DON’T DENY YOUR DELIVERANCE

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

1Co 6:9 Or do you not yet get it — the fact that unrighteous ones will not be inheriting the kingdom coming from God? Do not be led astray! Neither those committing sexual sin, nor those worshipping images, nor those committing adultery, nor either partner in a homosexual couple,

1Co 6:10 nor thieves, nor greedy people, nor alcoholics, nor abusive people, nor swindlers — none of these will be inheriting the coming kingdom from God,

1Co 6:11 and some of you used to be these things, but you have now been washed, but you have now been made holy, but you have now been justified by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.

used to be

Paul steps back in this section and exposes the deeper tragedy behind the lawsuits and swindling taking place in Corinth. The believers were behaving as though nothing fundamental had changed in their lives. Their conduct resembled the patterns of their former, pre‑conversion identities—marked by greed, exploitation, and self‑interest. They were taking advantage of one another, dragging each other before secular courts, and using the world’s systems to gain personal advantage. Paul sees this and refuses to treat it as a minor lapse. It is a denial of the gospel’s transforming power.

So he reminds them of who they used to be. The list he gives—sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, greed, drunkenness, swindling, and more—describes the old life that once defined them. These were not merely behaviors; they were identities. The Corinthians had been shaped by these sins, enslaved to them, and known for them. But something decisive had happened. They had been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God. Their past was real, but it was no longer their identity. The gospel had broken the chains that once held them.

Paul’s point is not to shame them with their history but to awaken them to their present reality. The world insists that identity is rooted in desire, impulse, or past behavior. It tells people to embrace whatever sin once defined them and to build a self‑concept around it. Faith insists on the opposite. The believer’s identity is not determined by past sins but by Christ’s saving work. The choice is stark: cling to the old identity and remain in bondage, or embrace the new identity and walk in freedom.

True freedom cannot coexist with the chains of the old life. It cannot flourish while believers cling to the sins that once enslaved them. And true faith does not deny or diminish what the blood of Christ accomplished. It acknowledges that the cross not only forgives but transforms. It breaks the power of sin and establishes a new way of living.

Paul’s reminder is therefore both corrective and hopeful. The Corinthians were acting beneath their calling, but they were not beyond restoration. The sins that once defined them no longer had the right to do so. Their task was to live in the reality of what Christ had already made them—washed, sanctified, justified, and free.

LORD, give us the courage to renounce the old sinful lifestyles that we have been redeemed out of.