We Were Them

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (KJV)

“We Were Them”

April 21, 2024

President Reagan said in his last speech, “And since this is the last speech that I will give as President, I think it's fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a country which I love. It was stated best in a letter I received not long ago. A man wrote me and said: You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.”

President Obama said in a speech on Immigration, “The Irish, who left behind a land of famine; the Germans, who fled persecution; the Scandinavians, who arrived eager to pioneer out west; the Polish; the Russians; the Italians; the Chinese; the Japanese; the West Indians; the huddled masses who came through Ellis Island on one coast and Angel Island on the other. All those folks, before they were us, they were them.” Look around you today and know that before we were us, we were them!

In this first letter to the Corinthians, Paul was writing to believers and he asks the question: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?” Paul was simply declaring that before we were saved, we were lost and separated from God. The reason for our lost condition is that we were "unrighteous." The result of our lost condition is that we were not an heir of "the kingdom of God." We were cut off from God in this life and the life to come. He goes on to say, “Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 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.” Notice the repeated use of the word “but” in verse 11. It made no difference what the Corinthians had been before they came to know Jesus, BUT NOW all that mattered was what they had become because of His saving grace.

There are three things every believer should recognize as a result of salvation. You are Washed, You are Sanctified and You are Justified!

(You Are Washed)

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Revelation 1:5 To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. There is no sin that has left a stain so deep that the blood of Jesus can’t clean!

The same blood that washed us of our sins is powerful enough to keep us clean! Hold your head up because that crimson stain is no longer there.

(You Are Sanctified)

John 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Sanctification is the act of being set apart by the truth of God from the world.

2 Timothy 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Sanctification is a process that begins down Here and is completed in Glory! “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you! You don’t have to wait until you get your crown in Glory, you can shout right here! You don’t have to wait until you get home to change your mind, you can change right here! Somebody wants to wait until they get to their prayer closet to give God some praise, but Satan may be preparing some road blocks to get you distracted along the way. So, I have come to tell you that you if you are saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost, you can praise Him right here!

(You Are Justified)

Whereas SANCTIFICATION is a process that begins here and is finished there, JUSTIFICATION is the result of a declaration that was made then concerning now! For God has chosen us in Him before the foundations of the world! God declared us RIGHTEOUS because our debt had been settled at the cross of Christ. Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: God’s anger at our sin had been resolved by the blood of the lamb. Because God is SATISFIED, we are JUSTIFIED!