"For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person,
nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and God."
15. Hereby he declares in dry words that the man who does not exhibit
the fruits of faith is a heathen under the name of a Christian. Here
is absolute condemnation in a word. The whoremonger is a denier of the
faith; the unclean person is a denier of the faith; the covetous
individual is a denier of the faith: all are rebellious, perjured and
faithless toward God. Paul tells Timothy (1 Tim 5, 8): "But if any
provideth not for his own, and specially his own household, he hath
denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever." How could he utter
anything more severe, more terrifying?
He begins, "For this ye know." In other words: Doubt not; do not find
vain comfort in the thought that this is a jest or an aspersion. A
Christian name, and association with Christians, will count for
nothing. It will profit you as little as it profits the Jews to be
Abraham's seed and disciples of Moses. Christ's words (Mt 7, 21)
concern every man: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." There must be performance;
faith must be manifested by works.
16. If the great fire of divine love which he uses as his first
argument will not draw us, then may the terrible threat of hell fire
prove a sufficient incentive. In other words, if men follow not God,
walking in love and showing their faith by their deeds, let them know
they are not God's children, not heirs in his kingdom, and therefore
are unquestionably heirs of the evil one in hell. He who is unmoved by
the threats of hell fire must truly be a stick or a stone; indeed, he
must have a heart like an anvil, as Job says.
17. The writer of the epistle passes unusually severe sentence upon
the covetous man, for he calls him an idolater, or a worshiper of a
false God. Plainly, Paul entertained special enmity against the
covetous, for in Colossians 3, 5 he defines this sin in a similar
manner. His reasoning, I judge, is this: All other sinners turn to use
what they have and make it subservient to their lusts. Fornicators and
the unclean make their bodies serve their pleasure. The haughty employ
property, art, reputation and men to secure honor to themselves. The
unhappy idolater alone is servant to his possessions; his sin is to
save, guard and preserve property. He dare not make use of it either
for himself or for others, but worships it as his god. Rather than
touch his money, he would suffer both the kingdom of God and of the
world to perish. He will not give a farthing to the support of a
preacher or a schoolmaster for the sake of advancing God's kingdom.
Because he places his confidence, his trust, in his money rather than
in the living God, whose promises concerning ample support are
abundant, his real God is his money, and to call him an idolater is
entirely just. And, in addition, he must renounce heaven! A shameful
vice, indeed! O contemptible Unbelief! what a dangerous vice art thou!