50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 1 Corinthians 15:50 (NKJV)
There are only two religions in the entire world. There is genuine Christianity and then every other form of religiosity including humanism and atheism. All but genuine Christianity are opposed to the truth and are part of the rebellion against the sovereignty of God. Genuine Christianity is made up of those who have been redeemed from the slave market of iniquity. This slave market preys on people and keeps them in bondage to the flesh. On the other hand, Genuine Christianity, which is the Church, is spiritual. …
Those in it are adopted into the family of God. Those in it who are still alive right now await the completion of their redemption. Those in it who have already died are with the Lord now. Those who remain are in process. This process is their progressive sanctification, which is the mortification of the deeds of their flesh, which is sin. However, all outside of the Church are in their sins and can only operate in the flesh.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. This refers to efforts of humans. Salvation comes through God’s work, not Man’s. The best flesh and blood can do is as filthy rags in God’s sight.
6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. 7 And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities. Isaiah 64:6-7 (NKJV)
The leadership within the emergent movement, such as Brian MCLaren and Rob Bell, discounts the Word of God. They handle it as if it has little or no authority. They use it as source material for their sermons and books, but they handle it loosely and make sure that all know that they do not consider it absolute truth. This is deadly because it removes moral issues from the crystal clear, black and white realm and places them into the gray areas of relativism.
The Word of God is very clear that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. That means that unrepentant sinners are not Christians. When a person is regenerated by God then believes through faith by the grace of God, he or she also repents. This new Christian is a new creation in Christ. The Christian is not perfect, but does seek to live a repentant lifestyle by the grace of God. On the other hand there are plenty of “Christian’ leaders out there who want to open wide the narrow gate and allow the unrepentant into God’s Kingdom. Let us look at a passage that teaches the opposite.
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NKJV)
The word ‘unrighteous’ in the Greek is ἄδικος or adikos. In classical Greek, this word is used to describe the wicked. In this context, it describes those who fall short of the righteousness required by God’s Law. It is also used in the New Testament to describe those who have not had Christ’s righteousness imputed to their account. In other words, this is describing the unsaved, those who are still in their sins. Not one of them will inherit the Kingdom of God. The word ‘inherit’ in the Greek is κληρονομέω or klēronomeō. This word describes the act of obtaining by inheritance. To inherit something means being part of the family that owns what is obtained. Those who will not inherit it are not part of that family. God has adopted all genuine Christians into His family as Christ’s brethren (Ephesians 1). This verb, κληρονομέω, is in future tense so refers to punctiliar action rather than linear action. This inheritance will take place in the future once and it is done.