◄ What Does 1 Corinthians 6:11 Mean? ►

Paul makes it very clear that he is writing to born again believers by calling them 'brothers', 'saints', and 'the called'. Paul also knew that this band of believers were saved out of the most ungodly and perverted city of Corinth, and he did not hesitate to rebuke them for their ongoing, ungodly behaviour which manifested itself in all kinds of evil including stealing, drunkenness, greed, swindling, extortion, and insolence, as well as internal divisions, spiritual immaturity, and gross sexual sins.

Indeed, Paul reminds this group of believers in the Corinthian church that some of them had also been personally involved in the self-same, sordid sins, and gross wickedness as the unsaved before they had been redeemed through the blood of Christ, by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Who paid the price for all their sins, and ours too.

The Christians at Corinth had been saved out of the world but still retained much of the wickedness of the world within their soul. This should not have been so, for they were washed, sanctified, and justified by grace through faith in Christ.

All who are truly born-again brothers in Christ are saints of God, and we are all called according to the purpose of God. We are all washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. All who believe in the only begotten Son of God for salvation are cleansed by His blood the moment they believe. All who trust in Christ for salvation are sanctified and set apart unto God for His service, the moment they place their faith in Christ. All who believe that Christ was the substitute for their sins, are justified in the sight of God and declared righteous in His eyes from the moment of salvation.

It is at this point of rebirth that every sinner who is saved by grace is washed, sanctified, and justified in the sight of God, securing forever their eternal salvation and giving them eternal security as they journey through life. But as Jesus taught on the night that He was betrayed, those that are fully cleansed by His blood and washed clean by grace through faith in Him still need to "wash their feet" and be cleansed as we journey through life. We are both clean and called to be cleansed. We are fully washed and yet we need to regularly 'wash our feet'.

And as Paul also taught, we are placed in Christ at the point of salvation: consecrated and sanctified to God at the point of rebirth, positionally sanctified and set apart for Him. But throughout our earthly life, we are also being sanctified. As we journey through life, we go through the process of ongoing sanctification as we grow in grace and in a knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

All of us were dead in our trespasses and sins, but by grace through faith in Christ we are washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit. Let us now live by grace through faith in Christ and continue to walk in spirit and truth so that in the power of the Holy Spirit we may grow in grace and mature in the faith to the glory of God our Father, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, thank You that I am washed clean in the blood of Christ, positioned in Him, and set apart unto You. I pray that I may grow in grace, mature in the faith, and walk in spirit and truth to Your praise and glory. In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.