Such were some of you.
—1 Corinthians 6:11
There are some people in your church who once lived on the dark side.
The Corinthian church had some members like that. In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul inserted a long, ugly list of offenders: idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers.
“And such were some of you,” he wrote.
“But,” he said . . . But what, Paul?
“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 Cor 6:9–11).
From a seedy past to a Spirit-certified present. There is no sin that is beyond the reach of God’s forgiving grace.
Whatever your past, trust these words of Jesus: “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (Jn 6:37).
Past tense erased
Present tense in bold type.