By John A. Huffman, Jr.
This is a good reminder for me whenever I tend to be too reactive to the injustices that come my way. How about you?
Paul then concludes this section with a big reminder. The reminder is, Don't forget who you were. It's so easy to forget who we were before we were redeemed by Jesus Christ. Paul reminds the believers at Corinth of the lifestyle from which they were converted. Some of us here are beneficiaries of having been raised in Christian families, living within the community of Christian churches and even living in a society of people, many of whom are nonbelievers but have been influenced morally by Judaic-Christian teaching. Many of the believers at Corinth hadn't had that opportunity. Some of them were Jews in background. Many of them were Gentiles, raised in a pagan environment. Paul gets blunt with them as he writes, "Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers-none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
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You and I could treat this as a list of sins. It is that. This is the level to which humanity dips when it's unredeemed by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and/or void of the endemic impact of godly biblical influences. How easy it is to forget what Jesus Christ has done for us and yearns to do through us for others.
Far from castigating the other citizens at Corinth for their wickedness, Paul is reminding the believers that many of them used to be like that themselves. This shows the power of Jesus Christ to change lives!
I've been told of a minister who, preaching on this text, came to the conclusion of his sermon. Having just read these verses, he paused, declaring that the congregation had become a pretty proud group of people, quite arrogant in self-righteousness, when everyone was actually fortunate to be saved by God's grace. He declared that none was perfect. Then he paused and said, "I am going to read this list again. I'm going to ask you if you used to practice immorality, idolatry, adultery, sexual perversion, thievery, greed, drunkenness, wild partying before you came to faith in Jesus Christ. If you did, please stand." Throughout the congregation, one then another then another and many more rose until a fairly substantial percentage of the congregation was standing.
I won't ask you to go through that process this morning. But we all know that ". . .this is what some of us used to be."
And I also remind you and me of this marvelous reality. You and I are washed, cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, forgiven of our sins. You and I are sanctified, set free to grow towards wholeness in Jesus Christ in an ongoing process of Christian maturation. Having been made saints, we've been made members of God's own family. You and I are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, acquitted of the penalties of our sin, because Jesus Christ took the penalty on Himself and has clothed us in His righteousness.
You and I still have a long way to go. Let's remember where we've come from and where we'll end up. Let's live with a deep desire for purity and that resolution of our differences that God would have us experience!
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John A. Huffman, Jr. is Senior Pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA.
