Shuddering Before the Book of Life

Mortimer Adler has an excellent
little book that I came across in college. The book is called,
appropriately, How to Read a Book. And in that little volume, Mortimer
Adler details to a would-be student the various approaches and methods
that one can take in reading a book. Not all books are intended
to be read, the same way. Not all books are intended to
be read cover to cover. And that, for me, was revolutionary.
Of course, a novel is the kind of book that you would read straight
through, but that is really the exception. What Mortimer Adler
encourages is for the student to taste the book in small measures
first, reading the glossary and the index, a key chapter or two
to see if it’s a book that you really want to invest your life
in. As a seminary professor said very similarly, date a book before
you marry it. Review the book before you buy
it. And don’t we all wish that we had employed that little piece
of advice. There’s one book in particular
that every single one of us would deeply desire to peer into, even
if just for a moment, just long enough, hopefully, to find, locate
our name. And in an alphabetized book,
that would be relatively easy, wouldn’t it? The book I’m talking
about is the Book of Life. We would long to peek, even for
a moment, into that book. Paul is going to take us as close
as he can to seeing that book this morning. Last Lord’s Day,
we followed Paul into a bit of a divergence from his great subject. In chapter 5, Paul had been addressing
the Corinthians for their moral laxity. They were tolerating
one of the grossest sins ever recorded in the Bible. Worse
yet, they were smug in their attitude, believing that tolerance
was a good thing. After all, the society around
them enthusiastically approved of their lenience towards sin. And so Paul not only deals with
the wickedly sinful young man whose dating life was not only
a wretched witness before the world, but already a destructive
element in the church. Paul deals with him, effectively
judging him, delivering him into Satan’s hands so that his sinful
flesh might be destroyed in order that his spirit might be saved.
It was a severe measure of church discipline, but it was actually
an act of mercy on Paul’s part. It can never be a good thing
to ignore sin in our brother’s life. But having dealt with the
sinful young man, Paul turns his attention in chapter five,
verses six and eight, to the arrogant Christian church itself.
Pardon me, Corinthian church. They knew, or at least they had
known, crucial principles related to sin in their midst, and they
had evidently forgotten them. Sin. which Paul likens there
to leaven, yeast, immediately begins to spread throughout the
church as soon as it’s introduced. Paul’s metaphor of a lump of
dough representing the church we saw as an ideal image. A little leaven, that is sin,
leavens, spreads, permeates throughout the whole lump of dough. Sin
and sinful attitudes with the refusal to deal with them had
so permeated this church in Corinth that Paul compares them to a
puffed up loaf of bread. Arrogant. Such leaven, such sin
must be removed through the uncomfortable process of church discipline.
This is the God given means of eradicating the cancerous effects
of sin. Sin must be cleaned out before
it does what it will naturally do so that the church can do
what it is called to do and designed to do. That is, worship their
God and Savior. Now, As we saw, the principle,
God’s people there in Corinth should have understood. They
should have mastered this clear maxim. But they were confused,
befuddled. They were mistaken in their understanding
of Paul’s directives. And because they misunderstood
his orders, verses 9 through 11, they misapplied them as well.
You might remember this. He not only tells his church
what he did not mean, but then he goes on to tell him what he
did mean. He had admonished them directly
in some letter that no longer exists not to associate with
immoral people. And they misunderstood and misapplied
that to refer to the ungodly people of the world. They were
avoiding and abstaining from interacting with unbelievers. thinking that they were doing
what they ought to do. They had turned things upside
down, avoiding unbelievers and yet permitting sin in their midst.
