Galatians 5:21, Gentiles, and Inheriting the Kingdom
Question: It seems like Paul is talking to Gentiles in Galatians 5:21: "Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Can you explain who inherits the kingdom in this verse? It seems works-oriented.
In Galatians, the default audience is Gentile believers in the Galatian assemblies. Judaizers have troubled them by pressing the law. When Paul uses the plural "ye" in this letter, he ordinarily addresses those Gentile Galatians.
In the immediate context of Galatians 5:21, Paul is exhorting them to walk in the Spirit rather than fulfilling the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16–18). He lists the works of the flesh and then states that "they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
To Whom Is the Warning Directed?
Note the pronouns carefully. Paul says, "I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." The direct exhortation is to the Gentile believers ("you"), but the statement about not inheriting the kingdom is cast in terms of "they."
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If we equate "they" with the Gentile body of Christ and "kingdom of God" with our present salvation, we introduce a works condition directly into our soteriology: those who engage in such sins will not inherit. That would contradict the clear Pauline teaching that salvation is by grace through faith, "not of works" (Ephesians 2:8–9).
A better reading is that Paul uses Israel’s kingdom standard as an illustrative comparison. Under the kingdom program, those characterized by such works of the flesh do not inherit the kingdom. That is a works-oriented standard tied to the kingdom inheritance promised to Israel.
Paul’s Gentile readers are not being told how to qualify for that kingdom. Rather, he is saying in effect: if such conduct would bar someone from Israel’s promised kingdom, it is surely unfitting for those who live under grace. Grace does not lower God’s moral standards.
Who Inherits the Kingdom?
The "kingdom of God" in this context is best understood in its Jewish, kingdom sense: the messianic reign promised to Israel, in which the righteous inherit the kingdom. That inheritance is associated with Israel’s program and involves works as evidence of fitness for participation.
Those who inherit that kingdom are the faithful among Israel and those attached to her kingdom program, living in accordance with that kingdom ethic. The statement that those who practice the listed sins will not inherit the kingdom is consistent with the kingdom gospel’s emphasis on righteousness and obedience.
Relation to Grace
For the body of Christ, salvation and our blessings in the heavenlies are received solely by grace through faith in Christ’s finished work, not by abstaining from a catalog of sins. Yet Paul expects that those who live under grace will manifest the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). He contrasts the works of the flesh with that fruit, showing what the Spirit-led life should produce.
Thus, Galatians 5:21 uses the kingdom standard to underscore the seriousness of the works of the flesh, without making kingdom inheritance the means or measure of Gentile salvation in the present dispensation. The verse is descriptive of kingdom conditions and illustrative for the Galatian believers, not a direct, works-based condition for their justification.
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