Intro: We are thinking about the greatness of our salvation. Paul spoke of a salvation "so great salvation." Salvation is great in every aspect. What does it mean to be saved? What happens when a person gets saved?

1. Today as we think about the nature of salvation I want us to look at (1Cor.6:11). Paul said, "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." I want us to look at what happens when a person gets saved. As we do so we will see that it is indeed great what happens when a person gets saved.

I. CONSIDER SALVATION IS GREAT BECAUSE IT RESULTS IN A CHANGED LIFE.

1. Paul says, "And such were some of you." He is speaking about what we used to be before God saved us. Salvation brings a change in a person’s life. The Bible says in (2 Cor.5:17),"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Salvation makes one a new creature; or to say it another way, it makes you a new person.

2. I think of John Newton. He is best remembered as the author of the hymn Amazing Grace. On his grave you find this epitaph: John Newton, Once an infidel and libertine, A servant of slaves in Africa, Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith He had long labored to destroy.

A. Notice The Change Is A Drastic Change.

1. Notice with me (1Cor.6:9-10), "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." Paul gives a long list of sins and sinful lifestyles people live. The word "unrighteous" speaks of those that are unjust and wicked. The list that Paul gives is a list of the unjust and wicked things that people do.

2. Then he says in verse 11, "And such were some of you." Paul was saying, "You used to do such things but there has been a drastic change in your life. You are now a totally different person." William Burkett wrote, "…the apostle had reckoned up the vilest and worst of sins that could be mentioned, and then says, ‘Such were some of you.’" Salvation does make a drastic change in a person’s life.

B) Notice The Change is A Divine Change.

1. (1 Cor.6:11) makes it very clear that this change is more than the turning over of a new leaf. The kind of change that we see is the kind only God can do. Where programs fail, God prevails. Where all human effort ends in failure and futility, God’s saving power triumphs.

2. Salvation is nothing less than a miracle. The change that takes place when God saves a person is nothing less than a miracle. When you talk about a miracle, you are talking about what only God can do. The change that takes place in a person’s life when they are saved is a divine change—it is a miracle of love and grace!

1. In (1Cor.6:11) we read "but ye are washed." Salvation not only produces a changed life, but also a cleansed life. Titus 3:5 speaks of the "washing of regeneration." The word "regeneration" speaks of the new life we have in Christ. That new life brings a washing. Think with me about this washing. First, let’s think about:

A) Notice The Meaning of this Washing.

1. What does the Bible mean when it says that we have been washed? The Bible says in (Rev.1:5) that Christ has "washed us from our sins in his own blood." When the Bible says that we have been washed it is telling us that our sins have been washed away. To be washed is to have our sins cleansed. Oh happy day, Oh happy day When Jesus washed my sins away. Salvation is great because through the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary our sins have been washed away.

2. To say that we have been washed is to say that our sins have been forgiven. The Bible says in (Eph.1:7,) "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." The Bible says in (1 Joh.2:12), "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake."

3. Also, to say that we have been washed is to say that our sins have been forgotten. The Bible says in (Jer.31:34), "for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." The Bible says in (Heb.10:17), "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

B) Notice The Measure of this Cleansing.

1. Look at the word "washed." The word literally describes taking a bath. It speaks of more than just wiping your face off. God is not talking about a spit bath. You parents know what a spit bath is. How would you like it if someone spit on a cloth or napkin and rubbed it all over your face? God is not talking about a spit bath. This is a full and total cleansing.

2. As we have seen, in verses 9-10, Paul gives a list of the vilest of sins. Yet, verse 11 tells us that God has washed us. In other words. Every sin we have committed has been cleansed. Are there things about your past that you are ashamed of? Are there things you did that you hope no one ever finds out about?

3. The Bible says in Micah 7:19, "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. The Bible says in (Psa.103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." You can drive a stake in the ground and start east. As long as you travel east you are always going eastward. If you travel to the west you are always going west. The two points never meet. God is saying that your sins—ALL YOUR SINS— have been removed. They are gone!

1. In (1Cor.6:11) we read "but ye are sanctified." Here’s a word that scares some Baptists. The word "sanctification" simply speaks of that which has been set apart unto God. The Bible says in (Gen. 2:3), "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." When the Bible says that God sanctified the seventh day it is saying that He set the seventh day apart from the other six days as a day of rest. The Bible says in (Exo.29:43) "the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory." The Tabernacle was set apart from all other buildings. It was a building dedicated to God.

2. When the Bible says that we have been sanctified it is saying that we have been set apart to God. To be sanctified means that we are now God’s!

A. Notice We Are God’s People.

1. Now this never ceases to amaze me. God calls me His child. The Bible says in (John1:12), "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." The Bible says in (Gal.3:26), "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." That amazes me that God claims me as His child.

2. Here is something even more amazing. The Bible says in (Heb.2:11), "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." He not only calls me His child, but He is not ashamed to call me His child. When I think of what I used to be, and then read that God is not ashamed to call me His child!

B. Notice We Are God’s Property.

1. The Bible says in (1Cor.6:20) "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." To be sanctified means that we have been set apart for holy purposes. In all we do and all we are, we are to glorify God. As the Bible says in (1Cor.10:31) "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." This is one of the distinguishing marks of God’s people. God’s people seek to glorify God. They live different because they want to glorify God. They act different than the world because they seek to glorify God in all they do. Sanctified ones live as sanctified ones.

1. What do I mean by a credited life? We read in (1Cor.6:11) "but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." I love the word "justified." It is one of the great truths of the Bible. The Bible says in (Rom.3:24), "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." The Bible says in (Rom.5:1) "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." As well, the Bible says in (Rom.5:9) "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." What does it mean that we have been justified?

A. Notice It Means How God Accounts Us.

1. The word "justified" means that God has declared us righteous. (1Cor.6:9) speaks of how we were once called "unrighteous." But now we are called "righteous." How can that be? Justification means that God has credited to our account the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ. We have no righteousness of our own, but God has credited to our account the righteousness of Christ.

B. Notice It Teaches Us Why God Accepts Us.

1. The Bible says in (Eph.1:6) "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." We are not accepted in ourselves. There is nothing we can do to be accepted by God. God can only accept us in His Son, Jesus Christ.

2. All God does for us He does for Jesus sake! It is in Jesus we are justified—declared righteous. It is in Jesus that we are accepted! What a great salvation we have!