You Were Washed

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There are a list of sins, of ungodly behaviors, that the Apostle Paul records in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 that I think we should ponder. Let’s read the text and think through it for a moment.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 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.

Christians tend to point out the sin of homosexuality in this passage—and yes, it is a sin. And to be sure, we shouldn’t cave to society that calls us bigots for believing what the Bible says. But we also shouldn’t isolate that sin from the rest of these, either, meaning the sin of greed or drunkenness or thievery will lead you to the wrath of God just like homosexuality will.

The point here is all sins bring us under the wrath of God. All sin separates from the Lord. All sin brings infinite punishment because we’re rebelling against the infinite God of the cosmos.

But there’s a beam of light at the end of this passage! Though we should be clear about the sins—all of them—that will not inherit the kingdom of God, we should remember we once were in that position . . . but we were washed! We were cleansed. We were sanctified; we were justified by God in Christ.

What’s the point, here? It’s that God has the power to save anyone, friends. He’s the omnipotent sovereign over all the universe. He can, and does, save the serial adulterer; the self-deceived homosexual; the prideful Pharisee; the drunkard. He can save anyone.

Perhaps you’re reading this and it’s putting you off. But the text is clear that repentance is eternally necessary. One cannot be an unrepentant drunkard and enter Heaven; a person cannot willingly engage and practice homosexuality and inherit God’s kingdom; an individual cannot walk into glory if they are unwilling to forsake whatever sin clings so closely. That goes for everyone, no matter the sin.

Don’t take this as a shot against homosexuality specifically (though I am being clear on that). This text is just as much about the glory of God’s grace as it is about the sins of sinners. Friends, let’s glory in the grace of God in Christ that freed us from our sins; we are no longer slaves to sin, but to Christ. We once committed such heinous sins, but . . .

We were washed, cleansed.

We were sanctified, made more holy.

We were justified by God in Christ, declared righteous because of Jesus.

We cannot see the goodness of that glory if we don’t recognize the severity of our sin and call it for what it is: rebellion.

Thank God for his grace, friends. As we go about our days, let’s marvel in God’s sovereign grace to save us, to sanctity us, and to one day glorify us.