A WONDROUS WATERLESS WASHING

Pondering the Washing of 1 Corinthians 6:11, in Light of Context and Authorial Intent

Dr. R. Scott Clark, an author, university and seminary professor, and President of Heidelberg Reformation Association, observed, "Any text without a context is a pretext for a proof-text. One way to be sure to handle the text of Scripture well and accurately is to place it in its original context. Failure to read Scripture against its original background will have unhappy consequences" [The Heidelblog, November 30, 2010].

I really appreciate what the Indian diplomat and best-selling author Amish Tripathi (b. 1974) had to say about context: "There are many realities. There are many versions of what may appear obvious. Whatever appears as the unshakeable truth, its exact opposite may also be true in another context. After all, one's reality is but perception, viewed through various prisms of context." One of my professors during my graduate studies at the university I attended, frequently informed his classes that THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION WAS "CONTEXT - CONTEXT - CONTEXT." One can "prove" just about anything if one is allowed to take a text out of its context. Sadly, and tragically, this is done quite often in our study of the Scriptures. Rather than drawing Truth from these writings, we seek to impose our own “truths” upon these writings, and such eisegesis can only result in theological confusion and ecclesiastical conflict.

Go back and read once again the above statement by Amish Tripathi, for he makes a very important point. There are times when a word or phrase may have one meaning and/or application in a specific context, but a much different meaning and/or application in a different context. Anyone who has done any study at all in biblical hermeneutics knows this to be true. Yet, at times, we allow our personal and party preferences and perceptions to affect our understanding of a particular passage, and the result can be a dogma elevated to the status of divine decree, with division among disciples soon to follow. A good example of this can be found in what the apostle Paul wrote to the brethren in the city of Corinth about their present state in contrast to their former state. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, he said:

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God - Yehovah? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God - Yehovah."

He then makes the stunning observation: "And such were some of you!" (vs. 11a). One cannot help but think of Paul's words to the Ephesians: "You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world" (Ephesians 2:1-2a). Paul even included himself in this, admitting, "Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest" (vs. 3). Not a very pretty picture, is it?!

In both passages, Paul informs the readers that they now have a NEW REALITY, one in which a marvelous, and even miraculous; transformation and reformation has taken place in the lives of these men and women. They like Paul, were living lives of wretchedness.

With that said, one may then legitimately ask, "Okay, so what exactly does Paul mean when he says these men and women 'were washed'? If it isn't a reference to baptism in water, then what is it a reference to?"

I believe the answer can be found by examining the context in which his statement is found.

The broader context, of course, is that Paul is addressing a specific group of people, in a specific location, at a specific time. These were disciples of Jesus the Messiah who were residents of the city of Corinth around the middle of the first century A.D. Although there were likely Jewish Christians present, most of those in the church at Corinth were most probably Gentiles who had converted either from paganism or who had previously been proselytes to Judaism. It is also important to note, concerning the broader context, that Corinth itself was one of the most wicked, morally corrupt, and perverse of all the cities in the empire. As to character, the city as a whole was grossly impure; in the ancient Greek plays, when one sought to characterize a drunkard and carouser, one characterized him or her as a "Corinthian." A good number of those who had come to believe in Jesus, and who were now numbered among the redeemed in that location, had been previously numbered among these "dregs of society," as Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians 6:11a ("and such were some of you").

Rather than speaking about the religious rite or faith response of baptism in water, which is nowhere even hinted at in this context, Paul is emphasizing the Good News that the Spirit, acting under the authority of ("in the name of") the lord Jesus, had cleaned up/washed up these muck-covered, smelly men and women, to present them to God - Yehovah with clean faces, hands, hair, and dressed in white garments (figuratively speaking).

Rather than being part of the great unwashed perverse rabble of Corinth, they were now, by the enabling power of God's – Yehovah’s love and grace, and by the authority of Jesus the Messiah, and by the enabling power of God’s – Yehovah’s Holy Spirit, made clean, thus making them both sanctified [set apart] and justified [pronounced not guilty] in the sight of God - Yehovah.

