Washed, and still not inwardly clean

I have put this objection as strongly as possible, so that its full weight may appear. Let us now examine it, part by part.

First. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit, and is altogether good. I allow the text, but not the comment. The text affirms this, and no more, that every person who is born of the Spirit is a spiritual person. He is so. But he may be so, and yet not be altogether spiritual. The Christians at Corinth were spiritual people, or they would have been no Christians at all. And yet they were not altogether spiritual. They were still, in part, carnal. But, someone says, they had fallen from grace. Saint Paul says no. They were even then babes in Christ.

Second. But a person cannot be clean, sanctified, and holy, and at the same time unclean, unsanctified, and unholy. Indeed he may. So the Corinthians were. You are washed, says the apostle. You are sanctified. That is, cleansed from fornication, idolatry, drunkenness, and all other outward sin. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. And yet, at the same time, in another sense of the word, they were unsanctified. They were not washed. They were not inwardly cleansed from envy, evil suspicion, and partiality.

But surely, someone says, they did not have a new heart and an old heart together. It is most sure that they did. For at that very time their hearts were truly renewed, yet not entirely renewed. Their carnal mind was nailed to the cross. Yet it was not wholly destroyed.

But could they be unholy while they were temples of the Holy Ghost? Yes. That they were temples of the Holy Ghost is certain. 1 Corinthians 6:19. And it is equally certain that they were, in some degree, carnal, that is, unholy.