So when Paul clarifies in verse 11, he tells them that by immoral,
covetous, idolater, reviler, drunkard, swindler, he’s actually
talking about such sin within the church, not outside of her. He tells them that even in the
sweet fellowship that a brother can have over a meal with another
brother is sometimes to be forsaken. If that brother won’t let go
of his sin, doing so would be unfeeling toward the man and
it would be positively harmful to the church. Now, as we saw
last week, Paul does take a bit of a detour in the opening eight
verses of chapter six. He takes this detour from the
argument for just a brief moment to deal with another sinful tendency
in the Corinthian church, there were many, that of taking a brother
to court by a lawsuit. But it’s a digression, no doubt. Paul is quickly back to his foundational
concern in chapter six, verses nine through 11. Having dealt
with this related issue of lawsuits, Paul finalizes his address to
the Corinthians, uttering to them the horrifying reason for
his concerned tone found in chapter 5. If you would, just read these
three pertinent verses, verses 9 through 11 of chapter 6. Or do you not know that the unrighteous
will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves,
nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will
inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you, but you
were washed But you were sanctified, but you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God. By now, you recall that that
list of sins here in this passage is nearly identical to that which
Paul articulates in 511. Though the order of the terms
sometimes varies, each term is repeated here in chapter six,
and even new sins are added by Paul. The bottom line concern
for Paul is the book of life. Are his friends names written
therein? He’s concerned for their salvation,
whether or not they’re going to heaven. And there could be
no greater concern. The book of life mentioned numerous
times in scripture refers to that metaphorical ledger in which
the names of those invited to heaven are to be found. The first
one to use this phrase is David in Psalm 69, speaking negatively
about God’s enemies. Psalm 69, 28, let them be blotted
out of the book of the living. Let them not be enrolled among
the righteous. The only other time that Paul
uses this phrase is in his letter to the Philippians, speaking
positively of his fellow workers in the gospel. Philippians 4,
3, I ask you, true companion, help these women who have labored
by my side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the
rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. What a commendation. The rest
of the New Testament occurrences, as you probably already know,
are found in John’s Revelation. And speaking of those in Sardis,
the whole idea of the Book of Life is expanded upon here in
Revelation. Speaking of Sardis, he says of
them that they are those who have not soiled their garments.
They are holy, John writes. I will never blot his name out
of the Book of Life. Later in chapter 13, John records
those who did not worship the beast. They are identified as
everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation
of the world in the book of life who was slain. Those from all
eternity who were bound for heaven. In chapter 17, he speaks of those
who do worship the beast, They’re those whose names have not been
written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world.
Those not bound for heaven. And then with all clarity, John
records the ultimate function of the Book of Life in 2012. Then another book was opened,
which is the Book of Life, and the dead were judged by what
was written in the books according to what they had done. In 2015,
if anyone’s name was not found there in the Book of Life, he
was thrown into the lake of fire. Heaven and hell hang in the balance
depending on whose name is written in the Book of Life. Eternity
in heaven itself hangs in the balance. And so, and finally,
in Revelation 21, 27, speaking of heaven, nothing unclean will
ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is detestable or
false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of
life. So a true believer, a genuine
Christian, will be exceedingly concerned for the eternal welfare
of souls, for whether or not their friends, their neighbors,
their relatives’ names are written in the book of life. whether
or not they are bound for heaven. Paul’s concern is that there
are individuals in Corinth whose lives are marked distinctly by
a wide variety of sinful actions whose names cannot possibly be
found in the book of life. They cannot possibly be those
included on the guest list of heaven itself. And that for Paul
and for any true believer is a serious concern. So Paul details
his underlying concern here, that which has been behind his
thoughts throughout the entirety of chapter five. That’s why he
was so concerned about this sinful young man. That’s why he was
so concerned about a lenient church. See, the Corinthians
had fallen into a trap that the church faces in every generation. grading themselves on a curve,
effectively, comparing themselves to the wicked society around
them, all the while lowering and eradicating the moral standard. This is one godly watchman’s
description. He said the tendency to divorce
religion for morality has magnified itself in all ages of the world
and under all forms of religion. The pagan, the Jew, the Mohammedan,
the nominal Christian have all been exact in performance of
religious services. While unrestrained in the indulgence
of every sinful passion. This arises from looking upon
religion as an outward service and God as being to be feared
and propitiated but not to be loved and obeyed. According to
the gospel, all moral duties are religious services and piety
is the conformity of the soul to the image and will of God. So that to be religious and yet
immoral is a contradiction. as palpable a contradiction as
to be good and wicked at the same time. When Isaiah’s great prophecy
opens, chapter one, he captures God’s words to a wayward nation. Isaiah one for a sinful nation
of people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children
who deal corruptly. They have forsaken the Lord.
