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. 1 Corinthians 6:11
With a variety of scandals causing some media attention in the nation’s capital, somebody came up with a riddle: what is the difference between a Parliament and a penitentiary? The answer is that one is a place that is filled with blackmailers, extortioners, and thieves, while the other is a building to house prisoners. Even those who are the leaders of our country are being accused of misbehaviour, causing us to wonder where we can find honest, fair, pure, and diligent people. The answer of course is that we can’t. The world is populated by sinners of all kinds. Some sinners are violent, dishonest, cruel, and wicked beyond belief. Other sinners are good natured and tolerable scamps, people who don’t go out of their way to be dishonest but who will take advantage of others if the opportunity comes. Still other sinners are very careful to avoid offending others, very careful to be not only honest but to appear to be honest. It takes all kinds and shades of sinners to make up a world. And as our text points out, you and I were among them until we were delivered by way of God’s Salvation.
There is much truth in the bumper sticker that most of us have seen: Christians aren’t better, just forgiven! And it’s true. There but for the grace of God go you and me into the many haunts of sin, into the many vices and filthy behaviour that are about us, into the degraded language and immorality that is so popular these days. It is only the grace of God that allows the apostle Paul to remind us that such WERE some of us. We can refer to all that sinfulness and godlessness as past tense, with a great sense of relief. Because all of that evil carries its weight of destruction on sinners here in life, and an eternal weight of wrath beyond the grave. The blood of Christ now stands between us and the judgment that we deserve. And as our text reminds us, that should all make a great difference in how we look and behave.
Being washed reminds us that we should appear5, and act, clean in this evil world. The best the unsaved around us can do is whitewash their outsides with religion and good works. But we have been washed within, and it is our responsibility to display that we are no longer residents of the dunghill. The term sanctified refers to our new responsibilities as vessels for our Master’s use. Not only cleansed, we have been set apart for Him, with His will the highest goal for our lives and His work the greatest purpose for our endeavours. As for being justified, we see that we have been given a standing that allows us to claim all of Heaven’s blessings both now and in eternity. We need to act according to the wonderful standing that our salvation has given us.
It is deeply humbling to realize what God has brought us into, we who were like the worst of the world around us, but who God has changed forever. -Jim MacIntosh