Many believe that all who call on the name of Jesus will enter the kingdom of God but Jesus himself said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." - (Matthew 7:21) Wickedness is therefore doing things that are against the will of the Father, which has been revealed to us through his Word and by his Spirit. Infact, the Bible is more explicit (state clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt) while stating the acts of the wicked than while stating the acts of the righteous. 'Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters not adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.' - (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) The reason why the Bible is explicit in stating the acts of wicked is because men always try to find loopholes in the law to justify their indulgence. That is why the Bible says that the law was made not for the righteous but for the wicked. 'We know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers - and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God.' - (1 Timothy 1:9-11) The wicked need the law to know what is sinful. 'Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law.' - (Romans 7:7) Whereas the righteous are not under the law because 'if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law', which means those who are led by the Spirit are knowledgeable about right and wrong but those who are not led by the Spirit, need the law to tell them the acts of the sinful nature which are obvious. 'The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred and discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and selfcontrol. Against such things there is no law.' - (Galatians 5:19-23) There is nothing that hinders the righteous from entering heaven.
"But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.This is the second death." - (Revelation 21:7-8) Guess most of us will be surprised to know that the 'cowardly', and the 'unbelieving' too are included in the list of the wicked. We probably thought that such behavioural patterns had to do with our personality traits and therefore cannot be overcome. Some cannot overcome their fear; others cannot overcome their unbelief; still others cannot be honest in speech but always adds to or deducts from what they heard, while recounting it to others. Exaggeration, flattery, slander etc are all within the ambit (scope, extent, or bounds) of this sin. However, God expects the righteous to overcome all sin by his Holy Spirit but the wicked will not because they cannot receive the Holy Spirit. ( John 14:17) Therefore, they will not be allowed to enter the Holy city, the new Jersusalem. "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." - (Revelation 22:14-15) Amen.
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