1 Corinthians 6:11

καὶ ταῦτά τινες ἦτε : “And these things you were, some (of you)”. The neuter ταῦτα is contemptuous “such abominations!” τινὲς softens the aspersion; the majority of Cor [956] Christians had not been guilty of extreme vice. The stress lies on the tense of ἦτε; “you were ” a thing of the past, cf. Romans 6:19; Ephesians 2:11 f. “But you washed yourselves! but you were sanctified; but you were justified!” ἀλλὰ thrice repeated, with joyful emphasis, as in 2Co 2:17; 2 Corinthians 7:11. The first of the three vbs. is mid [957], the other two pass [958] in voice. ἀπελούσασθε refers to baptism (cf. Acts 22:16; Colossians 2:11 f., Ephesians 5:26 f., 1 Peter 3:21; see 1 Corinthians 1:13 for its signal importance), in its spiritual meaning; the form of the vb [959] calls attention to the initiative of the Cor [960] in getting rid, at the call of God, of the filth of their old life; in baptism their penitent faith took deliberate and formal expression, with this effect. But behind their action in submitting to baptism, there was the action of God, operating to the effect described by the terms ἡγιάσθητε, ἐδικαίωθητε. These twin conceptions of the Christian state in its beginning appear commonly in the reverse order (see 1 Corinthians 1:30; Romans 6:19, etc.): in Romans 5:6. they are seen to be related as the resurrection and death of Christ, and in Romans 6. to be figured respectively in the ἀνάδυσις and κατάδυσις which formed the two movements of baptism; see notes ad locc., also Titus 3:5 ff. The order of the words does not justify Calovius, Lipsius, and Mr [961], with Romanist interpreters, in finding here “the ethical continuatio justificationis,” an explanation contrary to the uniform Pauline signification of δικαιόω; the Ap. is thinking (in contrast with 1 Corinthians 6:9 f.) of the status attained by his readers as ἅγιοι (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 6:1), behind which lay the fundamental fact of their δικαίωσις. The qualifying prpl [962] phrases both belong to the three closely linked vbs. Baptism is received “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (quoted with formal solemnity: cf. note on 1 Corinthians 1:2): “in the Spirit of our God” it is validated and brings its appropriate blessings (cf. John 3:5-8 : water is the formal, the Sp. the essential source of the new birth).

[956] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[957] middle voice.

[958] passive voice.

[959] verb

[960] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[961] Meyer's Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).

[962]rpl. prepositional.

Βαπτίζειν ἐν Πν. ἁγίῳ was the distinctive work of Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:11, etc.); to be ἐν Πνεύματι (Θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ) is the distinctive state of a Christian, including every element of the new life (1 Corinthians 6:19 1 Corinthians 2:12, 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 1:21 f., Romans 5:5; Romans 8:2; Romans 8:9, etc.). Sanctification esp. is grounded in the Holy Spirit; but He is an agent in justification too, for His witness to sonship implies the assurance of forgiveness (Romans 8:15 ff.). The name of our Lord Jesus Christ sums up the baptismal confession (cf. Romans 10:8 ff.); the Spirit of our God constitutes the power by which that confession is inspired, and the regeneration effectuated which makes it good: the two factors are identified in 1 Corinthians 12:3 (see note). “Our God,” in emphatic distinction from the gods in whose service the Cor [963] had been defiled (see 1Co 8:4 ff., 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; cf. Psalms 99:9).

[963] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.