"And Such Were Some of You" - a Christian Response to an Unchristian CultureEsimerkki

The types of things that we are seeing in our society might feel like rather new expressions of sinful rebellion against God, but rebellion against God is not new. We must remember that first-century Christianity thrived in a context where sexual immorality was prevalent. And yet, the Roman Empire has fallen, while the church of Christ still stands!

How does this happen? Well, it’s pretty obvious from verse 11. As Christ, through the gospel, invades these pagan places, lives are radically transformed. Note the passive voice of the verbs in verse 11: You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified. The people of the early church did not change their own lives; they didn’t clean themselves up. They did not set themselves apart. They did not make themselves righteous before God. No way! These people were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2). They were powerless, sinners, and enemies of God (Rom. 5).

So what happened? According to Acts 18, God commanded Paul in a vision to “keep on speaking and not be silent” about Christ in Corinth because the Lord had “many people in the city.” God promised Paul that He would be with him as he preached and persuaded, and according to verse 8, “Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized” (see vv. 8–10). As God empowered Paul’s preaching, many heard the gospel and were saved. They were transformed!

We can have confidence in the gospel because of the God of the gospel. He accompanies the preaching of the gospel and brings about spiritual life through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit!

The message that we believe and that we proclaim, the gospel of Jesus Christ, specializes in taking the sexually immoral, the idolater, the homosexual, the thief, the greedy person, the drunk, the reviler, and the swindler, and making them into citizens of the kingdom of God who have been washed, who have been sanctified, who have been justified “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

This is no time to lose hope. If God can save you and me, He can save anyone. This is no time to put aside the command of Christ to love God and neighbor out of despair. This is a time to be faithful to God as disciples of Jesus Christ who are empowered by the Holy Spirit and known for love without compromising the truth that sets people free. John 8:31–32:

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”