After telling the church that “the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God,” Paul then describes more of what he is talking about: “Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (vv. 9b-11). You see how Paul’s list eventually comes to include some of the very things of which the Corinthian Christians are guilty. Of course, people who do these really bad things will not make it into the kingdom. We understand that. We agree with that because we are not like that. But then Paul starts talking about things that are much closer to home, things that just might very well be a problem for us. And by no means is this list of vices comprehensive. Even if we somehow manage to avoid doing all of them, there are still many other sins that we must treat very seriously if we would claim to be followers of Jesus Christ.
Is Paul somehow backing off on his belief in justification by faith in favor of some combination of faith and works? Of course not! Well then, if Paul still believes in justification by faith, is he at least contradicting himself? Certainly not! He is simply emphasizing an important truth that we tend to overlook: There is no justification without regeneration. Nobody is justified by faith who is not born again. And those who are born again by definition have a new nature. Having come from God, this new nature means that the person will begin to grow in righteousness and live in a way which repudiates such sins. You say, “Well, can’t a Christian lie?” Yes, sadly, Christians lie. “Can’t Christians sometimes swindle one another?” Yes, sadly, they do. That is the problem Paul is writing about here. Such sinful living cannot be a pattern of life with you if you call yourself a Christian because if you live that way, you are no Christian. You have not been born again and justified.
But what does Paul say? He expects something so much better of the Corinthian church. He knows that is the sinful background of some of them. He knows that is precisely what some of them were. But by the grace of God they have now been changed and made members of the church. Paul says at the end of verse 11, “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.” People have looked at those terms, “washed,” “sanctified,” and “justified” and said, “Well, maybe Paul’s getting it backwards. Isn’t it true that justification comes first and then sanctification?”
No, Paul has not gotten it wrong because what he wrote is from the Holy Spirit. What Paul is talking about is three different ways of looking at the subject of sin. When he writes that you were washed from sin, what is he speaking about? He is referring to sin’s defilement. You used to be dirty, but now you have been washed clean. When he talks about sanctification, what does he mean? Here he is speaking of sin’s estrangement, that sin separates us from God. But now we have been sanctified and separated unto Him for His service and to His glory. And when he talks about justification, what is he talking about? He is talking about sin’s guilt. You at one time were guilty before the bar of God’s justice; but God, the great Judge of all, has declared you righteous through the work of Jesus Christ.
We can make two final points. The first is the need to examine yourself to see whether this really describes you. Have you been washed? Have you been sanctified? Have you been justified? You cannot have one without the other. Is this true of you? Make your calling and election sure because nothing is more important in all of this life. Secondly, if this is true of you, then you must live as one who has been forgiven everything through Christ who gave everything for us.
