The
third term, δικαιόω, is the climax of the baptismal formula. There is debate as
to the sense of the term in the passage: does it have the full sense of the
Pauline concept of justification? There are three levels of sense attached to
δικαιόω. The first is the pre-Pauline sense contained in the formula; the
second level is the immediate context in which it occurs, which opposes it to ἄδικοι
in v. 9. The third level involves considering the rest of Paul’s writings that
have employed the term justification. We suggest that the second level of sense
should be favoured in this context given the arrangement of rhetorical units in
1 Cor 6:9–11, in which Paul compares the states of an unrighteous and a
righteous person (vv. 10–11). Moreover, although synthesizing Paul’s notion of
justification from all his writings help gets a fuller picture, it could blur
the specific components of justification contained in a given passage since
Paul develops the idea over a period of time and only provides its full
articulation in the Letter to the Romans. Given that the topic of judgement
pervades the pericope (the litigation amongst the believers, the saints’
judgement of the world, the contrast between the unjust and the just), δικαιόω
should be understood as God’s acquittal of sinners who had previously brought
just judgement upon themselves. In baptism, God manifests his judgement in
justifying sinners’ rightful place before him. Thus, the language of
justification expresses the notion of a God who sits in his heavenly tribunal
executing cosmic judgement on all of creation, beginning with his own people (1
Pet 4:17). (Yo Chen, “The Ritual
Dimension of Union with Christ in Paul’s Thought” [PhD Dissertation; The
University of Edinburgh, 2021], 75-76)