They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are utterly estranged. And yet they were religious. They went through the motions.
And so in verse 11, it says, Woe to me is the multitude of
your sacrifices, says the Lord. I have had enough of burnt offerings
of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I do not delight in the
blood of bulls or lambs or goats. What he wanted was obedience.
So we come to this passage. A very similar passage where
Paul is dealing with a lenient church. that had allowed sin
into their church and that sin was now permeating the church. I’ve entitled the book, or the
passage this morning, Shuddering Before the Book of Life. Which
one of us wouldn’t tremble as we thumb through the pages looking
longingly to find our name or a loved one’s name? I want to look this morning at this guest list for heaven
and three perspectives of this guest list. First of all, as
we begin to glance at the book of life, we see the rabble that
is barred from heaven’s guest list. He looks at them as a group. Look at verse nine. Do you not
know that the unrighteous as a group will not inherit the
kingdom of God. That is a great clue to whether
or not your name is found in the book of life or whether your
loved one’s name is found in the book of life. Are they unrighteous? And in his classic style, Paul
confronts the Corinthians in their practical ignorance. Do
you not know? That’s a formula which he uses
again and again, nine times in this epistle, six times in this
chapter. Do you not know? Have you forgotten? Paul challenges that the unrighteous
will not inherit the kingdom of God. Of course, they should
have known this, but in their pride, their thinking was muddled.
And Paul says, in effect, let’s peer into the book of life, shall
we? Who are those? What are they
like, generally speaking, whose names are written in the book
of life? Or perhaps even more directly,
what kind of people are not included on the guest list? The first
thing that Paul does is tell them that the unrighteous, this
loose category of people, will not be welcomed into heaven.
They will not inherit the kingdom of God. The first thing that
Paul does is point to this broad category of people, the unrighteous,
who will not be in heaven. And Paul’s selection of this
word, which he only uses twice in this lengthy epistle, it does
two things. The first thing it does is affirm
to the Corinthians that in no way should they bring their disputes
before such people, remember, the unrighteous. There Paul points
in chapter five to the unbelieving judges spiritual standing. But Paul uses the term here in
an even more definitive sense. It’s not just a Christian spiritual
standing because a Christian is supposed to be standing in
the righteousness of Christ. Paul says here. Not only are
these forbidden to access heaven because of their spiritual standing,
but because their character is consistent with this standing.
They are living an unrighteous life because they’re unrighteous.
They’re unrighteous in both senses of the word. Unsaved, they do
not possess the righteousness of Christ, and practically speaking,
they are unrighteous. They are ungodly sinners. They
are those who have transgressed God’s commands. And so this word
serves as an unmistakable red flag to the Corinthians, a severe
warning that no such people are admitted ever into heaven. The worldly judges were unrighteous,
but the Corinthians were living unrighteous lives. And they were
tolerating it. And the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God. And so Paul reminds them that
heaven is not a universal gift. All are not welcome. It’s a free
gift of God for all who have donned the righteousness of Christ. For such, God will include them
in the inheritance of the saints, heaven itself. So Paul is speaking
generally here of those who do not go to heaven. He simply refers
to them as unrighteous as a group. And so the question which with
which we’re left at this juncture is who exactly are the unrighteous? Paul is eager to identify these
individuals. He’s eager to help us. page through
the Book of Life and identify what kinds of people will or
will not be found there. Paul’s eager to identify the
individuals in their specific transgressions in which they
engage and that’s what he begins to tackle in the remainder of
verse 9 all the way through verse 10. Glance at the verse, will
you? Not only do we see the rabble
that is barred from heaven’s guest list, we see the malefactors
themselves, the individual sins enumerated that bar them from
heaven’s guest list. Do not be deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Now Paul ratchets up his rhetoric,
doesn’t he? No more veiled questions about
what the Corinthian believers may or may not have forgotten.
