Such Were Some of You

Day 222: 1 Corinthians 6:1-20

“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.” - 1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV

Our desires, or our temptations/inclinations, don’t have to define us. Paul, in this chapter, isn't condemning occasional mishaps and mistakes. With clarity, he is saying that there are lifestyles that are not conducive to prepping us for heaven—in fact, these lifestyles show we’d rather be in hell.

This is not to discount the ferocity of the temptations that come with these ten lifestyles mentioned in verses 9-10. The struggle is real and cannot be dismissed as easy to overcome.

Yet, as Ben Witherington wrote so well, “Paul believes that God can give Christians enough power to resist sinful desires, even if they continue to have them.”

There is no shame in the temptations that come at us. Jesus Himself was tempted (Matthew 4:1-11). But we have to decide who we want to be.

If we want to “belong to Christ,” we, in essence, admit that God knows the best way for us to use our bodies. Jesus desires for everyone on earth to be washed (from sin), sanctified (set apart as holy), and justified (declared not guilty). The choice is ours.