“And such were some of you”

This past Sunday morning our journey continued through 1 Corinthians in the Adult Sunday Morning Growth Group. We came to a profound verse in chapter 6, verse 11.

Verse 11 is connected to two previous verses, 9 and 10, which mention those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The unrighteous, the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, the greedy and the list goes on. If we stopped there, the future of the entire human race would be bleak and hopeless.

But the Apostle Paul writes a message of hope for all of us in verse 11:

“And such were some of you. 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.”

Paul is discussing the kinds of people who are in that church, the congregation of Corinth. And they are the kinds of people who are in every church including Central Baptist. We are people who have been converted from all kinds of sinful behaviors and backgrounds.

The mission of conversion is the reason the church is in the world. This is why we exist in the world. As believers, we are possessors of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Each of us has knowledge of the Gospel. We alone have the truth that can save dying people from an eternity in hell. Verse 11 is proof of that saving message.

Washed, sanctified and justified are all verbs, and in the context of verse 11, the action of all three note a divine event, a divine transformation that took place in a divine moment.

A short commercial break.

If you would like to know more about the meaning of washed, sanctified, justified, and much more, please join Jeff and the rest of our growing group in Parlour 2 every Sunday morning at 9:15am.

The Sunday morning class ended with a short excerpt from a video made in 1998. A few days before her execution date, a woman by the name of Karla Faye Tucker was being interviewed on death row in Texas. (Karla Faye Tucker: Forevermore Interview #1 – YouTube)

At age 23, Karla Faye had been convicted and sentenced to death for the brutal murder of a man and a woman with a pick axe in 1983. Karla came from a broken, dysfunctional home and by the age of 12 she was a drug addict and a prostitute.

She became a member of an outlaw biker gang in her early twenties which led her into crime and eventually the prison sentence.

During her first year of incarceration, Karla, through a prison ministry, had her heart opened to the Gospel message and she put her trust, faith and belief in The Lord Jesus Christ. She had been washed, sanctified and justified in a moment of time just like verse 11 says.

I remember watching the full interview on TV in 1998. I was struck by Karla Faye’s radiant countenance, her quiet but joyful spirit and her love for the Lord. By the accounts of the prison warden and guards, she was a model prisoner in every way, who spent the next fourteen years witnessing and counseling other inmates. There were many worldwide appeals for clemency made on Karla’s behalf but on the 3rd of February 1998, she was executed by lethal injection.

“And such were some of you.” There is no one, regardless of their sinful behaviour or background who is outside the forgiveness, love and grace of God.

“…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9