1 Corinthians 6:11
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
The sad and desperate human situation of verses 9-10 is answered in this verse by God’s grace. There is hope for sin and all the trappings that come with it. Paul gets to the deeper need in this verse. God does not give us an outward white washing. God has more for us than just getting us into heaven after we die. God wants a genuine transformation of our lives here on earth. This life is the crucible that refines us and conforms us into God’s image, for which we were created. Each of the key words has deep meaning. Washed has the idea of cleaning something that is dirty. It reminds me of Isaiah 1:18:
“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.”
God can take the stain that sin leaves in our life and purify it. A characteristic of a stain is that it penetrates, sometimes very deeply. Sin’s stain can be very deep into our lives from our choices and habits we have done. But even the deepest stain can be cleaned up by God.
Sanctified is related to washing but has the connotation of the ability to come into God’s holy presence and to be used for God’s purposes. When the stain of sin is removed, we are made holy. Holiness is not optional but critical for God’s people. Holiness is related to all that we are and do as followers of Christ.
Justified is often used as a legal term to show how something is made right before the law. Justification is the result of forgiveness. It has a lot to do with our past acts of sin, often in open rebellion against God. God took the initiative through Christ’s death and resurrection to offer a new standing before God. Reconciliation is also a result. The brokenness we experience in our relationship with our Creator is healed and restored.
This all comes about in Christ. What He has done for us on the cross (1:18-31) makes this all possible. The Holy Spirit is the crucial link between the cross event so long ago and my present struggle against sin and evil. The Spirit fills us and gives us new life and teaches us the mind of Christ. What is our part? Again, it is simply saying Yes to what God wants to do in our lives.
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