"And Such Were Some Of You"

By Arthur J Licursi

"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 Cor. 6:11).

The verses preceding this above are below. They include a long list of gross sins and vices into which mankind has fallen by his Sin-nature.

"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. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Obviously God's Church is not made up of "good people" who have never fallen into Sin. Rather, it is made up of sinners who have been saved by God's grace through the limitless payment made for us by Christ's shed blood and death on Calvary's cross.

The manifestation of the Sin nature that is in the flesh of all men are many, but the Apostle Paul then adds these words in verse 11. "And such were some of you." If the Apostle had also included the more refined sins, such as pride, self-righteousness, etc., he would then have had to say: "And such were all of you."  You see, among men there are gross sinsand also those that are commonly found among religious men, the so-called refined sins that are linked to men's self-interest... pride, self-righteousness, etc. All Sin is evil in God's eyes, and there are both gross evils and the "nice evils." All men need to be washed and saved from their sins through the cross of Christ.

However, in 1 Cor. 6:11 the Apostle says: "And such were some of you" after listing these gross sins. Thank God, he goes on to say of those who had been thus stained with sin: "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."

These three phrases are rich for us. "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified." The word "but,"appearing before each phrases, indicates that each should be considered separately.

1.      Such sinful creatures were some of you, "but ye are washed," cleansed from the sins. We are no longer counted as "the unrighteous" of 1Cor 6:9 (above) because we have been forever "washed" of all our sins (past, present and future sins) by the one offering of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2.      You had been contaminated with Sin, "But ye are sanctified (set apart)... by the Spirit of our God." Having been "washed" and regenerated "by the Spirit" you are now "set apart" as sacred for His glory.

3.      Also, "But ye are justified." The washing removes our sins; the sanctification sets us apart removing us from Sin's dominion, thus the Lord has "removed" sins from us and us from Sin.

"But ye are justified" means there is something even more. Believers are not just left empty - they have something added to added to their account and to them. Believers are "justified" by having the righteousness of Christ, with His sin-payment, applied to there sin-debt account, and His righteous life is added to their very lives... "by the Spirit."

When God justifies us by Christ and His cross, who can condemn us?

"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth? ³⁴Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:33-34)

All this is done for the believing sinner, as our verse says, "in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."