Right after listing the filth of their former lifestyle and noting that this was how they had appeared in the sight of God, he emphatically declares them (using the threefold "But..." phrasing) to be in appearance, and in fact, "greatly cleansed," and now fit to become ambassadors of God's – Yehovah’s purity and holiness, as well as His mercy and grace. This passage had nothing to do with baptism, where you enter into the water having died to self. In fact, at the very beginning of this epistle to these same people, Paul declared, "The Messiah did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel" (1 Corinthians 1:17). Yes, Paul did baptize people. Yes, baptism had its place and purpose in his ministry.

In the context of this passage in 1 Corinthians chapter six, Paul's intent in speaking of "washing" was to make manifest the Good News ("Gospel") of the remarkable transformation and reformation of these former individuals who had been covered in the filth and the mire of their sinful lifestyles, and to enforce the truth that this cleansing came from the Spirit of God - Yehovah in the name of Jesus! They who were impure were now pure.

I can't help but think of what Peter said to those gathered at the Jerusalem Council. When recounting his time with Cornelius and his household, Peter said that God had chosen him to share the Good News with the Gentiles so that they might believe. “Brothers, you know that in the early days, God - Yehovah made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.  And God - Yehovah, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, and He made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.  Now, therefore, why are you putting God - Yehovah to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?  But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:7-11).

Here again, we see Jesus and the Spirit of God - Yehovah; we see grace and faith; and we see cleansing. What we do NOT see is the word "baptism," nor is it even hinted at.

The Message has done a good job of paraphrasing this passage; in so doing, they have, in my view, captured the intent of Paul in the words he chose to employ: "Don't you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don't care about God - Yehovah will not be joining the lord Jesus in the kingdom of God - Yehovah. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, will not qualify to become citizens in the kingdom of God - Yehovah.

A number of you know from experience what I'm talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you have been cleansed and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by the indwelling presence of our God - Yehovah in us." This moral purification was not something that could be accomplished by any human agency; this purification from moral decay had to come from above!

Dr. John Gill correctly observed that this phrase ("you were washed") "is not to be understood of external washing, of corporeal ablution, or of their being baptized in water. They could not wash and cleanse themselves by any ceremonial moral duties, purifications, or evangelical performances; this was a blessing of God’s – Yehovah’s grace they enjoyed through the blood of the Messiah [through his sin-offering sacrifice]" [Exposition of the Bible, e-Sword]. This is more than just a singular act of cleansing, for "if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus [his sin-offering sacrifice] His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

THE VERB SENSE USED HERE REFERS TO A CONTINUAL CLEANSING OF ALL SIN; IT IS IN INTIMATE UNION OF US IN THE MESSIAH JESUS AS NEW CREATIONS THAT THIS CONTINUAL CLEANSING OCCURS, AND IT IS THE SPIRIT OF THE MESSIAH JESUS THAT HIS GOD AND OUR FATHER YEHOVAH HAS PLACED IN US THAT ACCOMPLISHES THIS! IT IS ALL ACCORDING TO OUR GOD AND FATHER YEHOVAH’S AMAZING GRACE AND NOTHING OF US!

When Paul informs Christians that they are saved by grace through faith, and that this is "not of yourselves" (Ephesians 2:8) but is rather is the free gift of God - Yehovah, this tells us something spiritually significant. Our cleansing, our sanctification [being set apart], our justification [being pronounced not guilty], our salvation, our redemption, and on and on, is NOT something WE DO. It is all done for us, and we accept it as God's - Yehovah's gracious gift, by faith.

In this passage we have seen, "the apostle lists three transactions that occurred at the time when by God’s – Yehovah’s grace they were saved: they were washed, that is, they were spiritually cleansed by God - Yehovah, an act symbolized by baptism; they were sanctified [set apart], an expression either to be interpreted as an amplification of the concept 'washed' (cf. Titus 3:5-7) or meaning that they had been set apart as God's – Yehovah’s people (cf. 1 Peter 2:9-10); and they were justified [pronounce not guilty], showing God's – Yehovah’s acting as judge in declaring the sinner righteous because of the sin-offering sacrifice of the Messiah (cf. Romans 3:21-26; 5:1). All this, Paul says, was done by God - Yehovah for them on the authority (in the name) of the lord Jesus the Messiah and by the Spirit of our God - Yehovah" [The Expositor's Bible Commentary, vol. 10, p. 223].

