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FIRST CONNECTION BETWEEN SANCTIFICATION AND JUSTIFICATION
In 1 Cor. 6:11, Paul uses the justification formula in a
baptismal context and links it to the idea of sanctification. The discussion
concerns both social issues as well as sexual matters but not the problems of
circumcision or ethnic identity. Therefore, Paul reminds his addresses of
certain “unrighteous” (αδικοι)
men, i.e., offenders in religious, social, and sexual matters who “will not
inherit the Kingdom” (cf. 1 Cor. 6:10-11). The list in vv. 9-10 presupposes
that Paul understood baptism not only as a passage rite but also as a means of
forgiveness of sins and as a juncture of behaviorial change. Converts shall incorporate
another mode of life free from any injustice. The baptized are in a liminal
phrase. They have been justified and incorporated into Christ’s communal body
by their baptism, yet they are still at risk of returning to their previous
pre-baptismal status of unrighteous (αδικοι) who cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (cf. Gal. 5:21).
The apostle formulates his statement using a triadic
structure. He uses three verbs with a preceding αλλ’ (but) to stress their conversion and simultaneously
refers to God (the Father), Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. The triad of the
verbs απολουσθητε/ηγιασθητε/εδικαιωθητε partially corresponds to 1:30d: δικαοσυνη τε και αγιασμος και απολυτρωσις. However, a comparison of
6:11 with 1:30d reveals the following two points. First, the verb ἀπελούσθητε is not
represented by any noun in 1:30d and, therefore, does not have a passive sense
(i.e., “washed” by God). On the contrary, it is a medium that refers to the
volitional baptismal washing of the believer and is the requirement for
experiencing sanctification and justification. Second, the comparison between
1:30d and 6:11 demonstrates that Paul can freely alternate between the notions
of sanctification and justification, and he does not understand justification
as the forensic requirement of sanctification. Both verbs sanctified/ justified
describe the initial transformation the believer experiences by baptismal
incorporation into Christ. This transformation has a clear eschatological
horizon, for it leads to the inheritance of the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9).
The concept of sanctification has not only the meaning of being purified and belonging to the divine sphere but of being possessed by the Spirit, becoming the eschatological temple of God. (The combination between the concepts of justification and sanctification similarly occurs in the baptismal context of Hermas, Vis. 3.9.1.) The human body also participates in this procedure. Paul emphasizes in this context that the bodies of the baptized are “members of Christ” (1 Cor. 6:15) and the eschatological temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19). Therefore, converts shall glorify God in their (both physical and communal) body (1 Cor. 6:21). According to Scripture, God is the only one who can justify (Ps. 99:4LXX; Isa. 61:8– 11). As such, Paul uses the verb “justify” in a passive form and with a positive sense. In 1 Cor. 6:11, justification occurs during the believer’s baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God. The baptized individual is incorporated into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12– 13) who “became righteousness, sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30) for the believers.
Nonetheless, Paul refers to sanctification and
justification as ongoing and dynamic procedures which have been already
initiated but are not yet completed. He speaks of justification in various
past, present, and future tenses. This occurs because the justification language
interprets an ongoing “converting,” a transformation process that started at
the moment of turning to faith and baptism and is not yet accomplished. One
cannot strictly differentiate between the forensic and the effective meaning,
the present and the eschatological perspective of the concept of justification
because the Pauline texts support a dynamic understanding of justification and
they link it not only to Jesus’s redemptive work but also to the presence of
the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11; Gal. 5:5f.). (Athanasios Despotis, “Deification,
Justification, and Sanctification: An Early Christian Philosophical Approach,”
in The Oxford Handbook of Deification, ed. Paul L. Gravrilyuk, Andrew
Hofer, and Matthew Levering; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024], 625-26)
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