Reflections on Paul 

Number 8

It is funny to think I have read the First to the Corinthians countless times, reflected on several passages in some considerable detail but still failed to fully recognize the exact impact of 6:11:

That is what some of you used to be [sinners of various stripes and kind]; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Though baptized, the Corinthians did not receive a spiritual salvation which freed the Corinthians from the vagaries of human desire and coarse behavior. Baptism did not provide some sort of religious get out of jail free card to allow Corinthians to live within the culturally acceptable mores of a hedonistic culture pervasive in the 1^st century which were incompatible with Christian moral teaching. 

I was struck by the similarity between this way of thinking and an unfair and inaccurate concept the sacrament of confession allows Catholics to sin freely because they can be washed free of sin via a quick trip to the confessional. Nothing could be further from the truth but a number of non-Catholics belief we can live a life filled with debauchery and sin and then go to confession and being freed from the effects of immoral behavior. Sadly, there likely a far greater number of Catholics than we would like to admit exist who share the same I-can-do-what-I-want-as-long- as-I-go-to-confession mentality.

During the course and scope of the epistle, Paul deconstructs the notion pride is beneficial; incest is acceptable, associating with anyone who is immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a robber. He goes on to explain that sexual immorality is destructive and is a desecration of a temple for the Holy Spirit. The trick for us to see beyond the archaic construct of ancient society and to seek to live up the moral standards defined by Paul.

Peace.