1 Cor 6:9-11
reads:
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards,
revilers, robbers--none of these will inherit the kingdom of god. And this is
what some of you used to be. but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God.
The verbs απολουω, αγιαζω, and δικαιοω are all in the aorist. The
term “washed” is clearly a reference to baptism (cf. Acts 22:16; Titus 3:5);
indeed, this text shows that both justification and sanctification are effected
through baptism, another biblical proof of baptismal regeneration. What is
significant, however, is that, not only is δικαιοω in the aorist tense, but
so is the verb αγιαζω. Why? In
Reformed theology, only justification is a once-for-all event; sanctification
is an on-going process. However, Paul speaks of sanctification in the
aorist. Absolutising this verse, as many do with Rom 5:1, means that one will
have to hold that sanctification, too, is an external, once-for-all event that
is static in the life of the believer (unless one wishes to hold to "Hyper-Calvinism").
Equally
significant is that Paul treats "sanctification" and
"justification" as virtually interchangeable--the context supports
such an interchange, since it deals exclusively with the conduct of the
Corinthian congregation, not the appropriation of an alien righteousness. The
pericope also refutes the Reformed ordo salutis as one would expect
"justified" to precede "sanctified," but the opposite
occurs in the text (in fact, in the New Testament, the verb form δικαιοω never
precedes αγιαζω).
As a
final note on 1 Cor 6:9-11, there are many texts in the New Testament where the
word "sanctified" or "sanctification" are used when one
would expect to see "justified" or justification" (e.g., Acts
26:18; 1 Pet 1:2; 2 Thess 2:13; Heb 10:29).
With
respect to Rom 5:1, Protestant apologists are guilty of reading too much into
the use of δικαιοω being in
the aorist passive participle (δικαιωθέντες).
The
purpose of the Greek aorist participle is not to make a definitive statement
that the justification only occurs in the past, but to indicate that the justification
precedes, not in time but logical order, the distribution of the
"peace" that Paul says we attain as a result of this justification.
This makes perfectly logical sense as one cannot have peace with God unless one
is justified.
In Rom
5:5, we read the following:
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Paul here
uses the perfect passive tense for the verb εκχεω, which has strong sacrificial
connotations in the LXX. The meaning of this tense is that the
"pouring" is a completed act that has continuing effects in the
future. When v. 1 is read in light of this verse, one can conclude that, just
as God can perform an independent act of pouring love into our hearts in the
past and continue to do such in the present and future, so God can begin our
justification at a specific time in the past but continue to manifest and
increase it throughout our lives.
