In 1 Corinthians 6:11 Christ is presented as the Washer and the Spirit: “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.” In contrast to the washing, sanctifying, and justifying in 1 John 1:7, Hebrews 10:29, and Romans 3:24-25, the washing, sanctifying, and justifying in 1 Corinthians 6:11 are not by the blood in an objective way. They are the subjective washing of regeneration as in Titus 3:5, the subjective sanctifying by the Spirit as in Romans 15:16, and the subjective justifying in the Spirit as in this verse in 1 Corinthians 6. All these items of God’s salvation were accomplished in us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (that is, in the person of the Lord, in an organic union with the Lord through faith) and in the Spirit of God (that is, in the power and realization of the Holy Spirit). First, we were washed from the sinful things; second, we were sanctified, separated unto God, transformed by God; and third, we were justified, accepted, by God.
According to 1 Corinthians 6:11, it is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God that we were washed, sanctified, and justified. In the New Testament the expression in the name of the Lord actually means in the person of the Lord, because the name denotes the person. Moreover, by speaking of “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God,” Paul indicates that we need to link the name of the Lord with the Spirit of our God. The name is the person, and the person is the Spirit of our God. It is in this person, the Triune God, that we were washed, sanctified, and justified. Here washing, sanctifying, and justifying are not merely outward, objective, and positional; rather, they are inward, subjective, and dispositional. Such intrinsic washing, sanctifying, and justifying are carried out by the Triune God Himself in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, the Spirit of our God.
We are washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. If a person with a certain name does not exist, the name is in vain, but when we call a living person by name, that person responds. In like manner, when we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, He responds, and we experience the person of the Lord. The Lord is a living person, not merely a name. Therefore, whenever we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we call on the person of the Lord. Since the name is the person and the person is the Spirit, when we call on the name of the Lord, He comes to us as the Spirit. By experience we know that when we continue to call on the name of the Lord, enjoying His name and His Spirit, we are continually washed, sanctified, and justified. However, when we cease to call on the Lord, the subjective experience of the washing, sanctifying, and justifying is no longer ours.
We may experience this subjective washing, sanctifying, and justifying day by day. There is a person within us, and His name is Jesus Christ. He is constantly working within us to wash us, sanctify us, and to justify us. This person is actually the Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ; He is also the Spirit of our God. Hence, the Triune God embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit is the Washer and the Spirit.
Christ is the Washer and the Spirit, and we are joined to Him as one spirit. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” In this verse the word joined refers to the believers’ organic union with the Lord through believing into Him (John 3:15-16). This union is illustrated by that of the branches with the vine (15:4-5). It is a matter not only of life but in life (the divine life). Such a union with the resurrected Lord can only be in our spirit.
The expression one spirit indicates the mingling of the Lord as the Spirit with our spirit. Our spirit has been regenerated by the Spirit of God (3:6), who is now in us (1 Cor. 6:19) and is one with our spirit (Rom. 8:16). This is the realization of the Lord, who became the life-giving Spirit through resurrection (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17) and who is now with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). This mingled spirit is often referred to in Paul’s Epistles, as in Romans 8:4-6.
Not only have we been saved and redeemed; we are even one spirit with the Lord, and as a result, we have the divine life and nature. We are not simply one with Him in a general way. We are actually one spirit with Him. We should testify with assurance that we truly believe that we are one spirit with the Lord. We need to see this experientially as well as doctrinally. We all need to humble ourselves before the Lord and pray: “Lord, show us the vision that we are one spirit with You. I am not satisfied with a mere doctrinal knowledge of this. Lord, open the heavens and cause us to see that we are now one spirit with You.”
At the time we were saved and regenerated, our spirit was joined to the Lord, and we became one with Him. When we were saved and regenerated, we entered into an organic union with the Triune God. This union is real and vital. As a result of salvation and redemption, the Lord dispensed Himself into our spirit and made us one with Him. Now, no matter what we do, we cannot separate ourselves from being one with Him in spirit. Even if we would seek to break this union, the Lord would not agree. What a wonder that sinners such as we can be one spirit with the Lord!
To be one spirit with the Lord is to enter into an organic union with Him, to be united with Him organically. Such a union with the resurrected Christ can only be in our spirit, because Christ today is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) and is now with our spirit. We must exercise and practice to experience the Lord as the life-giving Spirit dwelling in our spirit. This is to practice being one spirit with the Lord.
The Christian life is not a religious life or an ethical life; rather, it is a life of being one spirit with the Lord. According to God’s New Testament economy, the Lord desires to come into us, to become one with us, and to make us one with Him. The requirement in the New Testament is that we live one spirit with the Lord. We should live Christ by being one spirit with Him. We need to pray to the Lord in the morning: “I thank You for another day in which to practice being one spirit with You. Lord, grant me this day’s portion of grace that I may live one spirit with You.” The more we are one spirit with Him in our daily living, the more we will enjoy salvation, sanctification, and transformation.