And such were some of you! Paul describes but some of the sins by which we were once all identified, “but ye are washed”. What wonder to know that such has been washed away through the blood of Christ. “But ye are sanctified”, how it is that now we stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ. “But ye are justified”, even the thought that our sins are paid for in full fill us with wonder.
“And such were some of you”. To think that we have come from such filth to now being spotless before the Lord, not for any good we have done but through the faith of Jesus Christ, we remain all the more in love with him for all he has done, for it is only by grace that we have been saved.
Pt 23 Such Were Some Of You
And Such Were Some Of You
14/06/26
1 Corinthians 6:9–11
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 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, and by the Spirit of our God.
Such Were Some Of You
Paul continues in his testimony against those who are saints turning to the wicked for justification, and as he does so he explains that nature of them which are well past and the new nature, the new present tense state of their being, that they may also understand the level of foolishness they are manifesting in returning to the unjust for justice.
9 Know ye not….
Verse 9 evidently continuing the theme of the first 8 verses but also providing a deep theological segue into their present state.
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
As if this needs to be explained!
There shall be not a single unrighteous individual inhabiting heaven. No not one.
Not a single person who is 50.1% good, 60% good or in their own eyes “Good Enough” to enter into the kingdom of God.
Only the righteous can enter in.
That excludes completely any of us prior to being “washed…sanctified….justified” for the list that follows in verses 9 and 10 culminates with the beginning of verse 11 “And such were some of you”.
We all like sheep had gone astray. Isaiah wrote of it in days of old, but Paul brings it with clarity to the foreground of our minds in his letter to the Romans;
Turn there and see for yourself;
Romans 3:10–18
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Perhaps if we saw sin as exceedingly sinful we might agree with Paul’s words.
But after we have justified ourselves as we saw in the 5th Chapter of Corinthians, and we even justify the sin of others to approve them to our company, we simply FAIL TO SEE OUR OWN WRETCHEDNESS.
Turn back to the book of Isaiah and chapter 1 and read there what God has spoken to his people.
Isaiah 1:4–6
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
And we ought not to think within ourselves that our works will save us. It is bad enough that they who vainly think any “goodness” above 50% in our own minds will gain access to the company of God, worse so to those who think themselves “good enough”, as if their own righteousness can save them.
Isaiah 64:6
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
We have all by sin become not only obnoxious to God’s justice, but odious to his holiness; for sin is that abominable thing which the Lord hates, and cannot endure to look upon. Even all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We all had such a story.
Our performances, though they be ever so plausible, if we depend upon them as our righteousness and think to merit by them at God’s hand, are as filthy rags—rags, and will not cover us—filthy rags, and will but defile us.[1] (Matthew Henry)
And now here the sinners are identified by their sin and nothing more.
Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU.
It may be a matter of interest to learn that the Bible records the names of NO PERSON IN HELL.
They are identified ONLY by their most dominant predilection and sin. No name.
Even the Devil is named only for the sin that so defiles him, Satan meaning both “Accuser and Adversary”.
He once had a name, yes the name had meaning, as all names in scripture do, but this was a proper name and found only one time in the Bible, that name is…..
Isaiah 14:12–14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU.
How many of you boasted against God before you sought his forgiveness?
But Ye Are Washed
1 Corinthians 6:11
11 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, and by the Spirit of our God.
It is interesting that God refers to those separated from him as “unclean”.
Isaiah 64:6
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
In days of old there was a malady that would affect the people, a disease that identified them as “Unclean”, so much so that if they walked in public they were to announce before them “unclean, unclean” that the people might take warning.
Leprosy was the malady.
but ye are washed,
A wonderful example we have in the scriptures of a leprose man, washed. Jesus mentions him in the New Testament.
2 Kings 5:9–13
9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
Leprosy was that which could never be healed but by the direct working of God.
Even though a direct law was implemented in the scriptures for the process of that which must be undertaken if any man be cleansed of Leprosy, none were ever found but one.
See Leviticus 14:1–4
2 full chapters of Leviticus deals with Leprosy, yet none were ever found to be cleansed but the gentile, Naaman the Syrian.
Luke 4:27
27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed,
Well, perhaps you did not suffer directly from Leprosy, but the malady is a picture of sin in the scriptures.
Time does not heal it, to the contrary, time only allows it to continue to spread in the body until it corrupts it entirely.
Sin does likewise.
The Leper is separated from the congregation of people, cast out of society for the risk of it spreading.
Like 1 Cor 5, the sinner is taken out from among the people, “a little leaven levanted the whole lump.
Leven and Leprosy both being identified with sin.
The one puffs up to corruption, and the other makes the man unclean.
BUT YE ARE WASHED.
Well, How are you washed?
Revelation 1:3–5
3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Without the shedding of Blood there can be no remission from sin.
The apostle testified to it in Hebrews 9;
Hebrews 9:20–22
20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Jesus spoke of it when sharing the very first of all communions with his disciples;
Matthew 26:28
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Revelation 5:9
9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Dear ones, such were some of you: (Past tense) but ye are washed (Present Tense)
But Ye Are Sanctified
1 Corinthians 6:11
11 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, and by the Spirit of our God.
“Sanctified” is a word from the Old Testament that has two meanings,
- one that is cleaned, purified.
- The other, that it is set apart.
Both are applicable in both New and Old testaments.
The first appearance in the Old Testament is that regarding the seventh day, a day set apart from all other days in that God rested in that day from all his works;
Genesis 2:3
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
God had separated that day from all other days, in that each of those days are seen by his work in them.
But now the seventh day is separated, set apart, “sanctified”.
It is the first place within the scriptures that the word appears and it is fascinating to learn that it has its relationship to the Sabbath day, a day of Rest.