Now Paul squarely warns them of the very real possibility
that they have been hoodwinked. They have been led away from
the truth. We’ve seen this word before back
in our study of Titus chapter 3 verse 3. It’s there. It’s translated
here as deceived. Do not be deceived. In Titus 3, he speaks in past
tense. We were deceived. That’s what
we were. If not for God’s grace, that’s
where we would be. You see this leaven. This leaven
would spread. This leaven of deception would
spread throughout the whole church so that soon everybody would
be tolerant. Everybody would be okay with these gross sins. And there must have been many,
many people who maintained a faulty view of the faith that maintained
a form of public outward Christianity who had not yet even yielded
their lives in obedience to Christ. There must have been a lot of
them. And so they were spreading their deceitful lies. The word,
we’ve seen it before, is plenao, from which we get our word planet.
Because the ancients believed that the stars all wandered around
aimlessly in the sky. So the word came to mean being
led astray, deceived. And particularly this church
was yielding to the error that morality didn’t matter. The practical
godliness didn’t matter as long as you were sincere, as long
as you had made a profession of faith, as long as you said
you were a Christian, it didn’t matter how you lived. Does that
sound familiar? It’s no different than our day.
Paul was constantly warning his churches of this tendency, Romans
13, 13. Let us behave properly as in
the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity
and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. Why would he have
to say that to the Roman church? If the influence of the world
wasn’t constantly pressing in on the church. Galatians 5 19
and 20 the deeds of the flesh are evident which are immorality
impurity sensuality Idolatry sorcery enmity strife jealousy
outbursts of anger disputes dissensions factions Why would he have to
say that to the Galatian Church? If the world weren’t constantly
pressing in on them The world and even the fringe members of
the church could say that you believed and it didn’t matter
how you lived and There were many among them and
everybody around them barking that idea that morality doesn’t
matter. It’s the great and recurring
lie for which the church and those in it constantly fall. We constantly are fighting becoming
more and more tolerant according to society’s whims. And to the
Corinthians, Paul warns, they are being seduced by that age
old lie. Oh God, he’s a God of love, right? Surely he’s not going to judge
so severely. Paul says, do not be deceived.
He’s told them of the general group forbidden from heaven.
The unrighteous and here in the remainder of verse nine all the
way down through verse 10. He gets very specific, doesn’t
he? He is very specific and he explains with detail who he means
by unrighteous. And he begins to enumerate the
particular sins that stand in the way of eternal glory. And most of the terms in this
list are not new. Of the 10 things mentioned in
this list, all but four of them were identified already back
in chapter 5, verse 11. Pornos, we looked at. Immoral,
sexual immorality, basically. And then idolaters. The first
time that that word is ever used in scripture is back in chapter
5. And Paul, we saw, may have even invented the word. So bad
was the immorality in Corinth that they were essentially making
a religion out of it. The worship of a false god, whether
literal or figurative. Down in verse 10, he renews another
term. Covetous, those who were greedy
for gain. The companion of this sin is
also reiterated here, that of swindling those who take every
opportunity to take full advantage of others. And the final two
repeated terms are also related to one another, drunkards and
revilers. They go hand in hand. Paul explicitly
warns that people marked by these sins are among those who will
not enter the kingdom of heaven. But Paul isn’t finished with
his list. He does freshen his list so as
to make it more complete. And to the six things he’s already
mentioned, he adds some very fascinating terms. Adulterers,
effeminate, homosexuals, thieves. Let’s glance briefly at each
of those. By adulterers, moikos, it’s not
a frequently used term in scripture. It occurs only three times in
the New Testament. But it points to the sin of sexual
relations outside the bonds of marriage, either before or during
a marriage with someone other than one’s spouse. These will
not inherit the kingdom of heaven. If that sin is in your life,
as with the rest of them, fornicators, idolaters, covetous. We need to repent of that sin
and turn to Christ. Not only adulterers, effeminate.
This word translates the word Malakos, soft. effeminate, what
one described as effeminate luxury, or another called it voluptuousness. For a man? The unmistakable insinuation
here refers to men who emulate feminine characteristics for
the purpose of appealing to other men. Paul says these will not
inherit the kingdom of heaven. And together with that, he mentions
not only effeminate, but homosexuals. Neither will those men who are
drawn to relations with such. By these two terms, Paul condemns
both the passive and the active aspects of the sin of homosexuality. This word, arsenokoites, fascinating
word. Until only recently, that first
word, arsane, was usually translated as sodomite. It refers to male bed partners.
