Month: December 2018

107. Washed, Sanctified, Justified

 1 Corinthians 6:11 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.

 We are washed, sanctified and justified. That’s a promise. There are nine kinds of sinners listed as unrighteous; these unrighteous people will not inherit the kingdom of God. We also are included in that category of people: “Such were some of you.” I may not do all the nine sins listed, but my thoughts convict me of such shameful sinfulness: I am unrighteous and not worthy of the kingdom of God.

But then comes the big “but:” but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified. Now you will enter the kingdom of God. Jesus stood on the earth and announced the kingdom of God has arrived; enter into it by repenting and believing the Gospel. The Gospel brings us from exclusion to inclusion, from outside to inside, from darkness to light, from death to life. How far we have come in Jesus!

Washed, sanctified and justified are different ways to describe one thing. Washed points to an inward cleansing by the blood of Jesus. Washed in the blood happens when we are baptized in water and the Word. This is a complete cleansing of all sins past, present and future: every sin. The forgiveness of sins qualifies us to enter the kingdom of God. God now rules our lives as the wise king and we are protected and provided for. Sanctified indicates being made holy, not just innocent, but positively doing good and right things, living and behaving with good works. Sanctification is a developing, ongoing process. Justified means to be declared righteous and just. It is a one time, once-for-all event, and the righteousness endures into the present and the eternal future. All three descriptions of the Gospel promise qualify us to inherit the kingdom of God.

It is the “name of the Lord Jesus” and “the spirit of our God” that does all this for us. Jesus earned it for us; the Holy Spirit applies it to us by faith in the Gospel. This promise of entering the kingdom of God by being washed, sanctified and justified is a present reality, something we can experience now where we live. The present promise guarantees a certain blissful future in the eternal state.

106. Judge World and Angels

 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge he smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?

 It is awesome to realize that we the saints will judge the world; and it is even more terrifying to be given responsibility to judge angels. We are definitely not qualified to be judges (though our pride deceives us into thinking we can ”judge” anyone), yet here is a promise that we will judge the world and the angels. It must be that God qualifies us after death and resurrection, when sin is removed and Satan’s deceits disappear. The saints will sit on thrones and judge with Jesus those people in the world without Christ; this probably means that we agree and consent to the correct and eternal judgment of Jesus from the throne. In addition, we consent to the judgment rendered by God against the fallen angels and the Devil, when they are consigned to the eternal lake of fire. Jesus permits us to participate in His judgment.

So we will judge. Paul uses this promise to convince the Corinthian church that they should be worthy enough to judge in smaller internal matters. The church should settle its own affairs and not leave legal matters to the Kingdom of the Left Hand. If you by faith are worthy to judge in the next life, surely you can judge things that pertain to this life.

Jesus knows He can entrust such frightening responsibilities to us sinners because he has transformed us into saints. We get a sense of how complete the transformation is and how far we have come. Christians do not normally look that much different than unbelievers, but they really are profoundly different. This gift of being a wise judge, however, does not give us the understanding to judge the hearts and motivations of humans on the earth. We withhold judgment until we are given sight; after death and resurrection we will have the sight and insight to see the heart motivations. Then we eternally agree with the just judgment of God against the fallen world and fallen angels. Until then, we have this promise.