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.
The verses immediately before this verse list a series of sins. I want to encourage you to read that list. The power of the list is that Paul says that some of his readers engaged in those sins, but now those sins are in the past. That is the power of the Gospel. God works to take out of our lives the sins that characterize the results of the Fall. He is in the changing business. We don’t start a new life in Him and stay the same. We start the new life and He works on our total person, conforming us to His will. God accepts us right where we are in life, but then the process of transformation begins. No matter what sin it is, God wants to work it out of our system. Some who are greedy, burdened with self-indulgent use of wealth, God wants to transform them into ridiculously generous givers. Those who misuse sex He wants to transform into monogamous heterosexuals or celibate individuals. Those who use rage He wants to turn into gentle individuals able to interact in a way that cherishes and honors the other. You see, we were all stuck in sin. God is in the process of moving us out of that sin and into a person more like Himself, holy and righteous. He didn’t save us to leave us in sin. He saved us to take us from that darkness into His marvelous light. We are now cleansed, made holy and fully accepted as His. We used to be filthy, common street trash, and rejected by God. But God did a work and continues that work in our lives. He saved us to change us. So next time someone tries to tell you “that is just the way I am” as an excuse for sin, remind them that God saved us to take us from what we were to what we will become. Ultimately, when we are in God’s presence, there will be no sin. We will be as pure as God is pure.
The Arnold Journey 