“To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers! 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, 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.”
1 Corinthians 6:7-11 ESV

This passage is the one that Phil Robertson got in trouble for quoting a little while back, and if you read the whole chapter, there is yet more to it, but context is key. There are things and attitudes and activities in this life that God explicitly says are wrong. It’s not a matter of ‘interpreting the cultural data’ or ‘taking it in context of the day’ at this point. That is useful for interpreting metaphors and parables and things of that sort. This is a plain, straightforward list of sinful activities and attitudes. And as Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. People like to pick out homosexuality in particular and say things like, ‘Well, this is in reference to pagan temple worship or battlefield sodomy that expressed dominance over a defeated foe.’ But they don’t go any further to try to explain away stealing, greed or drunkenness as something to be interpreted in a similar way. ‘Well, what Paul meant by ‘swindlers’ here is…’ This is a list, plain and simple, of behaviors, attitudes and actions that Paul is trying to say -used to be- a part of who these people in the church of Corinth were before they met Jesus.

There’s even a whole block of verses before this one about the harm that comes from improperly handled disputes within the church. Paul even goes so far to say, the Spirit speaking through him, ‘Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?’ It would be better for you to ‘lose’ and have your pride wounded and deal with that wrong than to bring division and use the immoral to judge the sanctified.

In short, Paul says there is a giant -were- in the room that we choose to ignore for the sake of our pride. “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.”

Four times here, Paul says ‘were.’

“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.”

It doesn’t matter which one of these defined your life before you were joined with Christ. That is who you used to be, and it is not who you are today.

This is the point: Christ changes us.

We do not negotiate between Jesus Christ (who suffered and died under the weight of our sin out of pure love for us so we might recieve grace through Him) and our own sinful desires (that once defined who we were) as if the two could be compared or as if a choice needed to be weighed out between the two. We used to be one way (sinful) and now we are another (sanctified.) Yes, it is that simple. No, it isn’t cruel or backwards to say so.

If I fell into a pit of hungry lions and someone dove in after me, drug me to safety and cleaned me off, would I fight and argue and negotiate with them about why I should get to at least keep one of my legs in there? Can I please take a lion home with me so I can reminisce from time to time? Am I going to secretly sit at home and justify a trip back to that pit in the dark of night so no one knows? No, of course not.

Then why negotiate to keep our ‘pet sins’ whatever they may be? This isn’t all about homosexuality. It’s not all about lawsuits. It’s not all about getting to remain as a drunkard. This is about pride and surrender. Are we willing to die to our old lion-pit-self and accept the redemption purchased for us by Jesus on the cross, or do we want to buy real estate next to the pit and call it home?

It’s one or the other, we cannot have it both ways. This isn’t about cultural context or any other feeble argument we can imagine in our flawed, sinful logic. Do you accept the whole of what God lays out as truth, or are you going to pick and choose and custom tailored ‘truth’ for yourself? You cannot expect to look at God someday (because we all will) and try to explain your manipulated ‘truth’ to the One who defines truth.

Again, here is the point:

“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.”

If we are going to GoLove others for the sake of Christ and the expansion of the kingdom, we cannot pretend that the old ‘were’ is something you’d want to still claim ownership in. Do not cheapen salvation, the sacrifice of Jesus or the love of God by saying that you can make it whatever you want and continue on in your sin of choice. There are black & white issues here. There are defined areas of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ that we must address for ourselves.
I will say it one last time, this is not all about homosexuality, as if that is the defining issue here. It is about pride, sin and willful behavior against the One who is trying to love you through any ‘were’ that others might use to define you.

And if you answer that love with a “But, I…” statement and a defense of your position, then that is your choice to remain in your ‘were’ and even though it pains His heart, He will let you keep your ‘were’ even though He is ready to lift you up from it in this very moment. Please be willing to listen to Him. He truly does love you and His way is best.