Bodies, Washed and Sanctified

Paul told the Christians in Corinth “honor God with your body.” He believed this command followed inescapably from the fact the salvation found in Christ was the resurrection of the body, his and ours. What then do sin and sanctification mean if salvation is for the body? David offered the image the barnacles on a whale to help us understand:

1Corinthians 6:11 says, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Like removing barnacles from a whale’s body, when I raise the name of Christ high as my Lord, the Holy Spirit comes down upon my body and He washes and removes all the stubborn attachments, which are on my body and behave as if they are part of my body. Then, the Spirit never leaves the body, and becomes a spring of living water in me welling up to eternal life (John 4:14).