“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
I am not the smartest, most scholarly person in the world. That’s why I’m thankful that the Scripture is given to us in plain, easy to understand terms. Because I can understand the word were.
When we read through the book of 1st Corinthians, we see a people who are struggling. And it seems like they’ve struggled in the past as well, because when you get to chapter 6, you see that in the past, they have been people of unsavory lifestyles. However, in verse 11, we see that Paul says, “such were some of you.” They were no longer living in these ways, but instead, had been “washed, sanctified, justified.”
It’s an easy sentence to dissect, yet a hard principle to actually implement into life. If I want to be sanctified (set apart, holy, different), then I have to abandon past lifestyles that are displeasing to God. Otherwise, I’m not any different than the world, making me not sanctified. So, when I choose to give my life to Jesus, I choose to abandon living a life to self. And that looks like not living in ways detailed in verses 9-10.
If I want to be different than the world— if I want to be sanctified by the blood of Jesus — then I will not continue to be a fornicator (involved in sexual activity outside of a God-approved marriage). I will not be involved in an adulterous relationship. I will not practice homosexuality. I will not steal. I will not covet. I will not be drunk. I will not be involved in riotous, immoral partying. I will not be an extortioner.
But it’s not just if I want to be different from the world, it’s if I want to escape the world. If I want to have the promise of life in heaven, I will deny my flesh of whatever its lusts happen to be. We won’t all be tempted by the same things, but we will all be tempted. And each of us, regardless of temptation, must deny those things in order to achieve something much greater. Something worth the difficulty. Worth the suffering. Worth the discomfort. Life everlasting with our Savior and our God.
In order to be pleasing to God, our sinful lifestyles have to be who we were, not who we are. It will not be easy, but take comfort in knowing that it will be far easier than it was for Jesus when He offered us salvation by offering His life.
