September 26

1 Corinthians 6:11
“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God”―1 Corinthians 6:1111And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11).
A HARD field presents a challenge to the man of faith in which he delights. He knows that God works, not with what He finds, but with what He brings. His Spirit is able to break down and save the most indifferent or the most contentious men. Athens was the center of Greek culture— a veneer of learning that covered but did not destroy the wickedness of paganism, which caused and even pretended to sanctify the vilest practices. Corinth was notorious for its vice and corruption. To “Corinthianize” was a synonym for a life given over to shame and sensuality of the most degrading character. The worship of the gods of Greece produced no change in the lives of their devotees. Religion and immorality went hand in hand. The gods themselves were but deifications of lust and ambition. Those who worshipped them were like unto them.
But to these cities Paul came with a message which he knew to be the dynamic of God (Rom. 1:1616For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)), mighty to the destruction of Satanic strongholds and powerful in building new and holy lives which would demonstrate the might of the Spirit of God to renew and regenerate the most depraved of mankind, as well as those who gloried in their self-righteousness and fancied superiority. No new message was needed. It was the story of the cross—Jesus Christ and Him crucified—which revolutionized multitudes in Corinth and resulted in the establishment of a strong and highly-gifted church of God in that iniquitous city.
“O’er this wide waste I loved to roam.
My back to God and heaven and home,
Till Jesus met me far astray.
And beckoned me to come away.
He said on Calv’ry’s cross He died,
A sacrifice for sin was made,
And all because He loved me so,
Then how could I do else but go?”