There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
In this morning’s sermon text from 1 Corinthians, Paul pulls no punches regarding the “unrighteous” who will not inherit the Kingdom. He very clearly names these unrighteous behaviors and lifestyles, even pointing out that some of these had been practiced by the Corinthians themselves. But this drives us to verse 11: “… you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Likewise, the service this morning does not shy away from the reality of depravity—read through the text of Do You Declare O Earthly Gods (Psalm 58) if you haven’t yet, on the hurt, violence, and poison of wickedness. But hymns like Glory Be To God The Father, Jesus Paid It All, O For A Thousand Tongues, How Sweet The Name Of Jesus Sounds, Come Ye Disconsolate, and There Is A Fountain remind us that the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross overcomes even our vilest sins. He “washed us from each spot and stain,” we “wash our garments white in the blood of Calvary’s lamb,” and “His blood can make the foulest clean.” His atoning sacrifice “makes the wounded spirit whole,” and “earth has no sorrow” that He cannot cure. Through this whole passage, Paul’s theme is “redeeming love”—and ours, too, till we die.
—Henry C. Haffner
Key Words: Unrighteous, Inherit, Kingdom, Deceived, Washed, Sanctified, Justified
Keystone Verse: You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Or 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, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 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.