James Berglund

Such Were Some Of You James Berglund

A Sanctification-by-Faith growth plan and small group study guide, to overcome everyday and overpowering sins. I found myself living a nominal Christian life. Believing in Jesus but having little success in overcoming sin in my life. In fact not even sure that I should expect that I could have victory. I found hope in an unlikely Bible text. "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? 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. Such were some of you;but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-12 emphasis supplied). I find hope, in the power, and the promise of a new life found in the words, "And such were some of you." (1 Corinthians 6:11). 'Were', tells me that converted sinners can change. If in Paul's time Christians found victory over even big, deep set, sins like adultery, homosexuality, and alcoholism, then surely I can find God's power to defeat even the most resistant stubborn sins in my life. That power to overcome must extend to my critical attitude, my eating disorder, my greed, my cocaine addiction, my philandering, my workaholism, my shopping compulsion and my preoccupation with media and video games. I want to be able to honestly refer to sins in my life as 'were, ' something of the past.