Washed, Sanctified, Justified

"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." 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Today, as I came across these verses from the Apostle Paul, they both struck me and reminded me of what the Gospel is about. For a large portion of my Christian life, my basic idea of the Gospel went a little something like this. 'People who are unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore, if you want to be a Christian, if you want eternal life, you need to muster up the obedience and discipline to not be sexually immoral, or idolize, or steal, or drink, or revile, or cheat, or lie. Then you will be a good Christian'.

Looking back, it is glaringly obvious how ignorant I was to the truth of the Gospel, and how much I relied on my own self-righteousness and discipline to secure my inheritance in the kingdom of God. Isn't it interesting that the Apostle Paul, after listing acts of unrighteousness and stating that those who practice such things can't inherit the kingdom of God, goes on to say that 'and such were some of you'.

Paul does not continue by saying that the Corinthians used to be unrighteous, but then in obedience cleaned themselves up and started doing righteous things. Rather, he says that they were washed, sanctified, and justified. He says this in the passive. The acts of washing, sanctification and justification were something done TO them, not BY them. Their goodness had nothing to do with it. Rather, it flowed from the free grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was pleased, according to His purpose, to wash, sanctify and justify sinners.

This verse struck me because I still do, and always will have a sinful tendency to put an emphasis on my actions playing a role in my salvation. But, it is an even better reminder that it is God who washes by the precious blood of His Son, it is God who sanctifies by the power of the Holy Spirit, and it is God who justifies through the finished work of Jesus. We are all alike unrighteous and unable to inherit the kingdom of God. But God, being rich in mercy, took upon himself the unrighteousness of us all, and provides for believers the perfect righteousness we need to inherit the kingdom.