What one sound commentator referred to as the most repulsive form
of the violation of the seventh commandment, you shall not commit
adultery. But especially not this. Well,
this is what makes the whole same-sex union so repulsive. Because they think that this
is a good workaround for that commandment. After all, they’re
married. And the only other place in the
New Testament where this word is used, 1 Timothy, Paul is extolling
the lawful use of the law. For whom is the law? Verse 8
of 1st Timothy 1, we know that the law is good if one uses it
lawfully, realizing the fact that the law is not made for
the righteous person. But for those who are lawless
and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and
profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers
and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and
perjurers and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according
to the glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I have
been entrusted. And Although Paul uses different
terminology, we know that Paul at least alludes to the sin of
homosexuality in Romans 1. Men likewise gave up the natural
functions with the women and were consumed with passion for
one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in
themselves the due penalty of their error. The Greeks and the Romans were
dreadfully indulgent in this vice. So far even to prefer this,
many of them did, they preferred this to the natural relation
of a man and a woman. And everyone just seemed to accept
this alternative lifestyle. This particular sin, of course,
was rampant in Sodom. Genesis 19 and 20, where God’s
assessment of this particular evil was that it was exceedingly
grave. Homosexuality is not new. And
now, even in our own society, this sin is now deeply rooted
and calling for God’s judgment. But Paul says here, plainly,
those who engage in such will not inherit the kingdom of God. Not only adulterers, effeminates,
homosexuals, thieves. That’s kind of mild compared
to the other ones, isn’t it? And you already know the Greek
word for thief. I don’t even have to tell it
to you, but it’s kleptase. From where we get klepto, kleptomaniac. Someone who steals. Someone who
takes something that doesn’t belong to them. You know, over
this past year, I’ve watched all these riots, and one of the
saddest things that I observed is how few people in any circle
dared to identify the sin of stealing for what it is. We’ve brushed it under the rug
as if it does not matter when scripture here says that a klepto,
a thief, will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. So the most natural question
that could follow a sobering statement such as this one was
the question that was put to Jesus by his own disciples in
a similar situation. Would you turn to Matthew 19
just briefly? Matthew 19. Keep your finger
in first Corinthians. Matthew 19 and verse 23. And Jesus said to his disciples,
truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person
enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it’s easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
person to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples heard
this, they were greatly astonished, saying, who then can be saved?
But Jesus looked at them and said, with man, this is impossible,
but with God, all things are possible. When Paul says that
the standard for entrance into heaven is so exceedingly high,
no unrighteous, neither fornicators nor idolaters, adulterers, effeminate,
homosexuals, thieves, covetous drunkards, revilers, swindlers
will inherit the kingdom of God. The most natural question is
who then can be saved? This is Paul’s final focus in
verse 11. Back, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
6, verse 11, we see the rabble, the general category of those
barred from heaven’s guest list, the malefactors that are forbidden
from heaven’s guest list. And then we finally see, in verse
11, in what hope? The graced remnant on heaven’s
guest list. Look at verse 11, such were some
of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, but you
were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in
the spirit of our God. How utterly horrible it would
be to read a list like we read in verses 9 and 10 and to have
no recourse, no way of redemption, no mercy,
no forgiveness, to live your entire life knowing that you’re
doomed. But God is a God of mercy. God
is a God of redemption. And in Jesus Christ, his son,
he has fully provided for our redemption. He is fully provided
for salvation from even the most wretched sins. Make no mistake. Paul says, such
were some of you. Literally, he says, these were
some of you. That ugly list that I just read,
that was you. And you can hear the bite of
disdain in that when he said, these were some of you. You were among those who were
doomed sinners. But what a hopeful line of thought.
That this provides every believer in our interaction with those
in the world that are caught up in the net of sin. To tell them that such was I. Such were some of you. This is no self-righteous individual. This is no proud believer. He’s
been saved and that from a miserable and certain end. And he or she
has been spared from hell through no deed or effort of their own.