This commentary, in a footnote, informs us that should one seek to read baptism in water into this passage, it would apply only "as a sign of their spiritual cleansing and justification by God" [ibid]. Simply stated, BAPTISM IN WATER IS A SYMBOL OF WHAT HAS ALREADY OCCURRED IN THE MIND AND HEART OF BELIEVERS, NOT A SACRAMENT; it is reflective in nature, NOT redemptive in nature. "They had been made pure by the Spirit of God - Yehovah. They had been, indeed, baptized, and their baptism was an emblem of purifying, but the thing here particularly referred to is not baptism but is something that had been done by the Spirit of God - Yehovah, and refers to His agency on the heart in cleansing them from these pollutions" [Dr. Albert Barnes, Barnes' Notes on the Bible, e-Sword].

There are times when people, whether individuals or families or congregations, or even nations, need a moral reset. They have become so defiled and polluted by the worldliness around them, and the influence of Darkness, that they can't find their way out (and many may be so polluted that they don't want to). For those who do, however, our God - Yehovah has offered to cleanse our hearts and minds of such moral defilements. This is a washing or cleansing, a reset, and renewal, that must come from above upon those who genuinely long for that purity that seems to elude them.

David is a good example of this. He had embraced a level of impurity in both attitude and action that left him broken, and he realized that his cleansing could only come from a Divine washing! Thus, he prayed to Yehovah, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. ... Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. ... Create in me a clean heart, O God - Yehovah, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:2, 7, 10).

As humans, whether individually or collectively, we tend to stray from godly behavior far too often. At times, those detours take us to places from which we find it hard to return by our own efforts. At times, our pollution is so pervasive that it requires a cleansing from above to restore us to "the straight and narrow pathway." Peter informed his readers that sometimes we wander to the point where we "have forgotten our purification from our former sins," and by so doing we become easy targets for the lure of the world.

Paul sought to remind the brethren in Corinth of their purification from the immorality from which they had emerged, and which still surrounded them daily in the city of Corinth. The Lord - Yehovah had washed them of all such defilements, and they needed to be reminded of such, lest, like the sow, they found themselves returning to the mire to wallow in it once again. Peter wrote, "It has happened to them according to the true proverb, 'A dog returns to its own vomit,' and 'A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire'" (2 Peter 2:22). Those cleansed from the moral decay of this world should not return to such, and warnings against such renewed immorality are found throughout Scripture. Such is the case with Paul's reminder to the Corinthian brethren, and the moral defilement from which the Lord - Yehovah had purified them.

Such cleansing is NOT accomplished by religious rites and ceremonies, or by emblems and symbols. It comes from a direct interaction of the Lord - Yehovah, as Paul reminds them. "These morally corrupt classes we are here told were changed; they were 'washed,' and 'sanctified [set apart],' and 'justified [pronounced not guilty],' which, stripped of the figure, simply means they were changed in the very root and fountain of their character, their inner nature. ... The reformation was not doctrinal, ecclesiastical, or institutional, but moral. ... They had been cleansed from all moral foulness. And all this, how? 'In the name of the lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God - Yehovah.' This is the reformative measure; nothing on this earth will effect this moral change but this" [The Pulpit Commentary, vol. 19, p. 196-197].

In closing, let me issue this note of caution:

Some who read this article will come away with only one conclusion (which, to be honest, they had already come to): "Al Maxey has rejected baptism; Al Maxey has left the faith; Al Maxey is an apostate."

No, I seek simply to be exegetically and hermeneutically honest with the text. Not every occurrence of "wash" "cleanse" "purify" or even "baptize" has reference to immersion in water. This is simply a fact. To acknowledge such a fact in no way negates the purpose or place of immersion in water in NT theology and practice. It is simply an acknowledgement that at times the biblical writers sought to convey a different message.

Yes, by ignoring the context, and by lifting texts here and there out of those contexts, we can indeed compile a list of proof texts for our sectarian and party preferences, but such is not being honest with the text. We are charged in Scripture to handle accurately these writings, even when doing so may lead to insights that challenge and contradict our traditional and denominational understandings and practices. May God help us all to be more open to Truth and less bound by Tradition.

Written by Al Maxey and edited and added to by Bruce Lyon