"AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU"
1 Corinthians 6:11
by Jim Mattison
Paul was speaking of sins that will keep people out of the Kingdom of God. He mentioned some very serious sins, like fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers.
Paul was saying that as long as God sees a person doing these things
He will not allow him to enter His kingdom, which His Son Jesus will establish on earth when He returns.
He adds to that list in Romans 1: people who do not acknowledge God, are envious, commit murder, are antagonistic, gossipers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, slanderers, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.
Then Paul makes it plain to the Christians at Corinth, “Such were some of you.” Then he adds such a wonderful word of comfort, peace, and hope: “but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God!”
Notice the great significance of the word “but.” It means “in spite of this,” or, “opposed to this.” Here is a contrast. While we practice these and other sins, we are unworthy of God and His future everlasting Kingdom of love, righteousness, and peace. BUT when we were washed, sanctified, and justified by our Lord and Savior Jesus, God no longer considers us to be sinners. Our sins were washed away by our acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sins.
This means that when we understand that we are sinners unworthy of eternal life, and repent, and are baptized into Christ for forgiveness of our sins, we are “new” people in God’s eyes and in the eyes of His people. No longer are those sins held against us. They have been forgiven. Praise God!
Notice again the phrase “and such were some of you.” We are all sinners until we are washed. But when we are washed, cleansed, and justified by our Lord Jesus, Paul says we are “new creatures” (2 Cor. 5:17). Old ways have passed away. A new way of living is directing our life, a way where we allow God to direct our life by His Word and His Spirit.
I have a plaque in my study that says, “Let Go and Let God.” I refer to it often, for we now want GOD to guide and direct our lives.
So that brings us to this situation in our lives—when my child (adult or otherwise), or some Christian we know, makes a mistake, what must my reaction be? Our first thought may be horror, disappointment, or condemnation. How could he or she do this after being taught the ways of God? Are we to have nothing to do with that person? Disinherit him? Offer him or her no support?
Our conduct, as we confront this challenge, must be what Christ would do in this circumstance.
Think of how Christ handled this problem when the Pharisees brought before Him the woman taken in adultery, desiring to stone her to death. He stooped down and wrote in the sand. Finally He gave His answer: “He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone.” They all departed, from the oldest to the youngest, leaving the sinful woman alone with Jesus. He said to her, “Go, and sin no more.” Don’t you know she was amazed at the turn of events? Jesus came not to destroy, but to lift up, offer forgiveness and salvation. He told us to “judge not, lest we be judged.”
We do not know if our child or that other Christian has gone to God and asked for forgiveness. If he or she has been raised right—to seek God’s face and obey Him—we can hope that he or she has asked God for forgiveness. What we must not do is condemn them. Condemnation is God’s job, not ours. Our work is: “Restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1,2). Restore means to bring back to a former condition. How do we restore someone? By love. By kindness. By tenderness. By mercy. The verse says “in the spirit of gentleness.”
A man in our church once sinned a sin. I came to the place where I didn’t even want to shake his hand. But I thought about that—is this the right way to act? especially since he continued to try to be a good church member. So I changed my attitude of criticism and condemnation to one of kindness and gentleness. I shook his hand, asked how he was doing.
When our child does wrong, how do we act? Do we shout, rant and rave, and condemn? Or do we tell them gently they made a mistake, but we still love them? Do we hug them in our arms and support them overall?
Remember the father of the prodigal son. When the boy was returning home, his father saw him a long way off (he was longing for him to come back), his father “felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him,” while the son was telling him he was no longer worthy of being his son. But the father loved him, honored him, and made a feast, saying, “This son of mine was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
This is a good example for us. Hugging and supporting children is usually better than criticizing them and condemning them. A word of praise does wonders. Remember they are still our children even when they become older. They still need our love and support. We can continue to show them the right way.
We must never forget we were once sinners and we are only accounted worthy now by the blood of our Savior and by having GOD’S Spirit.
Jim Mattison