And Such Were Some of You

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 –“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God . . . And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.”

Louisa Tarkington wrote:

I wish there were some wonderful place called the Land of Beginning Again,

Where all of our past mistakes and heartaches,

And all of our poor selfish grief,

Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door

And never be put on again.

Actually there is such a place.  This passage presents to us a wondrous escape from our past sins.  According to the Scriptures, “the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”  That’s a very disturbing statement, for all of us were born in sin and have committed sins all our lives.  And as long as we carry this flesh around with us, we have that sin nature and we continue to commit sins. 

Paul begins to specify the sins that will keep us out of the Kingdom of God:  Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners.  He gives another list over in Romans 1:  Fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envious, murderers, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.

This is quite a list.  Paul says in Romans 2:1, “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man.”  Who among us then is worthy of entering the Kingdom of God?   The answer, of course, is none of us.  We have no goodness in ourselves.  Romans 3:10, “There is none righteous, no not one.”  And again in verse 12, “there is none that doeth good, no not one.”  Yet in spite of our sin nature, which Paul discusses more thoroughly in Romans 7, we have hope. Paul seems to cry out in despair in Romans 7:24, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”  In verse 25, he answers the question, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  There’s our hope – Jesus Christ our Lord.  And because of Him, Paul can begin chapter 8 by saying, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”

So here, now, in 1 Corinthians 6, Paul is reminding the saints at Corinth where they came from.  He catalogues these sins and says “and such were some of you.”  In other words, “you were once dead in sin – you were unworthy of the kingdom of God – you were on your way to an eternity in hellfire – BUT – Christ came into your life – Christ washed you – Christ sanctified you – Christ justified you – Christ made you worthy of the kingdom of God through His worthiness.”

Yes, Christ washed each one of us clean, “by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. (Titus 3:5)”  He took our black, sin-sick soul and washed it as “white as snow. (Isa 1:18)”  Christ sanctified each one of us – that means he set us apart for His service.  He made us a part of His body the church, of which Ephesians 5: 26 says, “that he may sanctify and cleanse it, with the washing of water by the word.”  Christ justified each one of us.  “Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Rom 5:9)”

Quote – “Only man ought to have paid, but only God could pay.” – Dr. Harold Sightler

"Lord, O Lord, Thank you for the precious gift of salvation. If we begin to catalogue our sins, we know that we do not deserve this precious gift.  But through the blood of Christ - O through the blood of Christ . . . . Amen."