🟨 DIFFICULT VERSE
1 Corinthians 6:7–11
“The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.
Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
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.”
🟦 AUDIENCE
Believers in Corinth
Paul is writing to the church—people who have already been called into fellowship with Christ.
The immediate issue is that some believers were taking other believers to court and cheating one another.
🟪 WHY WAS THIS WRITTEN?
Paul is correcting the Corinthians for their behavior and reminding them of the dramatic change that took place when they came to Christ.
His point is not:
“If you ever commit one of these sins, you are no longer saved.”
His point is:
“That is what some of you were—but that is not who you are now.”
🟥 THE PROBLEM
Verses 9–10 are sometimes read as though Paul is saying:
“If a Christian commits one of these sins, he will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
But notice what Paul immediately says in verse 11:
“And that is what some of you were.”
Were.
Paul points backward to their former life and then contrasts it with their new identity in Christ.
🟧 COMMON MISUNDERSTANDING
The misunderstanding is:
“These sins determine whether a Christian is still saved.”
But Paul gives us the answer himself.
He lists the sinful characteristics and then says:
“And that is what some of you were.”
Then comes the contrast:
“But you were washed.”
“You were sanctified.”
“You were justified.”
The emphasis is on what God did for them in Christ.
🟩 IMPORTANT POINT — WHAT IS A “WRONGDOER”?
Look at Romans 2:5–11.
Paul describes people who:
- are stubborn and unrepentant
- reject the truth
- follow evil
- do evil
- are storing up wrath for the day of God’s judgment
Romans 2:8–9 says:
“For those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil…”
This helps us understand the category Paul is talking about when he uses terms such as wrongdoers, unrighteous, and those who do evil.
These are not simply descriptions of a believer who has committed a sinful act.
Paul is describing people characterized by rejecting the truth and following evil—people remaining in the old condition under judgment.
And then compare that with 1 Corinthians 6:11:
“And that is what some of you were.”
The Corinthians had once belonged to that category.
But something changed.
They were:
WASHED
SANCTIFIED
JUSTIFIED
🟩 THE POWERFUL CONTRAST
Romans 2:8–9
Reject the truth → follow evil → wrath → judgment
⬇️
1 Corinthians 6:9–10
Wrongdoers → will not inherit the kingdom
⬇️
1 Corinthians 6:11
“And that is what some of you WERE.”
⬇️
BUT NOW
Washed → Sanctified → Justified
This is the key to understanding the passage.
Paul isn’t telling saved people that they must keep themselves saved by avoiding every sin on the list.
He is showing the difference between the old life and the new life in Christ.
🟩 THE KEY WORD: “WERE”
Paul does not say:
“That is what some of you are.”
He says:
“That is what some of you were.”
That is a change of identity.
They had been characterized by these things.
But something happened:
They were washed.
They were sanctified.
They were justified.
This is what God accomplished for them through Christ.
🟩 SUPPORTING SCRIPTURE
Romans 2:8–9
Those who reject the truth and follow evil face wrath and judgment.
Ephesians 5:5–8
Paul describes the former condition and then says:
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”
Colossians 3:5–7
“You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.”
Again, the language is:
USED TO → NOW
Titus 3:3–7
“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved…”
Then:
“But… he saved us…”
2 Corinthians 5:17
“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
🟩 GOD’S CLARITY
Paul gives us a powerful distinction:
WHAT THEY WERE:
- Wrongdoers
- Unrighteous
- Following evil
- Rejecting the truth
- Dead in sins
- Enslaved to sin
WHAT THEY BECAME IN CHRIST:
- Washed
- Sanctified
- Justified
- New creation
- Alive in Christ
The issue is identity and position, not whether a Christian will ever sin again.
🟫 WHERE DOES THIS FIT?
Paul is specifically addressing believers who were wronging and cheating one another.
He wants them to understand that their behavior doesn’t fit their new identity.
They have been:
washed → sanctified → justified
Therefore, they should not continue treating their brothers and sisters as they did in their former life.
The correction is about how believers live, not how they earn or maintain salvation.
⭐ KEY POINT
“Wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God” describes those remaining in the old condition—those characterized by rejecting the truth and following evil.
Then Paul says of the Corinthians:
“And that is what some of you WERE.”
That one word changes the way the passage should be read.
They were that.
But they had been:
WASHED. SANCTIFIED. JUSTIFIED.
🟦 ONE-SENTENCE SUMMARY
1 Corinthians 6:7–11 contrasts the wrongdoers who remain in the old, unbelieving condition with believers who once lived that way but have been washed, sanctified, and justified in Christ—showing not the loss of salvation through sin, but the transformation from who they were to who they are in Christ.
