11 And that is what some of you were. 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.
One of the greatest words is “were.” It speaks of a past and of a present. In the previous verses Paul has named some of the worst sins, and then he says that some of us used to be those people doing those sins. I don’t know about you, but there are some things in my before-Jesus-life that do not raise my chest and head in pride. I think back and hang my head. What was I thinking? That was really stupid! How dumb could I have been? Do these words sound familiar? Whether it was the playground teasing or the locker room bullying, we all have a past. But Jesus has made a fundamental change in us. That is why “were” is such a great word. It marks a transition from what was to what is. We don’t have to stay broken, we can get fixed. We are not stuck in a generational treadmill of neglect and abandonment, we can persevere. We can drop the racism and prejudice of our history and begin anew. This process is a three part process; getting washing, being set apart for God’s exclusive use, and a fundamental change in our relationship with God. And then that change is shown to be active by the presence of God the Holy Spirit working in our lives. All three are necessary. We all tried to clean ourselves up before Jesus. We would blow it in an area of our lives and then vow to not do that again. That didn’t last long! We need a good spiritual shower, inside and out, scrub brushes coming out and doing their work. We then need a continuous full surrendering of our will to His. He will take a partial surrender, but knows that a partial surrender is really a partial rebellion, and He knows the consequences of rebellion. And then there is the change in our relationship with God, going from enemy to included friend and family member. The past truly can be the past. We can say goodbye and never go back. And that is what some of you were….
The Arnold Journey 