But You Washed Them Away! Series

INTRODUCTION

Outline.

1. But You Washed Them Away!

Introductory Remarks.

1. In this Sermonette today, we will discuss some essential words of the Apostle Paul to Corinth. To them, he wrote: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, idolaters, nor adulterers…shall inherit the kingdom of God…And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God," 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. (Text shortened for brevity).

2. Paul wrote to them regarding their former and current condition: 1) what they were before Christ and 2) what they are now in Christ. He points out the former condition, their sins and unrighteousness, and their current condition: being washed, sanctified, and justified "in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of their God."

3. As a result of this washing, sanctification, and justification: "They are now in Christ and have inherited the kingdom of God.” He penned: "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new," 2 Corinthians 5:17. This was due to their "washing, sanctification, and justification in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God," 1 Corinthians 6:11; Acts 18:8.

4. The same conditions that applied to these Corinthians apply to all sinners then and all sinners now. In our present condition, "dead in trespasses and sins," we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. We must abide by the same teaching and form that made them worthy to enter the "kingdom of God," John 3:3-5; Titus 3:4-7. We, too, must be "washed, sanctified, and justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God," 1 Corinthians 6:11. Let's see what Paul meant when he wrote: “But you washed them away.” What did the Corinthians “wash away?”

BODY OF LESSON

I BUT YOU WASHED THEM AWAY!

A. But you washed them away. What was it the Corinthians “washed away?" Looking closer at the Text, Paul states that "these things" were washed away. Their former practices and sins, the apostle enumerated: "Fornication, idolatry, adultery, effeminacy, abusers of themselves with mankind, thievery, covetousness, drunkenness, reviling, and extortions,” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. (Text shortened for brevity). All these things the Corinthians “washed away" by their faith and obedience to the gospel of Christ. Consider,

1. The Corinthians were guilty of all "unrighteousness and sin" while practicing "these things." Like so many of us are today. We all have sinned “and fallen short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23; Galatians 3:10-12.

2. Surely, those who practice "these things" or "commit these sins" shall not inherit the "kingdom of God," 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.

NOTE: See our lesson "For Such Were Some of You" on SermonCentral.com by Ron Freeman, Evangelist. It discusses these verses more completely.

3. To enter the kingdom of God, such sins and practices must be put away, washed away, and forgiven through the repentant believer's "washing them away." We will establish how this is done later. Now for the word "washed." Consider,

B. The word “washed" in Gr. is apolouo or ap-ol-oo'-o, meaning to wash off or put away: to wash oneself of sin thoroughly. To remitted: —or wash (away), 1 Corinthians 6:11, Acts 22:16. Let's consider other writers' use of the word "apolouo" elsewhere in the Bible.

1. First, in the Old Testament. It occurs once in the Old Testament and is used in several other passages in a similar word. Observe,

a. Job wrote: “I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent…If I wash with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; Yet shall thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me,” Job 9:28-31. (Text shortened for brevity).

b. David wrote: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin…Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,” Psalms 51:2-7.

c. Solomon wrote: “There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness,” Proverbs 30:12.

2. Further, in the New Testament. It appears two times in the Textus Receptus Greek New Testament (TRGNT). Observe,

a. Paul wrote: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost,” Titus 3:5.

NOTE: B. W. Johnson calls the washing of Titus 3:5 “the bath of regeneration.” He wrote: "Two elements enter the saving; these are referred to in John 3:5 as the birth of water and the Spirit.”