us such stern warnings? Is it because Paul is a cruel man? Is it because Paul hates them? Is it because Paul takes great delight in making others feel bad when he preaches? Is that his reason? No. Paul is preaching the way he is because there are some among the church who are deceived, blind, and on their way to hell as he once was. Paul has a heart for lost people among religiosity. Paul is not saying what he's saying to hurt people. but to help people. He's not saying what he's saying to be cruel, but to be kind. He's not saying what he's saying in the way he is saying, because he enjoys being hard on others. He is saying what he is saying, how he is saying it, because he wants to wake people up with the truths of the gospel, because only the truths of the gospel can set people free. He's preaching the way he is so that others might examine themselves to see if they are in the faith before it's too late. How else do you want Paul to preach? People are on the brink of eternity. People are on the brink of heaven and hell. How else do you want a man to preach? If somebody was on the edge of Highway 62 or Highway 247 with trucks coming down at 65 miles an hour and they're about to step into traffic, how else would you expect a man to act? Oh, you know, you should probably get away from there. Death is about to consume you. Flee! Turn! Listen, the final reality of repentance being declared through Paul's words is the saving reality that Jesus Christ has the ability to save unrighteous, deceived, professing Christians who frequent the church. Paul has to give the bad news before the good news. Paul has to pierce before applying the medication. But notice the contained invitation of the text. If you are here this morning and God has caused you to realize that you've never been born again the Bible way, you've never been transformed by the life-changing power of the gospel, if you're here this morning and you are deceived, you have deceived yourself to think that you're a Christian when you are not, Paul in this text is asserting that Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone has the ability to wash you, sanctify you, and justify you. Catch this, Jesus Christ has come to save religious pretenders. The grace of God can set the deceived free from their deception. Is this you? Do you think you're a good person who deserves to go to heaven? Do you think your good works will make you righteous? Do you think your church affiliation is the way of salvation? If so, then you are deceived and you need to be saved. Or perhaps you're here this morning telling yourself that you are too sinful, that Jesus Christ cannot possibly save you because of your lifestyle choices. I mean, you have lived a life of unbelief and rebellion and you think all is hopeless. If this is you this morning, don't listen to your feelings. Listen to what God's Word says. God's Word says where sin abounds, God's grace does much more abound. God's Word says that God is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Jesus Christ. God, through His Word says, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Look at the text. God's Word says God is able to wash, sanctify, and justify those who believe on His name. Oh, but I hear the arguments. But pastor, what about the practicing homosexual? The text says Christ can save them. But pastor, what about those among the LGBTQ community? The text says, Christ can save them. But pastor, what about the registered sex offenders? The text says, Christ can save them. Well, pastor, what about the drunkards? The text says, Christ can save them. But pastor, what about the pimps? What about the prostitutes? What about the promoters of abortion? What about the Satanists? What about an abusive, hard-hearted husband or a mean-spirited, embittered wife? It doesn't matter what you used to be. If you come to Christ, He can make all things new. The gospel is only for sinners. We are all sinners. But God commendeth His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For God hath made Him, Jesus, to become sin for us, who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. You see, Jesus did not come to save the righteous, because there are none that are righteous. Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. Are you a sinner? Then you're a perfect candidate for salvation. And this morning, I want to echo in your ears once again, that the call to be saved is still available, and it's available to all. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord. And in that return, the word promises that God will have mercy upon such a one, and God will pardon such a one. Jesus says, come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. This is the soul saving power of the gospel. You see, it's not the outward man that needs to be clean, it's the inward man. We do what we do outwardly because of who we are inwardly. It's the heart that needs to be cleansed. It's the heart that needs to be changed because out of the abundance of our evil heart, evil things take place. Your heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Your heart resists the things of God. The Bible says your heart is like a heart of stone. So what do we need? We need the spiritual physician to perform a heart surgery. to give us a new nature, to give us a heart that loves Him and obey Him. You cannot do your own heart surgery. Only God in Christ can do that for you. Through the scalpel of His word, through the power of His grace, He takes out that stony heart and He replaces it with a heart of flesh, and that's where the testimony of, and such were some of you. You used to have a stubborn, resisting spirit toward Christ, but now with a new heart, you love him. Does the Apostle Paul know anything about this? Does the author of our text know what he's talking about? Of all people, he knows. Here he was thinking himself to be good with God. kicking against the commands of Christ, not even seeking after God. And God in his grace humbles him. God in his grace shines the truth of the gospel into his heart and gives him a new life. What are you waiting for? Why are you resisting? Some of you are so stubborn that you won't even examine yourself. and you're doing it to your own danger. You look at the practices of your life, and they're anything but Christian. They're anything but the attributes of a believer. And it only shows that your heart is still hard. You're still in unbelief, because when the pastor calls you to examine yourself, you say, I will not. I am a Christian, and no one's gonna tell me that I'm not. And in that anger, in that stubbornness, in that resistance, it only shows. you need to be born again. You know who you are. Some of you I've poked before. I say this in love. Look at the text. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. But pastor, I can live how I want to live. No, you can't. You can, but not as a Christian. Church, we need to be careful about assessing people's faith. You see, that's mean-spirited, that's critical. That's something we shouldn't do. By their fruit you shall know them. How else will you know how to help them? How else will you know how to pray for them if you don't recognize the biblical attributes of salvation? So pray. Pray for those who claim Christianity, who are living like pagans. What do they need? They don't need more church. They need Jesus Christ. We pray that God would break through and cause them to believe. Let's pray.