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,
All Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 6:9 Go To 1 Corinthians 6
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Neither fornicators nor adulterers, &c. . . . shall inherit the kingdom of God. Hence it appears that not only adultery but also fornication, by which as unmarried man sins with as unmarried woman, is against he law of Christ and of nature. Rabbi Moses Ægypt, erred shamefully in this respect (More, lib. iii. c50) when he excused the intercourse of Judah with Tamar, related in Genesis , xxxvii, on the ground that before the law of Moses whoredom was allowable. Our politicians err still more shamefully who, while allowing that fornication is forbidden by the law of Christ, yet deny that it was forbidden by the law of Moses. For Moses includes it, as do the Rabbins always, in Exod. xx, under the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," under which not only adultery, but also incest, sodomy, fornication, and all kinds of sexual intercourse and lust outside the limits of matrimony are forbidden. So Tobias (Tobias) says: "Keep thyself, my Song of Solomon , from all fornication."
So the Apostle here reckons fornication with adultery, idolatry, and other sins which are against the law of nature and of the Decalogue, and naturally shut out men from the kingdom of heaven. For fornication is at variance with the first creation of Prayer of Manasseh , and with the institution of matrimony, by which the God of nature and the Lord of all things has tied the use of those members which serve for generation to matrimony; and outside that He has taken away all permission to use them. It is opposed also to conjugal fidelity, and to the good of the offspring, who cannot be properly brought up in fornication, but only in matrimony. Hence Deut. xxii21orders a maiden to be stoned who before marriage has committed fornication in her father"s house. And the Wise Man says ( Sirach 19:3): "He who joins himself to fornication shall be vile."
Lastly, to pass over other instances, 24 ,000 of the Israelites were killed for committing fornication with the daughters of Moab.
Effeminate. Those guilty of self-pollution.
Covetous. Those who by fraud, unfair contracts, and legal quibbles get possession of the goods of others. They are distinct from thieves and robbers. Cf. note to ver10.
Drunkards. The Greek word here stands both for one that os drunk and one that is given to drunk. Here it denotes rather the act than the habit, as the other words, thieves, revilers, adulterers, do; for one of such acts excludes from the kingdom of heaven. Cf. Gal. v21. A single act of drunkenness, if it is perfected, is deadly sim, because it deprives a man of the use of his reason, and makes him like a beast, and exposes him to danger of broils, lust, and many other sins. S. Thomas says, however: "Drunkenness is not a mortal sin if a man is ignorant of the strength of the wine or the weakness of his head," This excuse, however, is rendered invalid by frequent experience; therefore the Apostle says significantly, "habitual drunkard," not merely "drunkard." But the former explanation is the sounder.
