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Being Sanctified In Corinth
Being Sanctified In Corinth
Acts 18:8 we read: “8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.” Thus, the church in Corinth began. Now what?
Paul will write: “9 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, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 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” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
In regard to their ‘relationship’ with God, they were saved and sanctified – set apart as God’s people, yet regarding the practice in life, they struggled to BE set apart. As with all of us, they had baggage from their prior living. In 2 Cor. 6, Paul shows that being a disciple means living in the world and at the same time being different FROM the world (or as Jesus put it, being in the world but not OF the world). Paul stated it in Rom. 12:2: “2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
“1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2Cor. 7:1). BUT, on what basis can they determine what is that which is ‘good, acceptable, and perfect’? How do they determine what is holy and what is unholy?
Foundationally, the whole of this new sanctified life is based upon the revelation of Jesus through the apostles and prophets: the wisdom that comes from God (1:21; 2:7), the gospel (1:17), the word of the cross (1:18), the words taught by the Holy Spirit (2:13). Even here, it is the MESSAGE that is to govern their thoughts and not the messenger (ch. 3 and 4).
Paul then turns his attention to other areas of changes that needed to be made by the new disciples. Be prepared to think and be challenged as you study these letters to the Corinthians. While in one sense, they are ‘basic’, on the other hand you will find many things that are difficult not only to understand but specially to practice. How is your pursuit of such practical holiness coming?
Hugh DeLong
