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Sanctification in us begins as an instantaneous act of the Holy Spirit and is carried forward by his continued action in our lives. This instantaneous act is described in a number of ways in Scripture. It is called the "renewal of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5), making us alive with Christ when we were dead in transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1-5). It results in the new creation Paul referred to in 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The name of Jesus has been given to us so that we may be washed, sanctified, and justified. As defiled persons, we were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Jesus and by the Spirit of God. I read 1 Corinthians 6:11 for years without seeing a crucial point: in the name and by the Spirit. The name is closely related to the Person and to the Spirit. If the name of Jesus were an empty name, how could it wash us? How could it sanctify and justify us? This would be  impossible. However, this name is linked to the Spirit. The Spirit is the Person of the name and the reality of the name. Therefore the name can wash us, sanctify us, and justify us. The Spirit is one with the name. Jesus is the name of the Lord, and the Spirit is the Person of the Lord. When we call on the name of a real person, that person comes. The name of Jesus is linked with the Person who washes us, sanctifies us, and justifies us. This is not merely doctrine or theory—it is reality. When we believe in the name of Jesus and are put into the name of Jesus, we are placed into a living Person, that is, in the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit washes us, sanctifies us, and justifies us. Sanctification and justification are both gifts from God and expressions of his grace. Though they're each distinct aspects of salvation, they can never be separated. God never grants justification without also giving sanctification at the same time. I think of justification and sanctification as being like the jacket and pants of a suit. They always come together. A friend once wanted to give me a suit. He took me to a clothing store, and I walked out with a jacket and matching pants—a complete suit. Neither the jacket nor the pants alone would have been sufficient. I needed both to have what my friend wanted to give me. Sometimes we think of salvation as more like a sports coat and a pair of slacks. We think God gives us the sports coat of justification by his grace, but we must "buy" the slacks of sanctification by our own efforts. But salvation is like a suit. It always comes with the jacket of justification and the pants of sanctification. God never gives one without the other because both are necessary to have the complete suit of salvation. How do you like my new suit?

WE are sinners. Some have practiced these wrongs that the Corinthians were doing. Yet the Christians (then and now) were cleansed, sanctified and justified in Jesus.

This scripture caught my attention in the early days of my new life in Christ. I had been seeking answers from God about salvation, whether it was possible to lose our salvation, or not. In reading this chapter where Paul was reprimanding the Corinthians, speaking of them as doing wrong, yet he did not disown them as his brethren in Christ. Instead, he reminded them that the unrighteous would not inherit the kingdom of God, but Paul spoke in the past tense regarding them, saying "And such WERE some of you:..." The remainder of that verse really grabbed hold of me, when Paul goes on to speak of them as having been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." I looked up the meaning of the word 'sanctified' and found it to mean 'holy' which really impressed me, that God would call me 'holy' if His Word was true, since it is written, "...all the promises of God in Him are yea and in HIm amen..." I reasoned within myself, that I had been washed in the name of Jesus, therefore this must be meant for me also. AND THEN in Hebrews 10: 10, I read that we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once FOR ALL. And in Heb. 10 14 it is written, "For by one offering he has perfected FOREVER them that are sanctified." This was enough proof for me, but He has given me countless proofs that He truly is able to save to the uttermost Hebrews 7: 25, and He will never lose me, but will keep me safe in the palm of His hand and raise me up in the last day to be forever with Him. John 6: 38-40; John 10: 27-30. He is a marvelous, wonderful Lord, worthy of all honor, all glory, all praise.

Actually this whole chapter means alot about what is going on in this world. It just goes to show that the bible is just as true today as it was back in His day. Its not just an OUT DATED book! But chapter 6 goes to show that no matter what youve done , Jesus loves you and if you repent you will have eternal life with Him!!

And that is what I was. But I was washed, I was sanctified, I was justified in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of my God.