Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 28:3-25; 1 Corinthians 6:1-20

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 1 Corinthians 6 is so on point for our current day, that the Holy Spirit could have inspired it to have been written last week! The writer begins by talking about Christians taking each other to court. Then, as today, some people would see any grievance (even with a fellow Christian!) as an opportunity to get a lawyer and make someone pay. Paul strongly condemns this as unrighteous and then goes on to cite more examples of unrighteousness, including many sexual sins in particular.

He goes there because Corinth was known for being a sexual sewer. Every kind of sexual sin going on today was happening then. There is nothing new under the sun. So, the apostle addresses the sins of his day and teaches. His words have much to say to people today. But these are not the only sins that condemn those who commit them.

Any sin a person clings to and refuses to repent of can separate him from God. It’s not that God is unwilling to forgive certain sins, but rather, that the sinner who clings to his sin refuses God’s forgiveness. And here is the proof that God forgives the sexually immoral and all other kinds of sinners: After listing these sins that lead to condemnation, Paul writes, "And such were some of you." (Note the past tense.)

The Christians at Corinth hadn’t always been Christians. Some of them had left behind broken lives and very sinful behavior. What happened? Who changed them? Paul explains, "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." God brought them to trust in Jesus. They were baptized and united to Christ. They were now children of God and no longer slaves to sin. By paying for their sins with His innocent life, Christ set them free for all eternity. Therefore, their past sins no longer identify them. They are no longer idolaters, homosexuals, drunkards, and the rest; they are now baptized into Christ and find their identity in Him.

You also are a baptized child of God, a Christian who has been reborn. Your past repented-of sins no longer define you because Christ took your sins on Himself and paid for them with His life. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

My sins are washed away; For this I thank You, Lord. Now with my heart and soul All evil I abhor. ("How Can I Thank You, Lord" LSB 703, st.2b)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch