Such Were Some of You

Devotional

Day 1: From Unrighteous Stickers to Washed Clean

The church isn’t a gallery of polished saints but a hospital for sinners stripped of shame. Every believer once carried labels—adulterer, addict, liar—like sticky notes covering their soul. But Christ’s redemption scrubs away every mark, leaving no residue of condemnation. His forgiveness isn’t partial; it reaches the darkest corners, making scarlet sins white as snow. To doubt this cleansing is to distrust the power of the cross. The church thrives when its people live as walking testimonies of grace, not hidden by fear but radiant in mercy. [34:44]

“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 6:9–11, ESV)

Reflection: What specific “sticky note” from your past tries to cling to your identity? How does Christ’s declaration of “washed” reshape how you see yourself and others?

Day 2: Shattering Myths in the Shadow of Aphrodite

Corinth’s temple to Aphrodite boasted a thousand priestesses offering ritual sex—a culture drowning in immorality. Yet God claimed many there as His own. Similarly, Hope Bible Church isn’t a club for the morally tidy but a refuge for those once defined by addiction, abortion, or shame. One in four women here may carry the weight of past abortions, yet grace silences fear. The cross outshines every sin’s shadow, proving no failure is beyond redemption. [08:25]

“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.” (Titus 3:3–5a, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you assume others here “have it together”? How might seeing their stories through Corinth’s lens soften your heart toward shared brokenness?

Day 3: Sanctified Stumblers in Progress

Sanctification isn’t a finish line but a daily walk where grace meets grit. Believers still wrestle with old patterns—lust, greed, anger—yet the Spirit renews what justification secured. Like Paul, we groan at ongoing struggles but cling to the promise: Christ’s righteousness covers us even mid-battle. The church isn’t a stage for perfected performances but a gym where sinners train in grace, spotting each other’s weights. [39:32]

“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing… Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:19–20, 24–25a, ESV)

Reflection: What current struggle makes you question your sanctification? How can you lean into the Spirit’s patience rather than self-condemnation today?

Day 4: Ledgers Nailed to the Cross

Imagine a ledger detailing every sin—yours, the person beside you, the one you avoid. Christ didn’t balance this debt; He obliterated it. Justification means God sees Jesus’ perfection when He looks at you, not your rap sheet. This truth dismantles hierarchies of sin, leveling all to grace-recipients. When shame whispers, echo Colossians: the record isn’t pending—it’s destroyed. [36:39]

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses… God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13–14, ESV)

Reflection: Which forgiven sin still feels “un-nailed” in your heart? How might declaring it canceled aloud weaken shame’s grip?

Day 5: Side by Side at the Foot of the Cross

The church gathers not as fixed projects but as fellow patients under one Surgeon. Your past abortion, same-sex attraction, or divorce doesn’t shock the One who bore them. Here, we point not to each other’s wounds but to the scars in Jesus’ hands. Transparency about struggles isn’t recklessness—it’s rebellion against myth, proving grace runs deeper than failure. [48:56]

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7, ESV)

Reflection: Who needs to hear your story of cleansing? How can you create space this week for others to stand unashamed at the cross?

Sermon Summary

God’s faithfulness to a local church over twenty nine years should produce gratitude and joy, but the body of Christ still needs strengthening, maturing, and shoring up at the foundation. Ephesians 4 says Christ gives leaders to equip the saints until the whole body grows toward “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” The foundational question here is not simply who is in and who is out, but what is true of the people who belong to the church.

The myth that the church is only for good moral people, or for people who have not done really bad things, must be rejected. The church of Jesus Christ is a place for and filled with people who have committed every manner of sin before salvation, after salvation, and sometimes even in present struggle. The difference is not that believers have no egregious sin, but that believers have been honest before God, thrown themselves on mercy, and placed eternal hope on Christ alone.

Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 bring that truth into focus. Corinth was marked by idolatry, sexual immorality, substance abuse, and all kinds of debauchery, yet God told Paul, “I have many in this city who are my people.” First Corinthians 6 reminds the church that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, and then names sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers.

Paul does not give merely a list of sins, but a list of people defined by those sins. Unrighteousness cannot enjoy the presence and kingdom of a righteous God, because sin cannot survive his holiness. God is not threatened by the sinner. The sinner is threatened by God. Like a powerful magnet, God’s holiness draws every particle of sin to the surface.

Paul’s line, “and such were some of you,” destroys self righteousness and shame at the same time. The image of sticky notes captures the truth that every person would be covered beyond recognition if every category and instance of sin were marked openly. But verse 11 turns the whole thing with gospel power: “But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified.”

God washes so completely that there is no hidden closet he forgot to clean out. Sanctification means believers have been set apart from sin and for God, and are being transformed so that life increasingly matches God’s view of them. Justification means God has not only cleared the record, but backfilled it with the righteousness of Christ. The triune God has done everything necessary to reconcile sinners to himself.

The church must therefore treat believers according to what Christ has done, not according to what sin has done. Pride and shame have no place where all deserve wrath and all receive grace. The right response to past sin is praise for redeeming grace, and the right response to present struggle is gospel help toward faithfulness to Christ.

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Key Takeaways

1. The church is for redeemed sinners The church is not a trophy case for people with clean records. The church is the gathered people of God who have been honest enough to confess that sin ran deeper than self improvement could ever reach. Grace does not pretend the sin was small, but it declares that Christ is greater than the whole record of guilt. [04:20]
2. God’s holiness exposes every hidden thing God does not shrink back from sinners as though their sin could threaten him. His holiness is more like a powerful magnet that draws every particle of sin to the surface and shows the sinner what was really there all along. That exposure is terrifying apart from Christ, but it is also the mercy that keeps sinners from trusting a false righteousness. [21:35]
3. Washed means nothing was missed God’s washing is not partial, careless, or surface level. No smudge, no stench, no hidden closet remains outside the cleansing work accomplished at the cross. The believer’s worst sin is not still rotting in some forgotten corner of life, because Christ’s blood cleanses completely. [37:29]
4. Justification gives more than a clean slate Justification is not merely God erasing guilt and leaving the sinner to start over. God fills the account with the righteousness of Christ, so peace with God rests on Jesus’ obedience and sacrifice, not on spiritual performance. The believer stands before the Judge covered head to toe by the person and work of Christ. [40:38]
5. Grace changes how believers treat sinners The redeemed cannot remember personal mercy and still sit as self righteous judges over others. Past sin should become a stage for praising God’s redeeming grace, and present struggle should become an occasion for gospel help, not rejection. Pride and shame both lose their place when the whole church stands at the foot of the same cross.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:16] - Gratitude for God’s Faithfulness
[01:12] - The Church Still Needs Maturity
[02:03] - Defining Who Belongs to the Church
[03:03] - Rejecting the Myth of Moral People
[04:20] - The Church Is Filled with Sinners
[08:25] - Why Some Sins Feel Unforgivable
[10:24] - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
[11:36] - Corinth’s Deep Immorality
[16:25] - Citizens of a Different Kingdom
[19:03] - Remember Who You Were
[22:33] - Paul’s List of Unrighteous Lives
[34:29] - Remember Who You Are
[40:38] - Washed, Sanctified, and Justified
[46:25] - Pride and Shame Have No Place

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

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, 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.” [10:24]

Ephesians 4:11-13
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Titus 3:3-7
“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

1 Timothy 1:12-15
“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

Observation questions

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, what kinds of people does Paul list, and what repeated warning does he give about inheriting the kingdom of God? [22:33]
In verse 11, what three things does Paul say are now true of believers, and how are those three words different from the list that comes before them? [34:39]
According to Ephesians 4:11-13, why does Christ give leaders to the church, and what goal is the whole body meant to grow toward?
In Titus 3:3-7, what contrast does Paul make between who believers once were and what God has now done for them?

Interpretation questions

Paul says, “such were some of you.” Why does that sentence undercut both self-righteousness and despair at the same time? [32:08]
Paul’s list in 1 Corinthians 6 is not just a list of wrong actions but of people defined by sin. Why does that matter for understanding what salvation actually changes? [19:29]
If believers are washed, sanctified, and justified, what does that suggest about how God sees them now, even while they are still growing in holiness? [40:38]
God’s holiness does not mean that God is threatened by sinners; it means sinners cannot survive his holiness apart from Christ. How does that sharpen the seriousness of sin and the necessity of mercy? [21:35]

Application questions

Many people quietly assume the church is mainly for people who have their lives together. Where does that lie still show up in the heart, and how does it affect the way someone approaches God or other believers? [03:03]
Some sins feel especially hard to bring into the light because they seem more shameful than others. Is there any part of the past, or any present struggle, that still feels like it must stay hidden in order to be accepted? What makes it hard to believe that Christ’s cleansing really reaches there too? [08:25]
If God’s washing leaves no hidden closet untouched, how might a person tell that they are still living as if one corner of life has not really been forgiven? [37:29]
Sanctification means being set apart for God and being gradually transformed. In what area of life is there a real struggle with sin right now where gospel help, prayer, and encouragement from other believers would be useful? [39:23]
Justification means more than getting a clean slate; it means being clothed in Christ’s righteousness. When guilt rises up, what does the heart usually run to for relief besides Christ, and what would it look like to rest again in his finished work? [40:38]
Pride and shame do not belong in the church. Which of those two tends to be the greater danger personally: looking down on others for their sin, or shrinking back in shame over personal sin? How does the gospel speak to that? [47:29]
When another believer shares about past sin, redeeming grace should lead to praise; when someone shares about present struggle, grace should lead to help. What would that kind of response look like in a small group in concrete terms? [48:06]

Sermon Clips

45s

“Friends, God is not threatened by the sinner. The sinner is threatened by God. When sinners enter into God's presence in the bible, you never see God shrink back. But you always see sinners terrified, even those who serve him like the apostles and the prophets. Like a powerful magnet, the holiness of God draws every particle of sin to the surface and causes us to see how full of sin we are. And that's when we realize how unrighteous, unholy and ungodly we are.”

58s

“May we be a church that when someone shares about their past sin, we respond by praising for his redeeming grace. And when someone shares about their present struggle, our response is to remind them of the gospel and find ways to encourage them toward faithfulness to Christ. Friends, no matter what your past sins were or what your present struggles are, if you believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin, know that here at Hope Bible Church, we all stand side by side at the foot of the cross, pointing each other to him who is our savior and redeemer.”

41s

“Pride and shame have no place in the church of Jesus Christ. Where we all deserve his wrath, but we receive his grace. We must remember who we were and remember who we are so that we can remember who others were and who others so that we can live together as fellow members of the household of God and fellow heirs of his kingdom for his glory.”

59s

“If sticky notes were attached to us for every category of sin we have committed, we wouldn't be able to recognize each other. And if there were sticky notes attached to us for every instance and every manifestation of all of those categories, none of us would be able to walk. We'd be weighed down by so much paper. The lies we've told, the lusts we've entertained, the anger we've felt and expressed, the words that we've spoken, the actions we've taken, the promises we've broken, the covenants we've violated, the authorities we've disobeyed, the unbelief we've harbored, the lies, the lives we've taken, the dignity from others that we've taken. On and on we could go. This is who we were. Remember that. Remember that as you now remember who you are.”

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