The Corinthians were, we were just like them. Such were some
of you. Note the qualifier though of
the subject, you. He doesn’t say all of you, he
says some of you. I smiled when I read one of our
recent testimonies that almost lamented that they
didn’t have a more gory testimony to provide. That’s a glorious
testimony. To avoid the sin and slop of
the world and to come to Christ Do not have to look back and
look over your shoulder. Glorious testimony wasn’t everyone, but some such were some of them. Look
at the 10th of the verb were past tense. Such were some of
you. It’s this way no longer. As far as eternity, the Christian
has been removed from his sin and its effects. It is this way
no longer. And that’s the entire point. The believer is no longer caught
up in and enjoying what is little by little, killing him day by
day. Such were some of you, but know what happens with this very
next word. But. What a wonderful breath of life
is in that single word. The whole sentence, even the
entire hopeful turn, is captured in that next word, but. And it’s
important to observe that Paul repeats this word three times. for effect. Listen to the flow
of it. Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators and all that
list in verses 9 and 10 will inherit the kingdom of God. But
you were washed. But you were sanctified. But
you were justified. But there is hope. But God is
made away. But as wretched and vile and
as soul deadening as our situation was, there is a glimmer of hope. A single word has never sounded
so pleasant in sinners ears, has it? It reminds us, doesn’t
it, of Ephesians 2. Would you turn there for just
a moment? It’s a very similar spark of hope. Made more joyful
here to the Ephesians because they were looking back at what
had already transpired. Ephesians chapter 2. Beginning
in verse one, you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which
you formerly walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit
that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them,
we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as the rest. Here is that same hope
draining situation. Caught up in the net of sin.
Verse four, but God. And there is that same hope instilling
word. There’s hope. But God being rich
in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead and our transgressions made us alive. with Christ by grace you have
been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in
the heavenly places in Christ as dark and as hopeless as things
looked as long as a sinner is alive there’s hope and that’s what’s communicated
by that one little word but Paul doesn’t stop there, however.
Look at the verse. Such, back to 1 Corinthians,
such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified,
but you were justified. Things happen. Wonderful, glorious,
life-saving things happen. So that even for one caught up
in such despicable sins, there is redemption. So what happened? Paul mentions
three massive words here, washed, sanctified, justified, and we
know these words, but we must consider them in context. First,
Paul says you were washed, and that’s an interesting translation
in the NAS, given that the form of the word is in the middle
voice, which should be translated, you washed yourself. Some commentators
wanted to insist that this is talking about baptism. I don’t
see it that way. After all, we don’t baptize ourselves,
right? It’s just a general way for Paul
to say that in your coming to faith in Christ, you cleansed
yourself from the world’s stains. This does our view of the sovereign
grace in salvation no harm. We’re told the very same way
to lay aside the old self in Ephesians 4.22, aren’t we? And
it may well be an echo by Paul of Isaiah 1.16. Wash yourselves,
make yourselves clean, remove the evil deeds from my sight.
We hated our sin, didn’t we, before we came to Christ? We
longed to be clean. God is sovereign in salvation,
but He commands us to stand up and walk, doesn’t He? Or here
to wash. The second term, sanctified,
means, as you know, to be set apart, made holy. But sanctification,
as we all know, is a lifelong process. Paul doesn’t speak of it as completed,
saying you were sanctified. Pardon me, but Paul does speak
of it as completed. You were sanctified because there’s
another aspect, another perspective of sanctification. By your faith
in Jesus Christ, you are declared righteous. And in that sense,
you were set apart, sanctified for a holy purpose. God does this for sinners. We don’t clean up ourselves.
We don’t make ourselves holy. God does this. And then thirdly,
we were justified by your faith in Christ. You were declared
righteous. When a Christian comes to faith in Christ, everything
changes. His sins are, so as to say, washed
away so that he is sanctified or justified. There’s an ascent
here where Paul is simply saying the same thing three different
ways. In the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the Spirit of God, the sinner is converted, changed,
transformed, made new. The Holy Spirit is the agent
of change, but it’s in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith
in all that Christ is and all that he has done for salvation.
The whole of the Christian life is captured here in this snapshot
of initial yielding to Christ. You may be wondering there may be one last question rolling around in your mind.
Why me? How is it that I of all people
came to have my name written in the book of life? And the answer to that question,
you know, is mercy. Nothing but the pure, unadulterated,
magnificent, undeserved, incredible, life-changing mercy of God.