Washed, Sanctified, Justified, and Glorified in Jesus

Too many of the folks who profess to be disciples of Jesus Christ are ignorant of what his life, death, resurrection, and ascension accomplished for us. Unfortunately, a large number of Christians are operating under the mistaken assumption that their good works will save them from death and eternal damnation. Scripture, however, is explicit about the fact that this is accomplished for us by Jesus of Nazareth. Even so, some of these folks continue to believe that they have a significant role to play in their own salvation! Moreover, they falsely accuse those of us who do understand how we are saved of antinomianism - rejecting or doing away with any obligation on our part to be moral or righteous. They say that we effectively turn grace into a license to sin, but nothing could be further from the truth!

In this regard, one of their favorite proof texts is drawn from Paul's first letter to the saints at Corinth (which they twist and pervert in the same manner they do the rest of the Scriptures). In that epistle, the Apostle Paul upbraided Christ's disciples for squabbling among themselves, and even appealing to the secular courts to settle their disputes with each other (I Corinthians 6:1-8). He went on to write: "do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality (male prostitutes), nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (I Corinthians 6:9-11, ESV)

Paul was pointing out that their current behavior did not reflect the reality of what Christ had done for them. He went on to remind them of what Christ had done for them. Paul said that Christ had washed or cleansed them of their sins, had sanctified them (made them Holy), and justified them (imputed his righteousness to them). In other words, he was pointing out that their sinful behavior was more of a reflection of their former sinful life than one that reflected what Christ had accomplished for them! Instead, they were acting like folks who had NOT been redeemed by Jesus - like folks who would NOT be a part of God's Kingdom. The apostle was effectively reiterating a principle which Christ had taught his disciples during his earthly ministry - good trees produce good fruit, and bad trees produce bad fruit.

Paul went on to remind them that they were now Christ's, and that the way that they lived their lives should reflect the fact that they had been given the gift of God's Holy Spirit. Hence, once again, things like practicing sexual immorality and engaging with prostitutes was inconsistent with the reality of their new life in Christ (I Corinthians 6:12-20).

Likewise, in his epistle to Christ's disciples at Rome, Paul told them that Jesus Christ had freed them from the Law of sin and death and had given them the Holy Spirit to assist them in their new life (Romans 8:1-11). He went on to explain that the Spirit had made them Sons of God, and that they would be glorified with him someday (Romans 8:12-17). Paul continued: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us...For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." (Romans 8:18-25, ESV) He concluded his thought: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." (Romans 8:26-30, ESV)

So, we see from Paul's perspective that Jesus Christ accomplished: 1. cleansing us of our sins, 2. making us Holy before God, 3. the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us, and 4. making us able to host God's Spirit. This is salvation through Jesus Christ! Now, we should also state that Paul makes clear that these things are accomplished by Christ both immediately and over the course of our lifetimes on this planet. Even so, it is God who decided that we would be called to Christ and saved - redeemed from sin and death and given eternal life with God. Yes, the wages of sin is DEATH, but eternal life is God's GIFT to us through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23). There is NOTHING that you or I can do to acquire this gift. Nevertheless, if we have truly accepted the gift, our behavior will reflect that reality!