Beloved, who is our rest?
Turn to;
Hebrews 4:3–10
3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
It stands to reason that we are first “Washed by the blood of Christ” and now have our REST IN CHIRST, we are “sanctified”.
Before being set apart, you were at one with the sinners of the world.
You were not separated, not “set apart” from the world, Not by identity nor from sin. You were at one with the world, in perfect agreement, and thereby identified by your sins.
Past tense…
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified,
So we see that Sanctified has as its first meaning, SET APART.
Its second meaning as “Purified” is also represented in the scriptures;
Turn to
Ephesians 5:25–27
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
There is an ongoing work through the Love of Christ as is being presented here respecting the love of a husband to his wife.
It is the love of Christ who, through his word purifies and cleanses his church, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
It is true that we are Positionally Sanctified, set apart to the Lord, but we are also being Progressively Sanctified, being washed through his word, PURIFIED.
This is an ongoing work in each of of us as we turn to his word;
John 15:3
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
In his prayer to the father Jesus brought the link clearly;
John 17:17
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Psalm 119:9
9 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified,
If you are in Christ, what you WERE, you no longer are, but are washed, but are set apart, purified “Sanctified”.
But Ye Are Justified
1 Corinthians 6:11
11 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, and by the Spirit of our God.
Perhaps it is better to read the passage in its fullness from verse 9 that we might appreciate what is spoken of and what it is we once WERE.
1 Corinthians 6:9–11
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 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, and by the Spirit of our God.
We forget at times when sharing the hope of the Gospel that we were once in the gravest of conditions and in the most sorry of states before a holy God, and that forgetfulness sees itself too often manifest in an attitude of judgment and aloofness toward others.
We simply FORGET that “such were some of you”.
We lift our hearts in pride, unmindful that “such were some of you”!
James 1:24
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
We see ourselves secure in salvation, not realising we had nothing to do with it. We almost act as if WE DESERVE TO BE SAVED!
Damned in trespass and sin and now saved by the righteousness of Christ, we risk a condemning glance at the lost and think ourselves in a better state for our own doing.
“Such were some of you” brings an shocks us back to reality.
“Such were some of you” returns a remindful awareness that there was a time we were certainly NOT “Washed”, certainly not “Sanctified”, and absolutely not “Justified”.
If Paul was here trying to add a little humility into the hearts of the Church who thinks of itself higher than it ought to think, we cannot tell;
But there is no doubt it is to remind us to the recognition of our past state which SHOULD stir us to faithfulness in Christ to preach the pure gracious gospel rather than a legalist list of WORKS, for every word in the passage is PASSIVE.
In other words, none of the words speak to something we do, but that which is done to us;
11 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, and by the Spirit of our God.
It is NOT in our name that we are justified, but in the Name above all names, the name of Jesus Christ. He and he alone became sin for us, he and he alone could have us washed by his blood.
He secured the perfect redemption for us, he who knew no sin, BECAME SIN for us.
Turn to
2 Corinthians 5:17–21
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Beloved, if the sins of the world, the identifiers exampled in our passage, if some of you were indeed fornicators, .. idolaters, … adulterers, … effeminate, …abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 … thieves, … covetous, … drunkards, … revilers, nor extortioners,
But now are JUSTIFIED…if … such were some of you: IF ye are washed, IF ye are sanctified,
IF ALL THAT IS TRUE, THEN AND ONLY THEN ARE ye justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, for justice is established through faith and faith alone.
Beloved, if all that is true, you are now “ambassadors for Christ” as we see in verse 20 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, then HOW are you RE-PRESENTING CHRIST in this world?
Are you representing Jesus with a list of DO THIS, DO THAT? Or are you representing the gospel in truth?
Dear ones, you can abstain from certain foods, keep one day seperate from all other days, get yourself circumsized, obey the commandments….but if you are not washed, if you are not sanctified, if you are not justified, ALL OF THAT WILL PROFIT YOU NOTHING.
You are yet in your sins, hell and judgement is still waiting for the moment you take your last breath.
Recall that before you were made alive in Christ you were dead…the wages of sin was all you were waiting to receive. It is Christ that gave you life.
Turn to
Ephesians 2:1–3
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Perhaps we need to remember who we once were and what our state once was before we can have compassion on ALL them are now identified by their sin.
Whether it indeed be the fornicators, .. idolaters, … adulterers, … effeminate, …abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 … thieves, … covetous, … drunkards, … revilers, nor extortioners,
Or anything worse than this, more than this, perhaps Paul speaks of in Romans, that is those;
2….full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Romans 1:29–31
11 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, and by the Spirit of our God.
Beloved, you have both a witness to witness to this world, but also compassion and love to the worlds unlovable, for Jesus died for each and everyone of them.
Even the rulers of this world, those who caused you pain and grief, those who ignorantly destroy the earth, deceived by self conceit, Jesus died for them also.
Why do you preach the love and grace of Christ? Because SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU.
What saved you? AMAZING GRACE!
AMEN.
Close
and by the Spirit of our God.
It is the Spirit of God who saved you and sanctifies you.
So changed are you beloved, that those around you sense the change.
They think it strange that you will not turn with them to attend again to that which you so quickly turned to in the past.
Your desires have changed. Your love of evil is no longer present.
Your love for all things holy witnesses to the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God in you, so much so that friends and companies you once held, notice the transformation.
1 Peter 4:3–4
3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
Beloved, you have both a witness to witness to this world, but also compassion and love to the worlds unlovable, for Jesus died for each and everyone of them.
Even those who caused you pain and grief, those deceived by self conceit, Jesus died for them also.
Why do you preach the love and grace of Christ?
Because SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU.
What saved you? AMAZING GRACE!
AMEN.
[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1210.
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